“Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and
in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the
imagination and of the heart.”
--Salman Rushdie
Dept. of Language and Literature
ENC 1102:
Written Communications II
Dr. Doug Ford
Spring 2010
Office: 645
Office Hours: M: 9-10 am, noon-2pm
W: 9-10 am, 1-2 pm
F 9-10, noon-2 pm
TR 9-9:30, 11-12:30, 2-3 pm
Office Phone: 408-1501
E-mail: fordd@scf.edu
Web page: http://faculty.mccfl.edu/fordd/fordd.htm
SCF Virtual Library: http://www.mccfl.edu/pages/109.asp
Course Description:
Written Communication II: (3) (A.A.) Three hours per week. Prerequisite: ENC 1101
with a grade of “C” or better. This course meets Area I requirement for the A.A. General
Education requirements, and the 6000-word Gordon Rule requirement. While instruction
in composition, rhetoric, grammar and research is continued from ENC 1101, course
content includes an introduction to literature with emphasis on reading critically and
analytically, understanding literary terminology and techniques, and writing about
literature.
Course Performance Standards:
The student, at the successful completion of ENC 1102, should be able to:
1. Write proficient analytical essays which clearly state a thesis and support it with
details obtained through careful reading of primary and secondary sources.
2. Fulfill writing requirements as mandated by SBE 6A-10.30.
3. Demonstrate the ability to recognize the basic genres including essay, short story,
poem, and play.
4. Demonstrate increased reading skills through attention to detail, tone, argument
strategies, figurative language, organization, and sentence relationships.
5. Demonstrate the ability to recognize the relationship between literature and his/her
world and between literature and other academic disciplines.
6. Demonstrate to ability to interact with (and therefore better understand) peers by
participating in group projects, discussions, research, and reports.
7. Demonstrate the ability to gain a better understanding of her/himself by learning more
about the ethnically and racially diverse society of which he/she is a part.
8. Demonstrate skills that are required for the CLAST.
9. Demonstrate knowledge of the vocabulary needed to study literature and to write about
literature.
10. Demonstrate academic research skills, including the use of the Internet and current
MLA documentation standards
11. Demonstrate the professional use of e-mail.
Text and Required Materials:

Access Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Ed. Barbara
Barnard and David F. Winn. Thomson Wadsworth.
 Pen and Paper for in-class writing assignments
 A computer to access ANGEL and to complete out-of-class assignments
 Access to a photocopy machine for workshops
 An activated SCF e-mail address to correspond with instructor
Attendance Requirement:
Because this course will involve students sharing share views on literature and discussing
one another’s writings, consistent attendance is mandatory. Missing four class meetings
will make it very difficult for a student to pass ENC 1102, and I will ask students to
withdraw at this point. Students who do not withdraw after four absences will receive a
failing grade in participation and have their final grade dropped by one letter. Please note
that I do not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, and please do not ask
me to make allowances. Also, because much of our class time will consist of sharing
and responding to student writing, coming to class without a day’s assignment will
result in being marked absent for that day. Do NOT come to class without work
due for that day.
Late Paper Policy:
Please note that I do not give passing grades to late assignments. If you cannot attend
class on the day that an assignment is due, you should e-mail me your work either as an
MS Word attachment, or embedded in the text of the e-mail on the day that the
assignment is due. Note: my e-mail address is fordd@scf.edu, as indicated at the
top of this syllabus. I grant extensions only in the event of an illness or injury to your
own body that can be verified with official documentation from a medical professional.
Withdrawal Policy:
In accordance with the State College of Florida policy, as stated in the college catalog,
students may withdraw from any course, or all courses, without academic penalty, by the
withdrawal deadline listed in the State College of Florida academic calendar. This
semester, the withdrawal date is March 25. Students should take responsibility to initiate
the withdrawal procedure but are strongly encouraged to talk with their instructors before
taking any withdrawal action. In addition, students should note that faculty may also
withdraw students for violating policies, procedures or conditions of the class, as outlined
in individual class syllabi, and such action could affect financial aid eligibility.
