Professor Amanda Barnett
English 10133
Room: TBD
Spring 2015
Office: Reed 402
Office Hours: Mon, Wed- 10-11 and by Appt.
Amanda.c.barnett@tcu.edu
Welcome to English 10133: Introduction to Lit: Sin in American Literature!
This course will focus on the shifts in and depictions of sin in American literature during the
nineteenth century. I have chosen the term sin for this class precisely because it is fraught and slippery.
Throughout the semester our conversations will work to parse out just what it means and whether it is
possible to come to a conclusion on its definition. We will be discussing a range of sins, from the explicit
sins of slavery and murder to more implicit and controversial examples such as sex, sexuality, and
resistance. This course will help students in understanding not only how the views about sin morphed as
time passed but will also allow them to think about how sin was portrayed differently by women/men,
white/non-white, upper/middle class, and by different genres.
Students will become familiar with interpretive strategies and will examine the course texts in
relation to literary antecedents, literary analysis as a research method, and the cultural circumstances of
composition. In this class we will investigate texts in poetry, short fiction, drama, and novels.
Throughout this semester we will learn to critically analyze and question a text, create a thesis for
coherent extended arguments, know how and when to revise, follow MLA style, and conduct research
both online and in the library.
Literary Traditions Outcomes
Students will demonstrate an understanding of
literature as it reflects society and/or the
individual.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of
literature as it influences society and/or the
individual
Students will demonstrate familiarity with one or
more disciplinary approaches to the study of
literature. Students will examine how literary texts
reflect society.
Student Action Steps for this Course
Students will recognize how broad contextual
understandings of literary works apply to life and
cultural situations. Students will analyze the
interrelationships of the individual, cultural milieu,
and society in literary texts.
Students will examine how literature influences
society, both in the historical past and/or in the
present.
Students will scrutinize literary traditions
historically, textually, theoretically, aesthetically
and/or comparatively. Students will recognize the
characteristics of a critical approach to the study
of literature.
Required Texts:
The Little Seagull Handbook: Richard Bullock, Francine Weinberg- ISBN # 978-0-393-91151-0
Venture Smith: A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa: But Resident Above
Sixty Years in the United State of America- online
The Blind African Slave, Or Memoirs of Boyrereau Brinch, Nicknamed Jeffrey Brace, by Jeffrey Brace as
told to Benjamin F. Prentiss, Esq., St. Albans, Vermont
(http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/brinch/brinch.html)Mary Jemison: Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison: ISBN # 978-0140436716
Nathanial Hawthorne: Fanshawe
Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Henry James: “The Turn of the Screw” and “Daisy Miller”
Edith Wharton: Ethan Frome
--Many of these texts are available free online or for kindle. The rest can be bought fairly cheaply on
Amazon or whichever online bookseller you prefer. Only if the ISBN is given do I require a specific text.
Grading/Assignments:
Essay- 25%
Discussion Facilitation- 30% (2 at 15% each)
Final Presentation- 5%
Class Participation/Preparedness- 15% (3% from attendance, 7% daily work, 5% verbal participation)
Writing Center attendance and reflection- 5%
Response Papers- 20%
Essays: There will be one essay due this semester. The paper turned in MUST hold to the following
formatting style. It must be Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1inch margins, and double spaced with no
extra spacing between paragraphs. If you have a question about formatting please ask. Points will be
deducted for papers which are formatted incorrectly. Detailed instructions for the essay will be
uploaded to the course site.
Discussion Facilitation: Each student will chose two days to lead discussion on the text we have read for
that day. You will need to generate discussion questions beforehand and be ready to lead the discussion
for 10-15 minutes min. I will participate as well but you will be in charge of guiding the discussion during
that time toward what you felt was most interesting/important/confusing in the text. Some days there
will be multiple students assigned to present. In this case you may decide whether you would like to
combine your discussions or do them separately. Either way the grades will be separate and not
dependent on the other student’s performance.
Final Presentation: This 5-7 minute presentation will cover the information in your essay and will
include a brief summary of your argument as well as discussion of at least one piece of evidence to
support the argument. Details will be given on the course site.
