SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
1818 Advanced College Credit Program
1818.slu.edu
Students enrolled in this class may receive credit through St. Louis University’s
Advanced College Credit 1818 Program
Fall: ENGL 1900 X76, and Spring: ENGL 2550 X76.
URSULINE ACADEMY
ENG 349 ACC Advanced College Credit/Honors English IV
Academic Year 2015-2016
Mr. Joseph F. Master
jmaster@ursulinestl.org (314) 984-2862
Every student can benefit from a demanding college preparatory writing and literature
course. The content of this class focuses on the writing process and the perfecting of
skills--both mechanical and analytical--required of a student in a college-level
composition class. The literature component deals primarily with the close analytical
reading of masterpieces of world literature in all genres including drama, prose, and
poetry with the focus being a discussion of gender as it is represented in literature and
life.
Beyond the reading and discussing of literary works, students prepare in-class, impromptu
essays on assigned readings. Other writing assignments include essays in all of the
discourses, narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive. Students also work on the
critical analysis essay and the extended research essay--both assigned and student
selected.
While the types of writing involved in the class are varied, the aim remains the same:
students write as a way of discovering and clarifying ideas. Students learn how to
formulate effective thesis statements, craft effective sentences and paragraphs, and
arrange paragraphs in an appropriate order with thoughtful diction, transitions and
acceptable style. Through almost weekly student workshop days, students are given the
opportunity to peer-edit their work and the work of other students, and through
conferencing with the instructor, revise and improve essays. Students are also expected
to read outstanding literary works and develop an ability to read critically, engage in
intelligent discussion, and actively and constructively analyze texts.
Required Texts:
Anderson, Chris and Lex Runciman. Open Questions: Readings for Critical
Thinking and Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005.
Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and
Drama. New York: Longman, 2002.
Trimble, John Writing With Style, (excerpts). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1975.
Wyrick, Jean. Steps to Writing Well. 6th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
Flaubert, Gustav. Madame Bovary.
Gaskell, Elizabeth. North and South
Emecheta, Buchi. The Joys of Motherhood.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis.
Assignments and Policies:
In order to encourage students to gain proficiency in writing and literary analysis
in all genres, assignments will include the following:
1. Weekly impromptu inclass essays with topics that model the AP examination.
2. Reading quizzes on assigned readings that include multiple choice questions
and short essay responses whose aims are to ask probing questions about the
literary work, check comprehension, and facilitate discussion.
3. At least three (3) 3-5 pages critical essays per quarter on topics both teacher
and student selected. In the first semester these essays will center on rhetorical
strategies, modes of discourse (description, narration, exposition, and
persuasion), and beginning literary analysis. In the second semester, the essays
will involve close reading of literary works, more complex literary analysis, critical
interpretation, and structural analysis of literary works.
4. One (1) 5-7 page research report and oral presentation (incorporating power
point, handout, and other media) on a topic selected by the student
incorporating at least three (3) secondary sources with proper documentation
and bibliography.
5. Late essays will be graded down one letter grade for each late day.
FIRST SEMESTER
Week One: Introduction to the Course
Getting our Feet Wet: The Writing Process and the Diagnostic Essay
Essay: Summer Reading Book of Choice. I will choose one of the following
for you to write on in class the second day:
a. Describe at least two of the minor (or static) characters in your
book of choice. What purpose does each serve in the text? How
does each character help illuminate some aspect of the main
character’s personality or choices.
b. Most stories have a theme or a central idea or message running
throughout the text. In your essay describe at least two of the main
themes of your book of choice. What central idea or ideas is the
author hoping to leave the readers with?
c. Most texts depend on structural devices such as irony, symbolism,
and fore-shadowing(among others) to add suspense and to make
the text interesting to read. Discuss how the author of your book of
choice structures his or her novel in an effective way. Be specific.
Essay: Students will write a sample inclass diagnostic essay (a poetry read
and respond question) accompanied by a multiple choice section that
that will help you with the ACT.
Students and teacher will discuss essay grading process and the function
of the rubric in writing.
Students will share and critique essays.
Weeks Two and Three: Writing Bootcamp
The Focus: organization, conciseness, rich language, unity and coherence
Students will review information adapted from chapters 6, 3, 4, 5 in
Wyrick’s Steps to Writing Well.
Expect at least 2-3 pages of daily writing for the next week.
