ENGLISH 2374/69982: INTRODUCTION TO POETRY: Spring 2011
TTH 10:00-11:30
FAC 315
DR. SHARON KLANDER
Office: FAC 206: 713-718-6626 (voice mail) or call 713-718-6671 (English Dept.)
sharon.klander@hccs.edu
Office Hours: MW 1:00-2:30, T 1:00-1:30, and by appointment
Tutoring Lab Hours: FAC 321B—MW 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Course Objectives and Requirements:
Students who successfully complete English 2374 with a final grade of "C" or above will have
demonstrated the ability to:
1. Complete and comprehend reading assignments. Assignments vary in length, but please
take note of the following statement from the HCCS course catalogue: "Generally, a student in
academic courses needs a minimum of 2 hours outside class for each hour of classroom
discussion." Please take this recommendation seriously; if your schedule doesn't allow for this
commitment, please consider revising it. A college-level literature course requires much careful
reading and writing; this course is no exception.
2. Attend class regularly. Multiple absences and tardiness may affect your grade. HCCS
policy allows Professors to drop any student who misses more than six hours of instruction.
Arriving more than 20 minutes late may be counted as an absence. Important!!!!! Please obtain
the names and contact information of at least two of your colleagues so that you can catch up
on any course work you may miss. I am responsible for you when you’re in class; however, I
neither repeat lectures nor carry handouts from one week’s classes to the next. You must take
responsibility for your own preparedness before every class, including obtaining copies of any
handouts you missed. I will be available to meet with you during my office hours (FAC 206) or
during my hours in the Tutoring Lab (FAC 321B).
3. Participate in at least one oral presentation.
4. Explain and illustrate poetry within the contexts of Literary Time Periods, Poetic Form/
Prosody and Content (including Rhetorical Tropes), Ars Poetica, Re-Definitions of Religion/
Faith, Re-Imaging Nature, and Ekphrastic Poetry.
5. Express clearly and support convincingly a thesis which argues an interpretation of a poem
or poems.
6. Quote from secondary sources without plagiarism.
7.
Maintain an overall average of 70% or above on written assignments and texts.
Student Learning Outcomes:
* Explain and illustrate stylistic characteristics of the English/American tradition of poetry in the
context of the Western European and other traditions from around the world in translation.
* Connect representative poetic works to human and individual values in historical and social
contexts.
* Demonstrate knowledge of various poetic works.
* Analyze critical texts relating to various poetic works.
* Critique and interpret representative poetic works.
Course Text: The McGraw-Hill Book of Poetry, Robert DiYanni & Kraft Rompf, Eds.
Required Course Work:
VERY IMPORTANT!!! READINGS, as assigned, and PARTICIPATION IN CLASS
DISCUSSIONS
GLOSSARY OF TERMS (a list of definitions of any words you don’t know from your readings;
due throughout the semester as you complete each reading) and READER RESPONSE ESSAYS,
due as assigned in class (500 words each, making clear your personal/1st-person voiced response to
the readings, without reliance upon summary of the texts). You will receive credit for completion
of these—not individual grades; turn in all of them and your grade will be 100%; miss one, and
your grade will be 90%, two and your grade will be 80%, etc. Late Reader Response Essays will
not be accepted.
10%
ORAL PRESENTATION
20%
Please prepare a presentation regarding your assigned poet, including biographical material
and the explication and discussion of two poems, one from the text and one from another
source. This second poem is to be copied and handed out to each member of the class. You
may read from note cards, from a manuscript, or from memory; you are not required to turn in
an accompanying paper. Feel free to prepare audio, video, overhead projection, or poster
enhancements to your presentation. PLEASE DO NOT SIMPLY READ VERBATIM OF YOUR
POET'S LIFE OR WORK FROM TEXT THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN. THIS WOULD
CONSTITUTE PLAGIARISM--AND YOU WOULD BE GRADED ACCORDINGLY. IT MUST
BE CLEAR THAT YOU HAVE PREPARED YOUR PRESENTATION AFTER CONSULTING
YOUR SOURCES. Because your grade is based solely on your presentation, you should know
how to pronounce names and other words correctly, know the importance of the context of the
time during which your poet worked, and be prepared to answer questions from me and/or
from the class following your talk.
DUE: AS SCHEDULED.
SHORT CRITICAL ESSAY
10%
The topic for this paper will be assigned by the instructor, regarding which you must develop
an arguable thesis supported by quotes from the poems provided. Minimum 1,250 words (5
pages, double-spaced, MLA FORMAT).
DUE: FEBRUARY 17th.
