English 102S: English Composition II (Speaking Intensive)

Spring 2003: Section 18

Instructor: Dan Albergotti

Office: 334K McIver

Email: cdalberg@uncg.edu

Office Hours: 11:00-12:00 T & TH, 1:00-2:00 W • other times by appointment

 

Course Theme: The Simpsons and America

In this class, we will examine the television show The Simpsons as a satire of various American issues.  While we will focus on the show in particular, our discussions will naturally address the social and political issues that arise in the episodes as they exist outside of the series.  Therefore, this is not a course about The Simpsons alone, but about America as we see it through satire.  We will watch some episodes in class, and we will laugh and have fun discussing them, but please don’t make the mistake of assuming that a class about a cartoon show is necessarily easy.  This is an academically rigorous course, and you will be held to high standards.

 

Materials

You are required to purchase Writing Matters, the handbook for English 101 and 102 produced by the composition program at UNCG.  I also recommend that you own a good collegiate dictionary (such as the Merriam-Webster 10th edition) and a college handbook for composition (such as Longman’s).  Other than these, I do not ask that you purchase other materials beyond what any student of composition needs (pens, paper, stapler, etc.).  However, you may find that you need to spend a little money for this course on photocopying, renting videos, accessing the internet, or other such tasks from time to time.  Our central “text” will be the series itself, and I will not require that you buy a secondary text.  However, you may find these books interesting and helpful:

 

The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family by Matt Groening (HarperPerennial)

The Simpsons Forever! A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family . . . Continued by Matt Groening (HarperPerennial)

The Simpsons Beyond Forever! A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family . . . Still Continued by

            Matt Groening (HarperPerennial)

The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World’s Most Animated Family by Mark I. Pinsky (Westminster John Knox)

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh of Homer edited by William Irwin, Mark T. Conrad, and Aeon J. Skoble (Open Court)

 

There is also a wealth of high-quality information about The Simpsons available on the internet.  Two sites especially worth mention are: www.The Simpsons.com (the official Fox network site) and www.snpp.com (an excellent site for episode summaries, trivia, and links to other sites).  From time to time, I may ask you to read particular material on these sites, and I may also ask you to read articles that I will put on E-Reserve.

 

I should also mention at this point that episodes of The Simpsons are aired in syndication twice each weeknight (7:00 & 7:30) on the local UPN affiliate (channel 48 on broadcast, channel 14 on Greensboro’s Time Warner cable).  I recommend that you watch and/or tape these episodes whenever possible.

 

Goals

The freshman composition sequence is designed primarily to help you develop your abilities to write, speak, read, and listen.  English 102 is particularly focused on developing your skills in argument and analysis.  Some of the goals of this course are to help you learn to:

• interpret and evaluate argumentative discourse, both written and spoken

• construct cogent arguments

• communicate those arguments clearly, coherently, and effectively

• locate, synthesize, and evaluate information

• demonstrate an understanding of the aims and methods of intellectual discourse

• weigh evidence and evaluate arguments of differing viewpoints

 

It is very important that you make a personal commitment to focus on your individual improvement as a writer and speaker throughout the course rather than on your momentary performance on the various assignments throughout it.  A significant goal of the course is to help you develop writing, reading, speaking, and listening skills that you will continue to develop throughout the rest of your academic career and your life.  For these goals to be accomplished, you need to make a serious personal commitment to your own improvement.  You also must be an active participant in this class.  Learning simply does not occur if the student is passive.

 

Course Requirements

You must complete two essays, give an individual oral presentation to the class, and participate in a group oral presentation to the class.  You will be asked to produce multiple drafts of the essays and to provide feedback to your classmates on some of their essays-in-progress.  You will not receive grades on the particular assignments.  I will give you specific and detailed response to your essays, and you will have the opportunity to revise them significantly before submitting them for a final evaluation in a portfolio at the end of the course.  This portfolio will constitute the vast majority of your grade.  The oral presentations will be judged to a large degree as you give them, but other factors, including written and spoken reflection on the presentations, may influence your evaluation.  Other factors may influence your final grade as well, such as class participation and work on in-class exercises.

 

The Portfolio

We will discuss the nature of the portfolio at length throughout the course, but you should know from the beginning that the material included in it will be drawn from the various pieces of formal and informal writing that you create throughout the semester as well as writing about the oral presentations you give or participate in.  Therefore, it is very important that you save every draft of every piece of writing you do this term; that includes both in-class and out-of-class writing.

