English 2322: British Literature I on the Internet
Online Orientation Information
Dr. Guzmán-Treviño
Summer 2005
(8-week)
I strongly encourage you to print this orientation information as well as the
Course Syllabus you will access via my TC webpage.
About Connectweb:
Below you will find important information about Connectweb. Once you get into
the program, you will learn a great deal more.
You must have a Connectweb license number. You won’t be able to stay in the
class without entering this number into Connectweb. You can get this license in
one of two ways: buy it at the TC bookstore (Ask for a Connectweb license.) for
$26 or, within the program, about three or four days after you first log in, you will
see a message that you need to purchase a license. Follow that link and you
can pay with a credit card within Connectweb. If you do it this way, you pay only
$20. You actually have a 10-day grace period in Connectweb without entering
the license number into the system before you are deleted, but you must buy a
license and enter that number into the program within ten days. License
numbers are tied to names, so if you have a friend who has taken a Connectweb
class, you cannot use his/her license number. The good news is that if you take
Connectweb classes in the future, your license is good for those classes.
Logging in to Connectweb:
From the TC homepage www.templejc.edu, click the “Distance Education”
button; then, click “Connectweb.” You can print that page and get into the class.
(Be sure you return to the Distance Education page/Connectweb page later to
download and print your Connectweb Student Manual.)
You will not be able to get into the class unless I've placed you in this class in
Connectweb. Sometime Sunday evening, May 29th, I will input all students who
have registered up to that time; however, keep in mind that registration
information may not be made available to me in a timely manner. Therefore, if
you register and are not able to access the class even though you have followed
my instructions, call and leave me a voice message. (298-8383) In this voice
message, please speak clearly as you say and spell your name, and provide me
with a telephone number where I can reach you, if necessary.
Important Connectweb Information:
You have a 7500 character limit if you complete homework within
ConnectWeb in the small "Quick paper" window (which you will see when you go
back to "Assignments" above and click "Work on paper."
It is often easier to write in your word processor and then upload that file
after you have revised and worked on the homework. Also, if you upload a file,
there is no character or word limit.
To do this, complete your homework in your word processor (remember that it is
not necessary to stay online to do this) and create ONE Word document. When
your homework is ready to upload, get back online and log in to ConnectWeb.
Click the "Assignments" button at the top of the page. Then, under this
assignment, click "Work on paper." You will now be in the "Quick paper" screen.
Click "Switch to Upload paper." At this screen, click "Browse" and find your
homework file on your computer.
(Note: make sure the file is either a Microsoft Word doc file, an ascii txt
file, or an html file. These are the only types of files ConnectWeb will
upload correctly.)
After your file is listed in the space under "Upload paper," click "OK" and
the file will be uploaded into ConnectWeb and automatically posted so I can
see it and all the other students in your group can see it. To see what you
have uploaded and make sure it worked, you can click "Preview paper." Make
sure that you have all your homework answers in one Word document!
If you want to change what you have uploaded and posted, you will have to
repeat the whole process: go back and make changes to the Word document on
your computer and then upload the revised file. Uploading a paper more than
once does the same thing that saving a document over and over does: it copies
over the old upload and replaces it with the new one.
You should now be ready to go to your word processor and begin writing your
first assignment.
Instructions:
First, plan to have:
___ this printed orientation information
___ Course Syllabus (accessible from my TC webpage)
Second, carefully read EVERYTHING! Don't skim.
Course Introduction:
My name is Dr. Guzmán-Treviño. Welcome to British Literature I on the Internet!
Let me assure you that this Internet course has the same reading assignments,
homework, and tests as an on-campus English 2322. Basically, you will be given
assignments on a weekly basis. The homework assignments, instructions, and
lectures will be posted using Connectweb. You will post answers using
Connectweb. Each week, your homework will be due on Thursday by 11:00 a.m.
Your first assignment will be posted by Tuesday, May 31st and will be due next
Thursday, June 9 by 11:00 a.m. Each Thursday I collect your work. I print each
student's homework; as soon as I've collected everyone's homework, I post the
next week's assignments. Therefore, you always have about a week to complete
assignments. However, keep in mind that you are taking a summer class; that
means that each week you are responsible for completing two weeks worth of
work!
English 2322 is a survey of literature beginning with Old English through the
Restoration Period. During the semester, we will read and study literature
divided into three periods: Old and Middle English, the Renaissance, and the
Restoration. You will take a major test over each of these three sections; in
addition, you will be assigned a research paper.
Let's now review the Course Syllabus. (See note above about way to access this
Course Syllabus.)
Reviewing the Course Syllabus:
Instructor Information:
From the syllabus you have my name, office number, telephone number, and email address. I have voice mail, so feel free to leave a message if you like. We
will primarily use Connectweb for communication, but some of you may also want
to send me e-mail messages.
