English 325.002: DIMENSIONS OF WRITING AND LITERATURE

Spring 2011
T R 10:30-11:45, Robinson Hall A205; Recitation W 5:55 pm - 7:10 pm Science Technology I 131

Professor Michals
Office Hours:  TR 12:00-1:00; W 4:30-5:30 and by appointment: Robinson A 428
993-1193
tmichals@gmu.edu
Home page: http://mason.gmu.edu/~tmichals  

This six-credit course is the core requirement for all English majors. It fulfills the Writing-Intensive requirement in the English major through four 6-page essays and a number of one-page responses to the reading; you should plan to write something for this class every week. At least one of these 6-page essay will be completed through a draft/feedback/revision process; you are invited to use this process for your other 6-page essays as well. This course stresses the close reading of fiction, poetry, drama, and film. It will also introduce you to a range of the critical methods literary critics use to understand texts and to explore their larger cultural contexts. In addition to our meetings in this classroom, this course includes a series of weekly lectures (W 5:55 pm - 7:10 pm Science Technology I 131) by a variety of faculty, demonstrating some of the critical, creative, and research possibilities in the field of literary studies today. Exams and assignments will include material covered in these lectures. English majors must earn a C or better in this course to continue in the program. 

REQUIRED TEXTS

• The Elephant Man
• To get your free ticket to the performance, bring your GMU ID to the box office in the Center for the Arts two weeks before the first show. http://cfa.gmu.edu/students/ If all the free tickets are gone, then the cost is $10.00.
• Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis
• Samuel Richardson, Pamela
• The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, 3rd edition.
• Access to the electronic databases Literature On-Line (LION)  and Eighteenth-Century Collections On-line (ECCO).

COURSE POLICIES.

Attendance and Participation:
You are strongly advised to come to every class, on time, having read the assigned text more than once, having drawn stars, arrows, question marks, exclamation points or any other notation you find useful in the margins by striking or confusing passages, and having written down some questions or insights that you plan to bring up in class discussion. In addition to our class meetings and the Wednesday lectures, you will attend one live theater performance of The Elephant Man.

Blackboard Responses:
You must post on Blackboard either a response to the reading by 10:00 the day before we discuss that reading in class (8 posts), or a response to the lecture presentation by10:00 a.m. Thursday (four posts): twelve responses in all. You must do half of these responses before Spring Break and the rest by our last day of class.  Aside from that requirement, you may do them any day you like – please plan ahead for busy times! These responses will help you to begin to analyze the readings and lecture presentations so that you can more profitably participate when we talk about them in class. In addition, they give you a chance to start thinking in writing about the texts without the constraints of a formal essay and provide a record of your thoughts. Express yourself as clearly as possible in these responses.  Ask a question and explain why you think it matters, answer a question on the syllabus for that reading, disagree with something in the text, relate some element of its form to its content, or take a classmate’s response to the reading one step farther: Do not merely summarize the text!

Each response must be at least 250 words. I will not accept late responses, although I encourage you to compare later readings and lectures to earlier ones – synthesize as you go! Then the midterm and final will make sense.  I also encourage you to use your responses as starting points for your formal essays. If you want to explore a response further in an essay, please let me know.

6-Page (1800 word) Essays:
I like talking to students about work-in-progress: please come to my office hours or make an appointment to discuss your writing.  Since this class emphasizes the development of your own close reading skills, you are not encouraged to consult secondary sources; that is, your essays are not intended to be research papers. If you're having trouble getting started with an assignment, I advise you to get help from the Writing Center or from me in my office hours rather than flipping through a random and quite possibly overwhelming selection of critics. If you do chose to look at some criticism, you must cite all the articles or books your own final reading quotes or draws on, however indirectly, using a standard citation format, including a bibliography. You are strongly encouraged to go to the Writing Center (Robinson A116) for help at any stage of the writing process: call 993-1200 to make an appointment in advance. You must complete all required writing assignments to pass this class.

PLEASE NOTE:
Hand in your essays in person at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Essays left in my mailbox will be considered late and may never reach me at all; essay slid under my office door will be considered late and may be trampled on. Your work must be stapled, typed, double-spaced, proofread, use a reasonable font and MLA format for citations, and have one-inch margins. Always keep a copy of the work you hand in. Unless you have discussed a problem with me before the due date and I have approved a late submission, I will deduct one grade increment for each class period that the assignment is late: for example, and A- essay would become a B+ if it is late one class.  After two classes, it becomes a B.

Plagiarism: It Can Happen Without Evil Intent:
Taking words, phrases, ideas, or any other elements from another person's work and using them as if they were yours is plagiarism. Be sure to fully document any source you use, including introductions to editions of the text or study aids such as Cliffs Notes, following a standard citation format. We will discuss plagiarism in class. If you are ever unsure about this issue please discuss the work in question with me immediately, before you hand it in, because if someone else's words or ideas end up in your writing without being cited you have committed plagiarism, whether or not you intended to deceive.

Exams:
There will be a mid-term exam and a final examination. There will also be a brief quiz every Thursday on the Wednesday-night lecture.  

Grades:
Here are the percentages for your final grade; please note that the quality of participation in class will affect borderline final grades.

* 4 6-page essays (before Spring Break, one must be substantially revised after comments from me, for a new grade): 60%
* 12 Blackboard postings. Half of your postings must be completed before Spring Break, all must be at least 250 words, and all must be completed by our last class: 15%
* Quizzes: 5%
* Midterm exam: 10%
* Final exam: 10%

A Note on Grading Standards for Essays:
An "F" paper does not satisfy the purposes of the assignment. A "D" paper makes a visible effort to satisfy the purposes of the assignment, but still reads like a draft because of difficulty with writing clear sentences, developing and organizing an argument, and / or using textual support. A "C" paper shows fairly consistent mastery of the mechanics of organization and grammar, and uses textual evidence to support a thesis. A "B" paper shows very consistent mastery of mechanics, and a more thoughtful use of textual support. An "A" paper makes me smile as I read it - it proves that someone has mastered the peculiar form of the literary critical essay so completely that it can persuasively communicate his or her individual response to a text.  An “A” paper shows both that you speak the language of the profession, and have something to say.

A Note on Grading Blackboard Responses:
To reflect their more informal, work-in-progress character, I use a different grading scale for the Blackboard responses. Each gets a 0, 1, 2, or a 3:

0 = does not satisfy the purpose of the assignment; make an appointment to talk to me about it, and then try again.
1 = adequate
2 = good  
3 = unusually good
 
MASON EMAIL ACCOUNTS:

Students must use their MasonLIVE email account to receive important University information, including messages related to this class. See http://masonlive.gmu.edu for more information.

OFFICE OF DISABILITY SERVICES:

If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at 993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the ODS. http://ods.gmu.edu

COUNSELING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES (CAPS):

(703) 993-2380; http://caps.gmu.edu