Carleton University
Department of English
Fall/Winter 2009-2010
ENGL 1000P Literature, Genre, Context
[Precludes additional credit for FYSM 1004]
Schedule: Mondays 12:35-2:25 p.m.
Location: Please confirm on Carleton Central
Instructor: Prof. B. Johnson
Office Hours: Mondays, 2:30-4:30
Office: 1917 Dunton Tower
email: [email protected]
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext. 2331
Teaching Assistants: TBA
ARTSONE CLUSTER: Culture, Film, and Literature: Exploring Lives and Nations
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course provides students with an introduction to major literary
genres and modes, with an emphasis on the historical and cultural contexts of literary
production. In the Fall term, we will study the fundamentals of short fiction, drama, and
poetry; in the Winter term we will continue to read poetry, drama, and short fiction, but our
focus will be on the twentieth-century novel. Throughout the year, we will consider how
literature mediates our perceptions of reality, how it can reinforce or challenge our
assumptions, and how it can demand from us new modes of cognitive and ethical response.
As we proceed, our two main goals will be to develop a broad critical vocabulary for thinking
and writing about literature and to cultivate the pleasures associated with reading,
discussing, and interpreting intellectually-demanding texts. This is a writing-attentive course.
REQUIRED TEXTS (Available at the Campus Bookstore.*)
FALL TERM
Paul Negri (ed.), Great American Short Stories (Dover)
Paul Negri (ed.), Great Sonnets (Dover)
Henrik Ibsen, The Wild Duck (Dover)
Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband (Dover)
Janet E. Gardner, Writing About Literature: A Portable Guide, 2nd Ed. (Bedford-St. Martin’s)
WINTER TERM
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (Signet)
Samuel Delany, Nova (Vintage)
Richard Van Camp, The Lesser Blessed (Douglas & McIntyre)
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Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (Penguin)
Allen Ginsberg, Howl and Other Poems (City Lights)
Nicholson Baker, The Mezzanine (Vintage)
*Buy your texts early. The bookstore sends unsold texts back to the publisher in the final
month of each term.
What is a “Writing Attentive Course”?
All sections of ENGL 1000 are “writing attentive” and must therefore meet the following
requirements:
Students will write at least one examination.
Students will write a minimum of two graded writing assignments per term, in which they
are expected to do the following: (1) develop an argumentative thesis across an essay; (2)
develop complex ideas using correct and effective expression according to academic English
practice; (3) use and cite evidence from primary texts appropriately; (4)develop literary skills
through close critical analysis of texts from a variety of genres; (5) develop fluency in genrespecific literary terms of analysis.
Students will be introduced to issues in secondary research (such as critical evaluation of
and citation of secondary materials).
A portion of class time will be devoted to developing and improving essay writing skills.
Tutorial Groups
Group
Time
Location
Tutorial 1 [P1]
2:35-3:25
Tutorial 2 [P2]
2:35-3:25
Tutorial 3 [P3]
3:35-4:25
Tutorial 4 [P4]
3:35-4:25
B243 LA – Fall
280 UCWinter
213 TB – Fall
217 TB Winter
236 TB – Fall
234 TB Winter
D880 LA – Fall
111 PA Winter
Tutorial Leader (Fall) Tutorial Leader
(Winter)
3
Method of Evaluation
Assignment
Early Feedback
Assignment
Essay #1
Secondary
Source
Assignment
Mid-Year
Exam*
Essay #2
Essay #3
Final Exam*
Description
A well-formed paragraph of literary
analysis on an assigned question.
Original analysis of some aspect of an
assigned short story.
Annotated Works Cited list and citation
exercise on appropriate use of
quotation, paraphrase, and summary.
Explication of a sight-poem.
Length
200-250
words
1000 words
Value
5%
Due Date
Sept. 28
10%
Nov. 2
TBA
10%
Dec. 7
3 hrs.
15%
TBA
Comparative essay on an assigned topic
employing secondary sources.