Required Texts:
You can see that I require three textbooks. The first is the literature textbook.
This book contains most of the required readings; however, you'll also see that
I've listed Gulliver’s Travels because that important selection is not included in
your text. I also require the MLA Handbook.
Student Information:
During the week of May 31st through June 3, you must send me an e-mail
message with the following information:
1. Your first and last name
2. Your course name and number
3. Your mailing address, including city/state and zip code
4. Your e-mail address
5. Your telephone number/s (home/work)
Also, in this e-mail message, write a short note telling me about you, including
any details you think I should know. In your short note or paragraph, answer this
question: Why are you taking this course via the Internet?
Send this message to sguzman@templejc.edu.
Other Materials
You'll notice that I've included a section labeled other materials. You'll need an
erasable pen or liquid paper for tests. You may choose to purchase or locate
translations of Beowulf and assigned selections from The Canterbury Tales. The
versions in your text are difficult to read; these translations are optional.
Evaluation:
This next section in the syllabus shows how your grade is determined. You can
see that your weekly homework counts 15%. As I begin to post your homework,
I will explain what you must do and how many grades you are earning.
The major section comes from your grades on major tests. As you can see, tests
count 70%. Each test includes both objective and essay items. I will explain
more about tests as we get into the course. You must take all three tests in the
Temple College Testing Center. I usually try to provide a 3-day window for
taking tests, and I will provide you with the testing schedule in another section of
this orientation. More information will also follow about the Testing Center.
The final category listed is the Research Paper. I will assign you a particular
author and his works. Again, more information will follow once we get into the
semester, but I will let you know that you will need your MLA handbook for this
research paper as papers that do not follow this format will not receive passing
grades.
Grades:
I will not post your weekly grades unless I receive a message from you asking for
your grades. Since your homework is due on Thursdays, I usually spend most of
the weekend grading and try to have your work graded by Monday afternoon.
Therefore, if you want to know your grades for the previous week, send me a
Connectweb message late Monday or early Tuesday, and I'll be glad to let you
know. Especially at the beginning of the semester, I encourage you to keep track
of your grades.
I will, however, post messages to all students with your grades on major tests.
You can expect a message from me on the Tuesday that follows a testing week.
That means that if you were taking a test this week, you would receive a
message with your test grade by next Tuesday. When I post these grades, I
usually include an updated semester average to let you know where you stand at
that time.
Class Guidelines:
Here you see standards of good writing. Your writing must conform to MLA
format, and you should plan to use your erasable pen or liquid paper on tests.
Attendance/Assignments:
You can see that the next section covered in the syllabus is attendance. Please
take the time to carefully read this section and remember that each week you do
not post your homework by the due date and time, you are counted as being
absent. Remember also that for every additional week (after the allowed 2) of
not posting, you may lose 2 points from your final average.
By the way, on-campus students must spend at least 3 hours preparing for each
class. You should plan to spend more than that amount of time because one,
you are taking the course via the Internet, and two, you are taking this course in
8-weeks instead of 16-weeks. You must take into account that at home you are
making up the time of sitting in a class. Later in this packet I'll refer you to some
student comments. No, I'm not trying to scare off anyone; I just want you to know
what you're getting yourself into.
You can see the note in my syllabus, but I'll repeat it here: don't wait until the
night before homework is due to start posting! The same suggestion applies to
your research paper. You wouldn't believe how many teary-eyed students I get
because they waited until the night before or the morning the research paper is
due and discovered some catastrophic disaster with either their files, computer,
or printer. Let me emphasize that as far as homework is concerned, no late work
is accepted for credit, and as far as the research paper is concerned, you will
lose points for paper turned in after 12:00 noon on the due date!
Late Work/Make-Up Policy:
As you read above, if you post your homework after the deadline, you will not
receive credit! One feature of Connectweb is that I am provided with the exact
time each student posts. Yes, that means that if you post at 11:01, you will not
receive credit. You are responsible for making sure that your homework is
posted by the due date and time. No exceptions are made.
As you can see from the syllabus, you can make up a major test, but these
make-ups are not administered until the week of July 11--14. Furthermore, these
make-up tests do not include any extra credit opportunities that the regularly
scheduled test may have.
Assignments:
I’ve already explained that your assignments are given on a weekly basis. For
this first week, your assignment will be divided into PARTS. One part may
require that you read specific text chapters and literature selections. Another
part may require that you write responses for each literature selection. (I'll
explain more about reader responses as we get into the course in the first
assignment.) Another part may require that you answer the Group Discussion
questions. Another part may require that you write an essay.
I strongly suggest that you print out my weekly assignments. Don’t be surprised
if you print out 4 or 5 pages at first. As I begin to lecture on the authors, historical
background, and reading selections, you may find yourself printing 10-15 pages.
