ENGL 2111/Summer 2022/Requirements

From Gerald R. Lucas
< ENGL 2111‎ | Summer 2022
Revision as of 08:48, 12 May 2022 by Grlucas (talk | contribs) (→‎Required Materials: Added link to downloads.)
Requirement %[1]
Reading 30%
Writing 40%
Exams 30%

This course is composed of three requirements: reading, writing, and tests. Each requirement will be on-going throughout the semester, will require regular contributions, and may be comprised of various assignments. Tests will be essay and short-answers, one at midterm and one at the conclusion of the course.

Athena appearing to Odysseus to reveal the Island of Ithaca by Giuseppe Bottani.jpg

Reading

Each lesson’s major focus will be reading primary texts (the literature) and secondary texts (critical response to the literature). Reading quizzes (taken on D2L ) will test your knowledge of the materials, focusing on factual details like plot points, rather than interpretative readings. Students should take thorough notes as they read—like character names, plot points, and other details—that will help them on quizzes and later analysis of the texts in their writing.

Reading quizzes cannot be made up for any reason. Please do not ask me to reopen a closed quiz.

Writing

Each lesson has students discussing to assigned readings on Packback. This forum is a written class discussion that encourages interaction about the course materials. These posts should be focused, interpretive, and supported by primary and secondary texts. Discussion posts should show what you’re reading and thinking about in relation to the course content—it is a place to share and develop ideas about the texts. You will discuss to every text you read, the minimum required response per week is three: one question and two response posts. See the Packback tab above.

Short Lit-Crit Response

This essay will have students research and write about one of the texts we have studied in class. Choose the text you would like to investigate further, find a secondary, critical article, and write your two-page response. This assignment may be repeated once for extra credit (also see XC Response). For detailed instructions, see Short Lit Crit Response and be sure you follow them carefully.

Exams

Students’ knowledge of the course texts will be evaluated with a midterm and a final exam. These exams will be composed of essay and short-answer questions. The best answers employ an objective knowledge of the material, thoroughness, depth of insight, precision, and originality. The best way to prepare for these tests is to read the assigned novels thoroughly and have a general understanding of the main themes of the works. Additional research always helps.

Required Materials

Norton1-world.jpg

Our study of World Literature this semester will use either of the following:

  • Mack, Maynard, ed. (1999). Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: Literature of Western Culture Through the Renaissance. The Western Tradition. 1 (Seventh ed.). New York: W. W. Norton.
  • Lawall, Sarah, ed. (2003). The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Beginnings to A.D. 100. A (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton.


Both of these books are out-of-print, but you should have no problem acquiring one of them, either through the Amazon affiliate[2] links above or another bookstore. These books contain the specific translations that I will be referencing in-class and on exams, so one of the two texts above is required.[3] While readily available, other translations will just be confusing and cause you unnecessary difficulty.

Your course book(s) or readings should always accompany you to class, as we will make heavy use of them in our daily discussions. Please do not come to class without it: we need the texts for class activities, in-class writing, and all aspects of our study. PDFs must be printed if they are used in class—this includes exams. Failure to do so will earn you an absence (see Attendance).

You should also bring an ink interface of some sort, as well as dead trees on which to take notes. Notes should not only reflect good listening skills, but individual interest in every topic discussed in class.



notes

  1. This is the general percentage breakdown for these requirements. As I use a point system for evaluation, the percentages are just an estimate.
  2. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases; links to Amazon contain my associate ID. All revenue earned goes to support the costs associated with maintaining this web site.
  3. Get the cheapest one, as one is no better or worse than the other. And the good news is you can sell the book back to Amazon at the end of the term and make most of your money back. Alternatively, since you must spend money on Packback this semester, you can get PDFs of the required texts from my server using the password “Summer 2022”; please do not share this link. This link will expire on June 11, 2022.
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