Courses

ENG 3323.50

American Fiction

Spring 2009

Mark Twain

Nella Larsen

Ralph Ellison

Course Name, Number, and Description:  ENG 3323.50.  American Fiction. The Texas Woman's University General Catalog 2007-2009 describes ENG 3323 in this way: "American Fiction.  American fiction from the eighteenth century to the present, with stress on major novels and short stories.  Prerequisites: Nine hours of English.  Three lecture hours a week.  Credit: Three hours."

Please note that this course does not fulfill any requirements of the core curriculum.  However, it does the fulfill upper-level English requirements for the BA in English. For English majors choosing their own minors, it fulfills the requirement to take either ENG 3353 or ENG 3323 (the novels requirement). For English majors, ENG 3323 can also fulfill the requirement to take an upper-level course in American literature.  It also serves as an upper-level English elective and can be taken by students seeking the Bachelor of General Studies if one of their concentration areas is English. 

ENG 3233.50 will be taught entirely asynchronously online.  If you have never taken a Blackboard course before or have questions about the format of the class, please contact me at rgreer@mail.twu.edu and/or arrange for an individual orientation with me during my office hours. 

Faculty Contact Information: Office Location, Phone, Hours:
Russell Greer, Ph.D.  Associate Professor.  Office: CFO 803.  E-mail: rgreer@twu.edu. 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 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays unless otherwise indicated (20 January-10 May 2009).  If I cannot hold any portion of my regular office hours, I will make an announcement on my web site.  I am typically not available in my office at other times except by special arrangement, but I am available by phone and online.  You may also leave me a voice mail at (940) 898-2346.  I usually check for messages once a day (often in the evenings) and try to return calls promptly.

Please note that I am usually active and available online throughout the week (until 5 p.m.), but I reserve the weekends to be with my family.  Please do not expect me to be available online on the weekends. 

Course Goals, Exemplary Educational Objectives, and Student Learning Outcomes:

 

The student will engage with several major works of American fiction with an emphasis on African-American literature and issues in American culture.  In addition, the student will consider the concept of American fiction itself in theoretical terms.  The student will read and study three important novels and numerous important short stories by major authors and understand them in theoretical, critical, and aesthetic terms.  The student will also conduct research with primary and secondary sources in American fiction.  The student will demonstrate reading knowledge of the works in reading tests, in weekly postings to discussion forums, and in other formal assignments including four short papers and a final examination. 

 

From the reading, discussion, and assignments, the student should be able to extrapolate from the course the main characteristics of American fiction.  As a result, the student will gain an approach that will sustain his or her intellectual engagement with the subject of American fiction beyond the fifteen weeks of this semester.  

 

List of textbooks and supplies:

Required (three novels, one anthology of short stories, one writing text and one work of literary criticism) 

1.  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain (550 pages.  Bedford/St. Martin's.  ISBN: 978-0312400293)
2.  Passing (1929) by Nella Larsen (546 pages. W.W. Norton. ISBN-13: 978-0-393-97916-9)
3.  Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison (608 pages.  Vintage.  ISBN-13: 978-0679732761)
4.  The Best American Short Stories of the Century.  Edited by John Updike and Katrina Kenison (Houghton Mifflin.  ISBN: 0-395-84367-7)
5.  They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein (W.W. Norton. 81 pages.  ISBN: 0393924092)
6.  Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison (Vintage.  ISBN: 978-0679745426)

Also Suggested (but not required): A Guide to MLA Documentation by Joseph Trimmer or an English handbook with MLA style information such as The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker.

Disability Statement:

"If you anticipate the need for reasonable accommodations to meet the requirements of this course, you must register with the office of Disability Support Services (HDB 002, 940-898-3835, dss@twu.edu ) in order to obtain the required official notification of your accommodation needs.   Please plan to meet with me by appointment or during office hours to discuss approved accommodations and how my course requirements and activities may impact your ability to fully participate." (Statement supplied by Disability Support Services Office)

 

Grading Policy, Major Course Assignments and Examinations and Attendance:

1.  Discussion.  (30%) Credit is given for postings to the discussion questions, anything posted in your group’s forum for a particular week (if applicable), special assignments, and the weekly summary.  Almost one third of your final grade will depend on your regular 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, when applicable, and once before the end of the day on Wednesday of each week (except for the final week).  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 weekly, but I will announce them only periodically.  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, 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 (if applicable).  Note: Each week you will be asked to answer three discussion questions, one of which will may occasionally be a group question (after the first week) and/or a question about writing the research paper.  These discussion questions will allow you to earn participation credit and share ideas with your classmates.  At the end of the week you will also post a summary message and attach a Student Summary Form with your best ten postings pasted into the forum.  You may revise these postings for spelling, grammar, style, etc. but they should essentially be the same postings that you made in the forums. Please note that I will grade the postings you submit in your summaries carefully for spelling and grammar beginning in the first week, so proofread them carefully!  I will use your attached form to calculate your participation grade for the week. If you do not attach a summary form, you cannot get participation credit for the week.

