EN 12 I: Texts and Contexts II

Spring Semester 2011

Monday and Thursday 11:00-12:15

Click here for the course syllabus.

• Instructor: Robert Epstein
• Office: 120 Donnarumma Hall
• Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-4:30, or by appointment
• Office extension: 2787
• E-mail: repstein@fairfield.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The EN 11-12 sequence offers a full year course of study in the literary and language arts intended to help students develop facility with college reading and writing. Students will practice increasingly sophisticated reading of complex texts across a broad set of contexts and genres, learn to employ a variety of strategies for writing in different rhetorical situations, and use reading and writing to practice inquiry, reflection, critical thinking, and argumentation—competences critical to academic achievement across the core and major and, more broadly, to living productive lives in the new literate cultures of the twenty-first century.

EN 12 builds on reading, writing, and critical inquiry work of EN 11, focusing on the development of increasingly sophisticated reading, research, and inquiry skills through the exploration of literary texts and their contexts. Students will practice close reading techniques, be introduced to key terms and concepts in literary study, and practice writing in a variety of academic and creative genres. The course is intended to foster greater appreciation for the power of literature and literary study as a foundation for all the liberal arts.

REQUIREMENTS

Students are required to attend all class meetings. If you have to miss a class for a foreseeable obligation, inform me beforehand. I also expect all students to have fulfilled the assignment and to be prepared to participate in class discussion. Attendance and participation will be factors in grading. Please bring the assigned texts to class.

We will engage a variety of types of texts in the course. There will be units on: different versions of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood"; Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Othello; and the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall of Man from the Book of Genesis and in various retellings from different historical periods. Each of these units will lead to the production of a critical essay, in which students develop arguments based on close readings and comparisons of the texts.

On Friday, February 18, at 8:00 PM, we will attend as a class a performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, presented by the Acting Company and the Guthrie Theater. Attendance at this performance is required; please note the date and time, and adjust your plans accordingly.

Before each essay is due, a class period will be devoted to a thesis workshop, in which we will work together on thesis development and essay organization. After essays are submitted, I will read them and return them with comments and suggestions. Students will then have one week to revise and resubmit the papers in light of my comments. This is to encourage you to think of every essay as a work in progress and to revise your work as thoroughly and as frequently as possible. Late papers are not eligible for revision and resubmission.

The fourth essay, due at the end of the semester, will be a research paper. Students will use a variety of sources to explore questions that arise in the readings of the texts. I will offer some suggestions for areas of research, but others may arise from class discussion or workshops, and students are encouraged to develop their own questions for inquiry.

At least once a week, in addition to a reading assignment, a response paper will be required. These informal essays, generally about 200-300 words in length, will encourage the students to organize and express their ideas about the assigned reading. They will not be graded directly. Instead, you are to send the response paper to me before class as an electronic file attached to an e-mail, and also save a copy in a folder on your computer. This folder will constitute your electronic portfolio. At the end of the semester, you will review your electronic portfolio and submit it in its entirety along with a summative essay evaluating your progress over the course of the semester, both in terms of your ideas on the discussion topics and of the progress in your writing and your views of the writing process.

Grades for the course will be determined according to the following formula:

• three critical essays: 20% each;
• research paper: 25%
• portfolio of response papers, with summative essay: 10%
• class attendance and participation and other required work: 5%.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Here are some of the learning objectives for this course, with the Core Pathway with which each is associated:

• Learning fundamental principles, generalizations, and theories of various religious, historical, and literary traditions (Engaging Traditions)
• Learning to analyze and critically evaluate traditions as systems of representation and power (Engaging Traditions)
• Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view by developing substantive claims, logical structures, and effective evidence (Rhetoric and Reflection)
• Learning to apply course material in order to innovate and participate in the creative process (Creative and Aesthetic Engagement)

FORMAT OF ESSAYS

All submitted papers should follow the Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines for formatting a paper. These guidelines can be found in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., which is available in the Reference Section of the library and in the Writing Center. They are also summarized on pp. 148-150 of Diana Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual, with sample pages on pp. 151-154. When commenting on your essays, I will refer to Hacker on matters of format and style.

As you write and revise your essays, please keep in mind that there are peer-tutors in the Writing Center trained to help students of any level develop work at any stage.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Secondary critical sources are not required for the two critical essay assignments in this course, but they will be required on the research papers. On any assignment, however, you must fully cite any sources that you use. The source must appear in the list of works cited at the end of the essay, and each source must be cited on every occasion that you make use of its words or ideas. This is true if the source is your primary source (the text you are studying) or a critical source (an analysis of the work published elsewhere), and it is true if the source is printed or electronic, including internet sources. Follow the MLA style of in-text citation and lists of works cited described in A Pocket Style Manual, pp. 128-148.

The failure to fully cite sources within your submitted work is a form of plagiarism. Plagiarism is the appropriation of ideas, data, work, or language of others and submitting them as one’s own to satisfy the requirements of a course. Plagiarism constitutes theft and deceit. Special care should be taken, when cutting and pasting materials or when paraphrasing, to cite sources correctly and to use quotation marks around exact words from source materials. Actions that result in plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. Consequently, students must understand the concept of plagiarism. When reading, processing, or using materials from any source, appropriate documentation is always essential.

The consequences of plagiarism may range from failure on the assignment to failure for the course and university disciplinary action. Resources such as the library (ext. 2178) and the Writing Center (www.fairfield.edu/writingcenter) are available on campus to assist you in your academic endeavors. You are encouraged to take advantage of these resources.

TEXTS

The required texts for the class are:

• William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (Signet)
• William Shakespeare, Othello (Signet)
• Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 5th edition (Bedford/St. Martins)

Other readings will be made available through class handouts and Electronic Reserves.