ENG 2143

ENG 2143.50

Fiction

Spring 2006

Ann Tyler

Course Name, Number, and Description: ENG 2143.50. Fiction. Description: The 2005-2007 Texas Woman's University General Catalog describes ENG 2143 Fiction in this way: "An introduction to the art of fiction, including the study of short stories, novellas, and novels, with an emphasis on critical reading. Prerequisite: ENG 1023 or its equivalent. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: three hours. Multicultural studies requirement. Core literature requirement." Because this course provides multicultural "core" credit, we will read authors from a variety of backgrounds, including the African-American, Hispanic-American, and Asian-American traditions (with an approximately equal division between male and female writers). Please note that this course is taught almost entirely online. After the optional orientation on Tuesday, January 17 from noon to 1 p.m. in ASB 205 the course will be conducted online asynchronously on Blackboard at twu6.blackboard.com with only one required meeting all semester--for the final exam. The time and place of that examination during final exams week is as follows: Tuesday, May 9th, from 3-5 p.m. in ASB 204.

Faculty Contact Information: Office Location, Phone, Hours:
Russell Greer, Ph.D. Associate Professor. Office: CFO 803. E-mail: rgreer@twu.edu or russellgreer@verizon.net. Fax: (940) 898-2297 (English Department). Office telephone: (940) 898-2346. Website: www.russellgreer.com

Most students find they can communicate with me quickly through the course itself online or by e-mail (rgreer@twu.edu). In addition, I will host office hours in CFO 803 on Mondays and Wednesdays from noon to 2 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise indicated. If I cannot hold regular office hours, I will make an announcement on Blackboard, my website, and on the door of my office. Since I am also the departental advisor for undergraduate English majors, appointments for meetings during office hours are encouraged. I am usually not available in my office at other times, but I am available by phone and online. You may also leave me a voice mail at (940) 898-2346. I check for messages daily and try to return calls promptly.

Course Goals/Student Learning Outcomes:
The core curriculum guidelines described here are predicated on the judgment that a series of basic intellectual competencies -- reading, writing, speaking, listening, critical thinking, and computer literacy -- are essential to the learning process in any discipline and thus should inform any core curriculum.

Although you can be expected to come to college with some experience in exercising these competencies, you often need further instruction and practice to meet college standards and, later, to succeed in both your major field of academic study and your chosen career or profession.

READING Goal: Reading at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials -- books, articles, and documents. A core curriculum should offer students the opportunity to master both general methods of analyzing printed materials and specific methods for analyzing the subject matter of individual disciplines. ENG 2143.50 Student Learning Outcome: In this class, we will read one novel and a selection of short stories from the assigned text throughout the course. Then we will analyze and interpret these works using a variety of critical methods that we will discuss in the class to answer weekly discussion questions, assignments, tests, and papers.

WRITING Goal: Competency in writing is the ability to produce clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. Although correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are each a sine qua non in any composition, they do not automatically ensure that the composition itself makes sense or that the writer has much of anything to say. Students need to be familiar with the writing process including how to discover a topic and how to develop and organize it, how to phrase it effectively for their audience. These abilities can be acquired only through practice and reflection. ENG 2143.50 Student Learning Outcome: In this class, we will accomplish this competency by answering weekly, written discussion questions, two 3-5 page essay assignments, and one test that will include essay questions.

SPEAKING Goal: Competence in speaking is the ability to communicate orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose, occasion, and audience. Developing this competency includes acquiring poise and developing control of the language through experience in making presentations to small groups, to large groups, and through the media. ENG 2143.50 Student Learning Outcome: Since this is an online course, this competency is not applicable directly, although many of the rhetorical skills we will exercise in writing and working in online groups will help build great skill in speaking and critical thinking also.

LISTENING Goal: Listening at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken communication. ENG 2143.50 Student Learning Outcome: In this class, students develop “listening” skills through online interaction with their classmates, including writing group essays. Although not physically “listening” per se, the communication skills are similar.

