English 220-01: Introduction
to Literature
Southwestern College, Spring 2016
Tuesday/Thursday, 1:20-2:45
Room 225
Professor John Rieder
Email: jrieder@swccd.edu
Office: Room 430D
Phone: 421-6700x5558
Mailbox: Room 430J
Website: riederswc.wordpress.com
Office Hours: Mondays, 2:00-4:00; Tuesdays
and Thursdays, 10:30-11:30; Wednesdays,
3:00-4:00; and by appointment
Welcome to English 220! The class is focused in general on introducing students to the study
of imaginative literature. It emphasizes critical reading, analyzing, and writing about fiction,
poetry, and drama. It is recommended as preparation for ENGL 116 and specialized literature
courses.
Moreover, in our particular course, we will look closely at the formal features of texts, their
varied and fascinating social-historical backgrounds, and how these elements interlock to
produce meanings. Above all, then, we will think about what it means to be a reader, about
different theoretical approaches to literature, and about the ways in which the meanings of
these works can come into sharper focus when we situate them in their social, cultural, and
historical contexts.
I truly love teaching this course. I have a significant background in the subject, yet every
semester, through our conversations, my students manage to teach me something new about
it. I hope you enjoy reading the assigned texts as well as attending and participating each
week!
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Student Learning Outcomes
 Student composes short, analytical interpretations of literary works, formulating
insightful thesis statements and supporting them with textual evidence and literary
analysis.
 Student identifies and evaluates, through discussion and writing, literary elements
and techniques used in fiction, poetry, and drama.
Required Materials
1. Literature: The Human Experience. Eds. Richard Abcarian, et al. Boston: Bedford, 2013
(11th Edition)—available in the SWC Bookstore. Buy it today!
2. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. 1949. New York: Penguin Plays, 1976—NOT in the
SWC Bookstore! It is available used for under $3.00 online. Order this soon!
3. Pens, pencils, and lots of lined paper for daily quizzes and in-class written responses
4. Three 8.5x11 exam books (“greenbooks”) for the major exams
5. Access to the Internet so that you can download supplementary materials
Major Assignments/ Grade Weights
Exam #1: On Fiction
15%
Exam #2: On Poetry
15%
Exam #3: On Drama
20%
Regular Quizzes & Occasional Typed Responses
15%
Group-led Discussion on a Poet, Poetry
Movement, or Poetic Form
15%
Active Participation (participation in small-group and whole-
20%
class discussions, in-class writing, as well as consistent
professionalism and engagement during each meeting)
Course Policies
It is your responsibility to read and fully understand the policies below. Your continued enrollment in the course is indication that
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you accept all the policies. If some expectation is not clear, just ask me .
1. ATTENDANCE: Attendance is essential and reflects your commitment to your education. You are
expected to attend every class session and to accept responsibility for all assignments and announcements,
even when you are absent. You should get contact info from at least three of your peers by the end of the first
week. (See the last page of the syllabus.) Also, please arrive to class promptly at 1:20. Two late arrivals count
as an absence. If you arrive after I’ve taken roll, it is your responsibility to notify me. If you have any
questions, please discuss them with me outside of class. If you miss more than 4 class meetings—or more
than 6 hours of total class time—you will be dropped. If you exceed 6 hours of missed class time
AFTER the deadline to withdraw, you will get an F for participation.
2. PREPARATION: You must come to class having done the reading or other homework that is due on that
day. You should always bring your copy of the course text and hardcopies of additional readings posted at my
website. Be prepared for brief daily reading quizzes. If the initial quizzes reveal that many students are not
completing the required readings, I will begin assigning two-page typed responses each week instead. If you
are clearly unprepared for the day’s work, I will dismiss you and mark you absent.
3. LATE WORK: All work must be turned in on time. Homework assignments lose a full-letter grade for
every day (24 hours) they’re late. Also, there is no “extra credit.” If you focus on completing what I assign,
you won’t need it.
4. ACADEMIC HONESTY: Don’t pretend to have done writing that was done by somebody else. This course
maintains a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for plagiarism and other forms of cheating. The very least penalty
for plagiarism is an F in the course, and cases may be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs. Moreover, if I
have any questions about the authenticity of your work, I may ask you to produce your notes and/or require
that you complete some other task to demonstrate that your work is your own. Failure to do so will also
result in an F in the course. Staying in this class indicates your acceptance of this policy.
5. COURSE CONTENT: This course will challenge you to analyze subjects about which you may have
strong opinions. Furthermore, some of the materials that we will be reading/viewing contain “mature
content” and represent critical viewpoints regarding sexuality, race, politics, economics, etc. If you object to
reading about, writing about, and/or discussing such issues, it is recommended that you enroll in a different
section of English 220.
6. CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE: Everybody participates. This is the most important factor in our class. You
only earn minimal credit for showing up. Give your full attention when others are speaking. A student who
engages in disruptive behavior (for example, chatting, sleeping, compulsively fondling your phone) will be
dismissed from class and marked absent. A note about cell phones: Silence yours before entering the
classroom. If you truly have an emergency situation that you believe warrants your phone being on, discuss it
with me before class. Otherwise, see the penalty for “disruptive behavior” above. Sexist, racist, and
homophobic comments, as well as other kinds of demeaning language, are offensive and inconsistent with an
academic atmosphere; they will not be given a forum in this class.
7. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS: Southwestern College recommends that students with disabilities or
specific learning needs contact their professors during the first two weeks of class to discuss academic
accommodations. If a student believes that they may have a disability and would like more information, they
are encouraged to contact Disability Support Services (DSS) at (619) 482-6512 (voice), (619) 207-4480 (video
phone), or email at DSS@swccd.edu. Alternate forms of this syllabus and other course materials are available
upon request.
8. WRITING CENTER: English 220 assumes college-level writing proficiency, including the appropriate
grammar and punctuation skills. If any aspect of your writing is not yet at this level, it is your
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responsibility to improve these skills through the use of campus resources like the Writing Center and
Online Writing Lab (OWL). The Southwestern College Writing Center provides free tutoring to writers of
all levels of ability on a walk-in basis. The purpose of the Writing Center is to guide and teach students rather
than to “fix” papers; tutoring is designed to help you develop and refine skills that you will carry with you
beyond a given assignment or course. The tutors will be happy to assist you at any stage of the writing
process.
Academic Success Center Referral: To further your success, reinforce concepts, and achieve the stated
learning objectives for this course, I refer you to Academic Success Center learning assistance services. You
will be automatically enrolled in NC 3: Supervised Tutoring, a free noncredit course that does not appear on
your transcripts. Services are located in the ASC (420), the Writing Center (420D), the Reading Center (420),
Math Center (426), the Library/LRC Interdisciplinary Tutoring Lab, MESA, specialized on-campus School
tutoring labs, the Higher Education Center, and the San Ysidro Education Center. Online learning materials
and Online Writing Lab (OWL) are available at www.swccd.edu/~asc.
Course Calendar
(Unless otherwise noted, all readings are from the course anthology)
Week 1
Feb. 2
Tuesday
Course Syllabus
Cortázar, “A Continuity of Parks” (handout)
Topics: reader-response theory
Thursday
“Reading Fiction” (pgs. 6-11)
Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”
Topics: point of View, plot; historicization
Week 2
Feb. 9
Tuesday
De Maupassant, “The Necklace” (website)
Topics: Marxist/Class Analysis; irony
Thursday
Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”
Topics: setting, flashback; Du Bois’ theory of “double-consciousness”
Week 3
Feb. 16
Tuesday
Salinger, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” (website)
Topics: symbolism; Post-WWII U.S. Culture
Thursday
4
Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Topics: allegory
Week 4
Feb. 23
Tuesday
Perkins-Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Topic: feminist and intersectional analysis
Thursday
Viramontes, “The Moths”
Topics: voice, fabulism; theories of Chicana feminism
Week 5
March 1
Tuesday
Review Day
Thursday
Exam #1: Fiction
Week 6
March 8
Tuesday
“Reading Poetry” (pgs. 11-17)
Brooks, “We Real Cool”
Lorde, “ A Litany for Survival” (website)
Topics: rhythm, diction, social commentary
Thursday
Shakespeare, “Sonnet 130”
Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”
Garrison, “Sestina for the Working Mother”
Topics: form, the poetic line
Week 7
March 15
Tuesday
Cummings, “She Being Brand”
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Ferlinghetti, Constantly Risking Absurdity”
Hughes, “Harlem”
Topics: concrete poetry, conceit, metaphor, simile
 Sign up for Student-led Discussions
Thursday
Yeats, “The Second Coming”
Pound, “In a Station of the Metro” (website)
Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Topic: modernity and the arts
Week 8
March 22
Tuesday
Ginsberg, “A Supermarket in California”
Eliot, “The Hollow Men” (website)
Topic: allusion
Thursday
The Flying Words Project
Topic: disability and poetics
Spring Break: March 26-April 3
Week 9
April 5
Tuesday
Student-led Discussions
Thursday
Student-led Discussions
Week 10
April 12
Tuesday
Student-led Discussions
Thursday
Student-led Discussions
Week 11
April 19
Tuesday
Review Day
Thursday
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Exam #2: Poetry
Week 12
April 26
Tuesday
Reading Drama” (pgs. 17-24)
Miller, Death of a Salesman (Act I)—not in course anthology!
Topics: formal features of drama; ideology of the American Dream
Thursday
Miller, Death of a Salesman (Act II and Requiem)
Week 13
May 3
Tuesday
Screen film: Death of a Salesman (1985)
Thursday
Finish viewing film; discussion
Week 14
May 10
Tuesday
Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (724-753, Act I)
Topics: Intersectional analysis of the American Dream, redlining and structural racism
Thursday
Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (Acts II and III)
Week 15
May 17
Tuesday
Screen scenes from the film A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Thursday
Review Day
Finals Week
Exam #3: Drama
Thursday, May 26, 1:00-3:00
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Peer Contact List
NAME
1.
EMAIL
PHONE (optional)
2.
3.
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