English 206: American Literature II, Syllabus Spring 2007

English 206: American Literature II

Syllabus, Spring 2007

Dr. Tina L. Hanlon

Associate Professor of English
Ferrum College, English Department

It is your responsibility to check course web pages regularly for updates and new materials. This includes material in the Angel site at http://angel.ferrum.edu. You are enrolled in Angel as a student of Ferrum College. When you log in, you should have automatic access to the course English 207 A. Remember to refresh web pages that might have been changed since you last viewed them.

Professor Contact Information:
MWF: 9:30-10:00, MW 2:45-3:45
T Th: 10:50-12:00, F 1:30-2:00
And by appointment
Writing Center: M, W: 1- 2:30; T, Th: 1-:30
Office: Britt Hall 205. Office Phone: 365-4327
E-mail: thanlon@ferrum.edu

Textbooks:

McMichael, George, et al, eds. Anthology of American Literature, vol. II, 9th ed. Pearson, 2007.

The Little, Brown Handbook (recommended--or another similar handbook)

Note: Some additional recommended and required readings may be placed on reserve in the library, and some may be on the Internet or on handouts. You may be required to watch one or more films or dramatic performances during the semester.

English 206 is a study of the literature of the United States from the late nineteenth century and the period of Realism and Naturalism through Modernism to the present. A wide selection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American writers are studied. This course is designated as a sophomore literature course and meets the literature requirement in the Ferrum College Liberal Arts Core. If a student takes a second sophomore literature course and earns a grade of "C" or higher in it, the course may be used to fulfill three credits of the Writing Intensive graduation requirement for Ferrum College. Students cannot earn a grade of "C" or higher in this course unless they earn a "C" or better on the writing assignments required by the course.

We will approach the readings not only as individual works of art to be read creatively and enjoyed imaginatively and intellectually, but also as examples of the response of the writers to the unique experience of being Americans. The course is designed to help you enjoy the literature of the period more thoroughly, as well as improving your ability to appreciate all kinds of literature, to think critically and discuss your responses confidently, and to write clear analytical essays.

Course Goals/Learning Outcomes. All learning activities are designed to assist you in accomplishing the following learning outcomes.

1. Read, comprehend, analyze, interpret, and evaluate primary literary texts as forms of cultural and creative expression

2. Write about literature with unity of purpose, coherent organization, and effective use of English consistent with standard rules and ordinary conventions

4. Demonstrate critical understanding of cultural diversity as represented by American literature from the late 19th century to the present

This course is also likely to engage you in activities that support the following college learning outcomes:

Midterm Exam	About Feb. 26	10%
Final Exam	Fri., 4/27, 2007, 2-4 p.m.	20%
Informal writing, discussion forums, class participation	All semester	10 %
Project with oral report	Dates to be arranged	10 %
Papers		50%

All formal papers must be typed, double-spaced, with documentation using the MLA format. The Little, Brown Handbook gives instructions for standard format in academic papers and for documentation. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers gives more detail on MLA documentation. See Grading Criteria for English 206 and 207 Essays and Basic Steps in Writing Literature Papers.

Exams: The tests and final exam will contain short answer and essay questions on material that has been discussed in class. There may also be a matching section on one or more tests. Specific material that you will be responsible for on the exams will be explained in advance. You may be asked to prepare some questions in advance, or do some take-home or open-book writing as part of an exam. The final exam is Friday Apr. 27, 2007, 2-4 p.m.

Our Honor Code applies to all work submitted for credit in this course. Plagiarism or any other form of cheating on papers, reports, homework, or tests will result in severe penalties, which may include failure of the course. You are responsible for reading and understanding the Ferrum College Honor Policy (in the Student Handbook, available online at this link), and for avoiding the undocumented use of the words or ideas of others in your assignments. You should be familiar with the Ferrum College Foundation Standards. Any papers submitted with missing or faulty documentation of sources will not be graded or receive credit in this course. If your papers or projects involve literature not in the assigned texts for the course, be sure the professor has access to those sources. It is a good idea to keep copies of pages in secondary sources from which you take specific ideas, information, or quotations that you use directly in papers. I will not grade a paper if I have any questions about its use of sources, until those questions are answered and corrections are made if necessary. (At the end of the semester this may mean automatic failure if there is no time left for clarification or corrections.) See also the notes on using online resources at Links to Online Texts.

Special Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations and auxiliary aids will be available for any qualified student with a disability in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. As early in the semester as possible, you are encouraged to notify the instructor and Ms. Linda Albrecht, Disability Services Coordinator, in ARC 111. Instructors are not allowed to discuss individual accommodations in public or ask individual students to make use of them. Qualified students may request these services and must follow the reasonable guidelines required by the school (such as arranging at least 48 hours in advance for any special accommodations for a scheduled test), or you may forfeit your right for the desired accommodation on the task in question.

Attendance and Participation:
Attendance at all classes is required and is necessary for satisfactory progress in the work of the course. Accumulating more than four unexcused absences will lower your final grade in the course by as much as one letter grade. Ferrum College policy mandates that anyone who misses one-fourth of the class meetings automatically fails the course (i.e., 6 Tues.-Thurs. classes). It is your responsibility to inform the professor (preferably in advance) and arrange for make-up work if you have a legitimate reason for missing a class. Make-up tests will be given only in the case of extreme emergency and may consist of essay questions only. Feb.9 is the last day to withdraw from a class without penalty. To withdraw from the course between that date and the tenth week with a WP, you must be in good standing, with all course work completed to that date (otherwise the grade will be WF). Withdrawing after the tenth week results in a grade of F. See the college catalog, pp. 4, 44-45 on grading, attendance, and withdrawal policies.

You are expected to come to class each day prepared to discuss the assigned readings. Arriving late is discourteous to other class members and could result in your being marked absent for the day. You are encouraged to participate in class discussion and ask questions at any time in class, but you are expected to respect the needs and rights of others by not talking while others are talking or distracting others in any way. If you disrupt the class or distract the professor or other students you will be asked to leave the class and will be counted absent for that day.

Course Goal/Outcome	Instructional Experiences	Assessments
1. Read, comprehend, analyze, interpret, and evaluate primary literary texts as forms of cultural and creative expression	Lecture, class discussion, reading primary texts and background, individual project, writing about literature	Exams Papers Informal writing Class participation Course project
2. Write about literature with unity of purpose, coherent organization, and effective use of English consistent with standard rules and ordinary conventions	Writing about literature, class discussion of writing assignments and literary themes and traditions to be discussed in papers Individual conferences with professor and/or Writing Center tutors	Exams Papers Informal writing
3. Demonstrate independent critical thinking	Class discussion, reading, individual project and oral report, writing about literature	Exams Papers Informal writing Class participation Course project
4. Demonstrate critical understanding of cultural diversity as represented by American literature	Lectures, class discussion, student oral reports, reading primary texts and background, writing about literature	Class participation Exams