Comparative essay on an assigned topic
employing secondary sources.
In two parts: (i) passage identifications
and explications; (ii) long answer.
Covers material from both terms.
1500 words
15%
Feb. 8
2000 words
20%
Mar. 29
3 hrs.
25%
TBA
*Exams and airplane ticket bookings: The Fall exam period is from December 9-22, 2009
(including Saturdays) and the Winter exam period is from April 8-24, 2010 (including
Saturdays). Since the Registrar’s Office does not set exam dates until well into each term,
you must plan to be available throughout the entire examination period. Do not purchase
plane tickets with departure dates prior to December 22, 2009 or April 24, 2010 until you
know your exam schedule. Exams will not be rescheduled for students who take on other
commitments during the exam period.
Course Procedures, Grades, and Grading
Basic Preparation: As a matter of course you are expected to: (1) attend all lectures and
tutorials, (2) complete the scheduled readings beforehand, (3) arrive prepared to discuss
what you have read, (4) bring the relevant text(s) to class. It is strongly recommended that
you take notes on the lectures and keep a record of the passages we discuss in class. Writing
in the margins of your books and marking off key passages as you read is also a good idea.
Passages discussed in class are likely to appear on the exam.
Classroom Conduct: I’m sure it goes without saying that cell phones are to be turned off
during class and that laptops are only to be used for note-taking—not for playing solitaire,
texting your friends, or watching amusing clips on collegehumor.com… Right?
WebCT: This course uses Carleton’s WebCT course management software. Any course
updates—including changes to the schedule—will be announced on WebCT, so students are
expected to check in regularly. Any information posted by the professor in WebCT is
considered official. In addition to finding announcements, students can use WebCT to check
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their essay and exam grades, download assignments, explore literature links, and email the
professor.
Handing In Assignments: Assignments are due in class on the dates indicated. However, they
can be handed in without penalty until 8:00 a.m. the morning after the due date, via the
English Department’s drop box, located on the 18th floor of Dunton Tower. Please do not slip
the assignment under my office door. Emailed or faxed assignments are not acceptable and
will not be marked. Keep a back-up copy of every assignment you hand in as an insurance
policy in the unlikely event that I misplace your essay. If one of your assignments is lost,
misplaced, or not received by the professor, you are responsible for having a backup copy
that can be submitted immediately upon request.
Confirming Receipt of Assignment: Upon receipt of your assignment, I will enter a note (“R”)
in the WebCT gradebook for this class (“My Grades” on our WebCT homepage), confirming
that I have it. It is your responsibility to check the gradebook the following afternoon to
make sure your assignment has been received. In the unlikely event that it has gone astray,
email me the completed assignment immediately and bring a hard copy to the next class.
Late Penalty: Except in rare cases for which corroborating documentation can be provided
(such as a medical emergency or the death of an immediate family member), assignments
handed in after the due date will be penalized by 1/3 of a letter grade per day. For example,
a B+ essay due on Monday but handed in on Tuesday afternoon would drop to a B. If it
wasn’t handed in until Wednesday it would receive a B-, etc. Saturday and Sunday count as 1
day each, so if you find yourself in the position of finishing up your late essay on Saturday
afternoon and don’t want to lose 1/3 of a grade for Sunday too, email me the completed
assignment immediately and submit an identical hard copy to the drop box on Monday.
Extensions: Requests for extension may be granted in some instances, but only for
compelling reasons. Any such request must be made in writing or in person to the professor
(not one of the TAs) no later than 48 hours prior to the due date of the assignment. Requests
for “retroactive” extensions (i.e. requests made on or after the due date of the essay) will not
be considered.
Grading Criteria: Grades for term work will be based on insightfulness, originality, focus,
organization of ideas, clarity of expression, scholarly rigor, correct use of MLA style, spelling,
and grammar. (See “Understanding Your Essay Grade” on page 9 of the syllabus.)