 

Resources

The Writing Center (101 McIver Building) offers UNCG students free assistance with their writing.  Undergraduate and graduate consultants in the center help students with a variety of writing problems and concerns.  However, the Writing Center is not a proofreading service; you cannot simply take a paper there to be “cleaned up.”  But the consultants there can teach you how to improve your own proofreading skills so that an outside service is completely unnecessary.  The newly opened Speaking Center in the basement of McIver is another resource for you.  The Speaking Center can provide you with help on various issues associated with the oral presentations.

 

Attendance

This course places a great deal of emphasis on class discussion, in-class work, and collaborative learning.  You will greatly hinder your success in the course and the success of your classmates if you miss class meetings.  Therefore, I insist on your regular attendance.  If you miss more than three class periods, I will penalize your final grade by at least one letter.  Any student missing more than six class periods will fail the course.  There is no distinction between “excused” and “unexcused” absences; an absence is an absence.  Therefore, if you are prone to colds or the flu, I recommend that you do not blow any of your allowed three absences on “cuts.”  You should also know that only presence for the entire class period constitutes your being “present” for a class.  Anything less constitutes an absence.  Be sure that you arrive to class on time; late arrival is unprofessional and, frankly, rude.  If you arrive after I have called roll, you are not present and will not be considered present for the class period, even if you remain for the day’s discussion.  If you do miss a class, you are responsible for getting the day’s notes from a classmate.  You are also responsible for keeping track of your own attendance record.  I don’t want to hear the question “How many absences do I have?”  Ultimately, this long-winded policy on attendance should be unnecessary.  You should be eager to be here every day to claim your education.  So be here.

 

Class Conduct

Every student in this class has paid good money for it and deserves an environment conducive to learning.  That environment is compromised when a student talks to others while someone else is trying to speak or behaves in any other fashion that disrupts the productive momentum of the class.  I ask that you give polite attention to your teacher and your peers when they are speaking, that you wait for your turn to speak rather than interrupting, that you do not wear headphones during class, that you either turn off your cell phone or set it to its mute-ring mode, that you do not read a newspaper or another class’s textbook during the hour, and in general that you show consideration for others throughout the semester.  It always has been and always will be a good rule of thumb to “treat others as you wish to be treated.”

 

Academic Honesty

No act of academic dishonesty will be tolerated.  In English courses, most cases of academic dishonesty involve plagiarism, i.e. representing the words or ideas of others as one’s own (such as copying words and ideas from secondary sources, including internet sources).  Penalties for academic misconduct may range from official reprimands and the designated failure of work (or courses) to suspension from the university for definite or indefinite periods of time.  But the most important thing to consider here is that the cheater cheats him- or herself far more than any other person.  Don’t impede your education by not doing the work yourself.

 

Special Accommodations

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides for special considerations for individuals with certain disabilities, including learning disabilities.  Students with documentation of special needs should arrange to see me about accommodations as soon as possible.

 

Class Schedule

 

Week One (Jan 13-17): Introductions; Discussion of satire, analysis, and argument; “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”

 

Week Two (Jan 20-24): Discussion of episodes; “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington”

 

Week Three (Jan 27-31): Discussion of episodes; “Homer Goes to College”

 

Week Four (Feb 3-7): Analysis of Single Episode due

 

Week Five (Feb 10-14): Discussion of group presentations; analyzing characters; “The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular”

 

Week Six (Feb 17-21): The Simpsons and Family; “There’s No Disgrace Like Home”

 

Week Seven (Feb 24-28): Group Presentations on Characters

 

Week Eight (Mar 3-7): Group Presentations on Characters

 

SPRING BREAK: March 8-16

 

Week Nine (Mar 17-21): The Simpsons and Religion; “In Marge We Trust”

 

Week Ten (Mar 24-28): The Simpsons and Politics; “Sideshow Bob Roberts”

 

Week Eleven (Mar 31-Apr 4): The Simpsons and Media/Popular Culture; “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show”

 

Week Twelve (Apr 7-11): Individual Presentations

 

Week Thirteen (Apr 14-18): Individual Presentations

 

Week Fourteen (Apr 21-25): Argumentative Essay due; discussion of portfolios

 

Week Fifteen (Apr 28-May 2): The Simpsons and America; discussion of portfolios

 

Tuesday, May 6: Last day of classes; university follows Friday schedule

 

Portfolios due on May 7

 

NOTE: The policies and schedule described in this syllabus are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.