2.  Short Essays.  (40%) You will be required to write four short essays of about 2-3 typed pages each.  You will write short essays on Huckleberry Finn, Passing, Invisible Man, and on one or more of the assigned short stories.    For sources, you will use the novel or short stories about which you are analyzing and two additional scholarly sources: (1) a scholarly journal article and (2) a book or book chapter.  You may use more sources if you wish, but I prefer that all of your sources come from peer-reviewed or academic presses.  Each essay will count for ten percent of your total grade, and I will grade the essays using a rubric (which I will provide in advance).

Or, you can just write two essays, on on Huck Finn and one on either Passing, Invisible Man, or the short stories.  If you choose this option, then each essay would be worth 20%.  Here's the schedule of due dates if you choose to write four essays:

Passing.  Essay due by 5 April
Invisible Man.  Essay due 26 April
Short Stories.  Essay due 11 May

3.  Reading Quizzes.  (15%)  You will have a reading quiz for each week, and each quiz will count for one percent of your total grade.

4.  Final Examination. (15%).  The "open book" final examination will be comprehensive.   You will receive the questions a week before they are due.  Your answers to the final examination will be due during final examinations week.

Miscellaneous

Midterm Conference: Please note that if you have a failing grade after you receive your feedback in Week FIVE, I would like to meet with you in person in my office to discuss ways to improve your grade.  If will be your responsibility to make that appointment, but I assure you that I will do everything I can in that meeting to help you improve your grade.

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 "Course Documents" and on this 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.  If you do not submit a summary form, you cannot get credit for the week's work even if you fully participated otherwise.  You will post these summaries in the discussion forums provided.

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 on 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 2008-2009 (pages 154-156).  I intend to follow the 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)" (154).  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 0 on an assignment"; (3) "Assignment of a lower grade on the test/paper/project in question, with an explanation from the instructor";  (4) “Assignment of a grade of F in the course" (155). A discussion of the more severe penalties for second offenses appears on pages 155-156.  If you have any questions about whether or not a practice constitutes plagiarism, please contact me before you turn in the assignment. 

WWW.TURNITIN.COM

Academic writing differs from other kinds of writing in that it is a conversation with other people who are writing and thinking about your topic.  As we will learn while reading They Say/I Say, when you write an academic essay you will agree with others, disagree with them, or do a little of both, but above all you will remain in a conversation.  If you do not clearly identify their words and ideas from your own, you are not in a position to demonstrate your own critical thinking.  Plagiarism, therefore, not only robs others other their proper credit, but it robs you of your ability to respond.

To protect the integrity of the course (in this age of the internet) and help you develop the critical thinking necessary to respond to academic arguments, our department asks students to submit their out-of-class essays to a plagiarism-checking website called www.turnitin.com.  That website, in turn, will generate a report for me and to you.  It will also archive your paper.  If you would prefer not to have your work checked by this plagiarism website and your work archived in it, that is your right.  However, instead of using turnitin.com, you would need to write a 250 word essay in my presence (during my office hours) explaining your objections.  After accepting this handwritten essay from you, I would then check your future out-of-class work with other electronic tools that do not archive your work. 

Turnitin.com has video tutorials on how to upload your papers, and it has tutorials on how to understand proper citation. I urge you to create an account as soon as possible by viewing the student training video found at http://www.turnitin.com/static/training.html) The video will tell you how to create a user profile and upload your paper (as you would with an attachment) and have it checked. It's a fairly easy and painless process, but you must create the user profile first (giving your email address, creating a password, etc.). You will do this only once.

After you create that user profile, you will need to know the class ID and the class password for this class (ENG 3323). Here they are:

Class ID: 2558211
Enrollment Password: English  

Let me also recommend that you watch the library's tutorial on plagiarism that you can find at http://www.twu.edu/library/tutorial/plagiarism/player.html

Above all, remember that if you have any questions as to whether or not you have used another person's work and not given proper credit, please see me before you submit the work.

Tentative calendar of classes, assignments.

Please check here for the Academic Calendar for spring 2009.  Also, please note that this daily syllabus is for planning purposes only and is subject to change. Page numbers for assigned reading (when applicable) are provided.

Week ONE (20-25 January 2009)

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Week TWO (26 January-1 February 2009)

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Week THREE (2-8 February 2009)

Please note that 4 February 2009 is the last day to apply for May 2009 graduation.

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Week FOUR (9-15 February 2009)

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Week FIVE (16-22 February 2009)

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Week SIX (23 February-1 March 2009)

Note: 26 February is the last day to drop a class without academic penalty.

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Week SEVEN (2-8 March 2009)

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Week EIGHT (9-15 March 2009)

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Spring Holiday--No classes 16-22 March

Week NINE (23-29 March 2009)

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Week TEN (30 March-5 April 2009)

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Week ELEVEN (6-12 April 2009)

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Week TWELVE (13-19 April 2009)

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Week THIRTEEN (20-26 April 2009)

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Week FOURTEEN (27 April-3 May 2009)

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Week FIFTEEN (4-10 May 2009)

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Final Examination Period (9-15 May 2009)

All changes or updates after 20 January 2009 to the syllabus will be highlighted or summarized here:

Change:

 

Last updated: 2 May 2009