Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University
Composition and Rhetoric, Fall 2005
ENGL 1100 C, Monday, Wednesday 11:55 a.m. – 1:10 p.m.
ENGL 1100 D1, Monday, Wednesday 1:25 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
Instructor: Jaime Cleland
E-mail: jaime.cleland@gmail.com
Office: #703
Phone: 917-326-4803
Office hours: Monday, Wednesday 3:00-5:00 p.m. and by appointment

Goals:
Over the course of this semester I hope you will acquire some tools to become a better reader and a better writer. There’s no magic wand for this, only a lot of reading and a lot of writing, so expect to do both. By focusing on the techniques used by some of the great writers in English, you should be able to improve your sensitivity to language in a way that carries over to your own writing. In addition to getting to know some interesting texts, you should acquire some specific strategies for understanding them, as well as a basic understanding of different theoretical approaches to literature. The course builds up to a term paper with a research emphasis, so we will also work on understanding, evaluating, and incorporating outside sources on literature.

Texts:
Required: Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Fourth Compact Edition. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia.
Suggested: A Writer’s Reference. Diana Hacker.
These books have been ordered from Barnes & Noble (and will be supplemented, from time to time, with handouts). You do not need to buy A Writer’s Reference if you already have a good resource on grammar, citing sources, etc., but if you don’t already have such a work, I strongly suggest that you purchase this one. It will continue to come in handy through your college career.

More resources:
Feel free to come to my office hours or make appointments to discuss drafts (hint: this works best when done in advance of deadlines) and/or any other aspects of this course. I’m available over e-mail but not, of course, 24/7 – allow about a day for a response (although you may be lucky and catch me online). E-mail is a much more likely bet than the telephone. Also, you are encouraged to patronize the campus writing center (http://www.yu.edu/stern/writingcenter/index.html).

Grading:
Four essays: 15% each
These will be 2-5 pages long (depending on the assignment), typed. Details on individual assignments will follow. If you make a B- or below on a paper and think you can do better, make an appointment with me to discuss revisions. If you wish to revise a paper, you will be committed to working with me through a guided revision process that will continue until you have made substantial changes to the essay. (You are, of course, encouraged to discuss drafts with me in advance of the due date.) Finally and most importantly, I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE PAPERS. They are due in class on the due date. Please keep this in mind when you are tempted to procrastinate – inevitably, something will come up, your printer will break, etc. If for some reason you will not be in class on the due date, make arrangements with me beforehand.
Term paper: 20%
The term paper will allow you to use skills you’ve gained during the semester to integrate outside research and your own ideas about a favorite text from this course. We will discuss this assignment more fully later in the semester.
One-page responses: 15%
In addition to more formal essays, you will write a number of smaller responses. These should generally be from one paragraph to a page in length, typed. These responses have a number of purposes. They let me know that you’ve read and given serious thought to the material for the day, and give us a jumping-off point for class discussion. Often, they will employ some skill that you will use again in a formal essay. And finally, they keep you writing – and the only way to learn to write is to do plenty of it. The one-page responses will be graded on a check, check-plus, check-minus scheme, and they don’t have to be perfect; I just want to see you thinking.
Class participation: 5%
Class participation encompasses prompt, prepared, regular attendance. Be here, have the texts and all other necessary materials, and have something to say. Attendance is mandatory; when you’re not here, you miss out, and you will be responsible for the work you miss. However, you have up to three “free” absences which I hope you will not feel compelled to take except in emergency circumstances. Subsequent absences will affect your grade. I don’t mind if you eat or drink in class, if you can do it discreetly (nothing too noisy or fragrant), but ringing cell phones are strictly prohibited.

Academic Honesty:
Plagiarism is the act of claiming another’s intellectual work (words and ideas) as one’s own. It may be accidental (due to sloppy note-taking and documentation) or intentional (e.g. downloading work from the internet), but it is always wrong. AT MINIMUM, the result of plagiarism is an F for the assignment. Note that much of the work for this class, particularly during the early part of the semester, will involve close reading only, and any form of research for these assignments will be forbidden.

Poetry

Aug. 31: Introduction to course. What is explication?

Sept. 5: NO CLASS (Labor Day)
Sept. 7: Reading a Poem (433-448, including all poems), Listening to a Voice (449-476)

Sept: 12: Words (477-500), Saying and suggesting (501-512)
Sept. 14: Working with quotations

Sept. 19: Imagery (513-531), Figures of Speech (532-550)
Sept. 21: ESSAY 1 DUE. Sound (572-589)

Sept. 26: Rhythm (590-607)
Sept. 28: Closed Form (608-625), Open Form (626-640)

Oct. 3 – Oct. 5: NO CLASS (Erev Rosh Hashana, Rosh Hashana)

Oct. 10: Recognizing Excellence (713-731), What Is Poetry? (732-734) Comparing and contrasting

Oct. 12 – Oct. 26: NO CLASS (Holidays)

Fiction

Oct. 31: ESSAY 2 DUE. Reading a Story (3-15, including the fables), “A&P” (15-20)
Nov. 2: Point of View (23-28), “A Rose for Emily” (29-36). Suggested: “Interpreter of Maladies” (37-53), “Sonny’s Blues” (53-76).

Nov. 7: Character (81-84), “Cathedral” (99-111). Suggested: “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” (84-91), “Everyday Use” (92-99).
Nov. 9: Tone and Style (150-154), Irony (172-173), “Who’s Irish?” (handout). Suggested: “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” (154-158), “Saboteur” (173-182).

Nov. 14: Setting (116-118), Theme (185-187), “Malinke’s Atonement” (handout). Suggested: “The Storm” (119-123), “Dead Men’s Path” (187-190).
Nov. 16: Symbol (200-202), “The Lottery” (211-218). Suggested: “The Chrysanthemums” (202-211), “Young Goodman Brown” (344-354).

Nov. 21: ESSAY 3 DUE. Research methods. MEET AT LIBRARY.

Drama & Critical Theory

Nov. 23: Reading a Play (869-895, including “Trifles” and “Beauty”)

Nov. 28: The Theater of Shakespeare (988-991), Othello act I (991-1012), Critical Approaches to Literature (1497-1498), Formalist Criticism (1498-1500), Reader-Response Criticism (1520-1523)
Nov: 30: Othello act II, Biographical Criticism (1500-1503), Psychological Criticism (1508-1511), Mythological Criticism (1511-1514)

Dec. 5: Othello act III, Historical Criticism (1504-1507), Sociological Criticism (1514-1517)
Dec. 7: Othello act IV, Gender Criticism (1517-1520)

Dec. 12: Othello act V, Deconstructionist Criticism (1523-1526)
Dec. 14: Othello wrapup

Dec. 19: Incorporating and citing outside sources
Dec. 21: TBA

Dec. 26: ESSAY 4 DUE. TBA.

Jan. 12: TERM PAPER DUE. (last day of finals)