CRITICAL THINKING Goal: Critical thinking embraces methods for applying both qualitative and quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter in order to evaluate arguments and to construct alternative strategies. Problem solving is one of the applications of critical thinking, used to address an identified task. ENG 2143.50 Student Learning Outcome: In this class, students will exercise critical thinking skills in analyzing short stories, answering discussion questions, writing papers, and writing essay answers to tests.

COMPUTER LITERACY Goal: Computer literacy at the college level means the ability to use computer-based technology in communicating, solving problems, and acquiring information. Core-educated students should have an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology, and should have the tools necessary to evaluate and learn new technologies as they become available. ENG 2143.50 Student Learning Outcome: In this class, because it being taught entirely online, students meet this competency by default.

Some of these intellectual competencies have traditionally been tied to specific courses required of all students during their first two years of college. For example, courses in college composition, together with mathematics, have long been the cornerstone experience of the freshman year. But a single course or two-course sequence in college composition can do little more than introduce students to the principles and practices of good writing. Within the boundary of three to six semester credit hours of course work, neither of these sequences can guarantee proficiency. Moreover, in most curricula there are no required courses specifically dedicated to reading or to critical thinking. Thus, if a core curriculum is to prepare students effectively, it is imperative that, insofar as possible, these intellectual competencies be included among the objectives of many individual core courses and reflected in their course content.

In addition, in this course we seek to do the following:

1. To demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities, specifically fiction.

2. To understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within an historical and social context.

3. To respond critically to works in the arts and humanities, specifically fiction.

4. To engage in the creative process or interpretive performance and comprehend the physical and intellectual demands required of the author or visual or performing artist, specifically writers of fiction.

5. To articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities, specifically fiction.

6. To develop an appreciation for the aesthetic principles that guide or govern the humanities and arts, specifically fiction.

7. To demonstrate knowledge of the influence of literature, philosophy, and/or the arts on intercultural experiences in fiction.

List of textbooks and supplies:

Required: The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction by Ann Charters (Bedford/St. Martin’s. ISBN: 0-312-39729-1).

Required: Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler (Ballantine. ISBN: 0-449-91159-4).

Suggested: A Guide to MLA Documentation (Sixth Edition) by Joseph Trimmer (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. ISBN: 0618338055) or an English handbook with MLA style information such as The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker (ISBN 0-312-44337-4).

Disability Statement:
”Texas Woman's University seeks to provide appropriate academic adjustments for all individuals with disabilities. The University will comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines, specifically Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), with respect to providing appropriate academic adjustments to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the responsibility of the student to register with and provide medical verification and academic schedules to Disability Support Services (DSS) at the beginning of each semester and no later than the second week of school in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate academic adjustment. For further information regarding Disability Support Services or to register for assistance, please contact the office at 898-3835 (voice, 898-3830 (TDD), or visit CFO 105” (Texas Woman’s University Office of Academic Affairs).

Grading Policy, Major Course Assignments and Examinations and Attendance:

Final Exam: 40% (Final Exam Week)

Individual Essay: 20% (Week TWELVE)

Group Essay: 5% (Week SIX)

PowerPoint: 5% (Week FOUR)

Participation: 30% (Online Attendance: credit is given for postings to the three discussion questions, the reading quiz, anything posted in your group’s forum for a particular week, special assignments, and the weekly summary)

Midterm Conference: Please note that if you have a failing grade after Week SEVEN, I will need to meet with you in person in my office to discuss ways to improve your grade.

