LSC – Tomball
Syllabus for ENGL 1302 Composition and Rhetoric II
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Instructor: Van Piercy, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English
Sections: 3017
Class Days and Times: MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
Classroom: S163
Office: S153J
Office hours: Office Hours: MW: 12:30-1:30; TTh: 2:00-3:00PM. (Note: I am on
campus most days. Feel free to check at my office or catch me in the hall.)
Faculty Web-page: http://faculty.lonestar.edu/vpiercy
Telephone: (281) 401-1814 (office and voice mail); (281) 351-3384 (fax); (281)
351-3300 (Tomball College Information)
Email address: van.a.piercy@lonestar.edu
Trillian and Yahoo! Instant Messengers: vpiercy1
Mailbox: S150 at Tomball College
Mailing address: 30555 Tomball Parkway, Tomball, TX 77375-4036
Credit hours: 3
Prerequisites: Successful completion of freshman English I
Required Textbooks
Schilb, John, and John Clifford, ed. Making Literature Matter. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2009.
Miéville, China. The City & The City. New York: Ballantine Books, 2010.
Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Windup Girl. San Francisco: Night Shade Books, 2009, 2011.
Recommended A writing guide/handbook or an MLA Handbook. A computer, MS-Word
compatible word processor, USB drive, internet access. (We have a number of
computers on campus. If you need to know where one is, ask me.)
Evaluation and Letter Grade Assignments
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Diagnostic essay 5% Short story analysis (1st analysis) = 15% (2nd analysis) = 15%
Draft of 2nd analysis = 5% Draft of research paper = 5% Drafting Workshop,
typed draft = 5% Research paper = 25% Final exam = 20% Quizzes, draft of first
essay (quiz grade) = 5%
Classroom expectations:
1. While class is underway, please refrain from chatting up your neighbor or texting
on cell phones, checking PDAs, laptop computers, netbooks, or reading other
non-class related materials or devices. If you must mess about with these things
during class, please excuse yourself and go into the hallway. Phones and pagers
are to be silenced and put out of sight. If you insist on fiddling with your cell
phone or other device during class, inputting messages, etc., or if I have to tell
you repeatedly to stop talking to your neighbor I will mark you absent for that
day and I will ask you to sit somewhere else, probably the other side of the
classroom. If you continue to disrupt class, I will ask you to leave. You will then
need to meet with me and possibly the vice president for student development
before you can return to our class. See http://www.lonestar.edu/conduct.htm.
2. Avoid coming to class late. If you come to class late, please get class notes from
someone besides me. Coming to class late three times counts as one full
absence.
3. If you leave early frequently (more than four times) or come to class late
frequently (more than four times), I may drop you for excessive absences.
4. Please come to class prepared. Read the assignments before class. Do the
assigned homework so that you may participate fully in class discussion. It’s your
education, not mine.
Attendance Policy:
One of the keys to success in this course is consistent attendance. You have three
“personal” or “free” days. After missing three classes, your course grade total will be
reduced by two points per absence. Three tardies equal one absence.
Advisory Statement on the content of this course
This course treats and analyzes material containing adult themes and situations. English
1302 is an introduction to fiction, usually including but not limited to short stories,
novellas, novels, plays, poetry, and films (often used to substitute for dramatic
performances we cannot otherwise witness). These materials touch on many aspects of
the human condition. Obviously, serious artistic writers may feel the need to hint at or
examine the human darkness, or what they may deem to be “natural desires,” that can
leave audiences both disturbed and fascinated. Hence, the material in this course may
be too graphic, sexually explicit, psychologically “confined” (in the sense of
claustrophobic and paranoiac) or otherwise psychologically distressing for some
readers—thematic treatments of depression, suicide, forms of abuse, unusual sexual
attractions, criminal behavior, disheartening diseases, or loss of faith, for example, are
not uncommon. I urge those who may be over-troubled, offended, or even unusually
inspired by such fictional treatments of adult themes to consider taking another course.
ADA Statement
If you require reasonable accommodations because of a physical, mental, or learning
disability, please notify the instructor of this course as soon as possible and preferably
before the end of the first two weeks of class to arrange for reasonable
accommodations.
ENGL 1302 Tentative Schedule (Spring 2013)
Note: All reading and writing assignments are to be completed for the date on which
they appear on the schedule (completed on or before the date on which they appear on
the schedule.). In other words, be prepared to discuss those readings on that class day.
Also, expect a quiz over any assigned work. Finally, it is a good idea to mark the due
dates of major assignments from all your classes so that you can see what weeks will
be especially busy. Also, bring your book to class whether or not reading is assigned for
a particular day. See course website at http://vpiercy.wordpress.com/english-1302/ for
updated course schedule.
