Course Description
ENGL 2120
American Literature II
3 Credit Hours
A survey of American masterpieces from the Civil War to the present.
Course Objectives
Required Student Learning Outcomes: Program Student Learning Outcomes
(PSLO) and Course Student Learning Outcomes (CSLO)
PSLO #3: Humanities / Fine Arts: Enhance the understanding of students who, as
citizens and educated members of their communities, need to know and appreciate their
own human cultural heritage and its development in a historical and global context.
Students will develop an understanding, which they otherwise would not have, of the
present as informed by the past.
CSLO #1: Understand personal heritage through close contact with significant primary
texts and works of art, ancient, pre-modern, and modern, as forms of cultural and
creative expression.
CSLO #2: Acquire a deeper understanding of the past through a significant exposure to
humanistic and artistic expression through the ages.
CSLO #3: Develop a well-formed awareness of non-western cultures as well as western
cultures.
CSLO #4: Create a comparative context in which to engage critically the ideas, forces,
and values which have created the world in which we live.
CSLO #5: Demonstrate insight into historical process involving both change and
continuity over time.
CSLO #6: Practice the critical and analytical methodologies of the Humanities and Fine
Arts.
Required Assessments (A):
A #1: Literary Essays: The student will write 900 - 1,500 word essays analyzing the
literary features of one or more works during a particular period of American literature
or comparing and contrasting works from two or more periods.
A #2: Reading Journals and/or Quizzes: The student will write short reading
responses and / or answer quiz questions to demonstrate that he or she has completed
the assigned readings with attention and comprehension.
A #3: Research Project: The student will research a topic relating to American
Literature and prepare a written, oral, and / or media presentation on that topic.
A #4: Final Examination: The student will take a comprehensive examination that
may be comprised of any combination of matching, multiple choice, and / or short
answer questions and / or an essay dealing with all four literary periods (Realism,
Naturalism, Modernism, and Postmodernism).
CSLO / Assessment Alignment:
CSLO:
CSLO
#1:
Assessment: Literary
Essays
CSLO
#2:
Literary
Essays
CSLO
#3:
Literary
Essays
CSLO
#4:
Literary
Essays
CSLO CSLO
#5:
#6:
Literary Literary
Essays Essays
Reading Reading Research Research Final
Journals Journals Project Project Exam
and/ or and/ or
Quizzes Quizzes
Reading
Journals
and / or
Quizzes
Research
Project
Indicators:
By the end of the course, students will be able to do the following:
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talk knowledgeably about a variety of time periods and literary works,
trace themes and motifs through American literature from 1865 to the
present,
identify how themes and techniques particular to a certain time period
appear in the works of writers from that time period,
produce written responses expressing their thoughts about a variety of
assigned works,
exhibit a knowledge of biographical information for each author studied.
Prerequisites and Corequisites
English 1020
Course Topics
The course will cover selections of American literature from the Civil War
up to contemporary times. Students will read stories, poems, novels,
and/or plays from the realist, naturalist, modern, and postmodern literary
periods.
Specific Course Requirements
To do well in this course, students should be prepared to read, analyze, and
interpret the assigned literary works, retain specific knowledge about the works
and their authors, and express ideas about the works in writing.
Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements
Required Textbooks:
There are no required textbooks for this class.
All study materials for this course are contained in the online environment either as
course lessons or as links to Internet sources. Although full texts are available online
(links are provided), students who prefer reading hard copies of materials may want to
purchase an anthology of American literature (Norton, Bedford, and Heath are standard
versions). Many of the materials we read are typically found in these anthologies. You
can often find these very inexpensively at used bookstores or online. Make sure you
purchase an edition containing American literature post-1865. In addition, you might
wish to purchase copies of Huckleberry Finn and Daisy Miller since those are the two fulllength novels we will read for the course.
The RODP Bookstore link is http://rodp.bkstr.com ; however, no textbooks are required
for this class.
Supplementary Materials
None
Hardware Requirements
The minimum requirements can be found at
http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. No additional
hardware requirements are needed for this course.
