Trent University
Department of English Literature
2012-2013
ENGL 1001H (FA) OSHAWA (Thornton Campus): Section A
Truth, Lies, and Storytelling
Location
and Time
Mondays, 11:10 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (3-hour interactive lecture)
Room 121
Instructor
Joel Baetz
Room 158
Thornton Road Campus
Trent University
joelbaetz@trentu.ca
(905) 435-5102 ext. 6108
Office Hours
Mondays, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Course
Description
When we tell stories, whether in song, poetry, drama, film, or prose, are
we telling lies? How do literary fictions in any genre engage, reflect,
distort, or heighten the truth? Can words get in the way of the truth?
These questions will provide entrances into the texts in this course.
Required Texts
Clowes, Daniel. Ghost World. New York: Fantagraphics, 1997.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1927. Toronto: Broadview,
2000.
MacDonald, Ann-Marie. Fall on Your Knees. Toronto: Random House,
1997.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. 1944. New York: New
Directions, 2011.
Course Kit
N.B.: You will find it helpful to have the editions specified above. That
way you’ll have an easier time following class discussions and finding
particular passages.
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Learning
Objectives
By participating in this course, you will
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Assignments and
Tests
understand the complex relationships between truth, lies, and
storytelling (i.e., some truths cannot be told, some lies are better than
some truths, and so on),
understand what each particular poem, play, graphic novel, short
story, or novel says about truth, lies, and storytelling,
be able to identify and interpret some of the major features of the
three major genres (i.e., prose, poetry, and drama), and
be able to articulate your interpretations in a formal essay.
Outline for Essay (including thesis statement, topic sentences, and textual
evidence): 5%
Due October 15 (in class)
A Formal or Scholarly Essay (approximately 1000 words): 35%
Due November 5 (in class)
Close Reading Assignment (two parts: one part on the identification of
the particular features of a selected passage, a second part on the analysis
of those features): 20%
Due November 26 (in class)
Final Exam (3 hours; three parts; your understanding of the content and
skills from the entire term will be tested): 30%
Due T.B.D.
Participation (10%)
Participation
You’ll notice that 10% of your final grade is allotted for your level of
participation in class throughout the term. This class runs for three hours
and will contain formal lectures, group work, and class discussions; it’s
your responsibility to participate in all activities. Please note that this
grade will not be for mere attendance. These marks are reserved for the
kind and degree of your participation.
The best way to participate is to make sure you have read the assigned
material before class. Have some questions ready about what you didn’t
understand or what you found interesting in the readings, and do some
preliminary analysis of the assigned material.
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Participation means that you
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Academic Honesty
ask questions when you don’t understand,
contribute your ideas to classroom discussions,
listen to the ideas of others,
be open to new ideas and ways of thinking,
respond helpfully to others, and
help others learn.
Trent University is keen to develop independent thinkers and therefore
wants to stop students from plagiarising others’ thoughts, arguments, and
research. Any good essay will use and respond to work written by other
people, but it needs to indicate (properly and carefully) the sources for all
the ideas that are not your own. If you have any questions about the
documentation of sources or how to develop your own ideas, please speak
with me.
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an
extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from a
0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the university. Definitions,
penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set
out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a
responsibility to educate yourself; unfamiliarity with the policy is not an
excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic Integrity
website to learn more: www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
Access to
Instruction
It is Trent University’s intent to create an inclusive learning environment.
If a student has a disability and/or health consideration and feels that
he/she may need accommodations to succeed in this course, the student
should contact Trent Oshawa’s Disability Services, located in Room 111,
through the Trent Oshawa Office at (905) 435-5100. Complete text can
be found under Access to Instruction in the Academic Calendar.
learningSystem/
Blackboard
This course will use learningSystem/Blackboard to post assignment
sheets and handouts.
Late Penalties
All essays are due in class on the date specified. No electronic
submissions will be accepted.
If an essay is handed in late, it will be docked two grades per week or
partial week. So, if an essay is due on Monday but you choose to hand it
in on Wednesday, the essay’s grade will drop from A+ to A-, from A to
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B+, from B+ to B-, and so on.
For any of the assigned work or testing opportunities, you may be granted
an extension or an alternative testing day if one of two things happens: 1)
you have a personal emergency that can be documented (i.e., you have a
medical note, police report, or funeral program) or 2) you speak with me
two weeks before the assignment is due. Not all extensions requested
will be granted, but I will be willing to discuss the possibility.
Schedule for
Readings
Week 1
September 10
Introductions
Week 2
September 17
Truth and Truthiness
Gladwell, “The Ketchup Conundrum”
Doyle, selection from “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “Silver Blaze”
Week 3
September 24
When the Facts Aren’t Enough
Anonymous, “An Indian Spreads Death”
O’Brien, “How to Tell a True War Story”
Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
Wiebe, “Where Is the Voice Coming From?”
Week 4
October 1
The Liars of Literature
Agard, “Palm Tree King”
Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”
McKay, “Apostrophe”
Olds, “Sex Without Love”
Shakespeare, “Sonnet 130”
Wallace, “The Heroes You Had as a Girl”
October 8: THANKSGIVING DAY (No class)
Week 5
October 15
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Due: Outline for Essay
October 22 – 26: Residential Reading and Laboratory Week: No
Classes
Week 6
October 29
Williams, The Glass Menagerie
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Week 7
November 5
The Power of Stories
MacDonald, Fall on Your Knees
Due: Essay
Week 8
November 12
MacDonald, Fall on Your Knees
Atwood, “Bluebeard’s Egg”
Week 9
November 19
There Is No There There
Bartheleme, “The Sentence”
Munro, “Miles City, Montana”
Stevens, “The Plain Sense of Things”
Williams, “This Is Just to Say”
Week 10
November 26
Clowes, Ghost World
Due: Close Reading Assignment
Week 11
December 3
Review
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