APPROACH TO LITERATURE


English 104-05 Fall 2001 http://www.uncg.edu/~scstewar/104_05.html


Shannon C. Stewart , M.A.

 

HOW TO REACH ME:

Email: scstewar@uncg.edu
Office: 01F Petty Science Building
Office Hours: Tue/Thur 12:45-2:15 & by appointment
Phone: 334-3294 (last resort)

COURSE GOALS & DESCRIPTION:

This course will help you to develop a university-level appreciation for literature by introducing you the interpretation and study of it. Literature is accessible and you can enjoy it without being intimidated by it. We will achieve an understanding of literaturegenre characteristics and techniques and recurring themes that span genresthrough thinking, reading, writing, and discussion with the entire class and in small groups.  Remember that, although literary texts reflect diverse social and historical contexts, literature appeals to the humanity we all share.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Barrett, Andrea. "The Littoral Zone" Available via Jackson Library's electronic reserve.

James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw. Available online.

Kirszner, Laurie and Stephen Mandell. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing (Compact 4th ed.). Forth Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2000.

Computer access to the website above and an email account that you check regularly

POLICIES & EXPECTATIONS:

I expect you to be in class, on time, prepared for/involved in our discussions, and respectful of me and of the other class members and their opinions. I also expect you to keep up with the assigned work or to let me know in advance when you will not be able to do so.

In return, you can expect that I will keep major changes to the syllabus at a minimum, that any changes I do make will be made well in advance, and that, as much as possible, changes will be made in your favor. I will hold scheduled office hours or announce in advance when I will be unable to do so. I will also read and answer your email in a timely fashion.

GRADING & EVALUATION:

All work for this course must be done in keeping with the UNCG Academic Integrity Policy.

Journals, reader responses, short writings 15%
Attendance & quizzes    10%
Exams      60%
Group presentation    15%

Journals will be collected randomly, and missed journals cannot be made up. Missed quizzes cannot be made up either. This should encourage you to attend class regularly. You may, however, miss three classes (for any reasonI make no distinction between "excused" and "unexcused" absences) before I suggest you drop the course. If I drop you from the course after the drop date, you will receive an F for the term. Neither of us wants that to happen, so keep up with your absences. Also remember that excessive tardies and absences will significantly and negatively affect your final grade.

Further information regarding specifics of all course assignments can be found on the English 104-05 website under the heading "Details." A daily schedule can be found on the same site under "Daily Schedule."

Daily Schedule for 104-05

subject to change

Tuesday, August 21 Introduction to course and each other

Thursday, August 23 What is literature?

Read Chapter 1(all of it)

Read Chapter 2 (up to top of 21)

What is fiction?

Read Chapter 3 (38-42)

Tuesday, August 28 Read Chapter 4 (66-top of 70)

Read Chapter 5 (92-95)

Read Chapter 6 (133-138)

The Yellow Wallpaper" (151) Charlotte Perkins Gilman

"The Metamorphosis" (388) Franz Kafka read first half

Thursday, August 30 "The Metamorphosis" (388) Franz Kafka

Tuesday, September 4 "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (237) Flannery O'Connor

"A Rose for Emily" (80) William Faulkner

Thursday, September 6 So, what is fiction?

Read Chapter 7(167-178)

Read Chapter 8(218-225)

Read Chapter 9(252-259)

Read Chapter 10(299-303)

The Lottery" (271) Shirley Jackson

Tuesday, September 11 "The Story of an Hour" (70) Kate Chopin

"The Cask of Amontillado" (190) Edgar Allan Poe

Thursday, September 13 "The Turn of the Screw" (online) Henry James

Tuesday, September 18 "The Turn of the Screw" (online) Henry James

Thursday, September 20 "The Turn of the Screw" (BBC)

Tuesday, September 25 "The Turn of the Screw" (BBC) & prepare for fiction exam

Thursday, September 27 FICTION EXAM

Tuesday, October 2 What is poetry?

Read Chapter 11(521-530)

Read Chapter 12(55-559)

Read Chapter 13(576-585), (589-594), & (598-603)

Thursday, October 4 Read Chapter 14(613-619), (625-630), (633-635), & (637-640)

Read Chapter 15(645-654)

"Richard Cory" by Edward Arlington Robinson (827)

Tuesday, October 9 So, what is poetry?

"Negro" by Langston Hughes (581)

"Sadie and Maude" by Gwendolyn Brooks (689)

"Life Is a Nice Place" by Louise Glűck (734)

Thursday, October 11 So, what is poetry?

Read Chapter 16(661-667), (673-678), & (684-685)

Read Chapter 17(687-696) & (699-707)

"Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll (710)

"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (783)

Tuesday, October 16 "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell (669)

"Daddy" by Sylvia Plath (673)

Read Chapter 18(713-719), (723-731), (732-736), & (743-745)

Read Chapter 19(748-754), (755-762), & (764-766)

Thursday, October 18 So, what is poetry?

"Suicide Note" by Janice Mirikitani (587)

"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats (852)

"Because I Could not Stop for Death He Kindly Stopped for Me" by Emily Dickinson (786)

"Musee des Beaux Art" by W.H. Auden (771)

Tuesday, October 23 "The Littoral Zone" by Andrea Barrett (online vie ereserves)

Thursday, October 25 Andrea Barrett on campus

Tuesday, October 30 Poems of choice

Andrea Barrett

prepare for poetry exam

Thursday, November 1 POETRY EXAM

Tuesday, November 6 What is drama?

Read Chapter 20(908-924)

Read Chapter 21(925-927)

Read Chapter 22(945-949)

Read Chapter 23(1027-1038)

Thursday, November 8 Oedipus the King (1253-1282--up to Stasimon 3) Sophocles

Tuesday, November 13 Oedipus the King (1282-1294) Sophocles

Hamlet (1052-1094--Acts I & II) William Shakespeare

Thursday, November 15 Hamlet (1094-1153--Acts III, IV, & V) William Shakespeare

Tuesday, November 20 Trifles (950-962) Susan Glaspell

Thursday, November 22 NO CLASSTHANKSGIVING

Tuesday, November 27 So, what is drama?

Read Chapter 24(1233-1238)

Read Chapter 25(1296-1301)

work on presentations

Thursday, November 29 Presentations 1,2, & 3

Tuesday, December 4 Presentations 4, 5, & 6

Thursday, December 6 Presentations 7 & 8

prepare for drama exam

Tuesday, December 18 DRAMA EXAM at NOON