Plagiarism: Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own or
submitting the same work in two different academic contexts (self-plagiarism). The
consequences of plagiarism are severe and are issued by the Dean and the University Senate.
In order to avoid plagiarism, you must correctly and fairly attribute the sources of the ideas
you pick up from books, the internet, and other people. For additional information, consult
the section on Instructional Offenses in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Review Period: I will hold extended office hours during the Review Period of April 6-7. Times
to be announced in class.
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Accommodation
You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term. For
an accommodation request the processes are as follows:
Pregnancy: Write your professor with any requests for academic accommodation during the
first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to
exist. For more details visit Equity Services:
http://carleton.ca/equity/accommodation/student_guide.htm
Religious obligations: Write your professor with any requests for academic accommodation
during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation
is known to exist. For more details visit the Equity Services website:
http://carleton.ca/equity/accommodation/student_guide.htm
Students with disabilities requiring academic accommodations in this course must register
with the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities (PMC) for a formal evaluation of
disability-related needs. Documented disabilities could include but are not limited to
mobility/physical impairments, specific Learning Disabilities (LD), psychiatric/psychological
disabilities, sensory disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and chronic
medical conditions. Registered PMC students are required to contact the PMC, 613-5206608, every term to ensure that their professors receive a Letter of Accommodation, no later
than two weeks before the first assignment is due or the first in-class test/midterm requiring
accommodations. If you only require accommodations for your formally scheduled exam(s) in
this course, please submit your request for accommodations to PMC by the last official day to
withdraw from classes in each term. For more details visit the PMC website:
http://www.carleton.ca/pmc/students/acad_accom.html
Schedule of Readings
Note: Students are responsible for all of the readings listed here and are expected to
complete the readings prior to the class for which they are scheduled. In addition to the
texts listed below, students are responsible for any handouts distributed in class or made
available via WebCT.
FALL TERM
Sept. 14: Introduction to the course
Further Reading: Gardner, Writing About Literature (2-15)
UNIT I: INTRODUCTION TO FICTION
Sept. 21: The Elements of Fiction: Plot, Character, Setting, Symbol
Gardner, Writing About Literature (57-60)
Jewett, “A White Heron” (Great American Short Stories 84-92)
6
Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” (Great American Short Stories 1-12)
Discussion Group: Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (Great American Short Stories
171-78)
Sept. 28: The Elements of Fiction: Narration and Tone
Chopin, “A Pair of Silk Stockings” (Great American Short Stories 152-56)
Hemingway, “The Killers” (Great American Short Stories 240-48)
Discussion Group: Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Great American Short Stories 13-17)
Early Feedback Assignment Due
Oct. 5: Literary Modes: The Gothic and the Grotesque
Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (Great American Short Stories 115-29)
Anderson, “The Egg” (Great American Short Stories 231-39)
Discussion Group: Writing Workshop I: Developing a Thesis and Outlining Your Paper: Sample
essay on Young Goodman Brown (handout); Gardner, Writing About Literature (16-22)
Oct. 12: STATUTORY HOLIDAY, University Closed
Oct. 19: A Literary Movement in Context: Naturalism
Harte, “The Luck of Roaring Camp” (Great American Short Stories 49-57)
London, “To Build a Fire” (Great American Short Stories 157-70)
