English 244G, Literature & Culture

Spring 2007
CRN 10247
online
Professor Ron McNeel

ENGLISH 244G,
LITERATURE AND CULTURE


NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY AT ALAMOGORDO

Ron McNeel, Professor of English

Syllabus for Spring Semester 2007
Online Section


The mission of New Mexico State University at Alamogordo
is to provide quality learning opportunities for individuals in the diverse communities we serve.

 

Course Objectives Assignments, Grading, and Attendance   Instructor Contact Information
Required Books and Materials Course Schedule Course and University Policies Americans with Disabilities Act and emergency information

Catalog Description

English 244G:  Literature and Culture.  Intensive reading of and discussion and writing about selected masterpieces of world literature.  Emphasizes cultural and historical contexts of readings to help students appreciate literary traditions.  Core texts include works by Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare, a classic novel, an important non-Western work, and modern literature.


Course Objectives

 

Assignments, Grading, and Attendance

Grade Worth    Assignment
100 8-12 Quizzes: some in WebCT, some at the Bedford Introduction to Literature Companion Website
25 points   Essay on Homer's Iliad.  2-4 pages.
25 points  Essay on  a work by Dante or T.S. Eliot. 2-4 pages.
25 points  Essay on Shakespeare's continuing influence on western culture:  3-5 pages.
50 points  Researched Argument on an author or trend, showing the intersection of culture and literature, not covered in the regular class sessions, 3-5 pages.
50 points  Final Exam: Critical Review of a Film. 2-4 pages.  Or, essay on Achebe's Things Fall Apart.  Or, Comprehensive Exam from quiz questions, short answer questions. My choice, not yours.
75 points Attendance and Participation.
350
 Total Points Possible

Semester Grade:  350--315 points = A; 314-280 points = B; 279-245 points = C; 244-210 points = D; Below 210 points = F.

Attendance
This is NOT a self-paced course.  Although it isn't easy, it is possible to create a community of learners online.  One way to do this is to work together on some common tasks, and to read the same chapters at the same time.  So, we will work together, week by week, even if we don't always do it synchronously.
(Vocabulary note:  synchronous computer mediated communication means that participants in computer communications are all online at the same time, as in a Chat Room, or on VOIP.  Asynchronous computer mediated communication means that participants use computers to communicate, but may not all be online at the same time, as with Email or with Discussion Tools, or leaving a message on an answering machine.)

Attendance and a grade for Participation will be taken weekly in the Discussions Tool.  (I also have sneaky ways to check on whether you log-on or not, but I'd rather note your participation as a "talker").  Absences (that is, no evidence of a student logging in and participating in a calendar week--Sunday through Saturday--starting Sunday, January 21) will be reported to the financial aid office, possibly resulting in loss of financial aid.  There are no make-ups for attendance.  However, the way to "make-up" for trouble with WebCT is to email me directly at rmcneel@nmsu.edu with your comments on the week's readings and discussion assignments.

If you miss any two weeks by not logging in and participating, your semester grade will be lowered by one letter grade.  That is, an A grade becomes a B grade for the semester. If you miss any three weeks by not logging in and participating, your semester grade will be lowered by two letter grades.  That is, a C grade would become an F grade.

How to attend and get Participation Points: Students must log in and participate in the weekly discussions, some of which may be student-led.  Help your fellow students who are trying to stimulate learning through online discussions, questions, web links,  and presentations (and who are trying to get good grades) by showing up online and commenting on their discussion questions.

Together we will make an effort to learn how internet connections and the WebCT platform can create productive attendance and participation in a community of learners.

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Instructor Contact Information

Ron McNeel
Professor of English
Faculty Office Building # 115
Phone:  439-3742 
Office Hours:

  • Mondays and Wednesdays: 6:30-7:30 p.m.
  • Tuesdays and  Thursdays: 2:30-3:30; 5:30-6:30 p.m.
  • Online: often Sunday evenings 9-11 p.m.

email:  mcneel@nmsua.nmsu.edu & rmcneel@nmsu.edu
website:  http://alamo.nmsu.edu/~rmcneel

 Books and Materials
 
  • Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald
  • Dante.  The Inferno, translated by John Ciardi
  • Meyer, Michael, ed.  The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 7th ed, with Literactive CD
  • Achebe, Chinua.  Things Fall Apart
  • Camus, Albert.  The Myth of Sisyphus.  optional.  Available online.

