ENGLISH 310:
The Arthurian Tradition
Spring 2010
Instructor: Dr. Jo Koster
Bancroft 228
323-4557; fax 323-4837
e-mail:
kosterj@winthrop.edu
http://www.faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj
Office Hours ; and by appointment
Texts
Goals
Student Learning Outcomes
Requirements
Attendance Policy
Flu Policy
Course
Policies
Syllabus Change Policy
Instructor Access
Accommodations
Web Discussion
Readings
Online
Resources
Plagiarism Duplicate Submission of Assignments
Safe Zones Policy
Student Responsibilities A Few Final Caveats
· 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, so double-check the ISBNs!). Other editions are not acceptable.
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 .
Students will be able to explain the historical development of the Arthurian tradition.
Students will be able to identify major characters, events, and authors in the Arthurian tradition.
Students will be able to explain the historical, political, and cultural appropriations of the Arthurian tradition in major periods of British and American culture.
Students will be able to create, support, and defend their own critical arguments about the Arthurian tradition, as demonstrated in critical papers, oral presentations, and examinations.
Students will demonstrate the ability to find and use appropriate secondary material in support of their own critical arguments
Students will demonstrate the ability to document the use of borrowed information in MLA style.
· 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 15%
You must complete all course requirements to pass the course.
In
this class,
A 94-100; A- 91-93; B+ 88-90; B 84-87; B- 81-83; C+ 78-80; C
74-77; C- 71-73; D+ 68-70; D 64-67; D- 61-63; F 0-60
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.
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.
All papers must be documented following the MLA parenthetical documentation style. This is explained in the Prentice Hall Reference Guide 7th edition 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 (20009) 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 MLA guidelines. 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 written 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 before each class. 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.
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.
All reading assignments 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 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.
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…..
You must participate to succeed in this class. If you're shy, fake being extroverted and let us hear your ideas and questions. It's good life preparation.
If you need to make a certain grade in this class to maintain a GPA or keep a scholarship, the time to start working on it is at the beginning of the semester, not in Week 13.
I'm not your mom and I don't nag you. If you don't turn work in, don't expect me to ask you where it is; if you're absent for a test, don't expect me to come searching for you. It's your responsibility to make sure your paper is in turnitin.com on time and that I get the right version. If you don't get a graded paper back within 10 days of submitting it, it's also your responsibility to ask me what's going on.
I expect to see visible signs you are doing assigned work, such as annotations in your book, note-taking in class, participation in class discussion, reading notes, etc. If I do not see those signs, your class participation grade will be affected significantly. Again, this is a choice you can make to improve your success in the class.
If you are not prepared for class, I reserve the right to send you to the library for the class period to do your preparation and will count you absent for that day. It’s not fair to other people who have done the preparation to have to drag you along with them. So be prepared!
Multitasking is not appropriate during class time. Cell phones, iPods, and other communications devices must be turned off in class.* If they disrupt the class you will be graded absent for the day. Text messaging or checking Facebook or personal messages is not permitted during class. Repeat offenses may earn you an "F" for class participation for the semester. (*If necessary, I will designate a student to leave a cell phone on to access the Alertus system.)
I will do my best to keep my office hours but emergencies sometimes arise. If I can't keep hours I will e-mail the class discussion list and try to get someone to put a note on my office door.
Failure to prepare or use time wisely on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Sleep in your rooms, not in my class.
I do not read minds. If something is going on that affects your work in the class, you need to tell me about it. I won’t just sense that "something’s wrong." If some life crisis arises that will make you miss a lot of class, tell me as soon as you realize this—don’t disappear for three weeks, then come back and say, "Uh, did you miss me?" There are accommodations that can be made if you give reasonable notification but few or none if you don't.