Composition and Reading
Wayland Baptist University
Mondays, Mililani Campus, Hybrid: 5:30-9:40
Fall, 2011
Instructor: Melissa Hatch, M.A.,
a.k.a. Melissa Holroyd
Email: Melissa.Holroyd@wayland.wbu.edu
Office Hours: Before Class, or By Appointment
Wayland Baptist University Mission Statement: Wayland Baptist University
exists to educate students in an academically challenging, learning-focused, and
distinctively Christian environment for professional success, lifelong learning, and
service to God and humankind.
Course Description:
Catalog Description:
Readings from imaginative literature; the research paper and shorter critical and
interpretive essays.
Prerequisite: English 1301
Textbook and Materials:
The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th edition (ISBN: 978-0-393-93514-1)
Course Outcome Competencies:
Upon the conclusion of this course, students actively engaged in learning will be able
to:
1. Comprehend the importance of imaginative literature as it relates to other
disciplines, the University’s liberal arts mission, and the world at large.
2. Discuss three major literary genres: short fiction, poetry, and drama.
3. Identify and analyze basic elements of literature.
4. Use and refine reading, research, and writing skills to support a clear point of
view in regard to a piece of literature.
5. Demonstrate the ability to read critically and communicate persuasively.
6. Analyze outside research as it relates to the literature.
7. Write a well-informed, original argument that focuses on an aspect of a piece
of literature or an author’s works.
The more the student puts into the course, the higher his or her outcome
competencies will be.
Course Requirements:
Class participation is a must. You will collaborate with your classmates as we read
and respond to great works of literature. It is imperative that you keep up with the
reading, especially since this is only a ten-week course. Come to class, or be online,
prepared to participate in an engaging and relevant discussion. Class participation
is worth 30% of your grade, and I judge this based both on your attendance, your
participation in relevant discussions, and my own discretion, so act accordingly. Do
not escape in your laptop or make too frequent trips outside the classroom.
Library Research for your final paper is important. While I understand that access
to a physical academic library may be difficult for you here in Hawaii, such
circumstances do not excuse you from rigorous academic research. We have a
multitude of virtual library sources available to you, and I expect you to become
familiar with these academic resources.
Read all introductory sections of your textbook, regardless of whether or not I
assign them. I will also be posting guides to reading as well as notes for your
reading to Blackboard. Since this is partially an online course, I expect you to check
these regularly as you read and write.
Assignments
You will write a total of 8 response papers on readings that I will assign. Hardcopies
are due the next day that we meet in class. Your responses should be 2-3 pages
each, typed, double-spaced, in APA format. Check Blackboard for examples of
response papers. Your responses to the readings should be thoughtful and
insightful. You should cite or reference specific moments or lines from the readings.
Responses should be YOUR OWN thoughts, not ideas from Spark Notes or some
other source. Be aware that I take plagiarism seriously.
You will also be responsible for discussion threads on Blackboard. I will post a
discussion thread each week, no later than Monday. Everyone must respond to the
discussion, and be sure to check regularly; this is a discussion, so classmates may be
asking you questions or expanding on your ideas. Participation is key here.
As a final assignment, you will write a formal paper on a work that we’ve read or an
author of your choice. The subject matter is entirely up to you, so choose something
that really interests you. You should use the literature in the field (e.g. journal
articles, books, outside research, etc.) to support some of your ideas, or at least to
help make your case. Citing specific examples from the text (or an author’s work) is
also crucial for a paper of this nature in the form of quotations and direct references.
I will post some sample papers to Blackboard.
Choose something to discuss, such as setting, a character, a running theme, etc. You
may opt to discuss similar aspects, such as themes or characters of an author’s
works. Make a claim that tells us something interesting about your topic. Sample
writings from your textbook are helpful. Also pay close attention to section 9 in
your book. This is not meant to be a biography of an author, so if you choose to
focus on an author, you should focus on the actual works from the author, not the
author him/herself.
The paper should be 6-8 pages in length, and it is due the last day of class. Drafts
will be due the week prior. You may want to look ahead in our reading schedule and
see what peaks your interest. Reading ahead to start early on your research paper
will enable you to write an effective paper. I suggest starting no later than 4 or 5
weeks into class. Research papers take time to write properly, and you should be
spending a significant amount of time collecting and reading research. I encourage
you to get an early start. You may choose to write a paper that expands on one of
your response papers. Overlap in this case is okay.
Attendance:
From WBU: “Students enrolled at one of the University’s external campuses should
make every effort to attend all class meetings. All absences must be explained to the
instructor, who will then determine whether the omitted work may be made up.
When a student reaches that number of absences considered by the instructor to be
excessive, the instructor will so advise the student and file an unsatisfactory
progress report with the campus executive director/dean. Any student who misses
25 percent or more of the regularly scheduled class meetings may receive a grade of
F in the course. “
Bottom line: don’t miss class! This is a short semester, which means I have packed
daily lessons with more than is typical for a traditional 16-week course. Each
unexcused absence will result in a 5% reduction of your class participation grade.
Grading
Your course grade will be based primarily on your proficiency as measured by your
performance on assigned work.
In general, a grade of ‘A’ means Excellent, ‘B’ means Good, ‘C’ means Average, ‘D’
means Poor.