Software Requirements
Students must submit their writing assignments in one of the following formats:
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Microsoft Word (filename.doc)
Rich Text Format (filename.rtf)
HTML (filename.htm)
Students who cannot create files of one of these types will need to check with the
instructor at the beginning of class to explore alternatives.
Instructor Information
Since different instructors may be teaching different sections of this
course, please see the separate page inside the course to find the
instructor's contact information.
Assessment and Grading
Testing Procedures
Students will take their reading and essay quizzes using the online quiz function.
Students will take a PROCTORED Final Exam in this course (100 points).
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The proctored Final Exam will pull 50 questions randomly from the reading quizzes.
Students must set up their proctors for the Final Exam at the beginning of the
semester.
For directions on how to set up a proctor, see
http://www.rodp.org/students/proctor.htm
Grading Procedure
ASSESSMENTS
Introduction Discussion and Practice Quiz
2 @ 10 pts ea = 20 BONUS pts total
The initial discussion and practice quiz, each worth a possible 10 points, are worth a
total of 20 BONUS points.
Discussions and Class Participation
10 @ 20 pts ea = 200 pts total
Class participation will be evaluated throughout the course. Students will participate in a
variety of discussion assignments to ensure that they are fully involved in the
community of scholars that makes up their learning environment. Ten (10) discussion
assignments, each worth a possible 20 points, will count a possible 200 points toward
the final grade.
Module Essay Response Assignments
3 @ 75 pts ea = 225 pts total
Students will be asked to write an Essay Response at the end of each module. These
three (3) essays, each worth a possible 75 points, will count a possible 225 points
toward the final grade. Students should keep back-up copies of all written
assignments.
Quizzes
9 @ 25 pts ea = 225 pts total
Students will take quizzes to test their knowledge of specific works and to test their
ability to apply knowledge of key words and concepts to those specific works. These
quizzes will take the form of multiple-choice, matching, fill in the blank, short answer,
and/or essay questions. There will be nine (9) quizzes, each worth a possible 25 points,
making the total possible score on reading quizzes worth 225 points toward the final
grade.
Class Project
1 @ 150 pts = 150 pts total
Students will submit a Class Project to test their ability to analyze and interpret
literature and their ability to understand works of literary criticism. The Class Project is
worth a possible 150 points toward the final grade. Students should keep back-up
copies of all written assignments.
Class Paper
1 @ 100 pts = 100 pts total
Students will submit a Class Paper to test their ability to analyze and interpret literature
on their own. The Class Paper is worth a possible 100 points. Students should keep
back-up copies of all written assignments.
Final Exam
1 @ 100 pts = 100 pts total
Students will take a proctored final exam that is comprised of a randomized selection of
questions from all modules of the course.
SUMMARY OF ALL ASSIGNMENT POINTS
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Discussions = 200 points
Essay Responses = 225 points
Quizzes = 225 points
Project = 150 points
Paper = 100 points
Final Exam= 100 points
TOTAL = 1000 points
Total of all assignments = 1000 pts
(with 20 pts possible BONUS)
GRADING SCALE
A = 900-1000 pts
B = 800-899 pts
C = 700-799
D = 650-700
F = <650
High Achievement
To achieve the highest grade in this course, students should
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keep up with reading assignments (both in the textbook and in the content pages of
the course);
read the literary texts more than once when possible, making notes along the way;
make every attempt to delve below the surface meaning of the text;
attempt to find connections between (1) ideas within one text, (2) ideas in more
than one text, (3) the text and the society which produced it, (4) the text and the
contemporary world.
Reading Assignments:
Module 1 - The Late Nineteenth Century
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Twain, Huckleberry Finn
James, Daisy Miller
Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Chopin, "Desiree's Baby"
Crane, "The Open Boat"
Whitman, Preface to the 1855 Leaves of Grass; "Song of Myself" (sections 1-7,
15, 16, 20, 21, and 52); and "I Hear America Singing"
Dickinson, "Some keep the Sabbath" and "One need not be a chamber"
Module 2 - The Twentieth Century (1900 to 1945)
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Johnson, Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (selection)
Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk (selection)
Hurston, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" and "The Gilded Six-Bits"
Fitzgerald, "Winter Dreams"
Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"
Glaspell, "A Jury of Her Peers"
Cummings, "in Just-" and "she being Brand..."
