Prof. Michael Gavin
English 102H, 9830, 11am-11:50 am
office hours: 8-9, 12-1 pm MWF and by appointment, Office M3069
(301) 322-0577
email: gavinmh@pgcc.edu
Writing about Literature
We will examine literature by looking both at the literary periods and the political, social,
and technological changes that occurred in the time surrounding the eras in which it was
written. Through the study of different texts and literary themes, we will attempt to
define how literature affects society, and vice versa. In the process we will seek to
answer the following questions:
How does literature help us to understand the concept of culture, race, and history?
How does our identity become formed? Does it relate to the era in which we live, things
we read, watch or do?
What is the function of literature? Does it have value beyond itself? Does literature
shape our society or sense of history, or vise versa?
What is the “real world” and how do authors attempt to render that real world through
their use of rhetorical strategy or characterization?
Course Outcomes for English 102
Upon successful completions of the course students will be able to:
1. Write analytical essays about literary texts by
 Formulating restricted, unified and precise thesis statements
 Organizing essay content into introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs
 Composing restricted, unified, and precise topic sentences for paragraphs
 Writing unified and coherent paragraphs that are well-developed with
supporting materials drawn from the literary text
 Applying grammar and usage rules correctly
 Choosing appropriate diction
 Writing clear, precise sentences
2. Explain basic literary terms in the genre of poetry, fiction, and drama (for
example, theme, imagery, rhythm, figurative language, tone, character, plot, etc.)
3. Write research-based essays using secondary sources to:
 Demonstrate their understanding of plagiarism
 Synthesize several different sources into an essay to support its thesis
 Quote, summarize, and paraphrase responsibly within that paper
Document sources according to the MLA format
Required Texts
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Kennedy/Gioia. Ninth
Edition. (There are four small books sold in a single packet).
Wolff, Tobias (ed). The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories. Vintage
Contemporaries (1994).
O’Brien, Tim. In the Lake of the Woods. Any edition.
Class Format and Grading Criterion:
Class participation, which encompasses writing, reading, and discussion is 15% of your
final grade. You are required to share your insights from the readings with us. If you do
not, you are robbing the class of potential ideas and thereby limiting classmates’
progression in writing and critical thinking. Therefore, you must come to class prepared
to discuss and/or write about each assignment.
A note about all participation:
One of the hardest things to do is to learn how to stay within the bounds of academic
discussion--and not resort to personal attacks--when you disagree strongly with a member
of a classroom. However, this is a skill we all must learn. You don’t have to agree with
a member of our classroom, but you must respect that individual. Personal attacks will
not be tolerated, in the classroom or through peer response. Additionally, please do not
mistake quantity of participation with quality. Lastly, any extra-curricular discussion in
class will not be tolerated.
Attendance: The Department of English stipulates that absence from one fourth of the
classes, for whatever reason, is grounds for failure. Tardiness or leaving early will be
counted as absences. If you miss class or if you are late, you did not participate in the
fullest capacity. Hence, absences will directly affect your participation grade. Beyond
that, any absence over two will result in a lowering of the grade by one-third (A to an A). Five absences, despite the reason behind them, will result in failure of the class. You
are responsible for material covered and disseminated in class. Therefore, it may be
helpful to exchange phone numbers with members in the class to insure you can get the
information you missed. If you know you will be late or absent for a class, please let me
know ahead of time.
Academic Integrity Code/Plagiarism: The college is an institution of higher learning
that holds academic integrity as its highest principle. In the pursuit of knowledge, the
college community expects that all students, faculty, and staff will share responsibility for
adhering to the values of honesty and unquestionable integrity. To support a community
committed to academic achievement and scholarship, the Code of Academic Integrity
advances the principle of honest representation in the work that is produced by students
seeking to engage fully in the learning process. The complete text of the Code of
Academic Integrity is in the 2004-2005 Student Handbook (pages 41-43) and posted on
the college's website.