Weeks 1, 2, and 3— Review of ENGL 1301; Draft of Essay #1; Intro to Short Stories;
Theme and Setting
Jan 14
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Introduction to the class; course website and policies
Five paragraph theme paper: the tattoo > | | | <
Fables. “The Zebra Storyteller”
PREVIEW: OWL. Titles for Academic papers, Critical Analysis assignment,
syllabus, grade sheet.
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First draft of Critical analysis #1 (Bring a “bluebook.” This IN-CLASS draft
will give me a sample of your writing--here worth a quiz grade. I will
comment about its qualities and return the next class period. This is the
basis of your final copy.)
Literature pp. 3-21 “What is literature? How and Why Does It Work?”
Read in preparation for the in-class writing.
Literature pp. 699-704. Kate Chopin, “The Storm.” Read in preparation for
the in-class writing.
Literature pp. 130-131 “Setting.” Read in preparation for the in-class
writing.
Jan 16
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Week 2
Jan 21
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MLA style at http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla/ and at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html
Review the websites linked from our course homepage on these MLA
topics: Capitalizing titles and subtitles; Underlining or Italics; Quotation
marks and short titles; Outlining, Theses, Drafting
Literature pp. 614-620. Updike, “A & P”
Literature pp. 705-707 Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”
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Draft Paper returned.
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Literature pp. 3-21 “What is literature? How and Why Does It Work?”
Continued, esp. pp. 7-15.
Literature pp. 699-704. Kate Chopin, “The Storm.” Continued.
Literature pp. 614-620. Updike, “A & P” Continued.
Literature pp. 705-707 Chopin, “The Story of an Hour.” Continued.
Literature pp. 1059-1071 Russell, “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” (for
next class)
Jan 23
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Week 3
Jan 28
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Snowpocalypse 2014. No class.
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Draft workshop; peer editing. Bring three copies of a typed draft of your
paper to receive credit.
MLA (refer to the OWL and Capital Community College MLA sites’ URLs
above for all future “MLA” topics in this syllabus): Integrating sources into
your text; Brackets and Ellipsis Marks
Literature pp. 1059-1071 Russell, “Vampires in the Lemon Grove”
Jan 30
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Week 4
Feb 4
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Chitra B. Divakaruni,“Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” at
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/98apr/dutta.htm
Literature pp. 57-69 “Strategies for Making Arguments about Literature”
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Literature pp. 138-142 “Final Draft of Student Paper”
Critical Analysis 1 due
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Literature chapter 2: “How to Read Closely,” 22-48.
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Feb 6
Week 5
Feb 11
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The City & The City
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The City & The City
Feb 13
Week 6
Feb 18 The City & The City
Feb. 20
The City & The City, wrap-up discussion. “What Makes Literature
‘Literature’?” pp. 7-17—read Wadler and read Kumin. Also, read “Why Study Literature
in a College Writing Course?” pp. 17-19.
Week 7
Feb 25
Read pages 532-550, to include “A Conflict of Values: A Story in the
News,” Hanif Kureishi, “My Son, the Fanatic,” Haroon Siddiqui, Knoxville News-Sentinel,
Andrew Norfolk, and Barbara Hagerty
Feb 27 Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery,” pp. 867-874 & Aimee Wilson, “Under the Guise of
Tradition: ‘The Lottery’ and Female Circumcision,” pp. 883-886.
Week 8
Mar 4
Alice Walker, “Everyday Use,” pp. 314-322. Midterm Review.
Mar 6
Midterm
SPRING BREAK WEEK – NO CLASSES MAR 11-16
Week 9
Mar 18
The Windup Girl
Mar 20
The Windup Girl
Week 10
Mar 25 The Windup Girl
Mar 27 The Windup Girl
Week 11
Apr 1
Poetry. Research paper assignment
Apr 3
"Trifles" (in our textbook), pp. 941-953. LAST DAY TO DROP AND
RECEIVE A “W”
Week 12
Apr 8
Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess,” pp. 1206-1209; Gabriel Spera, “My
Ex-Husband,” pp.1209-1212.
Apr 10
Christopher Durang, “For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls,” 411-424
Week 13
Apr 15 Poetry
Apr 17
Poetry
Week 14
Apr 22
Partial annotated bibliography due; poetry discussion.
Apr 24
Partial annotated bibliography due; poetry discussion.
Week 15
Apr 29 Full annotated bibliography due; Draft of research paper due
May 1
Research paper due. Final exam review
12:30 - 1:59 pm
May 8
12:30 - 2:20 pm