ENGLISH 310: The Arthurian Tradition
Spring 2010 KIN 101, TR 3:30-4:45

Instructor: Dr. Jo Koster
Bancroft 228
323-4557; fax 323-4837
e-mail: kosterj@winthrop.edu
http://www.faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj
Office Hours  TR 11-11:50; W 2-5; and by appointment

 

Texts  Goals  Requirements  Attendance Policy

Course Policies  Accommodations  Web Discussion

Readings  Online Resources  Plagiarism

Student Responsibilities

 

Texts:

· Wilhelm, The Romance of Arthur, new exp. ed. (1994) ISBN 0-8153-1511-2

· Malory, King Arthur and His Knights, ed. Vinaver ISBN 0-19-501905-9

· White: The Once and Future King ISBN 0-441-62740-4

These texts have been ordered at the Bookworm. If you choose to acquire them elsewhere, make sure you match the ISBN numbers so that you have the right edition (note that the covers may not match!). Other editions are not acceptable.

Goals:

1. To investigate the major literary traditions associated with the figures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table

2. To demonstrate knowledge of the historical evidence underlying the Arthurian tradition and the way these cultural myths developed

3. To compare medieval instances of this tradition with their modern descendants in literature, film, art, music, history and politics

4. To be able to find and use secondary scholarship on the tradition in both print and non-print forms, using both traditional and online tools .

5. To sharpen and demonstrate your critical skills in well-written essays and oral presentations.

See a complete listing of course goals for the Department of English at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/goals.htm .

Student Learning Outcomes:

Requirements:

· Critical paper 20%

· Two tests (midterm 17.5%, final 20%) 35%

· Book Club group oral presentation 10%

·  Book Club paper  20%

· Informed and active class participation 12.5%

You must complete all course requirements to pass the course.Grading Standards

In this class, 91+ = As; 81-90 = Bs; 71-80 = Cs (note: C- = 71); 61-70 = Ds; below 61 = F. You must turn in all assignments in the class to pass the course. Please remember that the last date to withdraw from the course is October 17.

Attendance /Tardy Policy:

Attendance is expected. According to University Policy, if you miss 25% of the classes in a course (in a TR class, 7 classes), you cannot receive credit. If you are more than 10 minutes late for class, you will be counted absent. Two tardies count as one absence.

Your final grade will be lowered if you miss 4 or more classes, excused or unexcused; my usual policy is to deduct 3 points from your final grade for each absence beginning with the fourth. If some crisis arises that will require you to miss class, please contact me immediately so that we can discuss alternate arrangements. Cell phones and pagers must be turned off while class is in progress; if one of your devices interrupts class, you will be counted absent for the day.

Course Policies:

All papers must be documented following the MLA parenthetical documentation style. This is explained in the Prentice Hall Reference Guide ch. 52 and in many other handbooks. You are responsible for following it. Any material taken from a source (your textbook, something from the library, something from the Internet, etc.) must be documented. There is a new edition of the MLA Handbook (5th edition) that covers Internet documentation; you can access these special forms at http://www.mla.org or through the English Department home page (http://www.winthrop.edu/english) or the Writing Center home page (http://www.winthrop.edu/wcenter).

Format your papers using the guidelines on pages 275 ff. of the Prentice Hall Reference Guide; no need for a separate cover page. "Typed" (that is, computer-produced rather than handwritten) papers are expected. Use 12-point standard (not italic) fonts and MLA margins. Evidence that you care about your writing, such as appointment slips from the Writing Center, influences me favorably. (Yes, this is a hint.) Excuses offered in advance are likely to earn more leniency than those offered after the fact. Failure to plan or manage time wisely on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

You may submit one late out-of-class assignment during the term [late meaning due one class period after it is due], provided that you notify me you are taking this extension at least one day before the assignment is due; no explanation is needed. Under no circumstances will an assignment be accepted more than two class periods after the due date; it will receive a grade of zero.

We will be using www.turnitin.com this semester for the papers you submit. I will provide you more information about this service, including a password for our class account, with the paper assignments. No papers will be accepted for grading that have not been submitted through turnitin.com.

Syllabus Change Policy

This policy statement, calendars, and assignments posted on my class web page are the most up-to-date ones and will be the ones we use to resolve any questions or issues. Please note the effective date; the up-to-date one is the applicable version in case of questions.

Attendance Policy

Winthrop policy is that students who miss more than 25% of the classes in a semester (in a twice-weekly class, 7 classes) cannot receive credit for the course. In this class, each absence after the fourth will lower your final grade by 3 points. If you arrive more than ten minutes late for class, you're counted tardy; two tardies count as one absence. Please note that "excused" absences (e.g documented absences for illness, representation of the university, death in the immediate family) are still absences. If they are excused, you will be able to make up graded work you miss, but they may affect your overall grade in the class if they exceed the allowable limits.