Honors student who violate this code will also be referred to the Coordinator of the
Honors Program, Dr. Melinda Frederick.
Code of Conduct: The Prince George's Community College Code of Conduct defines
the rights and responsibilities of students and establishes a system of procedures for
dealing with students charged with violations of the code and other rules and regulations
of the college. A student enrolling in the college assumes an obligation to conduct
himself/herself in a manner compatible with the college's function as an educational
institution. Refer to the 2004-2005 Student Handbook, beginning on page 39, for a
complete explanation of the code of conduct, including the Code of Academic Integrity
and the procedure for dealing with disruptive student behavior.
Late Papers and assignments: The pace of this course is fast. To keep up, you must
turn all papers and assignments on the date they are listed on the syllabus. Papers are due
the minute class begins, no exceptions. You should be sure to turn all papers in, no
matter how late, because a completed assignment--even an F--receives some points where
as an assignment that is never completed receives a zero. You may not e-mail your final
paper to me.
You may hand in a first draft of any or all papers prior to handing in a final draft. I will
make comments accordingly. However, the final papers may not be rewritten.
Typing: All final drafts of essays must be typed. One-inch margins are required, in a
font that is reasonable--Times, Helvetica, or Geneva, 12 point--and double-spaced.
Disabilities: If you have a diagnosed physical or learning disability that requires
accommodation, please see me after class or during my office hours to discuss
arrangements.
List of Assignments
All of the assignments will be explained in-depth through the use of an assignment sheet.
Name of Assignment
In-Class Discussion
Paper #1, straight argument of text
Mid-term Exam
Paper #2
Paper #3 Comparison/Research paper
Short Paper
Min. Length
4 pages
5 pages
6 pages
1 page
Grade Weight
10%
10%
10%
15%
20%
15%
Final Exam
Presentation
10%
10%
Final notes: All grades in this course are non-negotiable. All assignments must be
completed and turned in for you to pass the class.
Please, please, please, come to my office hours, feel free to approach me about this class
or any other topic, and be kind enough to disable all cell phones and pagers before
entering the class.
January 23:
Introduction to class and classmates
January 25:
Introduction to Literature
January 27:
“Cathedral” Raymond Carver (Vintage 108-125)
January 30:
“Greasy Lake” TC Boyle (124)
February 1:
Joyce Carol Oates; “Where Are You Going…” (Vintage 347)
February 3:
Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (254)
Read pages 2119-2129 in the Writing Book
February 6:
Richard Dubus “The Fat Girl” (Vintage 125)
February 8:
Jamiaca Kincaid; “Girl” (Vintage 306)
Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour (322)
February 10:
Charoltte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” (331)
February 13:
Tim O’Brien; “The Things They Carried” (Vintage 366)
February 15:
Wilfred Owen; “Dulce et Decorum Est” (470)
“Anthem for Doomed Youth” (828)
“War Poetry” (471)
By now have turned in a draft of the short paper; not turning
it in results in a zero for the entire paper, no exceptions
February 17:
Yusef Komunyakaa
“Facing It” (681)
Billy Collins
“Names” (494)
February 20:
No class, President’s Day
February 22:
Richard Eberhart
“The Fury of Aerial Bombardment” (491)
Howard Nemerov
“The War in the Air” (824)
Paper #1 Due
February 24:
Research Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois
Read 2135-2142; 2147-2163 in Writing
February 27:
Lesson on Form
Shakespeare; “My Mistress’ Eyes Are…” (841)
Percy Bysshe Shelley; “Ozymandias” (723)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning “How Do I Love Thee?” (782)
March 1:
Paul Laurence Dunbar; “We Wear the Mask” Handout
“Ante-Bellum…”
“Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (759)
By now have turned in a second draft of the short paper; not
turning it in results in a zero for the entire paper, no
exceptions
March 3:
