Course Summary
This Honors Program writing-intensive course
introduces you to literature as a particular use of language. Through
reading you will become aware of the distinctive features of different
literary genres, primarily fiction, poetry and drama. You will learn
to articulate precisely what elements make up a writer's style.
Practice in discussing and writing about literature will improve
your communication skills, by encouraging you to express with confidence
your own reactions to a work of literature. By the end of the course,
you will understand that literature usually evokes many different
and valid reactions.
Course Objectives
This course will help you to achieve competence in your efforts
to:
-
see the importance of reading literature for your own personal
development
-
acquire a vocabulary for discussing literature
-
read perceptively by learning to notice the integration of
literary form and content
-
write effectively about literature by using feedback about
your writing
-
notice the importance of a writer's voice when you do audio
assignments on-line
-
improve your overall vocabulary
-
become familiar with a few authors in each category of writing
studied
-
enhance your rhetorical awareness as you recognize features
of tone and diction
-
understand the origins and reasoning of different "schools"
of literary criticism
-
assess the contribution of literary reviews found on-line
Assessing Your Competencies
The course will measure your progress in the skills listed above.
-
Discussions in every class will allow you to make known your
point of view.
-
Discussing your reaction to writer's voices will let you learn
to listen to other students.
-
Weekly quizzes will help you to keep from falling behind.
-
Frequent written assignments will require you to express your
reactions.
-
Your commonplace book (electronic assignment) will record your
evolving reactions.
-
On-line research assignments will require you to verify some
of your own insights.
-
A personal lexicon, submitted near the end of the term, will
let you see your vocabulary's growth.
-
A research paper will demonstrate your ability to compare and
evaluate sources.
Expectations
I expect you to come to class and to take that obligation
as seriously as you would with any other job. When you are enrolled
at Champlain College, being a student is your job. When you come
to class, I expect you to have done the reading assigned for that
day and to be ready to say something about it. The success of the
entire course depends on how conscientiously you prepare. Part of
your education includes learning how to listen to other people,
both out of curiosity and out of courtesy. In addition to reading
assignments and papers, I will also ask you to submit some assignments
electronically. Every student at Champlain College is given a free
e-mail account. I encourage you to use the Help Desk to set up your
account. Another kind of help available to you is my help with your
written assignments. I do not accept late assignments.
Attendance
Every student is allowed to be absent twice during the
entire semester, without any excuse. Any additional absences will
diminish your course grade. See The Rudder for college policy on
excessive absences. On returning to class after an absence, you
are responsible for any assignment made during your absence. You
must turn in any work due the day of your return.
Texts
-
Meyer, Michael (ed.), The Compact Bedford Introduction to
Literature (5th ed.). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
-
Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual. (3rd ed.). New York:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
-
Follett, Ken. Code to Zero. New York: Signet books, 2001.
-
O'Neill, Eugene, Long Day's Journey into Night. Yale University
Press, 1995.
-
A collegiate-level dictionary
Course Grade
Most of your grade in this course is based on the writing
that you do about what you read. That grade is calculated according
to the following proportions:
Class participation
(attendance, paying attention, listening, speaking voluntarily)
|
10% |
Commonplace book; lexicon; electronic assignments
|
10% |
| Mid-term examination |
20% |
| Papers |
40% |
| Final examination |
20% |
|
