English 131
Introduction
to Literature

Class Handbook
and
Success Guide

Summer 2005

The Summer 2005 English 131 Class Photo
Coming Soon!

ENG 131-703 INTRO TO LITERATURE
MTWR(9:25am-11:05) Ross 274
Course Dates: 06/27/05-08/05/05
Registration #0107 GE/4D
Add Date: 06/29/05 Drop Date: 07/01/05
Withdraw Date: 07/15/05

A work listed in the calendar at the end of this syllabus must be completely read prior to the day we study it in class!

(A note: Prof. Worley, who holds titles of nobility, is hereditary Duke and Count of Maxalla, an ancient duchy in the old Principality of Garama, a "de jure" division of the Byzantine (Eastern) Holy Roman Empire. The old duchy is in Northern Africa (Libya). The Count is also a Duke, but he generally uses the "Count" title as less intimidating. He uses his heritable noble titles in his publications. Europeans are familiar with nobility and address him using the noble title, but the Count also responds quite nicely to "Professor," "Prof. Worley," or "ProfW." If you like the exotic sound of it, you may address him as "Count," "Count Maxalla," or "Duke Maxalla" (but not "Count Worley"). See more info at www.okhs.org .)

If you have a problem or a question after hours, I will be pleased to talk to you. It's OK to telephone me, either at the office or at home. Try to call my home before 9:30 PM.

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The Chat Room

REQUIRED TEXTS:

These texts are available at The Book Stop on 16th St., next to Margie's Java Joint and at the B&N Book Store in the UC.

• Smith, Philip. 100 Best-Loved Poems. Dover ISBN: 0486285537
• Negri, Paul. Great American Short Stories. Dover ISBN: 0486421198
• Shakespeare, William. "A Midsummer Night1s Dream." Dover ISBN: 048627067X
• Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Dover ISBN: 0486411095

For this class, you MUST have e-Mail and internet access, either through the University or through a commercial server such as AOL, Prodigy, Earthlink, or any other. You will be able to communicate with me about your classwork and your net writing assignments and quizzes, and you will be able to communicate with other students in this class.

OBJECTIVE (HELLO? BE SURE TO READ THIS!)

You've heard some people say about art that they can't define it, but they "know what they like." The statement is understandable, but the foundation of the statement is ignorance -- that is, most people have not questioned either themselves or literature nor have they formed a critical (meaning 'analytical') method of looking at literature (or, indeed, at life itself).

The literary questions of this course are ...

• Where do stories come from?
• How do stories work?
• What do stories tell us about ourselves?
• What do stories mean?
• Why do we need stories?
• How can we use stories to improve ourselves?
• How can we use stories to improve the world?

The critical questions to be considered during the semester are...

• What are some methods of criticism?
• Which of those methods are useful?
• Which of those methods seem to me to make the most sense?
• Why and how does literature retain so powerful a grip on its readers?
• What does literature tell us about people, life, living, and belief?

Furthermore, the University, through its General Education Council, has these goals for Category 7 Criteria (Learning Outcome Objectives):

1. The student will understand the interrrelation of knowledge, including the historical frameworks, methodologies, and research findings of various relevant disciplines.

2. The student will understand the area of inquiry is broad in scope rather than narrow

3. The student willl demonstrate critical and independent thought.

4. The student will demonstrate skills in oral and written expresssion

5. The student will produce scholarship.

6. The student will demonstrate cultural understanding.

7. The student will demonstrate the ability to integrate perspectives.

8. The student will identify issues involved in human welfare and survival.

The bases for these approaches are literary, cultural, and psychological analyses. These bases are expressed in class discussion and in exams and papers.

In general, I use the grading procedure as outlined by the Department of English at UNC. Grading guidelines are available in the English office. I keep cumulative grades, with 89.5-100=A, 79.5-89=B, etc. Additionally, every assignment and test is graded with the course questions in view, my evaluation being based on this one question: is this student progressing toward the achievement of the objects of English 131, as listed above?

Your semester grade will be derived from...

• Essay Review and/or Discussion email = 15% of your semester grade; done entirely via email
• Class Quiz = 15% of your semester grade; given at random classes; a missed quiz cannot be taken later
• Mid Term Exam = multiple choice and 30% of your semester grade; and...
• multiple choice final cumulative exam = 40% of your semester grade.

Note that the various grades are 'weighted,' meaning that some grades carry more or less total percentage points. Thus, whole point methods of determining grades (in which you add up all the points and divide by the number of assignments) will not work. Grades are figured automatically (and accurately) by my gradebook program. Your 'grades to date' will be posted at our website, which is:

www.ProfW.com

THE ESSAY REVIEW, DISCUSSION EMAIL AND CHAT

• The Essay Review is a non-documented personal reaction/understanding paper, between 400-600 words (four to six paragraphs), sent and submitted to me (not the whole class) as an eMail message. Using email, I will, at random, assign a work (short story or poem) for you to read; you read the work, then write your understanding of the work without reference to library documentation or other external helps. For these essays, you will use either the Reader Response literary critical method or the New Critical method (We will discuss these critical methods in class. These are not the 'only' critical methods, but they are ones that are best suited to this kind of writing. Your best approach is to write the essay off-line, then copy the file over to eMail.
• The Discussion Blog topics, if we have them, will be sent to the entire class via the listserve (see below), and you will then follow these directions for conducting the discussion at the blog site:
  Your first response is to the question or topic provided and should be 100 - 125 words; worth ten points.
  Your subsequent responses of 10 - 25+ words will be in response to what other students are writing -- support, disagreement, elaboration; two points per response to a total of ten points.

  The email discussions, therefore, are worth 20 points each. If you haven't signed up for the email list, then do it NOW!

  The same holds for chats, which we will hold at our Yahoo site. All students are expected to sign on and participate; those who don's lose points and may also be marked as 'absent' if the chat is held in lieu of class.

  We may or may not have blogs and chats. If we do, they will count the same as the Essay Reviews.

The idea of the eQuiz is to check your reading. The quiz tests 'Who/Does What/To Whom.' That is, the quiz merely checks your knowledge of characters and plot. The quiz usually (but not always) consists of ten short-answer questions. Each answer is usually (but not always) worth two points. Thus, a ten-question quiz is usually worth 20 points. The eQuiz is always given online; you can take the eQuiz at home or at a computer room on campus. You will receive notifications for the eQuiz via email, along with full instructions. There is a time window to take the eQuiz, so check your email daily! If you're late taking the eQuiz, then you'll miss the quiz and the points that go with it. The eQuiz cannot be made up. Sorry.

The Mid-Term and Final Exams
These exams consist of 20 or more multiple choice questions. Usually (but not always), there are six possible responses. You will need to know

• authors
• time periods
• literary summaries, and
• literary analyses regarding form, function, and content.

The mid-term will cover only material we discussed during the first half of the term; the final is also muliple choice and is cumulative (covers the entire semester).

YOUR CLASS CARD
I use index cards to keep records. The class card also has other information as shown below. Please PRINT carefully so that I can read your card! Print your email address very clearly!