REQUIRED TEXTS and MATERIALS

Madden, Frank, Ed.  Exploring Literature. New York: Longman, 2001.

Hacker, Diana.  A Writer's Handbook.  Fourth Edition. New York: St. Martin, 1999.

A good dictionary, like The World Dictionary which is available in the bookstore.

A folder with pockets for all your writing.

Academic Mission of the Course:

Writing is how we know what it is that we know, because our ability to explain a subject
clearly and precisely is an ultimate test of having learned it.

Why is English 110 a requirement at Manchester College?
Writing well is essential for your success both at the College and in your future career.  You
will be expected to write journal entries, lab reports, critical analyses, lab reports, research
reports, grants, etc. and in-class essays.  You will continue to write after you graduate; you
are most likely to write memos, proposals, and reports on a daily basis in your work place.
Today’s technology compels us to communicate with people around the world though the
Internet and via email.  It is clear: Writing is prominent in private and public life.  Although
English 110 will not familiarize you in all these forms of writing, the variety of assignments
you are expected to write will teach you to evaluate writing situations and prepare you for the
challenges in both your College and professional careers.

Academic work means critical thinking, problem solving, organizing ideas, providing clarity,
to achieve overall power of expression.  Writing is of enormous importance in academic work
and during your residence at the College and beyond College. Writing enables to persuade
others of the truth, utility, or the beauty of what we know, and in our writing we can make
our ideas have an impact upon the world at large.  Let us engage to form a community of
learners!
 

Course Learning Objectives:
Objective # 1. To learn how to think and write critically as well as creatively through the study
of literary and expository works from different genres.
Assessment:  English 110 requires you to write a sequence of papers which build upon each
other and which help prepare you to write in other discourse environments.

Objective # 2: To examine literature very closely, allowing for deep reading and reflecting. To
write and revise essays for content, organization, expression, grammar, and mechanics.
Assessment: Essays written in and out of class undergoing several drafts make up the largest
part of the final grade.  Poorly written essays will not pass.

Objective # 3: To gather information, discern between valuable and trite secondary sources,
synthesize, quote, cite, and document where appropriate.
Assessment: Collaboration and peer evaluated work to receive as much feedback as possible.
Process work towards a final version, especially the documented essay will reflect mastery of
this competence.

Special Needs: Please let me know of any special needs I should be made aware of.

Course Policies:

Attendance is essential for the progress of your work. If you miss more than two class periods
your work will receive a failing grade.

Deadlines have to be kept. If you, however, choose to submit work late, the grade for the
original work will be lowered by one half letter grade for each day late.

Plagiarism: There is absolutely no excuse for stealing someone else's work and claiming it as
your own.  The Spartan Cue has established the following policy:
          Policy 15 b. Plagiarism (academic theft) is not permitted. Plagiarism is the presentation
     of information (either written or oral) as one’s own when in reality some or all of the
     information was derived from some other source.

          Note: Acts of plagiarism will be ordinarily dealt with as a disciplinary matter through
     the academic department. (p. 10)

Assignments:
Writing Exercises and Reading/Writing Log: There will be a lot of in-and out of class
writing.  Freewrite as much as possible. Class discussion, thoughts during your reading
activities, and peer work may serve as writing incentives. Process is the key to becoming a
better writer. Write write write. Spend at least 40 minutes of freewriting for each class day.
Use the assignments under “Considerations for Critical Thinking and Writing” as prompts for
your daily freewriting. Date your entries and collect your work in a folder. Annotate and mark
your texts so we can proceed with easy referencing! Thank you.
If not indicated otherwise, use the Questions on Reading and Writing as incentives for your log
entries. Even for days for which there is no established Reading/Writing log assignment, you
are expected to write in reference to the texts that you are reading. PLEASE refer to the last
page where the work is explained again, with options!

Papers need to be typed and stapled. Homework assignments may be handwritten on lined
paper, if legible. Please remove perforation from notebook paper.