Week Four: Ethics & Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing
The Focus: the concepts of logos, ethos, and pathos as they relate to life,
to literature, and to writing.
Read and discuss pages 1-15 of Open Questions.
All literature, all rhetoric (a student’s own writing and others’ writing) is an
invitation to be part of a conversation. Critical readers and writers learn
how to recognize clues for ascertaining perspective, and to incorporate
clues into their own texts.
Students will prepare an inclass essay responding to one of the scenarios
in the text. Craft not only a response to the scenario, but explore your
commitment to the response—how strongly do you believe what
you say?
Weeks Five through Seven: Remembering Events--Description and Narration
The Focus: Memory as a Guide to Writing and Understanding.
Inclass exercise: describing a “Weather Experience.” Students will focus on
writing prose with effective descriptive detail, creating wonderful sense
pictures of the experience and how it affected you.
Preparing the Personal Narrative: Structure and Style— review chapters
11 and 12 in Writing Well.
Assign readings from Open Questions “Where Are You Coming From?”
pages 20-85.
Essay: Write a two to three page personal narrative describing an
experience that helped define you as you are today. Focus on
some aspect of your family’s cultural, religious, racial, geographic,
or social heritage that illuminates your uniqueness. Get the reader’s
attention in a descriptive opening paragraph. Include specific
details. Anticipate audience questions and reactions to your
experience. Choose a narrative style that makes the essay fluid
and easy to follow. Include a paragraph or two at the end that
provides perspective or illumination: how has the experience
shaped you, what lessons can be learned here? See me with a
rough draft prior to the due date: we will focus on dialoguing
about these aspects of your essay.
Characterization: Literary Connections
Anonymous, Beowulf.
Students will complete an inclass essay on the qualities of the epic
hero as evidenced by Beowulf in the Anglo-Saxon period.
Chaucer, “Prologue from The Canterbury Tales” and “The
Pardoner’s Tale.”
Creative Writing--Point of View: Prepare a 50 line pilgrim portrait of
a modern day pilgrim incorporating stylistic elements from
Chaucer’s work into your creative piece: consider including
rhyming couplets, alliteration, imagery, and sarcasm.
Weeks Eight through Eleven: Expository Writing
The Focus: Expository Writing-- Structure and Types
Read Chapter 9 in Wyrick’s Steps to Writing Well pages 179-189.
Introduce Research Techniques and Methodology
Students will complete a webquest on MLA style, distinguishing fact
from opinion, and critiquing sources.
Assign representative readings from Open Questions pages 93-174 “Are
We Responsible?”
Inclass essay: After reading Didion’s essay, “On Morality” consider the
other essays in the chapter relative to Didion’s thesis. How would Didion
respond to the article you have chosen. What would she find agreeable,
problematic, or objectionable?
Writing Workshop: will discuss excerpts from Trimble’s Conversations on
the Art of Writing, Chapter 8 on “Tips for Increasing Your Readability” and
apply Trimble’s tips to essays and rewrite.
The Comparison/Contrast Essay
Excerpts from Chapter 9 in Steps to Writing Well pages 211-232.
Assign representative readings form Open Questions pages 178-273 “Is
Violence Necessary?” and pages 2760372 “Are We Our Bodies?”
Essay: Read Jane Goodall’s “Compassion and Love” together with Chris
Hedge’s “Eros and Thanatos.” Write an essay that explains how reading
these essays together helps make each of them clearer. End by
identifying and explaining the most central shared emotions that Goodall
and Hedges make.
Inclass essay: What is the story of your body? In terms of “skin,” “color,”
“size,” and “looks” how do you perceive yourself. Where do your
perceptions and preconceptions about your body come from? Is
composing the story of your body a useful exercise for you? Explain.
Weeks Twelve through Sixteen: Arguing a Position
The Focus: Logical Reasoning and Persuasive Writing—Making Strong
Arguments
Read Chapter 10 in Steps to Writing Well pages 273-305.
Quiz on Induction/Deduction and Logical Fallacies
Assign representative reading from Open Questions chapter “Is Honesty
the Best Policy?” pages 375-472 in the text.
Literary Connection: excerpts from Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Inclass essay: Students will write an essay analyzing the techniques
for argumentation Swift outlines in his text. How was Swift able to
create a convincing argument despite the irony in the text?
