English 1130: Modern Novel, Poetry, and Film
Section 003
Spring 2011
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Instructor: Kina Cavicchioli
Office: A 206
Phone: 604-323-5212
E-mail: kcavicchioli@langara.bc.ca.
I try to respond to email messages within 24 hours on weekdays and 48 hours on the weekend.
Office Hours: Tuesday 10.30am - 12.20 pm
Wednesday and Thursday 10.30-11.20 am
(and by appointment)
This course builds on the critical reading and writing skills students learned in English 1127 or 1128 and
develops them through the study of three new genres: novels, poetry, and film. Successful completion of the
course will depend on
 understanding of the three genres studied, demonstrated through correct use of the appropriate critical
terminology and critical analysis of individual works
 understanding of the individual works studied
 writing about works from each genre that demonstrates mastery of both form and content – that is, an
essay's insights about a given work must be expressed clearly at the essay, paragraph, and sentence levels
For questions regarding transfer credit, please go to the BC-TRANSFERGUIDE at http://bctransferguide.ca/
REQUIRED TEXTS (available from the Langara Bookstore):
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Cormac McCarthy: The Road
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Louis Giannetti: Understanding Movies (12th edition)
150 Poems Worth Reading (a.k.a. The Hudson Book of Poetry)
A good desk dictionary (Oxford Concise recommended)
FILM SERIES
As a requirement of this course, you must attend screenings of four different films, listed below. Each film
will be shown twice a week between Weeks 6 and 9 in A130. You will receive a film series booklet before the
screenings providing you with study material for each film; be sure to read the corresponding material prior to
viewing.
The Last Laugh
Repulsion
The Celebration
District 9
Wednesday February 16 (12.30 pm) and Thursday February 17 (6.30 pm)
Wednesday February 23 (12.30 pm) and Thursday February 24 (6.30 pm)
Wednesday March 2 (12.30 pm) and Thursday March 3 (6.30 pm)
Wednesday March 9 (12.30 pm) and Thursday March 10 (6.30 pm)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
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Participation (including preparatory assignments, quizzes etc.)
Midterm on Fiction
Midterm on Poetry
Film seminar
Take-home essay on Fiction & Film
Final exam on Poetry & Film
10%
15%
20%
10%
15%
30%
NB: You need an average grade of C-on the midterms and the final exam to pass the course.
COURSE POLICIES
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1. Contact information: I use the myLangara email function to communicate with you; please make sure
that you can receive these messages, and check your mylangara email regularly throughout the semester.
2. Attendance and Participation: Please come to every class on time and prepared to discuss the day’s topic.
Do the reading before coming to class, and bring the appropriate course text(s) to class each time.
Keeping up with the required reading for English 1130 is essential. Allow time for re-reading, too. Unless you
have done the reading and other preparation, there is no point attending class.
If you arrive more than 10 minutes late, you are required to bring treats for the whole group (cookies, donuts,
etc.) to the next class. Consistent lateness will be penalized at a rate of 0.5 marks per class, deducted from
your overall grade.
If you must miss a class, please let me know ahead of time if possible, by calling 604-323-5212 and leaving a
message. Make sure you leave your name/section on the message. Absence from class is no excuse for not
completing work covered that day, and it is your responsibility to find out what you have missed, and catch up.
You may miss 4 or 5 classes without penalty, but if you miss 12 classes for any reason, including good
reasons, you will get an automatic O for participation. If you miss 16 or more classes for any reason, including
good reasons, you will get a final grade of N. (Days of religious observance are the exception).
Attendance is mandatory but is not marked. Your participation mark is not, therefore, a mark for attendance.
Participation is worth 15% of your final grade and will be determined by your verbal contributions in class
(commenting, asking questions, responding to questions, making useful suggestions, and joining in during
group work etc.), as well as your completion of short preparatory assignments and quizzes.
3. Class cancellation: If a class is cancelled, I will email you through mylangara by 7.00 am on that day –
please check this before leaving home.
4. Passing: To pass English 1130, you must
 complete ALL required assignments (if you “skip” an assignment, you will fail the course, no matter
how well you have done on other assignments).
 earn an average grade of C- or higher on the in-class essays and the final exam.
Please note that it is possible to fail this course solely on the basis of inadequate writing skills.
5. Grading: I use the following percentage equivalents (and corresponding descriptions) to calculate grades:
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD
F
95%
90%
85%
80%
75%
70%
65%
60%
55%
50%
45%
Excellent work – an essay with an unusually insightful argument which is clearly presented and
thoughtfully developed. There are very few errors of expression, and none which obscure meaning.
MLA format is correct.
Good work – the argument, though less insightful or original than that of an A paper, is solid, well
presented and supported. There are more errors of expression than in an A paper, but these are
neither serious nor frequent.
Average work – although such an essay has a thesis, it is somewhat weaker in both form and content
than essays in the higher grades. There may be problems with organization or logic. Errors of
expression increase in number and seriousness.
Marginal work – meets the demands of the assignment by a bare minimum.
