English Literature I

M Laur 203

LIT207-300 8-1030am

Fall 2011

William Patrick Wend

http://lit207wwend.pbworks.com 

 

Prerequisities: English 102 or permission

Credits: Three

 

Office Hours

Laurel Hall 114 M 1030am-1130am WF 1pm-2pm

Parker 413B T TH 930am-11am

 

I am also available by appointment if these hours don’t work for you.

 

Contact Information

wwend@bcc.edu

Office: 609-894-9311 #1401

Google Voice: 609-836-0641

Skype (By appointment...get in touch)

Google Talk: professorwend@gmail.com

Yahoo: professorwend

AIM: professorwend

Twitter: @professorwend @wpwend42 (personal account)

Facebook: professorwend

 

I am primarily online during the early morning.

 

Required Texts

• The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Blue), Volume I, Norton, 978-0-393-92531-9
• Anne Frances Wysocki, Dennis A. Lynch, The DK Handbook, Pearson, 978-0-205-74143-4

 

Course Description

This course focuses on English Literature from Beowulf and Chaucer to Samuel Johnson and authors from the late eighteenth century. It emphasizes critical reading and analysis of selected fiction, poetry, drama, and essays. 

 

Expectations & Policies

Below is a brief description of how I will grade writing in this course:

A: Mastery of essential elements and related concepts, plus demonstrated excellence or originality.

B+: Mastery of essential elements and related concepts, showing higher level understanding.

B: Mastery of essential elements and related concepts.

C+: Above average knowledge of essential elements and related concepts.

C: Acceptable knowledge of essential elements and related concepts.

D: Minimal knowledge of related concepts.

F: Unsatisfactory progress. This grade may also be assigned in cases of academic misconduct, such as cheating or plagiarism, and/or excessive absences.

 

Attendance

Attendance is important. I am allowing two absences. Your grades will be determined by your writing, but attendance and your contribution to the class are crucial. If you do not attend class or contribute actively, you are unlikely to comprehend the course material well enough to write a skillful papers.

 

Points will be taken off your final grade for having more absences than two. After two absences, your continued presence in this course will be at my discretion. I reserve the right to fail a student based on excessive absenteeism. In my experience, students who do not attend class rarely achieve their academic goals.

 

I will not tolerate frequent lateness. Leaving early, without prior permission, is considered disrespectful and will not be tolerated. If this is a morning class and the student has difficulties staying awake or showing up on time, I would strongly suggest finding another section of this course to take.

 

Smart Phones, Texting, Laptops, Hats, & Other Issues of Etiquette

Please turn your cell phone off BEFORE entering the classroom. If your cell phone goes off more than once while class is in a session, you will be asked to leave. I will not tolerate texting or other distractions to the learning experience. I will be taking points off of your course contribution grade for every time that, at the end of class, I can remember you texting during that class.Laptops are fine as long as they aren’t a distraction. Students who use education apps on their smart phones (please tell me about them!) are fine too. Please remove all earbuds before entering class.

 

In my classes, I have an expectation students will have access to email and computers in general. All of your work will be submitted to me digitally. Given there are public and school libraries, the ILC, coffee shops, etc, students need to budget their time better; I do not see any excuse for having “no access” to email outside of the classroom.

 

Students are expected to check their BCC email on a regular basis. I do not accept the excuse, “I didn't check my email for two weeks” as a valid problem. Digital correspondence should be written using proper grammar and form. I will not reply to emails filled with texting speak (2, u, 4, lol, j/k) or poor grammar and/or misspellings. Please include a subject and "sign" your email with your name and course section.

 

If you miss class, please check the course wiki within 48 hours of the class to view, download, or print a PDF of the handout in question. Most of the time they will be uploaded before class. 

 

Finally, a matter of general respect: I do not tolerate homophobic, misogynistic, ableist, or racist language in the classroom. 

 

Writing

I expect your work to be error free. You are expected to proofread for spelling, mechanics, and grammar. I will mark down for these errors; please revise and proofread often. All papers are to be typed, titled, double spaced, and given page numbers with your last name. All papers will be submitted digitally to my email by 11:59pm on the due date. I will not be accepting print copies of your papers.

 

If you use Microsoft Works, I would like you to convert your files (.wps) to something more accessible like .doc or .odt before submitting. Also, students writing in the .pages format will need to do the same. Please see me if you need help.

 

Do not consider your paper submitted until, if and only if, you receive a confirmation reply (usually within 24 hours, but don't panic if it is closer to 48-72). If you do not receive one within 48-72 hours, it is the student’s responsibility to get in touch with me about their work. I am not responsible for making sure you hand in your assignments; it is yours. Please make sure you are backing up your work to an external hard drive, flash drive, cloud based source (I'm a big fan of Spideroak, but not Dropbox) or other backup method. I will not accept excuses involving crashed computers or broken files.