Gordon Rule:
This course meets the Florida State Board of Education Rule Number 6A-10.30. In
accordance with this rule, students will complete written assignments totaling 6,000
words. A grade of C or better is required for credit in Gordon Rule classes.
Regarding Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the use of ideas, facts, opinions, illustrative material, data, direct or indirect
wording of another scholar and/or writer—professional or student—without giving
proper credit. Expulsion, suspension, or any lesser penalty may be imposed for
plagiarism. As a personal rule, I do not pass students who plagiarize, even if it is just a
single sentence.
Standards of Conduct:
Students are expected to abide by the guidelines stated in our student handbook. Also,
students must silent cell phones before the beginning of class. If your cell phone goes off
during class, you will have to stand up and dance to your ring-tone.
Format for Writings:
Formal writings (i.e. anything turned in for a grade) should be submitted in a format that
conforms to the MLA style. In the upper left hand corner, students should list their
name, the course, the professor’s name, and the date. The student’s last name and page
number should be included in the upper right hand corner of every page. Also, in
accordance with the MLA style, each paper should include a Works Cited page listing all
relevant material. I prefer one-inch margins, with a 12 pt. font (either Times New Roman
or Courier). For more information about how to format your paper in the MLA
style, please refer to the hand-out distributed on the first day of class, or refer to a
document that you can download on my web page.
PLEASE NOTE THAT PAPERS NOT FORMATTED IN THE PROPER MLA
STYLE WILL BE RETURNED WITHOUT A GRADE AND WITHOUT POINTS.
Formal Writing Assignments:
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED FOR A
STUDENT TO PASS THIS COURSE.
Our writing assignments will take us through a variety of modes and approaches, all with
the intent of sharpening the kind of critical thinking skills crucial to a productive college
career. They must be turned in with rough drafts and peer reviews, and I will not accept
them late (see Late Paper Policy). All papers must come with a “Works Cited” page
completed according to the MLA format. Our assignments will consist of the following:

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Detective Essay (600 words)
Literary Issues Essay (600 words)
Staging Essay (600 words)
iSearch Essay (1,200 words)
Poetry Anthology (a team project, with 700 words for each student)
A mid-term and final exam (1,000 words each)
Detective Essay (600 words):
The purpose of your first essay will be to
practice the kind of close-reading skills that will help you develop into an active, engaged
reader. To achieve this level of engagement, I am challenging you to look at our assigned
readings almost like a detective, taking note of details and thinking hard about the
motivations of certain characters. For the first paper, you will meet this challenge by
taking the role of a detective who must solve a particular mystery regarding one of the
stories we have read. Your mystery should focus on one of the following topics:



What motivates a particular character? Why are these motivations
significant?
Are there events we don’t learn about or see clearly? Why are these
undiscovered details significant?
Does the writer intentionally make us see a character or situation the
“wrong way? Why would the author do this? (The mystery here would be
what is motivating the author.)
Guidelines and Hints:
1. Write the paper as if you are solving a mystery. Your thesis paragraph should
state the mystery you intend to solve and why that mystery is important to
understanding the story’s significance. Your thesis should suggest a solution.
2. This is not a research paper—discuss only your ideas.
3. Include a title that mentions the author and title of the work you are discussing
(example: The Role of the Butler in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”).
4. Cite quotations in the MLA style.
5. Do not re-tell the story in your paper. Instead, in your introduction, summarize
the part of the text that highlights the mystery you intend to solve.
6. The body of your paper should include the clues and evidence that you found.
Clues and evidence will consist of quotations and details from the story.
7. The paper must consist of at least 600 words and it must include a Works Cited
page listing the story you have chosen to discuss.
Literary Issues Essay (600 words):
In this essay, you will explain and
analyze how one of the texts we’ve read can help us understand an issue or problem
important to contemporary society. Issues or problems might include (but are not limited
to) war, poverty, racism, disease, and gender inequality. Your paper must include a
detailed analysis the text you’ve chosen, as well as a detailed discussion of the issue it
raises. For this paper, you are required to use at least one article found by visiting the
databases found in SCF Virtual Library, and you will need to cite it correctly in the
MLA style.