Countee Cullen; “From the Dark Tower” Handout
“Yet Do I Marvel” Handout
March 6:
Langston Hughes; “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (752)
“Mother to Son” (752)
“Harlem” (758)
March 8:
Arthur Miller
“Death of a Salesman” Act I (1194-1227)
***For each day we read the play, please come in with a passage from each
character that you find significant and an explanation for why it is significant
March 10:
“Death of a Salesman” (1227-1226)
March 13:
Finish “Death of a Salesman”
March 15:
Film
Paper #2 Due
Film
March 17:
March 20:
Film
Read the chapter of “Writing about a play” beginning page 2167
In Writing
March 22:
Mid-term exam
March 24:
Lesson on Modernism
Read 2142-2143, 2145-2146
By now have turned in a third draft of the short paper; not
turning it in results in a zero for the entire paper, no
exceptions
March 27:
William Butler Yeats; “The Second Coming” (661)
Ee cummings “anyone lived in a pretty how town” (492)
March 29:
TS Eliot; “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (791)
William Carlos Williams “Red Wheel Barrow” (462)
March 31:
Robert Frost
“The Road Not Taken” (648)
“Stopping By the Woods on a Snowing Evening” (798)
April 1:
In the Lake of the Woods
April 3:
In the Lake of the Woods
April 5:
In the Lake of the Woods
April 7:
Mona Simpson
“Lawns” (Vintage 445)
Final Draft of Short Paper Due
April 10-16
Spring Break
April 17:
John Keats; “Ode on A Grecian Urn” (812)
By now have read “Writing a Research Paper” (1484)
April 19:
Alice Walker
“Everyday Use” (92)
April 21:
Philip Larkin
“Aubade” (815)
“Home is So Sad” (815)
April 24:
John Updike; “Ex-Basketball Player” (850)
AE Housman; “To an Athlete Dying Young” (809)
April 26:
Chinua Achebe; “Dead Men’s Path” (187)
Bob Dylan “The Times They are A’chanin’” (554)
April 28:
Richard Ford
“Rock Springs” (Vintage 162)
May 1:
Scott Bradfield “The Darling” (Vintage 69)
Compare/Contrast/Research Paper Due
May 3:
In-Class Final Exam
May 5:
Final Discussions of Literature
May 8:
Final Exam
May 15:
Presentations Given
Presentations
For your presentation, please analyze a song, piece of art, scene from a movie or
television show and tell us how it relates to a theme that we have studied in class. To do
this, you must articulate three things:
1) Which text(s) does this piece you have chose most closely resemble.
2) How, specifically does your selection resemble the text we studied. In order to
answer this question, you will need to quote from the text we read in class and
draw our attention to similar materials that are present in the piece you have
chosen.
3) Explain to us the significance of the connection(s) you have made.
4) Related to #3, how does what you have found help us to understand the world
better?
5) You will have to bring the song, art piece, or scene into class. As well, please let
me know well in advance what AV equipment we will have to have in the class
(VCR, radio, CD player).
6) The presentation must last at least ten minutes and be well-prepared. Index cards
are fine, but reading from your notes is not. For each minute under ten that the
presentation lasts, the grade will be knocked down a full letter. Also, lack of
preparation will directly affect your grade.
Some tips:
Be sure to state your argument about how the issues you are highlighting are similar to
one another. Then, for each point you want to make, just as you would in a paper,
explain how textual support is present in both the text we read and the one you have.
Textual Analysis—Papers 1 and 2
Writing Objectives:
1) To demonstrate mastery of the textual analysis genre
2) To learn to distinguish between evidence and summary
3) To think critically about a text
4) To examine an author’s purpose and to develop an argument about that purpose
The Assignment:
Please write a textual analysis of one of the texts we have read. A textual analysis makes an
argument about what the author’s purpose was in writing the novel, story, or play. Thus, early in
your essay, state your thesis about what you think the author’s goal was in writing his/her story.
Use the remainder of the paper to prove your point. Remember, a textual analysis does not
summarize the text.