 

Finally, please follow the “24 hour rule” for paper returns. I do not discuss returned student papers until 24 hours have elapsed since I returned them. There will be no discussion in person or via email about them until that time window.

 

Papers

Your papers must conform to the sample research paper that begins on page 331 ofThe DK Handbook. Papers will have an introductory paragraph with a thesis, body of essay, and conclusion. Papers should be at least 2,000 words NOT including the works cited. Your papers will be written according to current MLA documentation standards. 

 

All research must be dated after 2000, unless previous permission is granted, and gathered using the college library's print and electronic sources or via the internet. For each paper, a minimum of three sources is required for a passing grade. 

 

Rough Drafts

I allow students to submit rough drafts of their writing. Rough drafts will be due by the Monday before the paper is due, which gives me time to properly annotate and return them to you. While I can offer guidance and suggestions to improve your writing, the primary responsibility is on the student to allow enough time for revision. I strongly believe in personal ownership and responsibility over your collegiate success.

 

Paper Revision Policy

I strongly believe one of the most important lessons I learned about writing was that quality work almost always entails rewriting. In this class I will accept one rewrite of a paper until the Friday after grades are sent back to the entire class. This means if you are not satisfied with your grade, you may resubmit one paper for that predetermined period of time. This time period will be added to the online version of the syllabus and announced during class. Normally, this will be anywhere from three to five days. After that time period, you may not resubmit. I am only accepting one revision per student. Please choose which paper you revise carefully. 

 

Obviously, just resubmitting the paper will not count as a rewrite. If you incorporate the feedback I give you on your papers when I send them back, the odds are pretty high you will improve your grade. Only making cosmetic changes will not improve it.

 

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Be aware that plagiarism includes (but is not limited to) copying someone else’s words without crediting the source; paraphrasing someone else’s words without crediting the source; using someone else’s ideas without crediting the source (even if rephrased in your own words); using facts not universally known which are obtained from a source without crediting the source; asking someone else to write your paper, either in whole or in part; or obtaining a paper or portion thereof by any means and submitting it as an original document. The penalty for plagiarism is failure of the assignment and potentially failure of the course (at the instructor’s discretion), and it may result in suspension or expulsion from the College (at the discretion of the Student Affairs Committee). Please refer to the BCC Student Handbook for additional information regarding College regulations and the handling of plagiarism.

 

With this in mind, all papers that use in-text citations must have a works cited page. Failure to include a works cited page will be an automatic zero for the paper.  

 

Email

Email is an excellent way to contact me. Please provide a clear subject line and include your name and class section in the text of the email. I will respond to your email within 48 hours. I do not answer emails with poor grammar or texting speak.

 

Upon receiving a paper, I will reply to confirm it. Grading a set of papers normally takes a week. I will announce in class when the final batch has been returned. If you have not gotten your paper back by then, I did not receive it. It is the student’s job to follow up with me if they do not receive their work by then. I will not accept late papers or excuses which amount to student's disinterest in keeping up with their email. I suggest checking with me if you do not receive a confirmation email within 48 hours of submitting your paper.

 

Make Up Work

Work should be handed in on the date it is due. I will accept late work with one full grade taken off the top for each class it is late. If an emergency has come up, I expect an email before the class you will be missing letting me know. Your work will be due at our next meeting, but it would be great if you could email it to me in the meantime as well. 

 

Evaluation

Course Contribution 10%

Citation Practice 5% 

Class Leadership Day 10%

Three Papers 20% each

Journals 10%

Quizzes 5%

=100%

 

There is no extra credit or final exam.

 

Your first paper will be based around Beowulf, Sir Gawain & The Green Knight, King Arthur, and The Canterbury Tales. Your second paper will be based around Piers Plowman, The Book of Margery Kempfe, Julian Norwich, Utopia, and King Lear. Your final paper will be based around Paradise Lost and Robinson Crusoe. 

 

A 100-92

B+ 91-88

B 87-80

C+ 79-75

C 74-70

D 69-65

F 64-0

 

Notification For Students With Disabilities

Burlington County College offers reasonable accommodations and/or services to persons with disabilities. The Office of Special Populations offers comprehensive services to all students with any form of disability (with appropriate official documentation) which hinders their academic success. Students must request the accommodation(s) from the Office of Special Populations. Please contact the Special Populations Coordinator at (609) 894-9311 or (856) 222-9311 Ext. 1803 at or visit the website at: http://www.bcc.edu/pages/182.asp.

 

Additional Support/Labs

Burlington County College provides confidential advising and counseling services free to all students through the Department of Academic Advisement & Transfer. For more information about advising and counselling services, visit the Parker Center or call Extension 7337 at (609) 894-9311 or visit the websites:

 

Advising: http://staff.bcc.edu/advising/

 

Counseling: http://staff.bcc.edu/counseling/

 

Free tutoring is also available for all currently enrolled students. For more information regarding The Tutoring Center call Extension 1495 at (609) 894-9311 or visit the website

 

Tutoring Center: http://staff.bcc.edu/tutoring/

 

Finally...