Discussion Group: Dreiser, “The Lost Phoebe” (Great American Short Stories 179-91)
UNIT II: INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA
Oct. 26: The Elements of Drama
Glaspell, Trifles (Gardner 94-105)
Ibsen, The Wild Duck (Acts I-II)
Discussion Group: Writing Workshop II: Drafting, Revising, and Formatting Your Paper:
Gardner, Writing About Literature (22-42; 123-25; 127-29)
Nov. 2: Tragedy and Realism
Ibsen, The Wild Duck (Acts III-V)
Discussion Group: The Wild Duck
Essay #1 Due
Nov. 9: Comedy and Satire
Wilde, An Ideal Husband
Discussion Group: An Ideal Husband
UNIT III: INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
Nov. 16: Reading Poetry: An Introduction
Gardner, Writing About Literature (82-87)
ENGL 1000 Poetry Supplement (handout):
Houseman, “When I was One-and-Twenty”
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Larkin, “This Be the Verse”
Frost, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”
Rich, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”
Frost, “After Apple-Picking”
cummings, “in just-”
Atwood, “You Fit Into Me”
Brooks, “The Bean Eaters”
Discussion Group: Writing Workshop III: Working With Secondary Sources: Gardner, Writing
About Literature (110-37)
Nov. 23: The Sonnet: Desire, Writing, and Death
Wyatt, “My galley charged with forgetfulness” (Great Sonnets 1)
Spenser, “One day I wrote her name upon the strand” (Great Sonnets 6)
Shakespeare, “When I do count the clock that tells the time” (Great Sonnets 12)
———, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Great Sonnets 13)
———, “Not marble, nor gilded monuments” (Great Sonnets 14)
———, “Let me not to the marriage of true minds” (Great Sonnets 15)
———, “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” (Great Sonnets 16)
Millay, “Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink” (Great Sonnets 84)
———, “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” (Great Sonnets 85)
Collins, “Sonnet” (handout)
Discussion Group: Shakespeare, Sonnet 116 and Sample Explication (Gardner 87-91);
Shakespeare, “Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame” (Great Sonnets 15)
Nov. 30: The Sonnet: Religion, Romanticism, and Science
Donne, “Batter my heart, three-person’d God; for you” (Great Sonnets 18)
Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur” (Great Sonnets 67)
Meredith, “Lucifer in Starlight” (Great Sonnets 53)
Turner, “Orion” (Great Sonnets 45)
Wordsworth, “The world is too much with us; late and soon” (Great Sonnets 28)
Poe, “To Science” (Great Sonnets 47)
Lowell, “The Street” (Great Sonnets 50)
Hardy, “Hap” (Great Sonnets 63)
Discussion Group: Donne, “Death be not proud, though some have called thee” (Great
Sonnets 18); Frost, “Acquainted with the Night” (Great Sonnets 81)
Dec. 7: The Sonnet: Memory, History, and War
D.G. Rossetti, “A Sonnet” (Great Sonnets 55)
C. Rossetti, “Remember” (Great Sonnets 58)
Shelley, “Ozymandias” (Great Sonnets 32)
Brooke, “The Soldier” (Great Sonnets 83)
Sassoon, “Dreamers” (Great Sonnets 83)
Owen, “Anthem for Doomed Youth” (Great Sonnets 86)
Yeats, “Leda and the Swan” (Great Sonnets 76)
Discussion Group: Writing Workshop IV: Practice Explication for Fall Exam
Secondary Source Assignment Due
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TBA: FALL EXAM
WINTER TERM
UNIT IV: LITERATURE, CULTURE, AND FANTASY
Jan. 4: Tragi-Comedy and Romance: Shakespeare and Genre
Shakespeare, The Tempest
Discussion Group: Writing Workshop V: How to Write Comparison-Contrast Essays: Gardner,
Writing About Literature (48-54) *Browning, “My Last Duchess”; C. Rossetti, “After Death”+
Jan. 11: Magic, Art, and Otherness: Postcolonial Shakespeare
Shakespeare, The Tempest
Discussion Group: The Tempest
Jan 18: Modernism and Myth: Eliot’s Tarot Fortune
Eliot, The Waste Land (handout)
Discussion Group: The Waste Land
Jan 25: Science Fiction, Globalization, and Culture
Delany, Nova (Chapters 1-3)
Discussion Group: Murphy, “Rachel in Love” (online)
Feb. 1: Science Fiction, Romance, and Revolution
Delany, Nova (Chapters 4-7)
Discussion Group: Writing Workshop VI: O, Sonneteers!
Feb. 8: Indigenous and Postcolonial Literatures: The Empire Writes Back?
