Syllabus

REQUIRED TEXTS

 * //Literature: A Portable Anthology//, 3rd ed., Ed. Janet Gardner, et al. (Bedford)
 * Henry James, //The Turn of the Screw: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism//, 3rd ed., Ed. Peter Beidler (Bedford)
 * Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, //They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing//, 2nd ed. (Norton)

COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course we will practice several different methods of reading and writing about literature in order to expand your repertoire of strategies for making sense of stories, poems, plays, and other literary texts. You should learn how to find things to say about literature and how to develop those ideas into persuasive arguments. Specific course goals include the following:


 * Learn terms and concepts necessary for the academic discussion of literary texts from different genres
 * Learn several critical methods for reading and interpreting literature and develop an awareness of the theoretical implications of differing critical perspectives
 * Learn the modes and conventions used in scholarly writing about literature
 * Learn how to use electronic and print resources of the library and the Internet to conduct scholarly research

Since writing is large a large component of the course, I will run the class as a workshop. This means that we will spend class time doing things—writing, revising, working in small groups, sharing and responding to drafts, participating in class discussions, and reflecting on your writing and learning.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

 * Active participation in class activities
 * Assigned readings, exercises, and response papers
 * A number of short critical essays, employing various critical strategies
 * A longer critical essay in conversation with literary criticism

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
I will provide you with standards and criteria for evaluating each assignment as they are assigned. Final course grades will be computed as follows:


 * Class participation, including attendance, response papers, quizzes, etc. (12%)
 * Practice writings (16%)
 * Essays 1-3 (50%)
 * Longer critical essay (22%)

Essay 1: Formal analysis of a story or play Essay 2: Thematic analysis in a short story Essay 3: Comparing critical perspectives in The Turn of the Screw Essay 4: Analysis of a poem in response to secondary sources

COURSE POLICIES
**Attendance** Regular attendance is required.
 * 1) You are allowed three absences free and clear, no excuses necessary. You don’t need to provide any documentation to explain your absence, but you only get three, so use them wisely. Absences may be excused for the following reasons, with documentation: 1) travel for athletic or approved academic activities and 2) funeral and bereavement leave (see the [|Student Code] ).
 * 2) After your three absences, any and all absences, regardless of the reason, will adversely affect your grade as follows. For each absence after the third, your attendance and participation grade (10% of the total course grade) will be lowered by 10 percentage points (one full letter grade).
 * 3) After nine absences (three weeks), you will fail the course. I will be following the English department policy which mandates that a student who misses 20% of the class meetings will automatically fail the class; for a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, that means 10 or more absences result in a failing grade. Thus, only nine absences are allowed.
 * 4) If you are absent, you are responsible for submitting the assigned homework, for screening any film shown in class, for making arrangements to get the materials for the next class, and for coming prepared to discuss the next class materials. Students whose illness or family responsibilities require a long absence should contact me as soon as possible (NOT after an unexplained absence of several weeks).

Late Assignments
Keep in mind:
 * In-class writing and quizzes cannot be made up.
 * Absence is not an excuse for late work: assignments must be turned in the day they are due. If you will be absent when an assignment is due, arrange to have someone turn in the assignment for you. If you cannot make such arrangements, contact me before the due date.
 * Technology is not an excuse for late work. Plan ahead for the inevitable problems with printers, flash drives, etc.
 * A late essay will be penalized one full letter grade (e.g., from a B to a C) for each class day it is late (e.g., the essay is due Friday but not turned in until Monday).

Academic Dishonesty & Plagiarism
All work submitted for this course must be your own and must be written exclusively for this course. Using someone else's ideas or words as your own on any assignment is plagiarism. It is a violation of the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities as defined in the [|student handbook] and will be treated as such. In addition, recycling your own work from previous courses is a form of academic dishonesty. If you are concerned about inadvertently violating this policy, please see me before completing the assignment.

Accommodations
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, please contact me as soon as possible. Ball State's Disability Services office coordinates services for students with disabilities; documentation of a disability needs to be on file in that office before any accommodations can be provided. [|Disability Services] can be contacted at 765-285-5293 or dsd@bsu.edu.