Participation/Preparedness: To receive full credit for this category students must come to class having
read what was assigned for the day, must have any and all assignments completed and must be willing
to participate in everything we do in class (includes doing the readings, discussion, group work,
attendance, etc.). You are expected to have completed the readings by class time on the date
under which they appear in the course schedule. I reserve the right to administer pop quizzes if I
think that a large portion of the class is not keeping up with their reading responsibilities.
Writing Center: Attendance at the Writing Center is required for all students. Staffed with professional
faculty, the Writing Center is an important resource for all writers on campus. Tutors are available at no
cost to help students in prewriting, writing, and revising their papers on an individual and small-group
basis. You must attend the writing center at least once throughout the semester and write a one page
reflection on your experience. This requirement will give you a view of how the editing process works.
Your reflection allows you a space to think through why the center was helpful and how you can use this
resource to your advantage in the future. The reflection can note both positives of your experience and
topics you wish had been addressed, things you could have done to be more prepared for the session,
and any other notes you want me to know about your time at the writing center.–You MUST set up an
appointment and attend the writing center before your final paper is due.
Response Papers: You must complete four response papers over the course of the semester. When you
complete them is up to you, BUT you must have completed at least TWO responses by the midterm
mark. This paper should be at least 350 words and should give an analysis of the text you have chosen to
respond to. You may pick one theme we have discussed and apply it to this text or you may choose
something that you see within the text that we did not discuss. You may also connect the ideas within
the text to something that you are studying in another class. There are many different ways to satisfy
the requirement; however, what I do NOT want is a summary of the piece. I am familiar with these
works and I want to see that you can do more than simply summarize them.
Classroom Policies
Grade Breakdown93-100= A
90-92= A87-89= B+
83-86=B
80-82=B77-79= C+
73-76= C
70-72=C67-69= D+
63-66=D
60-62=DBelow 60= F
Absence Policy- In English 10133 the work we do in class is an essential component of the course. This
includes in-class writing assignments, quizzes, note-taking, peer review, and group work. Students with
more than 6 absences, either excused or unexcused, may have failed to complete a substantial number
of these writing assignments, and may therefore be unable to pass unless there is an exceptional
situation.
0 absences = extra credit in the class participation category
1-2 absences= A
3-4 absences= B
5 absences= C
6 absences= D
More than 6 absences= F
An "excused" absence is one documented by either the Athletic Department or the Dean for Student
Affairs, these are official university absences. If you are having significant medical or family problems
please speak with ME and with the student life office and to obtain assistance with these absences.
Tardiness Policy- Class will begin at the scheduled time every day and students are expected to be
present at the beginning of class. Four tardies are equal to one unexcused absence. Students who are
more than 20 minutes late to a class without prior notice will be given an absence for the day.
Late Papers- NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED IN THIS CLASS without a prior agreement between the
professor and the student.
Technology Policy- In this class we will be using your computers fairly often; however, computers should
only be open while we are employing them for classroom purposes. If we are not using them all
together they should be closed. Cell phones should not be visible during class time. Anyone with their
phone out in class, without prior permission, will be given an absence for the day.
Email Etiquette- As a student you are also learning how to relate in professional ways with your
classmates and professor. To this end, I will not respond to emails which are rude, demanding, or
improperly formatted (heading, greeting, body, sign off, signature).
