Office:
Online:
No office hours are scheduled for this
course; however, I am online off and on often during the day on weekdays and
sometimes on weekends. I do reserve the right to take weekends off, but I
will always let you know ahead of time if I don't plan to check in on the
weekend.
email: arcguerin@pacbell.net
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
English 301 offers further study and practice in analytical reading and writing. Assigned readings include short stories, poems, plays, biographies, a novel, and literary criticism. Essays written for the course (6,500 words minimum) generalize from the texts to present carefully reasoned arguments. Most essays will include citations from secondary sources, documented according to current MLA format. One or more additional hours per week in the Learning Resource Center or Writing Across the Curriculum or Reading Across the Disciplines programs may be required.
In a nutshell, I want you to learn and practice:
- Critical reading skills through close reading and analysis of literary text
- Critical thinking skills through drawing and synthesizing ideas from readings
- Critical writing skills through persuasively presenting your ideas in logical, coherent, academic essay form
- MLA documentation style
Meyer, Michael. The COMPACT Bedford Introduction to Literature. Sixth Edition -- Note: there is a newer edition, but we are using the sixth
ISBN: 0-312-39881-6A copy of Kate Chopin's The Awakening to be announced
Recommended: A good handbook, such as
Hacker, Diana. The Bedford Handbook. Sixth Edition
ISBN: 0-312-25632-9or one you still have from English 300
Internet readings and exercises.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:
Email account: Make sure that you change your email address on BlackboardMajor Writing Projects:
Assignment | Minimum Words | Due Date Rough Draft |
Due Date Final Draft |
Points |
Short Fiction Essay | 1250-1500 | TBA | 6/16 | 100 |
Drama Essay | 1250-1500 | TBA | 6/26 | 150 |
Poetry Essay | 1250 -1500 | TBA | 7/7 | 150 |
Novel | 2000-2500 | TBA | 7/17 | 200 |
Course Grading Specifics
Formal Essays (above) | 600 points |
5 Reading Journal Entries | 100 |
5 Reading Quizzes 10 points each | 50 |
Discussion Board Participation, Ideas, | 50 |
Total | 800 points |
During the semester, I will give points on essays as follows:
A+ 100%; A 95%; A- 92%; B+ 88%; B 85%; B- 82%;
C+ 78%; C 75%; C- 72%; D+ 68%; D 65%; D- 62%; F 50%; NC 0%
Final grades are computed on the standard percentage basis:
90% + = A; 80 - 89.9% = B; 70% - 79.9 % = C;
60%-69.9% = D, 59.9% and below = F
For example: Subject: Justin Brown Engwr 301 Essay One Final Draft.
All final drafts of essays will
be submitted electronically and should be formatted* in Times Roman 12 pt. font, and
include one-inch margins, double-spacing and a word count at the end. Paragraphs
must be numbered. All essays must include this heading in the upper left-hand
corner:
Your
name
English 301
Jeanne Guerin
Name of assignment
Due Date
*Formatting essays online is tricky. Use these guidelines as well as those above.
Paragraph numbering is important. Paragraphs should be numbered from beginning to end, P1, P2, P3, etc. This system makes it much easier for me to comment on your essays and for you to read and understand my comments.
Although MLA standards DO NOT call for extra spaces between paragraphs, in my online classes, I ask students to create an extra space between paragraphs.
Submit journals and essays via email attachment and to the Digital Drop Box in Blackboard. For essays submit final drafts and Works Cited page, as well as the Peer Review Record. I will grade your peer review efforts and the timeliness of your rough drafts from the discussion board.
If you are using Microsoft Word, save as usual and attach.
If you are using any other word processing program save as a Rich Text or Rich Text Format file and attach.
Name
the files as follows:
Your last name and the assignment title.
For
example, if your name is Joe Jones, and you are submitting Essay One,
you would name the file jonesessay1. If you are submitting Reading
Journal #1, you might name the file jonesRJ1.
There will be a grade penalty of one full grade for each calendar day an essay draft is late.
You are responsible for keeping a copy of your essay.
Technology related excuses are tiresome and typically avoidable. Save all your work for the course on a disk, and don't wait until the last minute to post to the discussion board.
Leave yourself time to complete your work in a campus computer lab or on an alternate computer.
Be prepared for discussion assignments by completing all readings on the dates they are due. We will discuss readings on the discussion board. You will also submit reading journal entries to me. Also reading journals will not be accepted after the due date and time. These are worth ten points each and will reflect your engagement with the readings.
Please note: Do your own reading and your own thinking. When I read your journals, I can almost always tell if a student has not read the readings, but instead has read the discussion board entries and has tried to write a journal entry based on the discussion posts of students who have done the reading. Changing the way you feel about something you have read because a discussion gave you new insight, is fine, but taking other student's ideas and formulating a response without doing the reading is plagiarism and will be treated as such. Only entries that reflect critical engagement with the readings will receive passing grades. You should plan to include very brief quotes from the readings.
Your journal entries will be graded for content. Avoid summarizing. Assume your audience knows what the readings are about and wants to learn how you respond to them.
Your reading journal grade for the course will be drawn from these assignments.
Participation is an essential aspect of the course. You will be expected to take part in discussion as well as discussion and peer evaluation workshops. Be prepared to share your voices in the discussion board assignments. I am very interested in hearing your perspective on the literature we read throughout the semester and do assess points for your participation.