IN-CLASS MIDTERM REGARDING FORMAL POETRY
10%
This exam will test your ability to define the two basic sonnet forms and how to scan the lines
of poems to illustrate those definitions. In addition, you will be asked to explain how form and
content work together in each sonnet.
MARCH 10th.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
10%
For this assignment you will summarize three separate critical studies (not book reviews)
written by three different literary scholars regarding the work of your assigned poet. Your
summaries should include at least one and no more than three direct quotes (for the most part,
these will be quotes of phrases, etc. worked into your own writing) and will be one-two
paragraphs long. Put the MLA format citation of the scholarly article at the top of each
summary. You must locate your sources in a library or on a library database—internet-only
sources are at times unreliable and thus are not allowed. This is secondary research; therefore,
you will not formulate any critical thesis of your own about this writer. You will simply
compile and summarize the critical ideas of other scholars. Please remember that any language
taken directly from your sources MUST be put in quotation marks in order to set it apart from
your own writing and that any quotes MUST be acknowledged in parenthetical documentation
according to MLA form. Neglecting to clearly document the original writing of other scholars
in this way would result in your plagiarism of those sources--which would result in the
automatic failure of the assignment.
DUE: MARCH 24th.
LITERARY CRITICAL RESEARCH PAPER
20%
Your thesis for this paper must concern in some way your assigned poet and will be discussed
with and screened by the Professor. A minimum of two outside sources are required in addition
to quotes from the primary poetic texts; all must be acknowledged within the paper in
parenthetical documentation according to MLA format. Minimum 2,000 words, not including the
Works Cited page.
TYPED FIRST DRAFT DUE: APRIL 21st
FINAL PAPER DUE: Last day of class, MAY 5th
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM
THURSDAY, MAY 12th, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
20%
Grading Standards:
The following letter grades will be used:
A (90-100)
=
Exceptionally fine work: superior in mechanics, style, and content
B (80-89)
=
Above-average work: superior in one or two areas--mechanics, style,
or content
C (70-79)
=
Average work: good, unexceptional
D (60-69)
=
Below-average work: noticeably weak in mechanics, style, and
content
F (0-59)
=
Failing work: clearly deficient in mechanics, style, and content
General Course Policy
1.
You must obtain your own copy of the textbook no later than the start of the second
week of class. This is non-negotiable.
2.
Any machine with an on/off button MUST be turned OFF at the beginning of and
during the entirety of every class session. This includes cell phones, beepers, and laptops.
If you cannot be UNAVAILABLE to anyone outside this class—including via texting—
during its 3 hours each week, please choose another class. This is non-negotiable.
3.
Please take thorough class notes of every lecture. Come prepared with pen and paper.
4.
All papers done outside of class will be typed in MLA (Modern Language Association)
format. You will find the requirements for MLA form in an English Handbook; you may also
pick up a set of MLA guidelines from the HCC library.
5.
Please fasten ALL your multi-page papers (including Reader Response Essays) with a
single staple in the upper left-hand corner. Because I do not accept papers that are not stapled,
please staple them BEFORE class. If you don't own a stapler, you may use the one in FAC 319.
6.
IMPORTANT! Keep a hard/photocopied (not disc) copy of any paper you turn in.
7.
Please remember that I check quotes for accuracy in all assignments, and that any
THREE consecutive words lifted directly from any source and used without acknowledgment
(without quotation marks that would indicate the language is someone else's and not your own)
constitutes plagiarism. Look up in an English Handbook and learn NOW the differences
between quoting and paraphrasing--study especially how to avoid plagiarism. Any instance of
plagiarism results in automatic failure of the assignment; any additional instance of
plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the entire course.
SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY: According to the Student Handbook for the Houston
Community College System, scholastic dishonesty includes cheating on a test, plagiarism, and
collusion: (1) cheating on a test--copying from someone else's paper or using unauthorized
materials during a test; (2) plagiarism--using another person's words, information, or ideas in
your own written work without appropriate acknowledgement (and quotation marks when exact
words are used); (3) collusion--unauthorized collaboration. Possible punishments for academic
dishonesty may include a grade of 0 or F for the particular assignment, failure in the course,
and/or recommendation for probation or dismissal from the College System.
ADA ACCOMMODATION STATEMENT:
Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing,
etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Services
Office at the respective college at the beginning of each semester. Faculty is authorized to
provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.
For questions, contact Donna Price at 713-718-5165 or the Disability Counselor at your college.
The ADA Web site is located at www.hccs.edu, where you should click "Future Students," then
scroll down the page and click "Disability Information."
Central College ADA Counselors: John Reno or Martha Scribner: 713-718-6164.