Texts: Sven Birkerts. Literature: The Evolving
Canon. 2nd ed. Allyn and Bacon.
Mary Shelley. Frankenstein, ed. Johanna Smith. Bedford. St. Martin
Press.
Goals:
1. To increase the sophistication with which students read and analyze
texts.
a. Students should be able to isolate main
points and themes in literary texts
b. Locate supporting evidence
c. Recognize and respond to obvious literary
devices(figures of speech)
d. Recognize assumptions, purposes, and perspectives
implied in literary texts.
2. To develop an understanding of how writers working in any
medium use language and rhetoric to make meaning and to affect readers'
response.
3. To develop an understanding of how the lives of authors and the
cultural contexts in which they live and work influence the creation of
meaning.
4. To develop a critical awareness of the engaged reader's personal
role in influencing the interpretive process.
5. To increase students' facility with vocabulary and the use
of dictionaries.
Requirements:
1. Regular attendance and participation in class are essential to success
in this class. If you miss more than four classes without a doctorís
note, you will be administratively withdrawn from the class.
2. Writing: We will write regularly as a way to clarify our feelings
and ideas; this writing will take place in class, on the class's "webboard"(see
below), and in paper/homework assignments. You will hand in 3 Formal
Papers 3-5 pages, typed double space, free of spelling and grammatical
errors
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another personís
words or ideas. It is a legal offense and a violation of the Universityís
judicial code. Plagiarized works earn an automatic "F" and possible dismissal
from the class.
Late work. Papers should be handed in on the day indicated on
the syllabus unless you have made a special arrangement with Prof. Stevenson
in advance. For fairness sake, the grade of late work will be reduced as
follows:
3 days late: -20%
5 days late:-40%
8 days late:-60%
3. Vocabulary Challenge: because words will be our
most important tools in this class, we will all share in the fun of enriching
our word stock. At the beginning of every class, I invite you to
bring in a word or words from the reading that you didn't know and you
think will stump the class. If you "stump" the group, will get 3
points added to your next test grade. We will discuss these words in class
and then they will be on the quizzes.
4. In class activities: Every Student will be required
to participate in at least one in-class activity:
1. Leading a discussion about a story or poem
2. Performing in the poetry slam or in the presentation of dramatic
scenes
3. Being part of the panel on interpreting Hamlet or Frankenstein
.
5. WEBBOARD: during the course of the semester students
must engage in at least 3 on-line discussions about the
readings on the Webboard (it can be reached through a link from my
WEB page (click text) or by
entering http://webboard.hartford.edu:8080/~stevenson. Webboard is
an interactive part of the University's website: we will use it to continue
outside of the classroom our discussion about the texts we are reading.
Many of you have probably already engaged in a "chat" on the internet.
Webboard functions in a similar way. Once you log on and enter our
class's discussion space, you can post a response to a question or comment
on another student's response. I will post a weekly question (or
questions)related to our readings and class discussions. That question
will be "live" for a week; its response time will expire when a new question
is posed.
Grading: 3 Quizzes= 40% of grade; 3 Papers=40% of
grade; In-Class Activities=10%
WEBBOARD Discussion and Class Participation=10% of grade