ENG 104 Composition and Literature II Spring 2007

Dr. Christine Braunberger

Phone: 498-2612

E-mail: braunbec@sunyocc.edu

Office: 319H Mawhinney Hall

Face time office hours: Mon-Thurs 200-3:00 & Tues/Thurs 11:00-12:00

Virtual office hours: TBA

and by appt.

Section 006 9:30-10:50 M/W

Section 015 12:30-1:50 M/W

both meet in Mawhinney Hall 302

Course Description:

This course is designed to enrich your interaction with literature in two ways. 1) By providing tools for understanding and evaluating literature 2) By introducing you to a variety of literary voices. Using this literary base as our subject matter, this course will also help you learn to conduct library research and approach writing projects with college-level proficiency and confidence. For a concise description of the English department’s expectations for this class please see the attached Department Syllabus.

Texts:

Lynn, Steven. Literature: Reading and Writing with Critical Strategies. New York:

Pearson, 2004.

Hacker, Diane. Rules for Writers. Fifth Ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.

(you probably already own this one)

Grading strategy:

Class participation 15%

Journal entries (14) 20%

Essays (4) 55%

Final 10%

“Art lives upon discussion, upon experiment, upon curiosity, upon varieties

of attempt, upon the exchange of views and the comparison of standpoints.”

-Henry James, “The Art of Fiction”

The worth of lively, informed discussions in a literature class can not be stressed enough; thoughtful participation can make a class inspiring, while dreary unprepared classmates can make a class an ordeal. Please come prepared for every session and bring your sense of humor and point of view. Your participation grade will rest on your thoughtful participation in class activities; if you believe you will not be able to participate, please sign up for a different section of ENG 104. Lackluster participation may be met with quizzes dropping from the sky.

Journal entries—which we may think of as blogs—will be posted in Angel. We’ll discuss technical issues in class. Grading criteria for essays will be determined in part on an individual basis—how well you attend to each assignment—but primarily will follow the attached grading rubric. The final exam will be multiple choice.

Time expectations: Expect to spend two—three hours out of class for every hour in class. You gotta read the book to love it, and you gotta write to become a better writer thinker.

Late papers will be assessed a grade penalty of five points (1/2 a letter grade) for each late day unless you have arranged an extension with me prior to the due date. Failure to have drafts ready for workshops will result in a penalty of 1/2 a letter grade for the final work.

Type it—unless you hear differently.

Feel free to communicate with me via e-mail or phone if you should need my help (that's part of my job, too).

Please note that OCC provides reasonable accommodations for individuals with documented disabilities that could affect academic performance. If you have a disability that may require special accommodation, please contact the Office of Services for Students with Special Needs (OSSSN) at Student Central in the Gordon Student Center, as soon as possible. If you have already met with an OSSSN professional, please see me with your accommodation sheet so you and I can make any necessary arrangements. Your meeting with me will help both of us to accomplish our goals for this class.

We are fortunate at OCC to have an excellent Writing Skills Center. Located on the third floor, North Wing of Mawhinney Hall, the Center is staffed by professional tutors. The Center is generally open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., with some evening hours. Students can make an appointment for short-term help or for weekly sessions, for which full-time, matriculated students might earn one credit. Students are also invited to drop in for a single session; daily drop-in hours are posted on the door. For selected students whose time on campus is limited, eTutoring (via email) is available; inquire at the Center. And for those late night writing questions and grammar and punctuation emergencies, email NightWriter write@sunyocc.edu Sunday through Thursday, 9 p.m. to midnight. All tutoring is free to OCC students enrolled in any course, not just English.

Extra credit options

#1 If you utilize the Writing Skills Center three times over the course of the semester for any type of assistance with your writing you will receive an extra 10 points to your total essay points for the semester. This option exists for students who have a specific issue (or three) that they want to address in their writing.

#2 I will announce various community and college events that are of a literary nature taking place across the semester You will have the opportunity to earn participation points by attending events and writing a short reaction paper.

Schedule of assignments (what pages to read, where, and what else to do)

1/22 introductions

1/24 write journal entry (blog) #1 (that’s in Angel): what is your definition of literature?

read chapters #2-3 in Lynn pp. 13-36

1/29 continue discussion on Lynn chapters 2 and 3

write journal entry #2: which of the critical perspectives discussed in

chapter two are you most interested in learning to do and why?

u Tell Me a Story

Journal entries #3-7: As we cover this section on fiction you are to write five entries using the critical perspective of your choice on five of the assigned stories of your choice.

1/31 read chapter #10, including T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “The Hit Man, “ in Lynn

pp. 273-285

2/5 read hand-out of student essays for workshop discussion

and read chapter #8, including John Cheever’s “Reunion” in Lynn pp. 188-205;

also look at glossary and suggestions pp. 205-208

2/7 read chapter #7, including Elizabeth Talent’s “No One' a Mystery”

and Hemingway’s “A Very Short Story,” in Lynn pp. 122-142

2/12 read Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” pp. 305-314

2/14 read William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” pp. 144-151 and Lynn on

Faulkner pp. 151-155

2/19 draft of first essay due—bring three copies for workshop

2/21 read Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” pp. 316-32

2/26 critical material on Gilman in Lynn pp. 327-345

first essay due

second essay assigned

h LITERARY RESEARCH: THE BRAIN BURN

2/28 read Appendix A in Lynn pp. 1101-1106

read about writing MLA papers in Rules for Writers pp. 400-412

3/5 write journal entry #8: discuss directions your second essay might go

read about web research in Rules for Writers pp. 370-400

skim Rules for Writers pp. 413-441 on documenting sources

m THE PLAY’S THE THING

3/7 read chapter #9 in Lynn pp. 263-266

write journal entry #9: what are you thoughts about Shakespeare? Are you

familiar with any of his plays or poems?

begin watching Hamlet in class

3/12 finish watching Hamlet

3/14 Hamlet discussion (we’ll begin with the questions on pp. 948-950 of Lynn)

write journal entry #10: Comment on watching Hamlet and discuss directions your drama essay might go

3/19 Spring Break—no class

3/21 Spring Break—no class

3/26 draft of second essay due—bring three copies for workshop

documenting sources revisited

3/28 read chapter #18 in Lynn pp. 952-960 on critical interpretations of Hamlet

k DISTILLING SENSE FROM ORDINARY MEANINGS

4/2 begin reading chapter #4 in Lynn pp. 39-56

write journal entry #11: how do you think about poetry? What value do you place on it?

second essay due

4/4 read suggestion in chapter #16 of Lynn pp. 696-698

bring in a favorite poem to share with the class

4//9 TBA

4/11 draft of third essay due—bring three copies for workshop

4/16 read “the bowl of plums” section of chapter #14 pp.614-617, and p. 574

“This is Just to Say”

4/18 read chapter #6 in Lynn pp. 91-120 (skip the questions for now)

third essay due

4/23 read forms section of chapter #13 of Lynn pp. 584-590, then “Dulce et Decorum Est” pp. 731-2 and “Pitcher” p. 714

Write journal entry #12: Comment on how the workshop process is going in terms of your contributions and in terms of what others contribute to your essays

4.25 read Gwendolyn Brooks in chapter #15 of Lynn pp. 668-94

write journal entry #13 on one of Brooks’ poems

4/30 draft of fourth essay due—bring three copies for workshop

5/2 write journal entry #14 on what you’ve gotten from this class

“Weakest Link” prep for final

fourth essay due