(English
2009C)
Fall, 2000
Instructor: Dr. Timothy Engles
Written
Texts:
Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time (1925)
Cinematic Texts:
Two Lies (directed by Pam Tom, 1990)
(read the following carefully; these words constitute our contract,
and I will request your written agreement to them)
COURSE OBJECTIVES: We will read, discuss, and write about works that foreground issues of race, age, and gender in order to understand more fully how and why various people respond to these issues as they do, and why various artists respond to them as they do.You will need to approach this course and its material with an open mind and a willingness to seriously consider viewpoints expressed from different perspectives.You will also need to consider literature, film, and drama as both shaping and reflecting forces of individual and societal values.
GRADES: Your final course grade will be determined in the following way:
Exam (1) 15%
REGARDING WRITING: Each week students will turn in a one-page, double-spaced, typed position paper in response to writing suggestions.These papers will be graded on the basis of thoughtfulness, completeness, and insightfulness; while the quality of the writing in the position papers need not be quite as polished as that in the short essay, writing that has enough careless errors in it to distract from the content will be downgraded accordingly.All writing assignments are due at the beginning of the class period on the day they are due.Papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date whether the student is in class or not.Late papers will be penalized fifteen points each day they are late.
When
the short essay is turned in, it MUST be accompanied by all notes
and drafts written towards it, with the final copy of the essay on top
of this material.I will use these
materials to gauge and offer comments on your writing process.I
WILL NOT GRADE an essay that is not accompanied by material that clearly
demonstrates several earlier stages leading up to the final draft,
so be sure to save all such materials (if you do most or all of your writing
on a computer, print out occasional drafts to include with your final copy).Essays
unaccompanied by materials that clearly demonstrate several stages of development
toward the final copy will receive an automatic ZERO.This
policy does not apply to the position papers—one typed final copy of these
will suffice.
REGARDING READING: Since one skill you will be developing in this class is the art of textual analysis, you must give the readings more than a quick skimming over.Instead of wolfing them down on the bus before class, set aside enough time to read carefully—take notes as you read, then decide for yourself, before coming to class, what each author is trying to describe and bring to light.Also, to ensure that your final grade reflects your reading effort, I will occasionally give “pop” quizzes at the beginning of class on required readings.These quizzes will not be announced and they cannot be made up.
MISSED
QUIZZES AND LATE PAPERS: Again, because the answers to unannounced
quizzes come up in class after they are taken, quizzes cannot be made up
(even if you come to class late).These
quizzes are one way to reward those who attend class regularly and on time.Again,
Papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date whether the student
is in class or not.Late papers
will be penalized fifteen points each day they are late.You
may turn in position papers and the short essay before their due dates
if you know you must miss class that day.
E-MAIL
ACTIVITY: Enrollment in this class requires an e-mail account, and
you must check it frequently, preferably every day, for messages pertaining
to the course.E-mail is the quickest,
easiest way to reach me if I am not in my office; I welcome any and all
questions and comments.Getting
an e-mail account is crucial for this course—if you do not send me an e-mail
message at the above address by Friday, August 25 at 3:00 p.m. to confirm
that you have established an account, I will assume that you have chosen
against fully participating in the course, and I will therefore drop you.In
your message, describe yourself in whatever way you choose, and also write
a statement to the effect that you have read and agree with these course
policies and procedures.
CLASSROOM
ENVIRONMENT: In class, I expect all of you to participate in discussions
(class participation will be figured into your final grade).The
best way to demonstrate that you are an active, engaged, and interested
reader is by contributing regularly to class discussions, and by paying
close, respectful attention to what everyone else has to say.If
you have questions, no matter how simple or complicated, go ahead and ask
me, either in class or via e-mail—chances are that other people have the
same question.Many sensitive issues
tend to arise within a course of this sort, so we must respect the opinions
of others—at times it will help to respond to ideas rather than to the
person stating them.I do not plan
to lecture in this class; I want us to contribute together to a positive,
challenging, interesting learning environment. (Also, please do not chew
gum or eat food during class, activities which are too distracting to others--drinking
beverages is okay.Finally, no caps,
please, but if you must wear one, turn it backwards so I can see your eyes.)
