Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
Department of English
Course: AP/EN 1001 3.0 A: An Introduction to Literary Study
Term: Summer 2011
Teaching Team:
Course Director: Stephanie Hart
shart@yorku.ca
Office Hour and Location:
Tuesday, 1-2 pm, 640 Atkinson College
Teaching Assistant: Jaspreet Gill
Times and Location:
Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 – 11:30 CB 215
Tutorial 1: Tuesday and Thursday, 11: 30 to 13:00 CC 109 (Stephanie Hart)
Tutorial 2: 11: 30 to 13:00 CB 122 (Jaspreet Gill)
Course Description: This course is an introduction to the study of, and writing about,
literature. Through short readings (essays, stories, poems and plays), students learn to observe,
understand and evaluate how literary texts work. Through specific attention to the technical
language of literature, the mechanics of writing, and the preparation of a comparative essay,
students learn to think and write effectively about literature. This course will also introduce
students to the relationships between aesthetic and political concerns in literary analysis.
Organization of the Course: This course involves weekly formal lectures and weekly tutorial
sessions. The lectures will introduce, clarify, and contextualize the weekly readings. Tutorial
sessions will be the main locus for the discussion of the required texts and assignments. All
work will be graded by your tutorial leader.
Course Texts/Readings:
R.S. Gwynn and Wanda Campbell, Literature: A Pocket Anthology (Second Canadian Edition)
William E. Messenger et al, The Concise Canadian Writer’s Handbook
Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
Sharon Pollock, Blood Relations and Other Plays
Martin Luther King, “I Have A Dream”
Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (chapter one)
George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”
*All required course texts are available on reserve at Scott Library
Evaluation:
In-class essay: (May 10): 10%
Short formal essay (500 words maximum; May 24): 15%
Library/Research Skills Assignment (May 31): 15%
Participation: 10%
Comparative essay (1500 words; due June 9): 30%
In-class test (June 9): 20%
*Al l students must submit a successfully completed Academic Integrity Quiz to your
tutorial leader before May 19
Quiz URL: http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/
Schedule of Readings and Due Dates:
LPA= Literature: A Pocket Anthology
CWH= Canadian Writer’s Handbook (readings are specified by unit number)
May 3: Introduction to the course and teaching team
May 5: Martin Luther King, “I Have A Dream”
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
CWH: 10a to 10c, 65 (argument and figurative language)
May 10: Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (chapter one)
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/chapter1.html
*In-class essay
May 12: George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”; Essay writing
CWH: 77-79 (MLA format; documenting sources)
May 17: Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl” (LPA); Alice Munro, “Boys and Girls” (LPA)
May 19: Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
May 24: William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18, Sonnet 130; Edna St. Vincent Millay, “What Lips
My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why” (LPA)
LPA: 391 to 402
*Short essay due
May 26: T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (LPA); Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”
http://www.wussu.com/poems/agh.htm; William Carlos Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow”
(LPA); Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro” (LPA)
May 31: M. NourbeSe Philip, “Discourse on the Logic of Language” (LPA); Michael
Ondaatje, “Sweet like a Crow” (LPA); Sharon Olds, “I Go Back to May 1937” (LPA); Marge
Piercy, “Barbie Doll” (LPA); Dionne Brand, “Blues Spiritual for Mammy Prater” (LPA)
*Library/Research Skills Assignment due
*May 27 is the final date to drop the course without receiving a grade
June 2: Djanet Sears, Harlem Duet (LPA); William Shakespeare, Othello (Act V, Scene II)
(LPA)
June 7: Sharon Pollock, Blood Relations
June 9: In-class test
*Final essay due
Grading, Assignment Submission, Lateness Penalties and Missed Tests:
Grading: The grading scheme for the course conforms to the 9-point grading system used in
undergraduate programs at York (e.g., A+ = 9, A = 8, B+ - 7, C+ = 5, etc.). Assignments and
tests* will bear either a letter grade designation or a corresponding number grade (e.g. A+ = 90
to 100, A = 80 to 90, B+ = 75 to 79, etc.)
(For a full description of York grading system see the York University Undergraduate
Calendar - http://calendars.registrar.yorku.ca/pdfs/ug2004cal/calug04_5_acadinfo.pdf)
Assignment Submission: All assignments must be handed in the day they are due in tutorial.
The Department of English does not accept assignments. You may also submit work to the
drop box on the third floor of Stong College, but it is your responsibility to notify your tutorial
leader that you have done so.
Lateness penalty: Penalties for late work are at the discretion of your tutorial leader.
Extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and with appropriate
documentation (e.g., a doctor’s note). Extensions must be approved by your tutorial leader in
advance.
Missed Tests: Students with a documented reason for missing a course test, such as illness,
compassionate grounds, etc., and is confirmed by supporting documentation (e.g., doctor’s
note) may request accommodation from the Course Instructor. Further extensions or
accommodation will require students to submit a formal petition to the Faculty.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This course must be completed first, with a grade of C (60%) or higher, in order to proceed to
AP/EN 1002 3.0.
IMPORTANT COURSE INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the following information, available
on the Senate Committee on Curriculum & Academic Standards webpage (see Reports,
Initiatives, Documents) - http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate_cte_main_pages/ccas.htm
• York’s Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures/Academic Integrity Website
• Ethics Review Process for research involving human participants
• Course requirement accommodation for students with disabilities, including
physical, medical, systemic, learning and psychiatric disabilities
• Student Conduct Standards
• Religious Observance Accommodation