Online Attendance (Participation): Thirty percent of your final grade will depend on your participation online. You must post a minimum of TEN times a week on the discussion question forums (including the weekly summary) and in your groups. Some of these postings will be responses to the study questions; others will be preparation of group responses; others will be responses to your classmates. If you do not post at least ten times in the assigned week, do not expect a good participation grade for that week. I will give you a participation grade for every week and announce them periodically, usually when I return a major assignment such as an essay. Your grade will be determined by (1) the amount of postings and (2) the quality of the postings (equally weighted). I calculate participation for a week that begins on Monday and ends at midnight on the following Sunday. Your postings do not need to be long (100-240 words for a primary answer to a discussion question is adequate, and responses can be shorter), but they DO need to advance the discussion helpfully. Postings only count in the week they are due; in other words you cannot “make up” late postings after the week is over. Postings only count in the following places: (1) the discussion question forums; (2) the weekly summary forum; and (3) your group forum for the week in question. Note: Each week you will be asked to answer three discussion questions, one of which will usually be a group question (after the first week). These discussion questions will allow you to earn participation credit and share ideas with your classmates.

Student Participation Summary Form

You will post a summary to a forum provided after you have completed all your week's postings and attach a "student participation summary" form. You can find this form under SYLLABUS (since it's an appendix to the syllabus). In this form, you will cut and paste your "top ten" postings from the week. You may edit your postings for grammar and spelling (in fact you SHOULD edit them for grammar and spelling) but not for content (I will check occasionally to make sure that the they represent your actual work from the week). I will use this summary form to assign your participation grade.

Academic Dishonesty:

“Honesty in completing assignments is essential to the mission of the university and to the development of the personal integrity of the student. Cheating, plagiarism, or other kinds of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will result in appropriate sanctions that may include failing an assignment, failing the class, or being suspended or expelled. Suspected cases in this course may be reported to Student Life. The specific disciplinary process for academic dishonesty is found in the TWU Student Handbook. Tools to help you avoid plagiarism are available through the TWU Libraries’ “Quick Links” under “Research Help” (http://www.twu.edu/library/literacy/index.htm)” (This statement was authorized and mandated by the TWU Provost. November 10, 2005).

Plagiarism:
The following definition of plagiarism appears in Joseph F. Trimmer’s A Guide to MLA Documentation (Sixth Edition), published by Houghton Mifflin Company (2004): “Plagiarism is theft. It is using someone else’s words or ideas without giving proper credit—or without giving any credit at all—to the writer of the original. Whether plagiarism is intentional or unintentional, it is a serious offense…You can avoid plagiarism by taking notes carefully, by formulating and developing your own ideas and by using quotes responsibly to support, rather than replace, your own work” (25). Note that I have used this quotation from a source and have given it full attribution. You should do the same with your sources. I strongly urge you to read the discussion of academic dishonesty that appears in Section Four of The Student Handbook and Planner 2005-2006 (pages 133-135). I intend to follow TWU policy as outlined in this handbook exactly. It defines plagiarism in this way: “Plagiarism occurs when a student obtains portions or elements of someone else's work, including materials prepared by another person or agency, and presents those ideas or words as her or his own academic work. The intentional or unintentional use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement shall constitute plagiarism. Students are responsible for following guidelines of the appropriate course or discipline (ie; MLA, APA)" (133). In this course, we will use the Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Penalties for first-time offenses include, at the instructor’s discretion, any of the following: (1) “Written reprimand”; (2) “Assignment of a lower grade on the test/paper/project in question, with an explanation from the instructor”; (3) “Assignment of a 0 on an assignment"; (4) “Assignment of a grade of F in the course" (134). A discussion of the more severe penalties for second offenses appears on pages 134-135. If you have any questions about whether or not a practice constitutes plagiarism, please contact me before you turn in the assignment. All student papers and discussion forum postings may be checked for plagiarism with a plagiarism website by the instructor.

Tentative calendar of classes, assignments.
Check here for the academic calendar for Spring 2006. Please note that this daily syllabus is for planning purposes only and is subject to change. The page number next to the reading assignment indicates where in your text the story or essay begins.