Van Camp, The Lesser Blessed
Discussion Group: Msimang, “Identification Papers” (handout)
Essay #2 Due
Feb. 15-19: WINTER BREAK, No Classes
UNIT V: THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY
Feb. 22: The Great War and Modern Memory
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Discussion Group: Mrs. Dalloway
Mar. 1: Modernity, Modernism, and the Novel
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Discussion Group: Mrs. Dalloway
Mar. 8: Materialism, America, and the “Beats”
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Ginsberg, Howl and Other Poems
Discussion Group: Howl and Other Poems
Mar. 15: Postmodernism
Zoline, “The Heat-Death of the Universe” (handout)
Baker, The Mezzanine (Chapters 1-3)
Discussion Group: The Mezzanine
Mar. 22: After Postmodernism…?
Baker, The Mezzanine (Chapters 4-15)
Discussion Group: The Mezzanine
Mar. 29: Exam Review
Discussion of Sample Exam Questions
Discussion Group: NO MEETING THIS WEEK
Essay #3 Due
TBA: Winter Exam
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Understanding Your Essay Grade
GPA
%
Grade
12
90-100
A+
11
85-89
A
10
80-84
A-
9
77-79
B+
8
73-76
B
7
70-72
B-
6
67-69
C+
5
63-66
C
4
60-62
C-
3
57-59
D+
2
53-56
D
1
50-52
D-
0
0-49
F
Excellent. The essay presents a clear, engaging thesis and follows
through with a well-developed and well-supported argument. It
shows good understanding of the text(s) and is perceptive and
even original in its treatment, presenting more than a restatement
of the lecture/tutorial discussion. The structure is logical and easy
to follow, using effective transitions. Paragraphs are internally
coherent; examples are well-integrated, relevant, and thoughtfully
analyzed. The essay is grammatically correct and free of
mechanical errors; sentences are balanced and varied in
interesting and appropriate ways; the language is lucid, precise,
and lively. The essay is formatted properly and all sources are
accurately cited.
Good. The essay presents a clear thesis and follows through with
a generally well-developed argument, though some parts of the
argument need further clarification or support. It shows good
understanding of the text(s) but is not especially insightful or
original. The structure is logical but not always perfectly
controlled (for instance, some transitions are weak or missing).
Paragraphs are mostly coherent; most examples are well-chosen
but discussion of them is not always sufficiently detailed. The
essay is grammatically correct and mostly free of mechanical
errors, but the prose is not particularly elegant or engaging. The
essay is formatted properly and all sources are accurately cited.
Adequate. The essay presents a thesis, but not a clear or suitable
one; it does not follow through with a consistent, well-supported
argument. It shows basic understanding of the text(s) but misses,
distorts, or misunderstands some aspects. The structure is loose
in places, lacking transitions or wandering off topic. Paragraphs
sometimes lack unity, and examples are not always relevant or
simply inserted without adequate discussion. The essay has a
number of grammatical and/or mechanical problems, and the
writing style is uncertain and obscure in places. The essay is not
formatted properly and/or sources are not correctly cited.
Poor. The essay does not present or argue consistently for a
suitable thesis. It shows some substantial misunderstandings of
the text(s); it paraphrases or summarizes instead of analyzing; its
examples are simply inserted without proper connection to an
argument and without discussion. The essay lacks structure and
moves from idea to idea without any apparent logic. Paragraphs
are not unified. The essay has many grammatical and mechanical
errors and the style is generally faulty: phrases or sentences are
frequently unintelligible. The essay is not formatted properly
and/or sources are not correctly cited. (Essays with all of these
problems will fail.)
Failure. The essay is completely off topic or has no thesis and no
argument; it simply paraphrases the text(s), or misunderstands
them; it uses no appropriate evidence or fails to discuss its
examples; it is incoherent, unintelligible, or has no discernible
structure. It is stylistically and mechanically a disaster. It is not
formatted correctly and/or sources are not properly cited. It does
not meet the minimum requirements for the assignment.