Essay: Developing an Ursuline Academy Honor Code. Each student will
draft an Honor Code for Ursuline Academy she feels reflects both her
particular notion of honesty and what it means in a school setting, and
also respects the school’s mission statement.
SECOND SEMESTER
Weeks One through Three: Women’s Literature- Finding a Room of One’s Own
Brief Introduction to Women’s Literature and History
Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman
Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own.”
Barbara Kingsolver’s “Letter to My Daughter” “Letter to My Mother.”
Her Art and His Craft: Writing, Creativity and Gender: The Wordsworths
(Dorothy and William).
excerpts from Women’s Voices: A Literary Reader including “When I Was
Growing Up” by Nellie Wong, “La Griguita,” by Julia Alvarez, “The
Homesteaders Marriage and A Little Funeral,” by Elinore Stewart,
and “The Solitude of Self “ by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Week Four through Six: Introduction to Drama
Reading and Understanding Drama: We will spend the first part of the unit
talking about drama as an “art of performance.”
Students read pages 1321-1323 in Kennedy text.
The Tragedy: Antigone by Sophocles
Discussion will allow the students to discern the elements of drama
as present in the text, undertake a close reading of the play
examining plot, conflict, character, dialogue.
Review of section in Kennedy text on “Writing About the Play”
pages 2155-2161.
Inclass esay: Write a brief one to two page response in which you
discuss the difference between Antigone and Ismene in their view
on women in society. How does each sister’s view shape the
choices she makes? How consistent is each in her view? Be
specific. Cite lines from the play as support.
Essay: Student selected topic on some aspect of Sophocles’
Antigone. We will use time in class to workshop this essay from
formulating a thesis through final draft.
The Social Protest Play: A Doll’s House, Ibsen
Students read the play pages 1782 through 1822.
Essay: Student will respond to the following after reading the play:
The play’s feminist message rocked the stages of Europe
when the play premiered. Nora's rejection of marriage and
motherhood scandalized contemporary audiences. In fact, the
first German productions of the play in the 1880s had an altered
ending at the request of the producers. Ibsen referred to this
version as a "barbaric outrage" to be used only in emergencies.
Weeks Seven through Thirteen: Fiction Study--The Novel
Reading and Understanding Fiction: We will begin the unit with a
discussion of the various Critical Approaches to Literature, pages 21682212 in Kennedy’s Literature.
Inclass essay: Using your laptop, go to the website
<http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html#grimm> and peruse the
various versions of the fairy tale we know as “Little Red Riding Hood.” How
are the stories similar? What differences emerge? Then, choose one of
the version and attempt to critique (explain and evaluate) the tale (in
200-300 words) in light of one of the following critical approaches: feminist,
Marxist (economic), psychoanalytic, mythical, historical, etc. Feel free to
use web-resources to help you understand the text.
We will spend seven weeks dissecting various texts from many different
countries and historical traditions. Hopefully what will emerge is an
understanding of the “art of fiction” as a dynamic and challenging art
form. We will consider a brief historical overview of the tradition of the
novel, and discuss its various elements: theme, structure, conflict,
character, etc.
For each of the novels below there will be a multiple choice reading quiz,
to check comprehension and explore connections similar to AP mutilple
choice questions.
Also, there will be an inclass essay on some significant passage in each of
the works that encourages students to engage in conversation with the
work, to search for meaning both contextual and hidden, and to critically
evaluate authorial strategies and style.
Finally, after each novel each student will prepare an essay on a studentselected topic relative to the text. Each essay will be “work-shopped” in
class through peer-editing and teacher conferencing with time for revision
prior to final due date. The novels to be discussed include:
Madame Bovary, Flaubert
North and South, Gaskell
The Joys of Motherhood, Emecheta
Persepolis, Satrapi
Weeks Fourteen through Sixteen: Poetry—the Art of Compression
Reading and Understanding Poetry as an “art of compression:” Students
will engage in a thoughtful study of the process of poetry, the various
forms of poetry, examples of representative poems on various topics.
Assignments will include but not be limited to the following: quizzes,
explications, inclass analytical essays on poems, student written haiku and
cinquain, and a research report.
Most of our discussions of poetry will be focused through the lens of
women’s poetry with representative examples including:
Beginnings of Women’s Poetry
Women’s poetry of the Middle Ages
Nineteen Century Women’s Poetry
The poetry of Contemporary Women Authors