---I require a lot of you in this class but you can also expect me to:
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Be professional
Treat you with respect as you treat me and your classmates with respect
Answer your emails within 24 hours during the week
Be available both in office hours and outside them as necessary and allowed by my schedule
Create a space in the classroom and in my office where students feel safe to express their
ideas
SCHEDULE
Day/Date
Reading Assignment
Work Due
Unit 1- 1790- 1810
Week 1- Tuesday
Thursday
Week 2- Tuesday
Thursday
Week 3- Tuesday
Thursday
Syllabus Review/ Intro to class
A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of
Venture, a Native of Africa: But Resident Above
Sixty Years in the United State of America, by
Venture Smith, New London, 1798
Early Native Literacies in New England: “The
Case of Sarah Pharoah,” Sarah Simon, Letter;
“The Confession and Dying Warning of
Katharine Garrett,” plus others TBD- primary
texts only
Thursday
(OP)
Secondary texts to go with Early Native
Literacies
The Blind African Slave, Or Memoirs of
Boyrereau Brinch, Nicknamed Jeffrey Brace, by
Jeffrey Brace as told to Benjamin F. Prentiss,
Esq., St. Albans, Vermont, 1810 – 150 “pages”
(http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/brinch/brinch.html)
OP
Finish Brace’s narrative-
OP
Secondary source tbd
Week 4- Tuesday
Oral Presentation
Wrap-up and grammar assignments
Grammar reports and intro to next unit
UNIT 2: 1811-
1860ish
Week 5- Tuesday
Thursday
Week 6- Tuesday
Thursday
Week 7- Tuesday
Thursday
Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison 1824
OP
Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison 1824
OP
Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison 1824
OP
Surrounding pieces for Mary Jemison
Nathanial Hawthorne’s Fanshawe
Nathanial Hawthorne’s Fanshawe
OP
Edgar Allan Poe: The Black Cat
2 responses papers
Week 8- SPRING
BREAK
Week 9- Tuesday
must be completed
by this date
OP
Thursday
Week 10- Tuesday
Thursday
Poe: The Cask of Amontillado
OP
Whitman selections
OP
Dickinson selections
OP
Excerpts from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Dred
OP
Dramatic presentations of UTC, The Black Cat,
Octaroon
OP
Paper workshopping
Full Draft of Essay
UNIT 3- 1860-1911
Week 11- Tuesday
Thursday
Week 12- Tuesday
Thursday
Week 13- Tuesday
Paper workshopping
excerpts from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,
by Harriet Jacobs
OP
Thursday
Week 14- Tuesday
Thursday
Week 15- Tuesday
excerpts from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,
by Harriet Jacobs and secondary source TBD
OP
Henry James: The Turn of the Screw
OP
Henry James: another short story TBD
OP
James: Daisy Miller
Writing center
requirement must
be done by this
date
OP
Thursday
Week 16- Tuesday
James: Daisy Miller
Final paper due
Edith Wharton: Ethan Frome to pg 100
Last day to turn in
Writing Center
reflection
Thursday
Week 17
Finish Ethan Frome
Last day of classes: evaluations and wrap up
Final Exam: TBA
This syllabus is subject to change throughout the semester.
University Policies:
Disabilities. Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should
contact the Coordinator of Student Disabilities Services in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall,
016. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible
in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for
Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at 817- 257-6567.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive;
therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are
seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional
documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at
www.acs.tcu.edu/disability_documentation.asp.
Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a building must be
evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as soon as possible.
Academic Misconduct (from Student Handbook). Any act that violates the spirit of the academic conduct policy is
considered academic misconduct. Specific examples include, but are not limited to the following:
Cheating includes, but is not limited to:
A. Copying from another student’s test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings.
B. Using in any academic exercise or academic setting, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in
charge of the test.
C. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during an academic exercise without the permission of
the person in charge of the exercise.
D. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test
or other assignment unauthorized for release.
E. Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, in a manner that leads
to misrepresentation of either or both students’ work.
Plagiarism: The appropriation, theft, purchase or obtaining by any means another’s work, and the unacknowledged
submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit.
Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another’s work without giving credit therefore.
Collusion: The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit.
Abuse of resource materials: Mutilating, destroying, concealing or stealing such materials.
Computer misuse: Unauthorized or illegal use of computer software or hardware through the TCU Computer
Center or through any programs; terminals; or freestanding computers owned, leased or operated by TCU or any
of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student.
Fabrication and falsification: Unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic
exercise. Falsification involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing
or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise.
Multiple submission: The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work
(including oral reports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization.
Complicity in academic misconduct: Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct.
Bearing false witness: Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.
TCU Campus Resources for Students: Many resources exist on the TCU campus that may be
helpful to students: Mary Couts Burnet Library (257-7117); Center for Academic Services (2577486, Sadler Hall. 1022); the William L. Adams Writing Center (257-7221, Reed Hall 419);
Student Development Services (257-7855, BLUU 2003); and Office of Religious & Spiritual Life
(257-7830, Jarvis Hall), Campus Life (257-7926, Sadler Hall 2006), and the Counseling, Testing,
and Mental Health Center (257-7863, Brown Lupton Health Cente