Writing Assistance at the Writing Center (located in Winger 110)
Since limited class contact hours cannot meet all the writing needs of the students, you may be
privileged to work with a writing consultant in our Writing Center which is located in Winger
110. Consultants are there to help with special problems and challenges related to any step of
the writing process.  Based on the results of a diagnostic essay given the second week of class,
you may be placed to participate in our writing tutorials program. Eligible students are to meet
with a consultant for two twenty minute sessions per week.  Students who are not required to
attend, but sense a strong need to do so, may sign up for an open slot.  Students who were
assigned to the Writing Center, need to sign up during one of the two Writing Center
registration sessions:

 THURSDAY, SEPT. 12, 2 p.m.-5 p.m.
 FRIDAY, SEPT. 13, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.

The Writings and their value for the course

Attendance, Class Preparation, Participation, Cooperation, Reading/Writing Log, Quizzes,
non-graded work:         25%
Personal Experience Narrative         10%
                              Critical Analysis Essay             10%
Midterm Examination: Essay and Objective Part    15%
Research Essay (all process materials and presentation)   15%
                                             Rhetorical Analysis Essay                      10%
Final Examination: Essay and Objective Part    15%

                The Personal Experience Narrative
                Constructing to claim your Voice

Thursday, Sept. 5: Welcome and Introduction to the Course and the Classmates.

The schedule below indicates the day for which you will have to prepare the reading and
writing assignments.

Tuesday, Sept. 10: The referred text pages are to be found in Exploring Literature:
 Read pp. xxxiii Preface; pp. xxxiii-xIi; Chapter 1: Participation
 Robert Frost “The Road not Taken,” p. 91
 Nikki Giovanni, “Nikki-Rosa” pp. 317-318
 Theodore Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz,” pp. 331
 Langston Hughes “Theme for English B,” pp.1164
     Reading/Writing Log: Questions for Reading and Writing, (hereafter QRW) p. 11: Select one
     of the prompts and write about it for at least 30 minutes.

                    Thursday, Sept. 12: Read Chapter 2, pp. 20-56.
               Reading/Writing Log: Respond to all the prompts on the Checklist on p.39 as you
          choose to address either “Incident” or “Mothers.”  Jesse and Sarah will read
          their log entries to their peers.

Tuesday, Sept. 17: Discussion of texts read so far. Continue working on your personal
experience narrative. Who wishes to provide copies for workshopping the draft?  Kelly

Thursday, Sept. 19: Most accomplished version of Personal Experience Narrative is due.
Erik  and   Alicia  will provide copies of their draft for workshopping.

Tuesday, Sept. 24: Peer Work on the personal experience narrative essay.
Follow the handout sheet for the review and make sure to submit it along with your final
version.

Thursday, Sept. 26: Final version of Personal Experience Narrative is due.
Please leave your essays, along with the peer response sheet underneath my office door at A
225, or in my mail rack outside my office. or in my English Department mailbox.

                  The Critical Analysis Essay
    Establishing a Position of Literary or Thematic Inquiry

Tuesday, Oct. 1: Read “Family and Friends,” pp. 235-237
   James Baldwin “Sonny’s Blues,” pp. 243-265
   Tillie Olsen “I Stand Here Ironing,” pp. 286-292
     Reading/Writing Log: QRW: respond to one of the prompts which may be chosen from either
     story. Elias and Shaky
Collection of Reading/Writing Logs

Thursday, Oct. 3: Read Chapter 4, pp. 167-200
 Christopher Marlowe “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” pp. 573-574
 Andrew Marvell “To His Coy Mistress,” pp. 574-76
     Reading/Writing Log: Write about how one of the poems is related to a reading studied so far
     in English 110. What allows for a comparison/contrast of the two pieces?  In your
     discussion, be as specific as possible.  Tonny  and Kipp

Tuesday, Oct. 8: Read: Maya Angelou, pp. 563-565
Reading/Writing Log: QRW: Select one of the two prompts.  Laura and Amber

Thursday, Oct. 10 : Most accomplished version of Critical Analysis Essay is due.  The
following students will provide copies for workshopping their drafts: Jayson  and Joanna
 

Tuesday, Oct. 15:  MIDTERM EXAMINATION: Objective and Essay Part
 Read Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper,” pp. 532-544
This text will serve as basis for part of the essay portion of the exam.