Final Examination: I will announce the time and place of the final examination, which will occur during final exam week at the end of the semester, early in the course. Attendance at this final exam is mandatory. This examination will have two parts. The first part will be objective. In it, you will be required to define terms, identify passages, and answer short questions about the narratives in the form of matching, multiple choice, and short answer questions. In the second part you will be required to write two short essays in class about the narratives we have read during the semester. I will give you several topics from which to choose, and you must choose two. You must write complete sentences, and four or more of these major errors will cause you to receive a “20” (F) on the essay portion of the examination: comma splices, fused sentences, apostrophe errors, sentence fragments, and agreement errors. Therefore, you should make sure during the semester that you understand and can avoid these errors. If you have questions, please see me during my office hours or make an appointment at the TWU Write Site for coaching. The Write Site telephone number is (940) 898-2341.

Week ONE (17-22 January 2006)

Reading:

1. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler (pages 1-111)

2. Charters: "The Elements of Fiction: Point of View" (1745-1748)

Assignments:

1. Post your autobiography.

2. Form learning teams by the end of Week ONE (if you have no preference, I will assign you to a group at the beginning of Week TWO).

3. Answer three discussion questions, post weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

4. Read the Week ONE lecture under COURSE DOCUMENTS.

5. Take the online reading quiz.

Week TWO (23-29 January 2006)

Reading:

1. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler (pages 112-214)

2. Charters: "The Elements of Fiction: Character" (1742-1744)

Assignments:

1. Answer three discussion questions, including your first group question, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

2. Read the Week TWO lecture found in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week THREE (30 January-5 February 2006)

Reading:

1. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler (pages 215-303)

2. Charters: "The Elements of Fiction: Setting" (1744)

Assignments:

1. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

2. Read the Week THREE lecture found in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week FOUR (6-12 February 2006)
Reading:

1. Zora Neale Hurston: "The Guilded Six-Bits" (652); "Spunk" (660); and "Sweat" (664).

2. Please also read the "Related Casebook."

3. Charters: "The Elements of Fiction: Plot" (1739-1742).

Assignments:

1. Read the Week FOUR lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

4. PowerPoint Assignment due (5 points): Please take one term from "Glossary of Literary Terms"; define it, and then present an example of it in a PowerPoint Presentation of ten slides. Basically teach this term to the class. Please announce the term you have chosen to the PowerPoint forum so that a classmate does not duplicate your work. Please post the PowerPoint presentation to the assigned forum by the end of the week and comment on the presentations posted by your classmates.

Week FIVE (13-19 February 2006)
Reading:

1. William Faulkner: "A Rose for Emily" (484) and "That Evening Sun" (491).

2. Please also read the "Related Commentary" (1490).

3. Charters: "The Elements of Fiction: Style and Voice" (1748)

4. Charters: "Writing About Short Stories" (1752)

Assignments:

1. Read the Week FIVE lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week SIX (20-26 February 2006)

Reading:

1. Eudora Welty: "Why I Live at the P.O." (1368) and "A Worn Path" (1377)

2. Please also read the "Related Commentary."

3. Charters: "The Elements of Fiction: Symbolism and Allegory" (1749)

4. Group Essay (5%) due at the end of Week SIX. Your group will be required to write one critical essay of 3-5 pages on Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant or two short stories that we have read and post it to me on digital dropbox. The essay should be typed, double-spaced, and conform to MLA guidelines. Model essays exist in your text. For a topic, you should expand one of the assigned discussion questions or choose a discussion question from "Reading Group Questions and Topics For Discussion" that appear in the back of the edition of your novel. Your primary purpose in this essay is to suggest a strong thesis, an argument about how to understand the novel or stories. I will grade the essay in terms of content, organization, style, diction, and grammar. You must write complete sentences, and four or more of these major errors will cause you to receive a “20” (F) on the essay portion of the examination: comma splices, fused sentences, apostrophe errors, sentence fragments, or agreement errors. Therefore, you should make sure during the semester that you understand and can avoid these errors. If you have questions, please see me during my office hours or make an appointment at the TWU Write Site for coaching. The Write Site telephone number is (940) 898-2341.

Assignments:

1. Read the Week SIX lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week SEVEN (27 February-5 March 2006)

Reading:

1. “Sonny's Blues" (84) by James Baldwin, "Battle Royal" (464) by Ralph Ellison, and "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" (1427) by Richard Wright.

