ENGH 201
Reading and Writing about Texts
Instructor: Whitney Poole
Email: wpoole@gmu.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1-3, Robinson A Room 412
“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into
another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.”
― Joyce Carol Oates
Course Description and Goals:
Through reading we come to understand how universal the human experience is for
everyone. What happens to you has happened to others in different cultures, languages, and
times. We read to understand what it means to be human. Through the experience of
others, we recognize ourselves. Throughout this course, we will be examining works from a
variety of perspectives in the search to better understand the human experience through
literature. This course will have a contemporary theme and will require you to examine how
narratives from different cultures are connected.
Students who successfully complete English 201 should be able to:
 Read for comprehension, detail and nuance
 Identify the specific literary qualities of language as employed in the texts they
read
 Analyze the ways specific literary devices contribute to the meaning of a text
 Identify and evaluate the contribution of the social, political, historical, and
cultural contexts in which a literary text is produced
 Evaluate a critical argument in others’ writing as well as one’s own
Requirements:
 Read the assignments carefully, and prepare to respond to the thought provoking
questions at the end of each narrative.
 Submit three essays of double-spaced, finished prose with one-inch margins that
that add up to at least 3,500 words.
 Complete essay drafts and online assignments on time.
 Participate in class discussion.
 Engage actively in peer groups and discussions.
Required Texts
Literature: Craft & Voice, Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
Grading
Short Story Analytical Paper
Novel Analytical Paper
Nonfiction Analytical Paper
Weekly Analysis
25%
25%
25%
25%
Three Analytical Papers
~1200 words each. These papers should analyze themes, literary techniques, or the social
context of a narrative.
Weekly Analysis
Select a unique passage and analyze what you find interesting about the selection. Analyses
should be around 200 words and address literary techniques, character development, setting,
point of view, themes, or social contexts. Submit both the passage and your analysis on
Blackboard by Wednesday’s class each week.
Week 1
M Introductions
W Rapture, Anton Chekhov; The Lady with the Pet Dog, Anton Chekhov; Optimists, Richard
Ford
Week 2
M Greasy Lake, T. Coraghessan Boyle; Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, Ernest
Hemingway
W The Rememberer, Aimee Bender; The Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri; Move From
Summary to Interpretation, H-28
Week 3
M No Class
W What You Pawn I Will Redeem, Sherman Alexie; No One’s a Mystery, Elizabeth Tallent
Week 4
M The Cathedral, Raymond Carver, Interactive Reading of Jamaica’s Kincaid’s Girl
W The Metamorphosis, Kafka; Peer Review
Week 5
M The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Ch 1 p. 1-50
W Ch 2 p. 51-75, Short Story Analytical Paper due
Week 6
M The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Ch 3 p.77-165
W Ch 4 p. 167-201
Week 7
M The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Ch 5 p. 203-261
W Ch 6-8 p. 263-335
Week 8
Spring Break
Week 9
M Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Ch 1-3 p. 1-48
W Ch 4-5 p. 49-112
Week 10
M Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Ch. 6 p. 113-146
W Ch. 7-8 p. 147-220
Week 11
M Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Ch. 9-10 p. 221-264
W Ch. 11-12 p. 265-331
Week 12
M Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Ch. 13-15 p. 333-376, Peer Review
W Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
p. 1-79
Week 13
M Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
p. 80-155
Novel Analytical Paper Due
W Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
p.1-81
Week 14
M Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
p. 85-146
W p. 146-202
Week 15
M Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
p. 205-268
W p. 269-337
F Nonfiction Analytical Paper Due
Policies
Completion Policy:
You must complete all main essay assignments to earn a "D" or higher.
English 201 Grading Policy:
Students in ENGL201 receive a final grade of A+ (4.0), A (4.0), A- (3.67), B+ (3.33), B (3.0),
B- (2.67), C+ (2.33), C (2.0), D (1.0), or F. Students must earn a grade of D or higher to
complete the 201 requirement; students whose grades are lower than a D will not earn
credit for the course.
Course Grading Policy:
In grading essays, I use the following general criteria:
A “D” level grade (60-69%) denotes below average college-level writing and achievement.
The essay has moments of competence in response to the assignment: it meets, to some
degree, some of the assignment requirements, and demonstrates that the author has put time
and effort into communicating his/her ideas to his/her targeted audience. It has a thesis,
presents some support; sentence-level errors do not significantly prevent comprehension.