Internet connection and WebCT account

Tentative Course Schedule

Please understand that the following schedule is ambitious.  Stay in touch to hear about modifications to this schedule of readings and film viewings/streamings.  

Week # and Dates
 Assignments and Activities
1+

Th, Jan.18-  Sat., Jan. 27

 Introduction to the Course, borrowing from Kenneth Burke and Northrop Frye:  Language & Literature as Symbolic Action; Language and Literature as Tools for Living.  Or, put another way, the uses of literature. Reciprocity of Construction between Literature and Culture.

Introduction to Greek Culture.  Meyers, Note on Reading translations, and Sappho: 639-642.  Reading, Lecture, and Discussion: Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus  and the uses of myth. Discussion of Homer, Books I and II, and discussion of Yeats's "Leda and the Swan," p.991.
2

Jan. 28-Feb. 3

 Discussion: Meyers on The Value of Literature (pp 1-8). Meyers, Critical Strategies 1533-1554.  We will revisit these critical strategies often, so for now pay closest attention to Critical Thinking, 1533, The Canon, 1536, and Mythological Strategies for Reading, pp. 1550-1551. Brief Lecture: Joseph Campbell and the uses of myth. Discussion of Homer, Books III-VII..  Assignment of paper on Homer. Meyers, Reading and then Writing about Literature, pp. 1557-1586.

Homer, Books VIII-XI. Lessons on War from the Ancient Greeks," by Thomas Palaima of the University of Texas at Austin.  Meyers, Historical Strategies for Reading, 1544 & 1547.  Continued, Meyers, Reading and then Writing about Literature, pp. 1557-1586.


Week # and Dates
 Assignments and Activities
3

February 4-10



 Lecture from:  Shay, Achilles in Vietnam:  Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character. Discussion of Homer, Books XII-Book XVII, and  Jarrell, "Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, " (commentaries). Meyers, Psychological Strategies for Reading, p 1542.

Homer, Books XVIII-XXI.  Auden, "The Shield of Achilles" (handout).  Continued, Meyers, Reading and then Writing about Literature, pp. 1557-1586.
4

February 11-17

 Discussion of Homer, Books XXI-XXIV, and Tennyson's "Ulysses," (985).  Lecture and Discussions: Conclusions and projections.  Assignment of study areas for vocabulary quiz.
5

February 18-24



 Paper on Homer due.  Introduction to Vergil's Aenead, the Middle Ages, Dante, and the Renaissance to come.  The Inferno: Translator's Note and Introduction.  . Meyers, Symbol, Allegory: 683-687.  Ciardi's "Suburban," p. 699.

Lecture on Dante's La Vita Nuova and Beatrice; Dante's formulation of the poet/lover's sensibility.  Meyers: Diction and Tone in Four Love Poems, pp. 622-628. Dante. The Inferno, Cantos I-X.  Assignment of Dante/Eliot essay.
6

February 25-March 3

 Vocabulary Quiz. Discussion of Dante, Cantos XI-XX .  Imagery in Poetry: Meyers p. 645.  

Discussion on of connections between Dante and Painting.

7

March 4-10

 Dante, Cantos XXI-XXXIV. Discuss Conclusions about Dante.



Week# and Dates Assignments and Activities
8
 

March 11-17 (short)

 Introduction to Shakespeare's end of the Renaissance.  Introduction to Drama and Tragedy in Meyers. Aristotle and McNeel on the Uses of Tragedy. Assignment of Shakespeare essay, and assignment of Research Project.
 

Watch the film Othello. Discussion of Othello. .  Meyers, Formalist Strategies, pp. 1538-39.
March 18-24 Spring Break
9
  

Poetic Interlude

Dramatic Poetry: Frost, "Home Burial," p. 855 (film), and Eliot (film).  Meyers, Critical Case Study of Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," pp. 907, 918-925, (film) and handouts on the influence of Dante on Eliot. Meyers on Reading Poetry: 563-584.

 Langston Hughes, "Theme for English B,"  935. Mark Halliday, "Graded Paper," 938. Seamus Heaney, "Mid-term Break," 766.  Honors Presentations.