Thursday, Oct. 17: Final version of Critical Analysis Essay is due.
I recommend you get together in groups to read and act out the play so its meaning comes
alive.
                       The Research Essay
        In-Depth Study and Integrating Secondary Sources

Tuesday, Oct. 22: Read Antigone, pp. 123-161
  Chapter 5, pp, 201-231
  Read assigned pages in Hacker Handbook
     Reading/Writing Log: Select one passage that speaks to you very strongly. Why and how so?
     What makes this a powerful passage? Jeff

Thursday, Oct. 24: Antigone

     Tuesday, Oct. 29: LIBRARY RESEARCH SESSION: Be in the library at 12:30 p.m.
          Individual Conferences: make sure to signup. Bring your narrative, your critical
     analysis and your ideas for the research project to the conference.

Thursday, Oct. 31: Thesis Statement for Research Essay is due
          Collection of Reading/Writing Logs: Should contain at least 6 full entries. Refer to
     section  Writing Exercises and Reading/Writing Log on pp. 2-3 and p. 7 of this
     syllabus.
 A Doll’s House
     Reading/Writing Log: How do Antigone and A Doll’s House compare with each other? This
     counts as journal entry. Jennisson will respond to one of the questions, or to the
     question at hand and submit a handout for everybody.

     Tuesday, Nov. 5: Work on locating sources. Continued work on A Doll’s House.

Thursday, Nov. 7: Outline for Research Essay is due.
 Aaron will furnish a class set for workshopping

Tuesday, Nov. 12: Source work integration.

Thursday, Nov. 14: Catch up/Review, and other needs to be fulfilled.

     Tuesday, Nov. 19: Most accomplished draft of Research Essay is due. Any volunteers?
 
 
 
 

                    The Rhetorical Analysis

Thursday, Nov. 21: Final version of Research Essay is due.
 Read Poetry and Painting, p.1462; pp.1465-67
     Reading/Writing Log: Pick one of the poem-painting combinations that speaks to you. How
     did the poet succeed in getting an effective message across? Be ready to discuss. For
     entry write a poem of your own as you respond to one of the master paintings.

ENJOY YOUR THANKSGIVING RECESS

                 The Rhetorical Analysis Essay
             Examining effectiveness in a message

     Tuesday, Dec. 3: Read Hamlet, pp. 973-1097.  Try to view a cinematic interpretation of this
     tragedy.
Provide the material (verbal text, pictorial ‘text,’ advertisement, etc.) for your rhetorical
analysis and work on draft for this assignment.

     Thursday, Dec. 5: Collection of Reading/Writing Log: At least 7 solid entries. Bring three
     copies of most accomplished draft to class. Volunteers to provide class with her/his
     draft: Casey and Nima.

Tuesday, Dec. 10: Final version of Rhetorical Analysis is due.

Thursday, Dec. 12: Review to prepare for Final Examination. Essay part will be furnished.

Wednesday, Dec. 18: Final Examination: 10:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
Reading/ Writing Log: explained on page 2 of syllabus; Here a review and extension

Writing Exercises and Reading/Writing Log: There will be a lot of in-and out of class
writing.  Freewrite as much as possible. Class discussion, thoughts during your reading
activities, and peer work may serve as writing incentives. Process is the key to becoming a
better writer.

For your Reading/Writing Log: Write write write. Use the assignments under “Considerations
for Critical Reading and Writing” as prompts for your daily freewrites. Date your entries and
collect your work in a folder. Annotate and mark your texts so we can proceed with easy
referencing! Thank you.  Spend at least 40 minutes of freewriting for each class day that
means one for Tuesday, one for Thursday, then, again, for the next Tuesday, and for the next
Thursday, (so far you have already four). I reckon the math should not be difficult here.  OF
COURSE, I like when students do more work and are engaged in lots and lots of writing.
Remember: writing writing writing is key. Nobody is born a writer.

What do I do when there is no assigned reading for a class?
If not indicated otherwise, use the Considerations for Critical Reading and Writing as
incentives for your log entries. Even for days for which there is no established
Reading/Writing log assignment, you are expected to write in reference to the texts that you
are reading or working on.  From the reading you may take a passage that puzzles, delights, or
else stirs you and write on it for 40 minutes, or take two passages and write another 20
minutes on it.  DO NOT forget to provide those quotes.