Guidelines and Hints:
1. Use imagination. Granted, “The Things They Carried” may be used to shed light
on the issue of war, but in many cases, a more satisfying paper may develop when
the writer looks for less obvious topics. For instance, maybe “The Lottery” can
help us understand the human response to global warming.
2. The article you use in this paper must come from either Issues and Controversies
or Opposing Viewpoints. One objective of this paper consists of showing that
you know how to use the MCC databases.
3. The paper must consist of at least 600 words and it must include a Works Cited
page listing the story you have chosen to discuss, as well as the database article.
4. Remember title and citations.
Staging Essay (600 words): For the staging essay, you will write about one of
the plays (not short stories) that we have read in our text book. In your paper, you will
imagine that you’re the owner of a small theater in Southwest Florida, and you want to
bring the play you’ve chosen to your stage. Here’s the best part: you have unlimited
funding, so you can hire anyone you want to direct the play. In the thesis of the paper,
describe who you would hire to direct the play. (Note: the best way to approach this
assignment might be to think about movies you like, or movies that you think fit the
quality of the play you’ve chosen. You can look up the name of the person who
directed your favorite movies by going to www.imdb.com).
To develop your thesis throughout your paper, here are some questions you can address:
1. Why does this director’s style seem appropriate? (Note: you can compare the
play to some aspect of his or her films.)
2. How will this director affect the look and tone of the play? Can he or she do so
while staying true to the playwright’s intentions?
3. What moment or line in the play will be the most powerful, most effective, or
most humorous? How do you think the director will stage this moment?
Guidelines and Hints:
1. For the paper itself, you will need one source. This source will be a review of one
of this director’s films. Use one or two quotes from this review anywhere in your
paper.
2. Remember to have a good title and to cite your quotations in the MLA style. Bear
in mind that quoting from a play involves a different kind of formatting, which we
will go over in class.
3. Your works cited page will list the play you’ve chosen to discuss, as well as the
review you found through research.
iSearch Essay (1,200 words):
This paper will involve a more hefty research
quotient than our previous assignments. However, it will not look like the “traditional”
research paper you might be used to. Instead, this paper should take the form of a
narrative. That is, you will describe the process by which you go about your research, the
kind of questions you wanted to answer through research and the steps you took to
answer those questions. Your possible topics will include the following:
•
•
•
•
•
An author you find interesting and who you’d like to learn more about.
A story, poem, or play that has an interesting context you’d like to explore in
depth (in other words, does the story make any interesting references?)
A story, poem, or play with some kind of interesting history you’d like to explore
in depth
A story, poem, or play with an interesting setting you’d like to explore in depth
A story, poem, or play that you simply like and would like to learn more about
how critics have looked at it. (In other words, do professional critics see the story
the same way you do?)
Guidelines and Hints:
1. Your final draft should have at least five secondary sources. At least one source
must be in print form, and at least one of them must be electronic. In the days
leading up to the research essay, you will be required to submit an annotated
bibliography (details to come in class).
2. The iSearch essay will involve an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, which you
will turn in separately for a grade.
Poetry Anthology (Team Project, 700 words per team
member): This assignment will involve a collaborative effort with two or three other
members of class, where you will organize an anthology of 12 (if there are three
members) or 16 (if there are four members) poems. Each student will find two or three
poems from the text book, and one to two poems from outside the text book
(whatever the combination, the total should come to four). You have the option of
including a poem you or one of your team members has written. As a group, your team
will decide on the title of your anthology, as well as the emphasis, theme, tone, or focus
on the anthology. Once again, each member will select 4 poems and contribute an
introduction to their section, where he or she explains his or her rationale and the virtues
that they find in the poems they’ve chosen. Each section introduction should be no less
than 700 words. The anthology should have a 300-word preface written by ALL the team
members.
Guidelines and Hints: Include a Works Cited page that specifies where the poems
come from.
