ENGLISH 320H: The Arthurian Tradition
Fall 2003
BANC 264, 9:30 TR
Instructor: Dr. Jo Koster
Bancroft 228
323-4557; fax 323-4837; home 817-7854
e-mail: kosterj@winthrop.edu
http://www.faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj
Office Hours: Monday 1-2; Tuesday 11-12:30; Wednesday
10-noon; Thursday 2-3; and by appointment
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·
Bradley: The Mists of Avalon ISBN 0-345-35049-9·
Rosemary Sutcliff: Sword at Sunset ISBN: 0812588525These 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.
Requirements:
·
Two critical papers (20% each) 40%·
Two tests (midterm 17.5%, final 20%) 35%·
Group oral presentation 10%·
Informed and active class participation 12.5%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. 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.
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.
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.
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 17D 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 engl320H001@class.winthrop.edu.
On-line Resources:
The English Department maintains a large number of on-line resources for the study of literature at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/core.htm. 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:
These should be completed before the assigned class. Additional readings from a reserve list of recommended readings and from handouts will be assigned as the class interest and direction develops.
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 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.
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…..
Calendar:
Attached.