Essays that do not meet these criteria will not earn a "D."
A "C" level grade (70-79%) denotes average college-level writing and achievement. The
essay is a competent response to the assignment: it meets, to some degree, all the
assignment requirements, and demonstrates that the author has put significant time and
effort into communicating his/her ideas to his/her targeted audience. It has a thesis,
presents some support, and moves from point to point in an orderly fashion; sentence-level
errors do not significantly prevent comprehension.
A "B" level grade (80-89%) highlights a strong example of college writing and thinking. In
addition to meeting the "C" level requirements, such an essay goes further in some way(s): it
demonstrates some insight into the "gray areas" of the topic, provides original or very
thorough support that is tightly woven into the overall argument, reads smoothly at both the
sentence and paragraph levels, and/or exhibits a personal "voice" or style. It has few
sentence-level errors.
An "A" level grade (90-100%) marks an essay that is a delight for the reader. Even more
than in a "B" essay, its author anticipates and responds to possible reader questions, uses a
wide range of supporting evidence, engages the reader in a provocative conversation,
provides unexpected insights, and/or uses language with care and facility.
"F" level essays do not meet the basic expectations of the assignment.
Submitting Class Work
Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Unless otherwise noted, all
formal assignments should be typed using a standard font and size (Times New Roman 12
or 14 point is commonly acceptable), and double-spaced. Put your name and the instructor's
name at the top of the first page.
Late Work Policy
Late assignments are those arriving any time after the beginning of class on the due date. If
you need to, you can email me an assignment to avoid a grade penalty, but you must still
turn in a hard copy as soon as possible. You may place an assignment in my mailbox in
Robinson A487; do not ask the office staff to validate that you have turned it in; do not put
work on or under my office door or on my desk if I am not there.
Late assignments will lose half a letter grade for each calendar day that they are late. Latework penalties cannot be changed through revision.
Class Participation
You should be actively present. This implies brain awareness as well as the basic courtesies
of formal social gatherings. Students who are sleeping, reading the newspaper, carrying on
private conversations, answering or texting on cell phones, or working on assignments for
other classes (etc.) are not wholly, actively present and thus may lose class participation
points for that day. If you are seriously unprepared for class or group work—having
absolutely no draft for a draft workshop, for example—you may lose class participation
points for that day. Any serious breach of good classroom conduct may cause you to lose all
participation points.
Revision Policy
The analytical essays may be revised for a new grade if they earn lower than a B+. Revisions
must demonstrate substantial change to the focus, support, approach, and/or organization
of the essay in addition to comprehensive error correction, or they will be returned with no
grade change. Revisions must be completed within two weeks of the essay's return to you.
English Department Statement on Plagiarism
Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another
source without giving that source credit. Writers give credit through the use of accepted
documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing
of books, articles, and websites is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual
robbery and cannot be tolerated in an academic setting.
Student writers are often confused as to what should be cited. Some think that only direct
quotations need to be credited. While direct quotations do need citations, so do paraphrases
and summaries of opinions or factual information formerly unknown to the writers or which
the writers did not discover themselves. Exceptions to this include factual information
which can be obtained from a variety of sources, the writers' own insights or findings from
their own field research—what has been called common knowledge. What constitutes
common knowledge can sometimes be precarious; what is common knowledge for one
audience may be so for another. In such situations, it is helpful to keep the reader in mind
and to think of citations as being "reader friendly."
In other words, writers provide a citation for any piece of information that they think their
readers might want to investigate further. Not only is this attitude considerate of readers, it
will almost certainly ensure that writers will not be guilty of plagiarism. Consult the George
Mason Honor Code for more information.
Students with disabilities:
Students with documented disabilities are legally entitled to certain accommodations in the
classroom. If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations,
please see me and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 993-2474. All academic
accommodations must be arranged through the DRC.
The University Writing Center:
Since you will be writing several papers in this course, you may want to visit the University
Writing Center (http://writingcenter.gmu.edu), located in Robinson A114, for assistance.
The Writing Center is one of the best resources you will find on campus. They have an
outstanding website that offers a wealth of online resources for student writers. You can
schedule a 45-minute appointment with a trained tutor to help with any phase of the writing
process. You can even obtain assistance with papers by visiting the online writing center at
http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/owl/index.html, but please plan ahead and allow yourself at
least 2-3 days to receive a response. Make an appointment on their website, or by calling
703-993-1200, or stop by and schedule a session.