GRADING:
(NOTE: All the assignments below must be completed in order to pass the course)
Detective Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . .100 points
Literary Issues Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 points
Staging Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 points
iSearch Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 points
Team Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 points
Annotated Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 points
Mid-term Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 points
Final Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 points
Participation/Quizzes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 points
Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S or U*
*Note that a “U” grade will result in an F in participation
900-1000 points=A
800-899 points=B
700-799 points=C
600-699 points=D
Below 600 points=F
JOURNAL
Many of our writings will consist of informal journal entries written either during class or
on your own time, detailing your responses to the texts that we read for class. To get a
satisfactory grade, your journal must reflect a serious, diligent effort, and it must be
complete—NO EXCEPTIONS, EVEN IF YOU HAVE MISSED A CLASS. Please
keep your journal in a three-ring binder, or another sort of folder from which you may
easily remove pages. I will ask you to turn in selected pages occasionally, never the
whole notebook. In some cases, I may ask you to submit your journals via e-mail. In
some cases, I will ask that part of your journal take the form of an online blog
(details to come in class).
ALL WORK MUST BE COMPLETED FOR A STUDENT TO PASS THIS
COURSE.
Calendar of Assignments:
(Please note that this schedule is tentative and will likely change as our specific needs
become clear. It is your responsibility to keep up with this schedule. If you miss a class,
be sure to contact another student to find out what you need to have for class the
following class.)
1/11: Introductions
1/13: Read “Killings” (pg. 83)
1/15: Read “A Rose for Emily” (pg. 104)
1/18: MLK’s birthday—no classes
1/20: Read “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (pg. 36)
1/22: Read “The Story of an Hour” (pg. 504); “Videotape” (pg. 482); “Jealous Husband
Returns in Form of Parrot” (pg. 486)
1/25: Due: Rough draft of Detective Essay (Bring 4 copies)
1/27: Due: Final Draft of Detective Essay, along with rough draft
1/29: Read “The Yellow Wallpaper” (pg. 288) and “The School” (pg. 486)
2/1: Read “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore”
(pg. 209); “Fiesta 1980” (pg. 297)
2/3: Read “The Lottery” (pg. 365); bring article as assigned in previous class
2/5: Read: “How to Tell a True War Story” (pg. 465)
2/8: Due: Rough Draft of Literary Issues Essay; bring two copies, along with a pair
of scissors and tape/glue
2/10: Due: Second rough draft of Literary Issues essay
2/12: Faculty Development Day
2/15: Read “Soldier’s Home” (pg. 256)
2/17: Due: Final Draft of Literary Issues essay (along with two rough drafts)
2/19: Read “Cathedral” (pg. 320)
2/22: Read “The Cask of Amontillado” (pg. 533)
2/24: Read “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” (pg. 380)
2/26: Mid-term Exam
3/1: Read Sure Thing (pg. 1029) and Philadelphia (pg. 1034)
3/3: Read LosVendidos (pg. 1374) and The Locker Room (pg. 1382)
3/5: Read Oedipus the King (pg. 1332)
3/8-3/12: Spring Break
3/15: Read Krapp’s Last Tape (pg. 1392); JOURNAL CHECK DAY
3/17: Due: Rough Draft of Staging Essay (4 copies)
3/19: Due: Second rough draft of Literary Issues essay (online class)
3/22: Due: Final Draft of staging essay (along with two rough drafts); begin
organizing group project
3/24: Read: all “Poems for Further Reading” in Chapter 14 (pages 603-620)
3/26: Select two poems from book that we have not read yet to discuss with the class.
3/29: Read: all “Poems for Further Reading” in Chapter 16 (pages 681-692)
3/31: Read “The Raven” (pg. 652)
4/2: Read: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (pg. 645)
4/5: Bring rough drafts and other materials related to group project
4/7: Due: Team Project; begin discussing research project
4/9: Read “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” (pg. 522)
4/12: Library Day (plan to meet in library)
4/14: Read “Young Goodman Brown” (pg. 385); bring assigned article to class
4/16: Bring research sources to class
4/19: Due: Annotated Bibliography
4/21: Read “Carnal Knowledge” (pg. 306); JOURNAL CHECK DAY
4/23: Due: Rough draft of research essay (two copies)
4/26: Due: Second rough draft of research essay (one copy)
4/28: In-class work on research essay
4/30: Due: Final draft of research essay; Review for final exam
5/3-5/6: Final Exam week