ATTENDANCE POLICY: I will take attendance, and I expect you to attend class every day, on time, and prepared to discuss the material listed for that day on the “daily schedule.”More than four missed classes will lower your class participation grade to an F.Missing class frequently will also harm your grade on the reading quizzes.Regarding tardiness: this is a small class, so late arrivals are disruptive—if for some bizarre reason you wish to get on my bad side, you can easily do so by developing the habit of arriving late for class.If you will not be able to arrive for this class on time because of other commitments, drop it and take another section.Finally, you are responsible for all assignments, whether you attend class or not.Get the telephone number of one or two other students in class so you can find out about missed assignments before you come to class.
ACADEMIC
HONESTY: I expect you to act honestly and do your own work in this
class, and so does Eastern Illinois University.It
is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the English Department’s
policy on plagiarism: “Any teacher who discovers an act of plagiarism—‘The
appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and/or thoughts of another
author, and representation of them as one’s original work’ (Random House
Dictionary of the English Language)—has the right and the responsibility
to impose upon the guilty student an appropriate penalty, up to and including
immediate assignment of a grade of F for the course, and to report the
incident to the Judicial Affairs Office.”
ENGLISH 2009C: DAILY SCHEDULE
(this schedule
may be subject to change)
M AUG 21 Introduction to the course
M
AUG 28 In Our Time
W
AUG 30 In Our Time
F
SEP 1 In Our Time[LAST
DAY TO DROP A COURSE WITH NO GRADE]
M
SEP 4 NO CLASS (Labor Day Observance)
W
SEP 6 Course packet: Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege and Male Privilege:
Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies” (1988)
F
SEP 8 Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
M
SEP 11 The Woman Warrior
W
SEP 13 The Woman Warrior
F
SEP 15 The Woman Warrior
M
SEP 18 The Woman Warrior
W
SEP 20 Course packet: Maxine Hong Kingston, “Cultural Mis-readings by American
Reviewers” (1982)
F
SEP 22 EXAM ONE
M
SEP 25 Course packet: Toni Morrison, “Recitatif” (1983)
W
SEP 27 Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970)
F
SEP 29 The Bluest Eye
M
OCT 2 The Bluest Eye
W
OCT 4 The Bluest Eye
F
OCT 6 The Bluest Eye
M OCT 9 Course packet: Lois-Ann Yamanaka, “When Asian Eyes Are Smiling” (1997)
F
OCT 13 M Butterfly
M
OCT 16 M Butterfly
W
OCT 18 M Butterfly
F
OCT 20 NO CLASS (Fall Break)
M
OCT 23 Exam Two
W
OCT 25 Bobbie Ann Mason, Spence + Lila (1988)
F
OCT 27 Spence + Lila
M
OCT 30 Spence + Lila
W
NOV 1 Spence + Lila
F NOV 3 Course Packet: Sherman Alexie, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” (1993)
W
NOV 8 Ward Churchill, “Smoke Signals in Context” (1998); continue
discussion of Smoke Signals
F
NOV 10 Course packet: Karen Brodkin, “How Did Jews Become White Folks?”
and “The GI Bill: Whites Only Need Apply” (1994)
M NOV 13 In-class film screening: Nobody’s Business (directed by Alan Berliner, 1994)
F
NOV 17 Art Spiegelman, Maus (1978-91)
NOVEMBER
20-24 THANKSGIVING RECESS
M
NOV 27 Maus
W
NOV 29 Short Essay Due; continue discussion of Maus
F
DEC 1 Maus
M
DEC 4 Maus
W
DEC 6 Maus
F DEC 8 Review for final exam; tearful, heartfelt farewells