Courses

ENG 5903.50

Special Topics: 20th Century British Mysteries: The Detection Club

Summer III 2006

Course Name, Number, and Description:  ENG 5903.50.  Special Topics: 20th Century British Mysteries: The Detection Club.  Description: The 2005-2007 Texas Woman's University General Catalog describes this course in this way: "ENG 5903.  Special Topics. Investigation in traditional lecture format of a specific literary or linguistic topic.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing and an undergraduate concentration in English.  Three lecture hours per week.  Credit: Three hours.  May be repeated for credit when the specific topic of investigation varies."

In this course, we will read major works of four authors associated with classic British mysteries of the twentieth century, specifically Dorothy L. Sayers, Father Ronald Knox, Agatha Christie, and G.K. Chesterton, all members of a circle of writers that formed in the early twentieth century called "The Detection Club."  The website http://www.detectionclub.com/ says this about The Detection Club: "The Detection Club was formed in the 1930s by a group of British mystery writers including such well-known authors as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and G. K. Chesterton. The members of the club agreed to adhere to a code of ethics in their writing, so as to give the reader a fair chance at guessing the guilty party." We will attempt to place these works in the overall context of the British mystery novel by also reading Crime Fiction 1800-2000 by Stephen Knight.

Please note that this course is taught almost entirely online.  After the optional orientation the course will be conducted online asynchronously on Blackboard at twu6.blackboard.com with only one required meeting all semester--for the final exam on Friday, August 11, 2006. The time and room of the examination will be announced after the course begins.   

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 by appointment in CFO 803 from 1-3 p.m. on Wednesdays during Summer III 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.  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 literary conventions associated with The Detection Club writers have deeply influenced the mystery genre.  The goal of this course is to understand this genre and these conventions. Understanding of the genre and conventions will be measured as student learning outcomes in weekly assignments, essays, and a final examination.

List of textbooks and supplies: 

Required: Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity by Stephen Knight (2004; Palgrave; ISBN 0-333-79179-7).

Required: The Complete Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton (1981; Penguin; ISBN 0-14-009766-X).

Required: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926; Berkley; ISBN 0425200477).

Required: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (1920; Berkley; ISBN 0425129616).

Required: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939; St. Martin's Paperbacks; ISBN 0312979479).

Required: Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (1935; Harper Torch; ISBN 0061043494).

Required: The Viaduct Murder by Ronald Knox (1925; Merion Pr.; ISBN 0967714311).

Required: The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald Knox (1928; Dover Publications; ISBN 0486244938)

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: 30%

Individual Essay: 30% (Week EIGHT)

Group Essay: 5% (Week FOUR)

PowerPoint: 5% (Week SIX)

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

Receiving Feedback and Grades: You will receive feedback reports with grades from me four times: (1) once in Week TWO to cover your participation in Week ONE; (2) once in Week FIVE to cover through Week FOUR and the group essay; (3) once in Week NINE to cover through Week EIGHT, the PowerPoint presentation and the individual essay; and (4) once after the final examination with your final grade.  If you would like additional feedback, you may make an appointment with me in my office during office hours, and I will provide it  while you wait and also give you verbal feedback.

Midterm Conference: Please note that if you have a failing grade after Week FOUR, 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 COURSE INFORMATION.  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. You will need to submit all essays to both digital dropbox and the anti-plagiarism website www.turnitin.com.  

Tentative calendar of classes, assignments.
Check here for the academic calendar for Summer 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: 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.  Note: you MAY NOT use your books and notes for the first, objective portion of the exam, but YOU MAY use your books and notes for the second, open book, essay portion of the exam.

Week ONE (5-11 June 2006)

Reading:

    1.           The Complete Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton: "The Blue Cross," "The Secret Garden," "The Hammer of God," "The Absence of Mr Glass," "The God of the Gongs." [early Father Brown] 

    2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity by Stephen Knight. "Preface" and "Beginnings" (3-29). 

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

Week TWO (12-18 June 2006)
 

Reading:

    1.  The Complete Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton: "The Strange Crime of John Boulnois," "The Resurrection of Father Brown," "The Oracle of the Dog," "The Miracle of Moon Cresent," and "The Curse of the Golden Cross." [middle Father Brown] 

    2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity by Stephen Knight. "The Development of Detection" (30-63).  

Assignments:

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

Week THREE (19-25 June 2006)
 

Reading:

1.  The Complete Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton: "The Secret of Father Brown," "The Secret of Flambeau," "The Scandal of Father Brown," "The Insoluble Problem," and "The Vampire of the Village." [late Father Brown]

2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity by Stephen Knight. "After Sherlock Holmes" (67-80).

Assignments:

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

Week FOUR (26 June to 2 July 2006)
Reading:

1.  The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity: "The Clue-puzzle Forms" (81-109).

Assignments:

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

2.  Group Essay (5%) due at the end of Week FOUR.  For a topic, you may  expand one of the assigned discussion questions or choose your town topic.  Your primary purpose in this essay is to suggest a strong thesis, an argument about how to understand the novel or stories.  Remember: the purpose of this course is to help you engage with the discourse about the twentieth-century British mystery.  Let that purpose be your guide as you determine your topic.  The entire group should help write the essay (and you must determine the procedures for making that happen), but one person will post it to digital dropbox by the end of Week FOUR (in WORD) and www.turnitin.com.   

Week FIVE (3-9 July 2006)
Reading:

1.     The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity: "The American Version" (110-134).

Assignments:

1.  Answer all discussion questions, and complete all participation requirements.

Week SIX (10-16 July 2006)

Reading:

1.           And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity: "Continuities with Change" (135-152).

3.  PowerPoint Assignment due (5 points).  Explain some aspect of a text we are reading this semester in ten to twenty slides.  Your presentation should have an argument, like a paper.  If you present a topic, you need to explain why and how it helps you understand the text or texts.  You may bring in outside critical sources if you wish.

Assignments:

1.  Answer all discussion questions, and complete all participation requirements.

Week SEVEN (17-23 July 2006)

Reading:

    1.  Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (the first half of the novel)

    2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity: "Police Procedures" (153-161).   

Assignments:

1.  Answer all discussion questions, and complete all participation requirements.

Week EIGHT (24-30 July 2006)

Reading:

1. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (the second half of the novel)

2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity: "Diversifying the Viewpoint: Gender" (162-181).

Assignments:

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

2.  Individual Essay (30%).  This should be an essay suitable for presenting at a conference or the beginnings of a text that you could submit to a journal or book collection.  It should have a clear argument situated in the critical, scholarly discussion of the subject.  I know you would prefer for me to allow you to turn in this essay at the end of the semester, but I would prefer that you submit it to me via digital dropbox and www.turnitin.com by the end of Week EIGHT (30 July) so that I can read, grade, and return all essays by the time of the final exam.   

Week NINE (31 July to 6 August 2006)

Reading:

1.  The Viaduct Murder by Ronald Knox

2.  Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity: "Diversifying the Viewpoint: Race" (182-194).

Assignments:

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

Week TEN (7-102006: Note--this is a short week.)

Reading:

    1.  Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald Knox

    2. Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity: "At the Cutting Edge" (195-208).          

Assignments:

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

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 Friday, August 11, 2006.

Last updated: 16 July 2006