Remember that you are not sitting in my class trying to figure out what to write in
the way of notes. I’m giving you everything. Of course that means it’ll be up to
you to read and learn all of that!
Testing Schedule:
Major Test #1-Old and Middle English Periods
Major Test #2-The Renaissance
Major Test #3-The Restoration
June 20-23
July 5-7
July 18-20
Tentative Reading Assignments:
These readings are subject to change.
Introduction to the Old and Middle English Periods (2-26)
Beowulf (27-91)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight pp.198-248
Introduction to Chaucer, “The General Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales pp.
279-282; 301-320
“The Miller’s Tale” pp. 321-337; “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” pp. 337364; and “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” pp. 399-414.
The Second Shepherd’s Play pp. 488-506
Sir Thomas Malory, Morte Darthur pp. 249-279
Introduction to the Renaissance or Early Modern Period, pp. 641-661
William Shakespeare pp. 1222-1225; selected sonnets (TBA)
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus pp. 1123; 1123-1124
William Shakespeare; The Tempest pp. 1292-1345
Herrick "To the Virgins To Make Much of Time" p. 1674; 1678; Lovelace "To
Lucasta, Going to the Wars" "To Althea, From Prison" p. 1711; 1712; 1714;
Marvel "To His Coy Mistress" p. 1724; 1730;
Introduction to the Restoration pp. 2061-2083
Dryden "Alexander's Feast" p. 2157-2159; 2198-2202; Pepys "The Diary" pp.
2085-2112;
Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" p. 2707-2708; 2715-2718;
Goldsmith "The Deserted Village" pp. 2873-2884
Jonathan Swift, from Gulliver's Travels "A Voyage to the Country of the
Houyhnhnms" 2437-2439; supplemental book
Student Comments:
As I’ve said earlier, I want you to know what you can expect in this course. You
must commit a great deal of time and energy to this course in order to pass.
Quite honestly, the passing rate in this class is not high. Many students enroll in
this Internet class because they think it’ll be easier since they won’t have to sit in
class once or twice a week. Let me tell you: it is not easier; it is more difficult!
You will spend many hours each week preparing your assignments. On the one
hand, you have everything you need as far as information because I tell you
everything you need to know. On the other hand though, you must take the
initiative to learn everything. The dropout rate is high in this Internet class
because students finally realize they can’t or don’t want to commit that much time
and effort. Trust me; this course is not for the weak. You don’t have the luxury
of raising your hand and asking questions like students in the on-campus classes
do. Of course, you can send me a Connectweb message, but for students who
need that immediate response, that messaging system is not enough. Believe it
or not I do have students who earn high grades. These students come into the
course knowing they’ll have to work very hard. I had one student in particular
who “aced” my class. When I asked her what advice she would give to others
she said:
“I can’t give the other students advice that they have not already gotten
from you. I studied your lectures, paying attention to areas you stressed.
You gave us all the information and told us what you might ask, so I don’t
see how anyone could fail to do well on the test. By the way, as a nursing
student I am used to having to read 350-450 pages for 1 test and then
having 50 question, multiple choice test. multiply that by four and you
have nursing school. So I think your class is great in comparison….”
Here’s another comment from last fall:
Dr. Guzman-Trevino,
I just wanted to tell you that I love this class...so far. It is interesting to read
all of these works because I was just in Europe visiting a lot of the places
mentioned...London mainly (BRITISH lit). I hope I did alright on the test. I
could have studied a little more efficiently as I couldn't remember a few
vital fill in the blanks. Thanks for a FUN and INTERESTING class!! I am
really learning a lot!
~Rachel
Having said all of that, let me say that I am available on an appointment basis. If
you want to meet to make sure you’re getting everything, or if you want to meet
to go over test material, please call and set up an appointment with me. Or
maybe you’d like to have a phone conversation to check on things; I encourage
you to stay in close contact with me.
On-campus Office Hours:
This summer my on-campus office hours are limited. I am teaching an oncampus British Literature I course Monday through Thursday, from 8 to 10:00, so
I will be available for a few hours each morning during the first 6-week session.
Virtual Office Hours:
As you might guess I can’t be online every second. I try to check Connectweb
several times during the school days (Monday-Thursday), and then I check again
once sometime every evening (Monday through Thursday). I try to check
Connectweb once on weekends (Friday through Sunday); most often it’s Sunday
evening when I check.
I also check my voice mail messages on a regular basis, so feel free to call if you
wish.
Now that you’ve read this Orientation Information, you should be ready to begin.
Your first assignment will be posted by the 31st and will be due Thursday, June 9
by 11:00 a.m., so go ahead and spend time familiarizing yourself with
Connectweb and get started on your assignments. Good luck and I look forward
to working with you.