SPRING 2002                                                                                               G. MCDONALD

ENGLISH 252

 

            MAJOR AMERICAN AUTHORS: REALIST TO MODERN

 

 

January  15    Introduction to the course

 

               17B24   Clemens      Huckleberry Finn

 

                29-31   James      The Turn of the Screw

 

February   5-12   Chopin     The Awakening

 

                      14   Gilman     AThe Yellow Wallpaper@

 

                      19   Selections from Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois

 

                      21   TEST I

 

February 26BMarch 7   Eliot     The Waste Land        ESSAY DUE (March 7)

 

March 12, 14, 19   SPRING BREAK AND INSTRUCTOR TO CONFERENCE

 

March 21BApril 2   Fitzgerald     The Great Gatsby

 

April                4    TEST II

 

                   9-11   O=Neill    Long Day=s Journey Into Night (on film)

 

                       16   Discussion of Long Day=s Journey Into Night

                              REVISION OF ESSAY DUE

 

                  18-30   Faulkner      The Sound and the Fury

     

May                  2    Review    TEST III ESSAY QUESTION DISTRIBUTED

 

                         7   TEST III ESSAYS DUE TO INSTRUCTOR BY NO LATER THAN NOON

 

TEXTS:  Norton Anthology of American Literature, vol. 2, 5th edition.

                The Great Gatsby

                The Sound and the Fury

Specific editions of each of these books were ordered from the University bookstore and should be available for this section.   Please let me know right away if you encounter any problems. Addams bookstore also has the order.

 

OFFICE HOURS:   My office is McIver 124, phone 334-5650.  My e-mail address is g_mcdona@uncg.edu.   I will keep regular office hours from 3:30-4:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I am also happy to see you by appointment.

 

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:

$                    Identify and understand varied characteristics of literature

$                    Apply techniques of literary analysis to texts

$                    Use literary study to develop skills in careful reading and clear writing

$                    Demonstrate understanding of the diverse social and historical contexts in which

            literary texts have been written and interpreted

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:  This is a writing-intensive course.  Students will keep a reading journal, making entries on a biweekly basis at minimum, until the beginning of March.   I will provide Aprompts@ to get you started.   Out of this more informal writing will grow one formal essay of five pages.  After receiving commentary on the essay, you will revise it.  In addition, there will be three in-class tests, at least part of which will be in essay-form.  I expect and value regular attendance and participation and therefore reserve the right to drop a student from class if he or she is frequently absent.

 

BASIS FOR GRADES:   Reading journal, essay, and revision 45%.  Tests 45%.

Attendance and participation 10%.

 

POLICIES:

$                    Late work is strongly discouraged.  See me in advance if you have a serious problem meeting a deadline.  My normal procedure is to mark an assignment down 1/3 grade when it is late and even more if it is outrageously late.

$                    Violations of the Honor Code are of course not tolerated.  If you do not know what plagiarism is, read about it today in the Student Handbook.  I will treat any form of cheating seriously, at minimum assigning a grade of AF@ for the work, and reserving the right to refer the case to the Honor Board for disciplinary action.

$                    Please do not disrupt class by being late.  I will close the door once class has begun.

$                    Bring the text being studied to every class, even when it is in the cumbersome

            anthology.  Students without texts will be asked to leave.