INTRODUCTION TO FICTION AND POETRY 1: Summer 2012
The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University
Instructor
Email
Class section
Class time
Location
Katherine Parr
kparr2@jhu.edu
AS.220.105.21
July 2nd – August 3rd; MWF 5.00 – 7.30 pm
TBD
Office Hours are by appointment.
Purpose
IFP 1 and IFP2 are required for admission to a major in The Writing Seminars. This course introduces the
student to basic strategies in the writing of poetry and fiction, and in the critical analysis of literature.
Procedure
1) Students read and discuss assigned texts with the instructor’s guidance.
2) Students write assigned work and bring copies to class on a prescribed date.
3) Instructor and class workshop selections of student work.
4) As appropriate and desirable, students have one-to-one conferences with the instructor.
5) Memorize and recite, in class, a sonnet or other poem from the Norton Anthology, of at least 16 lines
in length.
6) Give an in-class presentation on a poem as assigned by the instructor.
Plagiarism Policy
A student who is found to have plagiarized an assignment in IFP will receive an F for the course, and a
notation will be made in departmental records. Students enrolled in IFP I and II are required to sign an
honors’ code statement acknowledging that they understand this policy.
According to your Undergraduate Student Handbook, academic misconduct can include:
•
Plagiarism, which consists of the use of any work not your own, whether published or student,
whether intentional or unintentional. Plagiarism can occur both:
•
at the level of ideas, e.g., the paraphrase of a distinct conclusion without attribution, or
•
at the level of text, e.g., the duplication of anything from a block of text to a catchy
phrase, without quotes and attribution.
•
Reuse of assignments without permission.
•
Improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, and particularly, use of ideas or text from
the internet without attribution.
•
Unauthorized collaboration.
•
Alteration of graded assignments.
•
Forgery and falsification.
•
Facilitating academic dishonesty.
Ignorance of these rules is not an excuse.
To repeat: if you plagiarize one of your assignments, you will not only fail it but also fail this
class. It is simply foolish to engage in any academic misconduct.
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Attendance
Due to the short duration of this class, every day is even more crucial than in the regular semester.
Therefore, only one unexcused absence will be accepted before your grade begins to be lowered. These
are the unexcused absence guidelines:
1
2
3
4
5
No penalty
–10% to final calculated grade
–20%
–30%
–40% (Failing)
There are excused absences for things like family crises, sickness, and religious holidays. However, I
will not accept notice five, fifteen, or even fifty minutes before class via email. If you know you are going
to have to miss a day of class, please let me know at least a week in advance (barring an unforeseen
emergency like illness). If you miss class, I will assign you a make-up assignment covering that day’s
lesson and reading.
Texts
All texts are available at the campus bookstore, as well as at most online booksellers. Please purchase
the correct edition, and have it in class the first day of class. Students coming to class without the correct
textbook (see the course calendar for when we will be discussing fiction, and when poetry) will be given
the opportunity to leave class and return with their text, and marked with an unexcused tardy or absence
as appropriate.
• The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Ed., edited by Ferguson, Salter, Stallworthy
• The Norton Anthology of Short Stories, 7th ed., edited by Bausch, Cassill
Respect
A workshop class is founded on an atmosphere of respect. All students are expected to listen and
comment in an adult and supportive manner. In addition to a common-sense understanding of this core
requirement, please attend to the following rules:
• Come prepared for workshop classes, having read and written comments on all peer work to be
discussed.
• No computers, cellphones or other electronic devices are allowed in class. All cell phones should be
turned off. Use, ringing, or vibrating of proscribed devices will result in the student being marked
tardy for the class. See “Attendance” below for the cumulative effect of tardies on final grade.
• No eating or gum in class.
Grades
Grades will be based on careful reading of the assigned literature, class participation, the quality of the
writing in daily or weekly assignments, and revisions of same. Ultimately, students will hand in a final
portfolio containing the best of the written work, revised to the best of the student’s ability. Unexcused
absences will result in reduced grades; each instructor will document attendance.
Participation 20%
Assignments 50%
Fiction 25%
Poetry 25%
Portfolio 25%
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Completeness 5%
Improvement 20%
Miscellaneous 5%
Poetry Recitations
Readings Quizzes
Poetry Presentations
Formatting of Assignments
12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, appropriately punctuated, capitalized, and paginated.
Please set poetry single-space, left justification. Fiction double-spaced.
Please title every assignment. Set your name, the assignment number, the date, and the instructor’s name
in the upper right corner of every assignment.
Late W ork Policy
I do not accept late work. Any assignment turned in late will receive a grade of zero, and will not get
feedback. I will consider extensions under special circumstances and with three days’ advance request
from the student.
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Coursework and Schedule
FICTION
W EEK 1.
July 2: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends
Introduction to the class and in-class readings from handouts
W: Plot and Story
“Babylon Revisited”; “Paul’s Case”; “The Lottery”
F: Character
“Lady with a Dog”; “Royal Beatings”; “A&P”
W EEK 2.
July 9: Place
“Kew Gardens”; “Gusev”; “A Little Cloud”
W: Voice
“Cathedral”; “Why I Live at the P.O”; “The White Horse”; “Girl”
F: Fantasy and Madness
“Signs and Symbols”; “The Birthmark”; “Me and Miss Mandible”; “The Enormous
Radio”
W EEK 3.
July 16: Workshop of final fiction projects: 5–7 page short story
POETRY
For all weeks of the poetry unit, refer to the “Versification” essay at the back of the Norton
Anthology of Poetry (pp. 2027-2052). Many essential poetic terms are discussed there. All the
pages of “Versification” are helpful, but the most relevant to the week’s assignments are listed
below.
Wed., July 18: Introduction to Poetry
F: Narrative and Lyric
Bishop, “In the Waiting Room”; Heaney, “Digging”; William Blake, “The Sick Rose”;
“A Poison Tree”
“Versification”: 2027-2031; 2048-2050
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W EEK 4.
July 23: Voice and Tone
Larkin, “Church Going”; Hughes, “Theme for English B”; Eliot, “The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock”; Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool”; Kenneth Koch, “You Were
Wearing”
“Versification”: 2039-2042
W: Figurative Language
W. B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”; Gjertrud Schnackenberg, “Supernatural Love”;
Wilbur, “Piazza di Spagna, Early Morning”; Li-Young Lee, “Persimmons”; Fenton,
“God, A Poem”
“Versification”: 2036-2039
F: Rhythm and Meter in Narrative: The Ballad
Dickinson: All poems in the Norton; W. H. Auden, “As I Walked Out One Evening”;
Bob Dylan, “Boots of Spanish Leather”; Hardy “Channel Firing”
“Versification”: 2029-2039; and “The Quatrain” on p. 2041.
W EEK 5.
July 30: Rhythm and Meter in Lyric: The Sonnet
Shakespeare: “130”; Donne, “14”; Frost, “Design”; Hayden, “Those Winter
Sundays”; Muldoon, “Why Brownlee Left”; Keats, “On First Looking into Chapman’s
Homer”; Shelley, “Ozymandias”
“Versification”: 2043-2045
W: Recitations and poetry presentations
F: W orkshop of final project for poetry: Sonnets
Final Portfolio due August 6 th , by 5pm
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