About this Course: Great Books: Literature is part of the university's General Education (GE) Program. Regardless of what you might think, GE was not instituted to slow down your progress toward graduation, wring more money out of you, or bore you to death. Rather, the GE Program "seeks to: 

• sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills as a basis for lifelong learning; 
• cultivate an awareness of the moral and ethical insight needed for participation in the human community; 
• increase knowledge and understanding of the past, of the world in which we live, and of how both past and present have an impact on the future" (WSU catalogue). 

In this particular version of the course we will focus on some ten centuries of storytelling which addresses—on one or more levels—humans’ preoccupation with mortality and immortality: of the individual, the race, the species. This preoccupation, broadly considered for our purposes, arises from the perception of the self as something finite and independent of other selves and our uncomfortable lack of certainty about the disposition of this self after its inevitable death. Specifically, each of the texts we will be reading, discussing, and writing about employ what Freud would term “the Uncanny” to probe this preoccupation. Over the course of the term we will try to understand how different cultures and eras conceived of the intersections between self-life-death-other.

English 204 is also a writing-intensive course for the GE program. For more information see http://web1.wright.edu/academics/wac/gened.htm.

• Quizzes. One quiz per full-length text, usually on the last day of discussion. 20%
• Worksheets. One or two per full-length text, to be completed as you read and which are due on date indicated on syllabus. These will be handed out in advance and will not be accepted late.? If you must miss a class, turn in these items in advance if you wish credit. Worksheets are not graded. You will be evaluated for satisfactory/unsatisfactory completion of this assignment. 20%
• 2 exams. The midterm and final include objective questions on reading and lecture material, handouts, terms and historical/cultural contexts. @20%
• 1 essay based on one of the short stories in Gorey. Specific assignment and guidelines will be handed out in November. 20%

Attendance: This is an intensive course and it moves rapidly. Simply keeping up with the reading, while important, is not sufficient for passing. Much of the real learning will take place during class lectures and discussion. However, I cannot compel you to attend class and, frankly, if you do not intend to come on time and prepared to participate fully, I’d rather you stayed away. I do not plan to take attendance after the drop/add period ends, but all students should be aware of the following policies, which are not subject to discussion or amendment:

• I will not accept any written work after the class period in which it is due, nor from someone other than you. I will be glad to accept worksheets before the due date. 
• I will give no make up exams or quizzes. In rare, documented conflicts, if I am notified before the day of the exam, I will schedule an individual exam time for you.
• Your essay is acceptable only during or before the class period in which it is due.
• Ordinarily I will neither recap class discussion nor repeat oral assignments after a class meeting. If you notify me about an unavoidable, documentable conflict prior to the missed class I will give the assignment by phone or email, at my discretion.
• I bring handouts and graded work to class one time only. If you wish to pick up these on some later date, you may visit me during my office hours.
• Quizzes will cover the reading and anything discussed in class prior to the quiz day.
• Quizzes begin promptly at 2 and end promptly at 2:20. If you are late you will not be given extra time.
• In the event of a childcare emergency, your children are always welcome to come and play quietly.

Other Policies:

• Academic honesty is essential to the fair and successful conduct of class, and dishonesty will be punished. Dishonesty includes various kinds of cheating, “plagiarism” (defined as the use of the words and ideas of others as if they were your own), and copying the work of another student in a test. Penalties for academic dishonesty can be severe and I will impose them. Please refer to the on-line student handbook for full details: http://www.wright.edu/academics/fhandbook/acadconduct.html#student
• You must take both exams, submit the course essay and complete most of the quizzes and reading worksheets to earn credit for this course.
• The calendar represents our ideal schedule. Sometimes the mini-lectures may be moved, or carried over two days, if events warrant. Although I do not anticipate it happening, if, for some reason, due dates or exam dates must be changed, I will announce the change in class and provide students in attendance with a printed notice.

Calendar:
Note: Reading and writing must be completed by date indicated. All due dates for written work are bold.