Inadequate work – the essay lacks a workable thesis; does not support its thesis; is off-topic; reveals
inadequate comprehension or thought about the material; makes no specific reference to the text it
analyses; ignores MLA conventions or assignment guidelines; has serious and pervasive errors of
expression; has more sentences with errors than without.
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4. Due dates: Assignments are due in class and will not be accepted via email or under my office door.
Extensions may be possible
1) In case of a documented emergency such as illness, bereavement etc.
2) If you request an extension in writing at least 48 hours before the deadline.
If you submit late work without prior permission or mitigating documentation, it will be penalized at a rate of
one letter grade per day (including weekends). Papers submitted more than one week after the due date will
not be accepted.
If you miss a quiz or seminar, you may not make it up.
The golden rule: KEEP IN TOUCH - if you are struggling, let me know so I can help you.
5. Plagiarism: Any take-home paper without full and accurate documentation of sources will receive an F.
Please note that having someone else make editing or proofreading changes for you also constitutes plagiarism.
See the Statement on Plagiarism below; if you have questions, please see me.
6. Chatting, Beeping, Crunching, Surfing
 Please be quiet when either the instructor or another student is talking. It is very hard for students (and
the instructor) to hear what is being said if there is an undercurrent of muttered conversation.
 Switch off and put away all MP3 players, blackberries, laptops, cell phones etc. at the beginning of class.
If you need to use your laptop to take notes, please see me.
 Eating and drinking are permitted in my classroom, but please don’t eat crunchy foods or foods with
noisy wrappers, as they drive everyone around you crazy.
STATEMENT ON PLAGIARISM
Having passed English 1127 or its equivalent, you are expected to understand the basics of the appropriate use
of sources, as well as plagiarism. Plagiarism includes (but is not limited to) the following:
 knowingly submitting the work of another person, whether published or unpublished, paid or unpaid – for
example, an essay purchased from an essay-writing service; written, edited, or revised by a tutor, friend or
family member; or copied from a book, article, or website
 failing to distinguish between your ideas and the ideas of others – for example, failing to cite properly an
idea you got from a website or journal article in your research on the topic
 failing to distinguish between your own words and the words of others and/or failing to distinguish
between quotation and paraphrase, as well as failing to paraphrase accurately – it’s not enough to
provide synonyms for the key terms in someone else’s sentence; you must change sentence structure
enough so that the idea is truly expressed in your own idiosyncratic way
 failing to cite your sources, both quoted and paraphrased, correctly using an approved documentation style
– in this class, using MLA parenthetical citation keyed to a separate Works Cited page
Plagiarism is not always intentional; it may be caused by sloppiness in the research and writing process – for
example, if you paste a quotation from a web source into your essay without immediately providing the
citation, and then forget to add the citation before handing the essay in. However, lazy plagiarism is still an
academic offense. In this class, if I discover plagiarism in an assignment, I will give it 0 and report you to the
Dean of Student Services. Other penalties may then apply.
You are not expected to know everything about documentation, but you are expected to make responsible,
educated choices when you run into difficulties: see me to talk about it, for example, or consult a reputable
source – a good grammar handbook with a section on documentation, a reference librarian, or the Writing
Centre.
Course Schedule
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(subject to change according to the needs of the class)
Dates
Topic(s)
Readings & Assignments
Week 1
Jan 10 - 13
 Introduction to Fiction
 Cormac McCarthy & The Road
 Begin reading The Road
(see the reading list on p.5 for instructions)
Week 2
Jan 17-20
 The Road
 Begin reading The Curious Incident
(see reading list for instructions)
Week 3
Jan 24-27
 Mark Haddon & The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-time
Week 4
Jan 31-Feb 3
 The Curious Incident
 Begin reading Giannetti (see reading list)
 Group project meeting#1 Feb 3
Week 5
Feb 7-10
 Introduction to Film
 Personal filmography due
 Exam on McCarthy & Haddon
Week 6
Feb 14-16
 No class February 17
 FILM: Photography
 Film screenings begin in A130
 FILM: Mise en Scène & Movement
 Group project meeting#2 Feb 24
Week 7
Feb 21-24
Week 8
Feb 28-Mar 3
 March 4: last day to withdraw
 FILM: Editing & Sound
Week 9
Mar 7-10
Week 10
Mar 14-17
 FILM: Story and Ideology
Week 11
Mar 21-24
Week 12
Mar 28-31
Week 13
Apr 4 - 7
 POETRY
 Introduction to Poetry
 POETRY
 Film presentations by Groups 1, 2, 3 March 10
 Poetry email due by 10pm March 12
 Film presentations by Groups 4, 5, 6 March 14
 Film presentations by Groups 7, 8, 9 March 15
 Film & fiction essay due March 28
 Exam on Poetry March 31
 POETRY
 Review for Final
Final Exam Period Tuesday April 12 – Wednesday April 20
The exact date/time/location for our final has not yet been announced;
the College is expected to publish the exam schedule in mid-March.
In the meantime, please do not make plans to leave Vancouver until after April 20;
you must be available to write the final exam as scheduled.