In writing your textual analysis you will need to do three things:
1) Identify and describe what you think the author wrote the text you are examining for. The way
to do this is to focus on one or a few elements of the text, as we have done in class: irony,
symbols, character, form, rhyme scheme, setting, theme, etc.
2) Explain in detail that (or those) element’s function(s) in the text.
3) Make your argument give us a better understanding of the text--what is the text saying about
reality? In short, you are giving your reading of the story through the lens of a single element.
Paper Requirements & Criteria:
 At least four full pages; any amount below that is not completing the assignment.
 This paper will have an assertive thesis. You will need to hold that thesis throughout the
entire paper and prove it through evidence you use from the text.
 You will also need to analyze and explain the textual evidence you offer so that your
reader understands why you have included it.
 Pay attention to the placement and purpose of all paragraphs. Make sure each paragraph
has a strong topic sentence and that you prove that topic sentence.
 ‘A’ papers will say something true and interesting about the story; be well-organized; and
conform to the genre.
**Along with your final draft please turn in a final page that summarizes 1) the strategy
you used in writing this paper 2) the things you’ve changed in your essay since the day
you began formulating the argument 3) why you made those changes.
Feel free to contact me at any time! Good luck!
Research/Compare/Contrast Paper
Writing Objectives:
1) To demonstrate mastery of the textual analysis genre
2) To make connections between and among texts of different authors and eras
3) To integrate research seamlessly into the argument of a text
The Assignment:
In writing this final paper, please create an argument about how two texts we have read in this
class are similar or dissimilar. The argument ought to go beyond observing (dis)similarities by
explaining how your observations tell us something true and interesting about the world beyond
the text. It may even be helpful to explain how two texts are both similar and dissimilar. One may
want to make an argument about how two authors approach the topic of family different or
similarly. An argument may be about the use of the sonnet being different for different authors.
Either way, the goal would be to explain something about family or something about
appropriate/inappropriate/meaning of the sonnet.
In addition to or in support of your argument, four in-text citations are required. Depending on
your argument, you may want to research the theme you have selected; the different time periods
or literary eras in which the texts were written; etc. Any help you need I will be glad to assist with.
Please be certain that two of your resources are textually based, meaning not from the internet.
Please also be certain that all resources (especially the internet resources) are reliable.
Paper Requirements & Criteria:
 Six pages.
 This paper will have an assertive thesis. You will need to hold that thesis throughout the
entire paper and prove it through evidence you use from the texts and research.
 You will also need to analyze and explain the textual evidence you offer so that your
reader understands why you have included it.
 Pay attention to the placement and purpose of all paragraphs. Make sure each paragraph
has a strong topic sentence and that you prove that topic sentence.

‘A’ papers will say something true and interesting about the story; be well-organized; and
conform to the genre.
Feel free to contact me at any time! Good luck!
Short Paper
This It is an exercise in honing writing mechanics, thesis development, and revision
strategy. Please read the assignment sheet and contact me with any questions.
Please write a short paper on one of the short stories that we have read in this class.
Like the other papers, you are expected critically analyze the piece of literature you
select. A well-developed thesis, quotations from the text, and transitions from
paragraph to paragraph are all required.
There are a few rules to this assignment that are unique, however:
1) You may submit this paper four times to me.
2) It can be a minimum of one page, a maximum of two pages.
3) I will read the paper until an error is located, at which time I will circle the error
and define what sort of error it is. Your job is then to study that error, learn how
to fix it, revise the paper, and re-submit it.
4) The process will be repeated twice. The fourth submission is the final
submission.
5) There are only three grades for the paper: A, C, and F. An A has zero errors and a
well-developed thesis. A C has only two different kinds of errors and a well
developed thesis. An F has more errors than two and/or a thesis that still needs
work.
6) ***In order for your paper to be read, you must submit it with older versions of
the paper as well, all stapled together.