Professor Kelly L. Richardson Email: richardsonk@winthrop.edu
Bancroft 232 Website: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/richardsonk
Office Phone: 323-4644
English 529 : Twentieth-Century American Fiction and Drama
Spring 2009, MW 5:00-6:15
Office Hours: M-R 3:30-4:30 and by appointment
Course Goals
This course is a study of major 20th-century American Fiction and Drama. We will examine these works in terms of their literary movements, their generic classifications, and their intersections with cultural questions and issues. Students will be asked to respond to these works critically, specifically by
1) Identifying characteristics of literary periods and explaining how the literature reflects these features
2) Tracing and discussing recurrent thematic issues (race, class, gender, the frontier, individuality versus community are just a few examples)
3) Reconstructing the texts’ historical and cultural contexts
4) Using literary terminology
5) Researching textual issues
6) Seeking to define characteristics of American literature
7) Developing analytical and writing skills
See a complete listing of course goals for the Department of English at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/goals/index.htm.
Texts
We will read the following works:
A literature handbook, such as Harmon and Holman’s A Handbook to
Literature, is highly recommended.
Course Requirements:
|
Undergraduate Students |
Graduate Students |
|
Class Participation 10%
3 short interpretive papers 35%
total Midterm 15% Cumulative
Final 20%
|
Leading Class Discussion 10% 2 short interpretive papers 20% Additional Text Paper 10% Midterm 15% Cumulative
Final 20% |
Explanation of Course Requirements:
UNDERGRADUATES:
Class Participation (10%)
Students will be expected to participate in daily discussions as well as small
group and whole class activities.
These shorter writing assignments (2-3 pps.) are designed to help you prepare for the longer paper due at the end of the course. In completing them, you will analyze some component of your chosen text (a certain critical issue, a character’s motives, a certain literary element such as the effect of setting or point of view). Using the primary text, you will present your thesis and develop it in an organized, coherent, and well-supported essay. These do not require research, but you may include some if you’d like. Use MLA documentation
This 8-10 pp. paper will
give you an opportunity to explore, research, and report on some aspect of the
literature that interests you. You can focus on one of the works or compare
aspects of two works. If you’d like to read a work outside the course texts and
then make some comparisons between it and one of the course texts, then that is
an option as well. The shorter papers should help you begin to focus on topics
that interest you. Also, pay attention to your reactions while reading. Is
there a character that interests you? Is there a scene that you find yourself
having a strong response to? They could turn into paper topics.
Unless otherwise announced, these usually consist of short discussion questions, quotation identification and discussion questions, and essays.
GRADUATE STUDENTS:
Leading Class Discussion:
Each participant will be expected to lead classroom discussion once during the course (in addition to the daily participation). Participants will have 30 minutes to present on the writers/works and to lead us in discussion. A handout should be prepared and distributed to the class, which includes key information, the clear integration of at least 3-5 secondary sources, and 3 well-developed questions that we can use to prompt discussion.
2 short interpretive papers: These 4-5 page papers are designed to give you an opportunity to focus on a topic from that week’s reading. Students should select a text (or texts) and make an argumentative claim about the material. Research is not required; however, if it is necessary, sources need to follow MLA format.
Additional Text Paper: You will
write an additional short paper about a text of your choice—outside of course
texts--either a short story or a play that you would like to study in more
detail.
Unless otherwise announced, these usually consist of short discussion questions, quotation identification and discussion questions, and essays.
1 Long Critical Essay: This 12-15 page paper will give you an opportunity to examine some issue of interest to you. These papers should be argumentative in nature, making a claim about the material. You could investigate a central theme or question we have examined, expand on a shorter paper, delve into a work that we are not reading in class but you would like to study, compare our works with British writers, etc. While the number of sources will vary with the topic, substantial scholarship needs to be included in your argument. These sources can be used to support your claim, be used to provide additional information, or be used as part of the opposition. Primary materials may also be included, but need to be in addition to the secondary pieces.
Grading Standards:
Grades are based on the following:
A = 93-100 D- = 60-62
A- =
90-92 F = 59 and below
B+ = 87-89
B = 83-86
B- = 80-82
C+ = 77-79
C = 73-76
C- = 70-72
D+ = 67-69
D = 63-66
*Note: Graduate grading
policy does not follow +/- grading.
Plagiarism Policy:
Please review the English Department’s policy on the Correct Use of Borrowed Information on the department web page. You are responsible for reviewing the Code of Student Conduct in your Student Handbook and the description of plagiarism in The Prentice-Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage and handling source materials correctly. In this course, the plagiarism policy ranges from a failing grade on the particular assignment in question to failing the course, depending upon the nature and severity of the offense.
Attendance Policy:
Given the amount of reading that we will be doing in this course, I expect that you attend every class meeting. In this course, more than 6 absences will result in a grade of N, F, or U, whichever is appropriate. Being more than 10 minutes late, answering a cell phone or text message, or sleeping in class will result in an absence.
Late Paper/Assignment Policy:
This policy varies with the type of assignment. Informal assignments such as in-class activities obviously cannot be made up. For formal papers, the work is due in-class according to the dates on the schedule. For formal essays, any work not handed in during the class will be penalized a half-letter grade for being late, and then one letter grade for each day late thereafter. (This includes weekends). For example, if a paper is due in class on Wednesday at 5:00 , and you’re not there but show up at my office at 6:30, your paper will receive a half-letter grade deduction. However, if I do not receive the paper until Thursday, it will receive a letter and a half grade deduction: half a grade for not having it in class, and an additional letter grade for it being a day late. Please note that I consider the paper being turned in when I receive it in my hands—not under my door, in an email (without PRIOR permission), or in my mailbox.
Students will only be allowed to make up exams in the event of an unforeseeable emergency. Documentation of the absence is REQUIRED before consideration for a make-up will be given.
Please note: If some kind of unforeseeable medical or legal situation arises, notify me as soon as possible. Depending upon the severity of the situation and the nature of the documentation provided, this late policy may be adjusted.
Other Policies:
Turn off cell phones, pagers, beepers, etc. before coming to class. PLEASE. While you’re here, you’re in class. Let’s all respect the time.
Final Exam: Our Final Exam is scheduled for Monday May 4 at 6:30. Personal conflicts such as travel plans and work schedules do not warrant a change in examination times.