English 1130: Modern Novel, Poetry, and Film
Section B01 Spring 2010
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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: Monday and Wednesday 12.30-2.00 pm
Tuesday 9.30-10.30 am
(and by appointment)
This course builds on the critical reading and writing skills students learned in English 1127 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
Note: this accelerated version of English 1130 will move at a very fast pace. It covers the same amount of
material and number of assignments as a regular section of ENGL 1130 in half the time. Success in this course
requires a significant investment of time, energy, and motivation, and – given the compressed format – strong
critical reading and writing skills at the beginning of the course.
REQUIRED TEXTS (in the order we will read them):
•
•
•
•
Cormac McCarthy: The Road
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Louis Giannetti: Understanding Movies (11th edition)
150 Poems Worth Reading (a.k.a. The Hudson Book of Poetry)
All these texts are available from the Langara Bookstore. Please make sure you purchase the Giannetti before
March 15, when the Bookstore will begin stocking a different edition than the one you need for this course.
FILMS
Because this is an accelerated section, we will not be studying the same films as full-semester 1130 sections.
We will watch our two films, Double Indemnity and Strictly Ballroom, in class on March 29 and 31,
respectively. Attendance at these screenings is mandatory.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
•
•
•
•
•
Participation
Midterm on Fiction
Midterm on Poetry
Take-home essay on Fiction & Film
Final exam on Poetry & Film
10%
20%
25%
20%
25%
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. 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.
Also, because this course is so compressed, missing even one class will likely reduce your chance of success.
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.
Attendance is mandatory but is not marked. Your participation mark is not, therefore, a mark for attendance.
Participation is worth 10% 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.
2. 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.
3. Grading: I use the following percentage equivalents (and corresponding descriptions) to calculate grades:
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD
F
90%
85%
80%
78%
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;
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.
4. Late or missed assignments: Without documentation of illness or emergency, you cannot make up
missed assignments and late papers will lose one letter grade per day. Papers submitted more than one week
after the due date will not be accepted.
Most importantly, 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.
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Please note that having someone else make editing or proofreading changes for you also constitutes plagiarism.
See the Statement on Plagiarism on the last page of this course syllabus; if you have questions, please see me.
6. Cell phones: please turn off cell phones, pagers, and anything that beeps before class. If your phone (or other
electronic appliance) goes off during class, you must bring treats (donuts, cookies etc.) for the whole group to the
next class.
7. Contact information: I will 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.
8. 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.
Course Schedule (subject to change according to the needs of the class)
Dates marked in yellow are particularly important – please make a note of these.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
A328
A321
A328
Thursday
A321
Week 1:
March 3 - 4
No class
No class
Introductions and
Diagnostic
McCarthy:
The Road
Week 2:
March 8 -11
McCarthy:
The Road
McCarthy:
The Road
McCarthy:
The Road
Haddon:
Curious Incident
Week 3:
March 15 -18
Haddon:
Curious Incident
Haddon:
Curious Incident
Haddon:
Curious Incident
Fiction Exam
(2 hrs)
Week 4:
March 22 - 25
Giannetti, Chs.1 & 7:
Photography & Drama
Giannetti, Ch.2:
Mise en Scène
Week 5:
March 29 – April 1
Billy Wilder,
Double Indemnity
(1944; 107 mins)
Giannetti, Chs.8 & 10:
Story & Ideology
Week 6:
April 6 – 8
Easter Monday
No class
Poetry
Poetry
Poetry
Take-Home
Essay Due
Week 7:
April 12 - 15
Poetry
Poetry
Poetry Exam
(2 hrs)
Review for Final
Giannetti, Chs. 3 & 4: Giannetti, Ch.5 & 6:
Movement & Editing
Sound & Acting
Baz Luhrmann,
Strictly Ballroom
(1993; 94 mins)
FILM WRAPUP
Poetry reading list
handout
Final Exam Period Tuesday 20 April 2010 – Wednesday 28 April 2010
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 28;
you must be available to write the final exam as scheduled.
STATEMENT ON PLAGIARISM
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One of the requirements of English 1127 is the research essay, an assignment which combines a number of
skills:
• developing an argument
• researching the topic to find ideas and/or support for the argument
• supporting the argument with secondary sources (both quoted and paraphrased)
• citing those sources using an approved documentation style (i.e., MLA)
• expressing the argument clearly at the essay, paragraph, and sentence levels
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
Note that 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 provide the citation before handing the essay in.
However, lazy plagiarism is still an academic offense; students in a second term course should know
better. 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.