2. Charters: "The Elements of Fiction: Theme" (1749-1751)

Assignments:

1. Read the Week SEVEN lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week EIGHT (6-12 March 2006)

Reading:

1. Margaret Atwood: "Happy Endings" (69) and "Rape Fantasies" (71).

2. Please also read the "Related Commentary" (1456).

Assignments:

1. Read the Week EIGHT lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post the weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Spring Break 13-19 March 2006.

Week NINE (20-26 March 2006)

Reading:

1. Sherwood Anderson: "Death in the Woods" (55) and "Hands" (64).

2. Please also read the "Related Commentary" (1453).

Assignments:

1. Read the Week NINE lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week TEN (27 March-2 April 2006)

Reading:

1. “Woman from America" (643) by Bessie Head; "Girl" (839) by Jamaica Kincaid; "Blood-Burning Moon" (1335) by Jean Toomer; and "Everyday Use" (1360) by Alice Walker.

Assignments:

1. Read the Week TEN lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week ELEVEN (3-9 April 2006)

Reading:

1. Kate Chopin: "Desiree's Baby" (322) and "The Story of an Hour" (326)

2. Please also read the "Related Commentary" (1474)

Assignments:

1. Read the Week ELEVEN lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week TWELVE (10-16 April 2006)

Reading:

1. Raymond Carver: "The Bath" (230); "A Small, Good Thing" (235); and "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" (252).

2. Please also read the "Related Casebook."

Assignments:

1. Read the Week TWELVE lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

4. Individual Essay (20%) due at the end of Week TWELVE. You will be required to write one critical essay of 3-5 pages and post it to me on digital dropbox. I will give you more information about these essays later in the course, but in general they should be typed, double-spaced, and conform to MLA guidelines. Model essays exist in your text. Your primary purpose in these essays is to suggest a strong thesis, an argument about how to understand the story or stories. I will grade the essay in terms of content, organization, style, diction, and grammar. You must write complete sentences, and four or more of these major errors will cause you to receive a “20” (F) on the essay portion of the examination: comma splices, fused sentences, apostrophe errors, sentence fragments, and agreement errors. Therefore, you should make sure during the semester that you understand and can avoid these errors. If you have questions, please see me during my office hours or make an appointment at the TWU Write Site for coaching. The Write Site telephone number is (940) 898-2341.

Week THIRTEEN (17-23 April 2006)

Reading

1. "The Moths" (1349) by Helena Maria Viramontes; "Two Kinds" (1278)

by Amy Tan; and "Wilshire Bus" (1437) by Hisaye Yamamoto.

Assignments

1. Read the Week THIRTEEN lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week FOURTEEN (24-30 April 2006)

Reading:

1. Flannary O'Connor: "Everything That Rises Must Converge" (1117); "Good Country People" (1128); and "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" (1142).

2. Please also read the "Related Casebook."

Assignments:

1. Read the Week FOURTEEN lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Week FIFTEEN (1-5 May 2006. May 5th is the last day of classes for spring semester. Your mandatory in-class final examination will occur during final exam week on Tuesday, May 9th, from 3-5 p.m. in ASB 204.)

Reading:

1. "Bartleby, the Scrivener" (977) by Herman Melville.

Assignments:

1. Read the Week FIFTEEN lecture posted in COURSE DOCUMENTS.

2. Answer three discussion questions, post a weekly summary, and complete all participation requirements.

3. Take the online reading quiz.

Final Examination. You must take the final examination during the final examination period to receive full credit for the course. I cannot schedule the examination BEFORE the final examination period. If you cannot attend, then you must apply for an incomplete before the time of the final examination. When it is approved, you can schedule a make-up with me in my office within one year. If you do not apply for an incomplete and do not attend the final examination in person, you will receive a zero for forty percent of the course. The final examination will be held on Tuesday, May 9th, from 3-5 p.m. in ASB 204.

Last updated: 5 March 2006