93-100% (A = 4.0)
90-92% (A- = 3.7)
87-89% (B+ = 3.3)
83-86% (B = 3.0)
80-82% (B- = 2.7)
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
67-69%
60-66%
0-59%
(C+ = 2.3)
(C = 2.0)
(C- = 1.7)
(D+ =1.3)
(D = 1.0)
(F = 0)
Grade Breakdown
Class Participation/Discussion
Final Exam
30% (Weekly discussion threads are worth 12.5
points each)
10%
Response Papers
Final Paper
40% (5% each, worth 50 points each)
20%
Special Needs:
Notice to Students Experiencing Disabilities:
It is university policy that no otherwise qualified disabled person be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under an
educational program or activity in the University. Students should inform the
instructor of existing disabilities the first class meeting. (Documentation of
disability may be required.)
Statement to Students to retain course research papers [for undergraduate
course only]:
WBU degree-seeking students are strongly encouraged to retain copies of all
research papers. To graduate from WBU, students must complete the senior Exit
Seminar course, GRAD 4101. The Exit Seminar is designed to capstone an adult
learner’s discipline knowledge through the completion of a discipline portfolio or
the completion of an approved research project. The research papers retained from
previous courses, particularly courses within the discipline, will aid the adult
learner in completing the GRAD 4101 course.
About Academic Integrity & Rigor
Copying material that is not your own without indicating the source of the material
is called plagiarism. Plagiarism is cheating. The most blatant form of plagiarism is
to copy someone else’s words—sentences—verbatim, but to use someone else’s
idea in your writing, giving the impression that it is your own idea, when it has been
borrowed, is also plagiarism.
In general, plagiarism and other forms of dishonesty will result in a failing grade for
the course and the submission of documentation for the student’s university
records. At the instructor’s discretion, the penalty may be less severe, e.g., forfeiting
all points possible for that assignment and an equivalent number of points being
deducted from the course total.
If you have any questions about what academic integrity means in this course,
please ask me. I’d be happy to answer your specific questions.
Course Calendar
Week 1, April 9—Meeting (Please Read these works before class on the 9th).
The Canon
Assignments for this week:
Intro, Pgs. 7-9
Fiction 12-13
Brewer 20/20, 16-17, Sample Writing 17-19
Carver, 28-38, Sample Writing 40-43
Wharton, 85-95
Kincaid 116-122
Morrison 139
Response Paper:
Toni Morrison’s Recitatif
Week 2, April 16—Not Meeting
Chekhov, 169-80, Sample Writing 203-207
Hawthorne, 213-223
Poe, 101-105
Kincaid 116-122
Response Paper:
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birth Mark
OR Alice Munro’s Boys and Girls
Week 3, April 23—Meeting
Crane, 255-71
Faulkner 389-91, Read A Rose for Emily (391)
Johnson, 401
Watkins, 403
Stafford, 404
Fetterley, 406
Klein, 411
Bierce, 457
Updike, 589
Rushdie, 579
Munro, 570
Response Paper:
John Updike’s A&P
Week 4, April 30—Meeting
Fiction
Women in Literature
Assignments for this week:
O’Connor, 294-99
O’Connor A Good Man is Hard to Find (299) and Everything that Rises Must Converge
(323)
Chopin, 353-54
Gilman 354
Glaspell 365
Boyd, 382
Lyttelton, 383
Erdrich, 276-90
Response Paper:
Flannery O’Connor’s Everything that Rises Must Converge
Week 5, May 7—Meeting
Atwood, 438
Mason, 524
Welty, 593
Response Paper:
Bobbie Ann Mason’s Shiloh
Week 6, May 14—Not Meeting
Poetry
Assignments for this week:
We will discuss Shiloh in class this week.
We will also discuss women in literature before moving onto poetry.
Heavy discussion on research paper that is due Dec. 5th. Don’t miss this class!
Research instruction for final paper.
Important: Please read sample research papers from Blackboard before
coming to class.
Reading Poetry 618
Browning, 619
Responding to Poetry 623, 630
Jonson, 624
Writing about Poetry 636
Sample Writing 640
Theme and Tone 651
Piercy, 652
Snodgrass, 653
Blake, 658
Atwood, 675
Browning, 676
Lady Chudleigh, 689
Cofer, 695
Rosenberg, 696
Pastan, 702
Wilde, 748
Burns, 754
Donne, 757
Olds, 768
Frost, 768
Rich, 769
Frost, 1019
Keats, 1031
Pound, 1041
Whitman, 1046 (I Hear America Singing)
You are free to choose a poem that strikes you (except for The Road Not
Taken). Make sure you choose something that you can write on with an ample
amount of interest.
Week 7, May 21—Not Meeting
Harlem Renaissance, 947
Bontemps, 956
Cullen, 957
Grimke, 958
Hughes, 959 (Harlem and The Weary Blues)
Johnson, 962
McKay, 963 (If We Must Die and The Tropics in New York)
Du Bois, 974
Hurston, 975
Locke, 966
Fisher, 970
Response Paper:
Choose one author from the Harlem Renaissance, and respond to the actual
work.
Week 8, May 28—Meeting
Drama
Today we will also discuss the Harlem Renaissance.
Assignments for this week:
Reading Drama, 1070
You may also want to look at Responding to and writing about Drama.
Elements of Drama, 1125-34
Performance as Context, 1399-1404
Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, 1408
Read the whole play . Be sure to mark your text so that you have something
to come back to.
Response Paper:
Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.
Week 9, June 4—Not Meeting
Take Home Final Essay Exam
I will post the prompt to Blackboard.
Drafts of Research Paper Due
Email me your draft, and we will arrange peer review, which you need to do no later
than June 7th. Email your peer’s paper to him/her by 10:00 PM June 7th.
Assignments for next week:
Research Paper due next week!
Week 10, June 11—Meeting
Streetcar Discussion
Final: Objective portion of final exam today: Quotation Identification and Character
Identification.