Instructor: Dr. Jim Schwartz
Office: Dwyer 256
Phone: (419) 586-0356
Email: jim@jim-schwartz.com
Office Hours: immediately before and after class (and by appointment)
REQUIRED TEXT
Kennedy, X. J. and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2012. Print.
REQUIRED SUPPLIES
Be sure to put enough credit (approximately $5) on your Wright1 Card to cover printing in-class writing assignments. Also, it would be prudent to obtain a USB flash drive on which to store your class assignments, since very soon there will be no network storage available for students.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces you to a variety of college-level writing situations, from qualitative and quantitative research to the analysis of multi-genre texts. Each day provides its own special set of challenges, and on most days a graded evaluation of a work-related activity (completed on your Windows 7 workstation) will be made for you. No assignments may be submitted using electronic means (email, flash drive, CD/DVD, etc.) without my prior consent. Included in your evaluated writing assignments, all of which must follow the MLA format beginning on page 1123 of Backpack Literature, will include but not be limited to reading lists, works-cited pages, direct and indirect quotations, precision exercises, and critical analyses of literary works.
GRADING METHOD
Your course grade will be a combination both of in-class and out-of-class assignments. Refer to the selection “Grading Standards” on the jim-schwartz.com navbar for a more detailed explanation of my grading standards. All assignments must be typed/computer printed and presented in MLA format. While not an absolute standard, what follows is a very good approximation of how your course grade will be calculated:
“Primary Source Reading List” with one direct quotation per source (25%)
“Secondary Source Reading List” with one direct quotation per source (25%)
“Precision Exercises” completed in class (25%)
“Critical Analyses” of the assigned readings (25%)
COURSE CALENDAR
Week 1:
M 3/26: Course Introduction W 3/28: Written Diagnostic F 3/30: Grimm, “Godfather Death” (12)
Week 2:
M 4/2: Updike, "A&P" (18) Q2 W 4/4: Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily" (33) Q6 F 4/6: Walker, "Everyday Use" (69) Q7
Week 3:
M 4/9: Carver, "Cathedral" (77) Q1 W 4/11: Chopin, "The Storm" (95) Q4 F 4/13: Hemingway, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" (142) Q2
Week 4:
M 4/16: Vonnegut Jr., "Harrison Bergeron" (216) Q1 W 4/18: Library/Internet Research F 4/20:Steinbeck, "The Chrysanthemums" (228) Q6
Week 5:
M 4/23: Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow" (406) Q1 & Q2 W 4/25: Sheehan, "Hate Poem" (412) Q2 F 4/27: Bishop, "The Fish" (450) Q1
Week 6:
M 4/30: Raine, "A Martian Sends a Postcard Home" (468) Q1 W 5/2: Frost, "The Silken Tent" (474) Q3 F 5/4: Housman, "Eight O'Clock" (485) Q1
Week 7:
M 5/7: Yeats, "Leda and the Swan" (490) Q1 W5/9: Randall, "Ballad of Birmingham" (520) Q1 and Q2 F 5/11: Thomas, "Do not go gentle into that good night" (526) Q2
Week 8:
M 5/14: Merwyn, "For the Anniversary of My Death" (537) Q2 W 5/16: Simic, "The Magic Study of Happiness" (543) Q2 F 5/18: Hardy, "Neutral Tones" (551) Q1
Week 9:
M 5/21: Wordsworth, "The world is too much with us" (563) Q1 W 5/23: Bogan, "Medusa" (565) Q4 F 5/25: Stallings, "First Love: A Quiz" (566) Q2 and Q3
Week 10:
M 5/28: Memorial Day (closed) W 5/30: In-Class Essay F 6/1: Course Evaluation