Or: Here is another option for your entries
Pick one of the reproduced art pieces in the back of your book. Look at it, study it, and reflect
on it.  I ask that you write four different reflection papers on the same art piece. You may also
study the poem in connection with the art piece and write your response to it. Or you may
write a letter to the artist (the visual artist or the poet) and engage in a dialogue with her/him.
Why am I asking you to write four times? So you learn to see and see again. Write and write
again.  This follows a writing guideline espoused by many writing experts. Bonus question:
What do you think is this writing series worth for your reading/writing log?

What do I do when I work on my Research Essay?
Use your progress log (reading/writing log) as a place where you pose questions, where you
reflect on what you are going to be doing next. See it as a place where you can toy,
experiment. Share findings in the articles that are intriguing to you.
MIDTERM QUESTIONS

In an organized and well developed essay answer one of the following questions. Please make
specific references to the text while following the standard paragraph form.

                      THE YELLOW WALL-PAPER

1. Write an essay focusing on the symbolism of specific elements of setting in "The Yellow
Wall-Paper."   Conclude your essay by demonstrating how these symbols function to reveal
the meaning of the story.

2. Choose one symbol in "The Yellow Wall Paper" and explore its significance how it serves
to construct the protagonist's character development.

(questions 3 and 4 are also found on p. 117)
3.Discuss the importance of the setting in understanding the relationship between the dominant
husband and submissive wife-a relationship that ultimately drives the narrator insane.

4. Show ho the atmosphere of strangeness that Gilman creates throughout the story intensifies
her portrayal of the narrator's growing mental imbalance.
ENGLISH 110, notes for Thursday, Sept. 5

Class List:

Story of a student. Read. Stacey’s story
This is a beginning course in academic writing, not a creative writing course or a course in
honester...

Academic writing shouldn’t be boring, stuffy, old-fashioned, ruole-bound, detached, or stupid.
It should be interesting, complex stuff-and students hwo think they can just “crank out” their
ideas usually make me sad.

Academic writing is equated wtih survival in college, learn to live writing.

Exploring Literature... who has the text?

Writing is how we know what it is that we know, because our ability to explain a subject
clearly and precisely is an ultimate test of having learned it.
 
 

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS :
his term may sound a bit confusing, but it is this unit of learning that helps become critically
aware of the complexities in human communication. This is a slightly more complicated
approach than the interpretive analysis. Rhetoric considers how authors shape texts to
communicate with their audience. It examines the strategies authors use to represent
experiences and ideas, seeking to evoke specific responses from their audiences. Rhetorical
analysis means a. figuring out what a verbal or visual text is saying, b. explaining how you
think it communicated what it did, and, finally c. evaluating how effective the communicative
message is. A poem, an essay, a haircut, a pair of shoes, a dance performance, a painting, an
advertisement, the front lawn to your house may all serve as pieces of communication for
rhetorical analysis. You will first identify the message the creator of the work intended with
the expression; then you will analyze the strategies the composer uses to construct this
message. The challenge of this assignment lies in analyzing not summarizing since you are
interested in the how and not in the what of the particular work.
A thesis for a rhetorical analysis of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" could be: "Conrad
manipulates light and dark imagery to demonstrate to the audience how Africa as 'a place of
darkness,' suggesting that European civilization can be just as brutal and immoral as more
'primitive' cultures." In other words, you will write an essay that analyzes and evaluates how
some text holds the power of persuading an audience. Using these analytical skills will help
you revise your own work.

This unit introduces you to how the elements of fiction (theme, setting, characterization,
climax, plot, point of view, symbolism) construct a character's profile. Refer to Chapters 1
and 2 in Exploring Literature for excellent examples and explanations that demonstrate how to
make your writing practice most successful. You will learn how writers use various strategies
to build trust with readers. You will learn how these strategies work to persuade an audience.
You will use such strategies to write an essay that guides you in your inquiry with your
personal connection to it.