Week # and Dates  Assignments and Activities
10

March 26-31

  paper on Dante or Eliot is due. The Rise of Fiction

The American South:  Meyers 444-460.  O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," plus O'Connor's observations, 391-392.  Faulkner's "Barn Burning, pp. 400-412.  And out West: " Proulx's "55 miles to the Gass Pump."
11

April 1-7

 Fiction as simple story telling: O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story, " pp. 473-482. Groening's "Life in Hell, 484; Byatt's Baglady, p. 502, Russo's "The Whore's Child."

Paper on Shakespeare is due. Lecture:  Postcolonial literature.  Meyers, Marxist Criticism and New Historicist Criticism, pp. 1544-1545.  Begin Achebe's Things Fall Apart, chapters 1-7. Yeat's "Second Coming, p. 991.
12

April 8-14

 Discussion of Achebe's Things Fall Apart, chapters 8-12.
13

April 15-21

 Discussion of Achebe's Things Fall Apart, chapters 13 to the end. Conclusions.
14

April 22-28

  Preparations for final exam. Arrange for a proctor if you cannot take the exam at the NMSU-Alamogordo campus.

Meyers, Cultural Criticism, Cultural Criticism, Reader-Response, and Deconstructionist Strategies, pp. 1547, 1548, 1552, 1554.  Research Project is due.

 

Session # Date Assignments and Activities
15

April 29-May 5

 Watch Film: Troy. Discussions of film criticism, and of cultural impact of film.

Course Wrap-up.  Informal Presentations of Research Projects.
16

May 6-10

  Final Exam in the Writing Center at the NMSU-Alamogordo Campus.  Or, arrange a proctor at your distant location:  e.g.,  Librarian, school counselor



 

Course and University Policies
 

  1. Do not use tobacco products in University buildings.
  2. Absences will affect your final semester grade.  Attendance and Participation are measured in the Discussion Tool.  See the Rubric in the Discussion Assignment to for an explanation of how Participation is graded each week on a 5-4-3-2-1-0 scale.
  3. Plagiarized papers will receive a grade of zero.  In this case, "plagiarized" means turning in someone else's work as your own.  See the Student Handbook for other University-level penalties for plagiarism.  Insufficient acknowledgement, in citation form, of the work of researched sources will be treated as errors in knowledge and will carry appropriate penalties in the regular grading scheme.
  4. In case I have a question about whether or not a report is indeed authored by you, keep all pre-final drafts, notes, bibliography cards, and other research and drafting materials.  Be prepared to deliver these materials in original, paper form, to my office--possibly by snail mail.
  5. All late papers will lose 10% of the possible points.  Dates for revisions will be negotiated with everyone in one class session, and then made absolute.  I will not take late papers or revisions after April 21.


Americans with Disabilities Act Statement, Emergency Contact Information

ADA Statement
If you have (or believe you have) a disability and would benefit from classroom accommodation(s), please contact the Office of Special Student Services located in the George Fettinger Student Services Building (phone: 439-3720).
If you have a condition that may affect your ability to exit safely from the premises in an emergency or that may cause an emergency during class, you are encouraged to discuss any concerns with the instructor.

Student Responsibilities:

  1. Register with Special Student Services and obtain accommodation documents early in the semester;
  2. Deliver the completed accommodation and testing form(s) to the instructor(s) within the first two weeks of beginning of classes (or within one week of the date services are to commence);
  3. Retrieve the signed form(s) from faculty and return to SSD within five (5) days of receipt from faculty and at least one week before any scheduled exam; and,
  4. Contact the Special Student Services Office if the services/accommodations requested are not being provided, not meeting your needs, or if additional accommodations are needed. Do not wait until you receive a failing grade. Retroactive accommodations cannot be considered.

Faculty Responsibilities:

  1. Sign the ACCOMMODATION REQUEST FORM and TESTING ACCOMMODATION FORM (when presented), retain a copy, and return the original to the student within five (5) working days of receipt;
  2. Contact Special Student Services immediately if there are any questions or disputes regarding accommodation(s), disruptive behavior, etc.; and,
  3. Refer the student to Special Student Services for any additional accommodations.

Contacts:

Accommodations: Jeremy Patton (439-3720), Special Student Services Counselor (George Fettinger Student Services Building)
ADA Coordinator: (439-3716), Campus Student Services Officer (George Fettinger Student Services Building)
Discrimination: Director EEO/ADA & Employee Relations (646-3333) (Hadley Hall, Room 15 NMSU)

All medical information will be treated confidentially


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