TR 11:00A-12:20P
We will study some major voices of 18th-century English literature while trying to dispel a few basic myths regarding the period's vision of the world.
Additional information about course objectives can be found on the department webpage, http://libarts.mwsu.edu/english/.
Marks in the class will be created through a series of efforts:
1) Members will be expected to come to class prepared and willing to participate. Thus, everyone in class will be asked to keep a Participation Log listing daily engagements with the discussions at hand. The Log will be collected on 2 December and be worth 10% of the final grade. To receive full credit, the log will list fifteen responses (fifteen for ten points, fourteen for nine . . .).
Note: Participation points also can be earned by keeping a journal. Please use standard 8.5” by 11” paper. Each week, log at least one page (c. 300 words) of brainstorming and commentary regarding the class lessons on a specific day. All entries must be typed, dated, readable, and apply to actual lessons. Points will be awarded according to the same system indicated on the log sheet: 15 entries earn 10 points, 14 entries, 9 points . . . Journals will be due on the last class day. A combination of journal and log entries may be turned in, as well (e.g., 6 participations and 9 journal entries).
2) In addition, members will write four exams, as indicated. Each exam will cover the unit of work just finished. That is, Exam IV will not be comprehensive. Each exam will have two parts: one written in class (short answers, fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice); one typed outside of class (an essay of four pages, responding to questions available about a week before the exam date). The exam grade average will create 60% of the final mark.
3) Special Graduate Assignment (Due 2 December; 30% of final grade) In addition to the above work, each graduate student will choose an 18th-century English writer or cultural concern mentioned or included in the Day/Keegan text, and that will not be engaged during class. The student then will assemble a teaching file that would support a two-day unit concerning that writer or cultural concern in a junior-college literature survey. For a writer, the file will focus on one sample work. For a cultural problem, the file will focus on one writer’s work that delves the issue.
The topic choice must be submitted and okayed by me before Exam II. Students will type up the choice request on an MLA-style page, submit the page in class, and then schedule an office meeting to present that choice for discussion.
The teaching file will hold the following elements:
a) An essay of about ten pages, MLA-style, that summarizes the significance of the author/issue, then analyzes one key writing that presents the writer/issue chosen, and finally makes suggestions about how the writer/issue might best be taught.
b) An attached "Works Cited" section in which at least four of the entries are annotated, indicating good basic sources for students to pursue in their own work. The annotation will discuss, briefly, the worth of the sources in question.
The essay will integrate old and new critical commentary, to create a sense of the development of thought regarding the chosen author/issue.
In this class, the following numerical equivalents for final grades are used: A = 100-90%; B = 89-80%; C = 79-70%; D = 69-60%; F = 59-0%. For grade sources, see above, “Course Requirements.”
All essays will be submitted in MLA format. Specific instructions will accompany each set of exam questions.
By enrolling in this class, the student expressly grants MSU a “limited right” to all intellectual property created by the student for the purpose of this course. The “limited right” shall include but shall not be limited to the right to reproduce the student’s work product in order to verify originality and authenticity, and for educational purposes.
Note: Students may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless they obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved, in advance.
No late work can be accepted, unless arrangements have been made with me.
Regular attendance and participation will be expected. After the first two cuts, each additional cut will lower the final mark one grade. Two late arrivals count together as one cut. Exceptions will be made ONLY for certifiable illnesses or for "authorized" absence, specifically as described in the university Catalog.
Please see first-day introduction.