Robinson, "Miniver Cheevy"
Sandburg, "Chicago"
Module 3 - The Twentieth Century (1945 to present)
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Heller, Catch 22 (selection)
O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues"
Walker, "Everyday Use"
Alexie, "What You Pawn I Will Redeem"
Giovanni, "Nikki-Rosa," "Knoxville, Tennessee," and "Resignation"
Soto, "The Tale of Sunlight"
Rotheke, "My Papa's Waltz"
Brooks, "A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi..."
Class Participation:
Students will be expected to communicate regularly with the instructor and with
other students via course email and discussion postings. Students should keep up
with assignment deadlines, and they should submit assignments on time.
Students should check their course news, email, and discussion areas regularly to
check for important information.
Punctuality:
To receive full credit, students must hand assignments in on time. 10% of the
score will be taken away for each 24-hour period a paper or other assignment is
late.
Assignment due dates can be found on the course calendar.
Course Ground Rules
This course moves quickly. Students must keep up with their reading or they will
have a very difficult time catching up.
Students who have not had any previous experience with online courses must be
willing to dive in and learn quickly. The instructor will provide tools to make this
learning process easier. In addition, many other students taking will have had
prior experience with online courses and are usually happy to assist their less
experienced classmates.
Students should communicate with the instructor and their other classmates
regularly. They should use their assigned course email addresses in regular
communication. They should also give the instructor a personal email address for
a backup.
Students should address technical problems immediately. A toll-free telephone
number and a web link to the Helpdesk are provided below.
The instructor of this course always welcomes questions, but students should be
sure to read all of the pertinent pages in the online class content area before
asking questions about assignments, procedures, and requirements. Usually, all
of the information needed can be found there.
To excel in this or any other online course, students must be willing and
motivated to do a lot of reading online.
Students should observe course netiquette at all times. This includes being
respectful of others in all email and discussion posts. A good rule of thumb is
write as though your little old granny were going to read it. (It goes
without saying that your little old granny was also a terrific literary critic.)
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students who copy someone else’s work
(from the Internet or anywhere else) and pass it off as their own will get
a "0" on the assignment or fail the course.
Since Composition I and II are prerequisites for American Masterpieces
II, you are expected to know and understand rules of documentation
when you enter this course. Rules of documentation are reviewed within
the course, but ignorance of documentation rules will not be accepted as
an excuse for plagiarism.
Guidelines for Communications
Email:
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Always include a subject line.
Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way.
Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
Use standard fonts.
Do not send large attachments without permission.
Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be
avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
Respect the privacy of other class members
Discussion Groups:
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Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker
then a discussant.
Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the
discussion group. Be respectful of other's ideas.
Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before
entering your remarks.
Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.
Chat:
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Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
Be constructive in your comments and suggestion.
Web Resources:
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Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html
These resources provide guidelines for citing sources used in academic papers. For
this course, be sure to follow the guidelines for MLA style documentation. The MLA
(Modern Language Association) style is the one most commonly used in the
humanities disciplines.
Library
The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the
Regents Degree Program. Students will use this resource to complete their
critical paper assignment for the course.
Students With Disabilities
Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary
academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability
services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability
accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of
a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff
at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with
their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established
procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.
Syllabus Changes
The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus.
If changes are necessary during the term of the course, the instructor will
immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email
communication and posting both notification and the nature of any changes on
the course bulletin board.
In cases of variation between the public syllabus and the syllabus contained
inside the virtual classroom, the classroom version is the official version of the
course syllabus.
Technical Support
For HELP with
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TECHNICAL PROBLEMS - please visit the AskRODP Customer Support web page at
http://help.rodp.org or call the AskRODP Help Desk at 1-866-550-RODP (1866-550-7637).
REGISTRATION PROBLEMS - contact your home school RODP Campus Contact.
TBR-RODP RELATED ISSUES - contact RODP Help Desk at 1-888-223-0023.