Students in my classes are responsible for reading and understanding these course policies. Do you have questions? 

• Send me an email: wwend@bcc.edu 
• Talk to me before or after class
• Come to my office during office hours (Parker 413b) 

 

Week One

Monday September 12th

• Attendance 
• Course Introduction
• Discuss Citation Practice Essay 
• Class leadership sign up
• Discuss the anthology's introduction to The Middle Ages (1-23) 
• Discuss The Dream of the Rood (27-28)  

 

For Next Time: Read Beowulf (28-100) and about Kant's categorical imperative (http://www.iep.utm.edu/kantmeta/#SH8c)

 

Remember: Your citation practice essay is due to my email by 11:59pm on Sunday evening.

 

Week Two

 

Monday September 19th

• Attendance 
• Discuss first paper assignment 
• Discuss Kant's categorical imperative 
• Discuss Beowulf  

 

For Next Time: Read Sir Gawain & The Green Knight (160-213). Read excerpts about King Arthur (127, 438-456)

 

Remember: 

 

Week Three

Monday September 26th

• Attendance 

• Discuss citation 

• Discuss excerpts about King Arthur 

• Discuss Sir Gawain & The Green Knight

 

For Next Time: Read excerpts from The Canterbury Tales (213-238, 239-255, 256-283, 284-298, 315)

 

Remember: Quarter mark attendance warnings will go out to students with two or more absences.

 

Week Four 

Monday October 3rd

• Attendance 
• Discuss Chaucer's Retraction
• Discuss General Prolouge
• Discuss Pardoner's Tale 

 

For Next Time: Read excerpts from The Canterbury Tales (213-238, 239-255, 256-283, 284-298, 315)

 

Remember: 

 

Week Five

Monday October 10th

• Attendance 
• Discuss Wife of Bath's Tale
• Discuss Miller's Tale 

 

For Next Time: Read excerpts from Piers Plowman (331-354)

 

Remember: If you are submitting a rough draft, pleas send it to me by tonight. Your first paper is due to my email (wwend@bcc.edu) by 11:59pm on Friday evening.

 

Week Six 

Monday October 17th

• Attendance 
• Discuss excerpts from Piers Plowman

 

For Next Time: Read Faith in Conflict (616-640) and Women in Power (662-702)

 

Remember: 

 

Week Seven

Monday October 24th

• Attendance 
• Discuss second paper assignment 
• Discuss Faith in Conflict
• Discuss Women in Power 

 

For Next Time: Read excerpts from The Book of Margery Kempfe (383-397) and Julian of Norwich ()

 

Remember: Midterm failure reports will be sent out to students with below a low "C" or lower. The last day to withdraw with a "W" grade is October 28th. If you are submitting a revision for your first paper, it is due to my email by Friday evening. 

 

Week Eight

Monday October 31st

• SUMMAS? 
• Attendance  
• Discuss excerpts from The Book of Margery Kempfe
• Discuss excerpts from Julian of Norwich 

 

For Next Time:  Read Sir Thomas More's Utopia (518-590)

 

Remember: 

 

Week Nine

Monday November 7th

• Attendance 
• Discuss More's Utopia

 

For Next Time: We will be viewing Akira Kurosawa's film Ran, which is an adaptation of King Lear

 

Remember: 

 

Week Ten

Monday November 14th

• Attendance 
• View Akira Kurosawa's film Ran 

 

For Next Time: Read Shakespeare's King Lear (1139-1227)

 

Remember: 

 

Week Eleven

Monday November 21st

• Attendance 
• Discuss Shakespeare's King Lear

 

For Next Time: Get started reading Milton's Paradise Lost (1785-2055). Let's set a goal to get through book five. 

 

Remember: We will spend two classes discussing Paradise Lost, but get deep into your reading now. 

 

Week Twelve

Monday November 28th

• Attendance 
• Discuss third paper assignment 
• Begin discussing Milton's Paradise Lost

 

For Next Time: We will finish discussing Paradise Lost

 

Remember: If you are submitting a rough draft, pleas send it to me by tonight. Your second paper is due to my email (wwend@bcc.edu) by 11:59pm on Friday evening. Quarter mark attendance warnings will go out to students with two or more absences.

 

Week Thirteen

Monday December 5th

• Attendance 
• Finish discussing Milton's Paradise Lost
  

 

For Next Time: Read Swift's Robinson Crusoe (2323-2462)

 

Remember:  

 

Week Fourteen

Monday December 12th

• Attendance 
• Discuss Swift's Robinson Crusoe

 

For Next Time: You're done!

 

Remember: If you are submitting a rough draft, pleas send it to me by tonight. Your final paper is due to my email (wwend@bcc.edu) by 11:59pm on Friday December 16th.

 

*****Our final session during finals week is December 19th from 8am to 9:50am. I will pass out your final grade spreadsheet. We will discuss the course in general and I will get feedback from you*****