Flu Policy

We all know that H1N1 flu and other nasty versions are out there. These strains are particularly contagious. If you think you have the flu, have flu-like symptoms, or have been exposed to the flu, STAY HOME FROM CLASS. E-mail me, and call Crawford (323-2206); isolate yourself. Don't drag yourself to class and infect all of us (especially your instructor, who will become very cranky if she gets sick.) We will accommodate flu-related absences if necessary.

Instructor Access

You can expect me to be available as a resource from which to draw and to obtain feedback. I am very responsive to email questions as long as I know who the email is from and have all information necessary to provide a complete answer. Please be sure to “sign” your emails as oftentimes email names are confusing at best (brownb1@winthrop.edu could be Bob Brown or Beth Brown). Please make sure to speak slowly and comprehensibly if leaving a voicemail so that I can decipher the name, message, and return phone number as well. What you cannot expect of me is to be available 24/7. While I do check my email, online spaces (Facebook, Twitter), and voicemail regularly, including weekends (if I am in town), I do not necessarily check them more than once a day or late in the evenings. Therefore, if you procrastinate on an assignment, you may not have the information you need to complete the assignment appropriately. Please plan your time accordingly to maximize the probability that you will receive a response in time for it to be useful.

Accommodations:

If you require accommodations for specific disabilities, please contact Gena Smith in Crawford and bring me the appropriate paperwork as soon as possible. I will be happy to work with you to provide a learning environment that meets your needs.

Web Discussion and E-mail:

I do most of my communicating with students via e-mail, especially using the class distribution list. You are required to subscribe to this list. If you do not use your Eaglemail account regularly, please log in to it, scroll to the bottom of the first screen, and set your forwarding address to whatever Yahoo!, AOL, Comporium, or other mail service you use, or manually subscribe to the class listserv from your preferred e-mail address. This has proven the most effective way to get all e-mail in the class.

You should check your class e-mail at a minimum of twice a week. If you do not have an e-mail account, go to 15 Tillman to sign up for free e-mail and register so that you can print out in the labs. You may also use off-campus e-mail accounts (e.g. Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL) to access this discussion forum. You can get access to the Web for free in any of the campus computing labs, in Dacus Library, and at many public libraries if you do not have any other way to reach the web. I will provide the link on our course web page in a few days.

The address for the class listserv is engl310001@class.winthrop.edu.  

On-line Resources:

The English Department maintains a large number of on-line resources for the study of literature at www.winthrop.edu/english. The Writing Center maintains a large number of on-line resources for student writers at http://www.winthrop.edu/wcenter. I am one of the people responsible for maintaining these pages; if you have a question about using them, encounter a problem with a page, or have suggestions for improvements, I gladly welcome your input. We maintain these for you, so please let us know how to make them serve you better.

ReadingS and QUIZZES:

These should be completed before the assigned class. Additional readings from a reserve list of recommended readings and from handouts may be assigned as the class interest and direction develops. I will give "clarity quizzes" (graded but not affecting your final grade) every few weeks so that you can have a sense of how well you are mastering the material. These will probably be done in Web CT--details to follow.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the use of someone else's thoughts, words, ideas, or lines of argument in your own work without appropriate documentation (a parenthetical citation at the end and a listing in Works Cited), whether you use that material in a quote, paraphrase, or summary. It is a theft of intellectual property and will not be tolerated, whether intentional or not. Any papers containing plagiarisms will receive a grade of F and in severe cases may warrant failure in the course or your being turned over to the student judicial system for more significant punishment. Therefore, if you ever have a question about how to handle a source-in this or any other class-ask me before you turn in the paper. I will be happy to help you understand how to document it correctly. The Prentice Hall Guide, the Writing Center web page, and the English Department web page all have lots of information to help you avoid plagiarism; see www.winthrop.edu/english/plagiarism.htm. Ignorance or failure to consult this material is no excuse.

Duplicate Submission of Assignments

You may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless you obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance. This is to conform to the Student Code of Conduct, §V, which states: "Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to … presenting the same or substantially the same papers or projects in two or more courses without the explicit permission of the professors involved." (Student Code of Conduct §V: http://www.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/Judicial/judcode.htm )

Safe Zones Statement

This classroom is a place where you will be treated with respect as a human being – regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, political beliefs, age, or ability. Additionally, diversity of thoughts is appreciated and encouraged, provided you can agree to disagree. Iexpect that ALL students will consider the classroom a safe environment and conduct themselves in ways that makes it one.

Student Responsibilities:

This class requires a great deal of reading and will ask you for considerable effort in class discussion and involvement. Keep up! You know your reading speed; figure out how many pages are involved for each class, set a schedule, and stick to it. You will probably have to read some of the selections more than once to fully understand them and to be able to discuss them well, so factor that in as well. We will all get much more out of the class if we can discuss the works and their implications than if I have to lecture on them. And if you stay prepared, I will need to give fewer quizzes, which will make all our lives more pleasant. The same thing goes for papers and tests: be prepared, start in plenty of time to finish successfully, and keep me informed if you hit any speed bumps. If you know you’re going to be absent for a protracted period, contact me at the beginning of the absence, not at the end! A word to the wise…..

A FEW FINAL CAVEATS...