English 204.02: Great Books Spring 2000: T Th 11:00-12:15, 125 Millett Barry Milligan; 472 Millett; 775-4805, 775-3136 (messages); barry.milligan@wright.edu Office Hours: T Th 12:30-1:15 and 4:00-5:00; other times by appt. Objectives: As an integral component of the General Education Program at Wright State, this course seeks to:
sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills as a basis for life-long learning; We will nurture these skills most directly through intensive critical reading (including selected readings in literary criticism), regular critical discussion, and a variety of argumentative writing projects with an emphasis on the importance of a multi-stage writing process including thorough revision;
cultivate an awareness of the moral and ethical insight needed for participation in the human community; As we track a set of common themes and concerns through a diverse selection of literary works, we will inevitably arrive at several important insights regarding the relationships between individuals and their respective communities;
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. By examining a number of literary works from a broad historical/cultural range with attention to the relationships between those works and their cultural contexts and by comparing and contrasting those various contexts and relationships, we will achieve an understanding not only of how works of art both affect and are affected by the circumstances in which they are produced, but also of their ability to revise past traditions and provide the groundwork for future ones.
Texts (available in the bookstore; to be supplemented by handouts): Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume-Penguin, 1993. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales (Selections). Ed. A. Kent Hieatt and Constance Hieatt. New York: Bantam, 1981. de Maupassant, Guy. The Necklace and Other Short Stories. New York: Dover, 1992. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet Prince of Denmark. Ed. Willard Farnham. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1970. Sophocles, Oedipus the King. Trans. Bernard Knox. New York: Washington Square Press-Pocket Books, 1994. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Requirements
Attendance: Although I will not regularly take roll after the first several meetings, your attendance will in effect be required in so far as there will be no make- ups of missed in-class work nor will take-home work submitted outside of class be counted (i.e., you must attend and submit work in class in order to receive credit for it). If you have an official excuse for an absence (e.g., a doctor's note), see me, preferably in advance, and we will discuss it. Otherwise there will be no negotiation of this policy.
Quizzes: There will be quizzes as indicated in the schedule below. The quizzes will each consist of six questions, five of which will be counted in your score (i.e., you may miss one and still score 100%, but you may not score more than 100%). The questions will be factual and should be easy to answer correctly provided you have attentively read the material (as clearly indicated in the schedule). The purpose of these quizzes is to motivate and reward your conscientious and effective adherence to the reading schedule. There will be no make-up quizzes.
In-Class Writing: You will often be asked to spend 5-10 minutes in class writing in response to a given question concerning the day's readings. These writings will serve as a basis for discussion (in small groups, the large group, or both) and will be collected at the end of class. They will be assigned a Y, a Y-, or a 0, depending on the degree of effort, engagement, and familiarity they display with the text(s) in question, and the lowest score will be dropped from your average at the end of the term. There will be no make-ups for missed in-class writings.
Newsgroup: In order for this course to achieve its objectives, it is essential for everyone to be actively involved in discussion. However, in addition to the usual obstacles to 100% participation (some people are overly shy while others are too outgoing, etc.), we have the added disadvantage of our large class size. In order to help offset these imbalances, I have set up a computer newsgroup for this course which you can access via your university computer account. The staff of the computing help desk in the basement of Dunbar Library will help you log on the first time and provide support as you navigate the system, which is reasonably straightforward. The newsgroup will enable you to converse with your classmates about the course material, note questions, confusions, concerns, address issues we did not get around to discussing in class, etc. Sometimes I will suggest a topic, but the newsgroup is first and foremost YOUR forum. In addition to giving shy folks a voice, postings to the newsgroup will also serve as another component of the writing for the course, giving you a chance to formulate and refine questions and arguments in an intellectual give-and-take. You will want to read the postings regularly (at least once or twice a week), and your own postings will count as 15% of your final grade. Newsgroup grades will be awarded on a simple contract basis according to the following conditions:
1. All postings must: a. be substantive: no plot clarification questions, etc.; b. address the readings assigned for the class period most closely following the post (e.g., if you post on 5/1/00, you must address the readings on the schedule for 5/2/00, and you must post by no later than midnight). You are welcome, indeed strongly encouraged, to address readings for previous and/or upcoming classes as well, but posts that address only readings that are not on the schedule for the next class will not be credited; 2. In order to receive an A for your newsgroup grade, you must post at least four substantive contributions by 4/27/00 and a total of at least seven for the term. 3. In order to receive a B, you must post at least three contributions before 4/27/00 and total of at least five for the term. 4. In order to receive a C, you must post at least twice before 4/27/00 and at least three times before the end of the term. 5. A D requires at least one posting before 4/27/00 and at least two for the term.
Essays: You will be given two separate groups of printed questions regarding the readings. Group A will consist of several questions concerning the first three texts (Oedipus, The Canterbury Tales, and Hamlet) and Group B will deal with the latter three (Gulliver's Travels, Maupassant's stories, and Regeneration). You must write 2-3 pages (typed with 1" margins = 625-825 words) responding to any one question. You may choose from either or both groups, but you are only required to submit one essay. The advantages of submitting two essays include more feedback on your writing (which apart from obvious general benefits raises your chances of doing well on the final paper) and the chance to raise this portion of your grade (though it is only fair to mention that there is also a chance that a second essay could lower this portion of your grade; see the weighted distribution below). Essays on topics from group A must be submitted by the first deadline while essays responding to group B may be submitted any time before the second deadline. No late submissions will be counted. Advantages to submitting by the earlier deadline include more time to revise for the final paper (see below) and avoidance of the late-term work pileup syndrome, but as added incentive to reduce the pileup (for all of us!), those students who submit essays by the first deadline will have their lowest quiz score dropped from their final average. Further guidelines regarding style, etc., will follow in a separate handout.
Final Paper: In keeping with the university's aim for the writing component of English 204 to "give students the opportunity for revision and improvement," you will be invited, after receiving my feedback on one or both of your short essays, to use one of them as the foundation for a more refined essay of roughly the same length, which will also be letter graded. Further brainstorming, thesis refinement, drafting, and other preparation--such as an optional conference with me--will be necessary at this stage. Further guidelines will follow in a separate handout. Weights for Final Grades: Quizzes: 20% In-Class Writing: 15% Newsgroup 15% Short Essay 1: 15% Short Essay 2: 15% Revised Essay: 20% NOTE: The above weighted distribution assumes that you submit both short essays and a revision. If you submit only one short essay and a revision, then the short essay will constitute 20% of your final grade and the revision 30%. If you submit one short essay and no final paper, then the short essay will count as 50% of your final grade. Two short essays will be counted at 25% each. Schedule: NOTE: All assignments are to be completed before the class period for which they are listed. Tu 3/28 Course Introduction Th 3/30 The Canterbury Tales: "Introduction" (pp. ix-xviii), "The Prologue" (lines 1-42, 671-end)(quiz: intro. and prologue) Tu 4/4 The Canterbury Tales: "The Pardoner" (pp. 338-69) (quiz: all of "The Pardoner") Th 4/6 Oedipus the King including "Introduction" (pp. xvii- xlii (quiz: entire assignment) Tu 4/11 Oedipus the King including "Critical Excerpt" by Aristotle (pp. 109-110) Th 4/13 CLASS CANCELLED Tu 4/18 CLASS CANCELLED Th 4/20 Hamlet including the sections titled "Shakespeare and His Stage" and "The Texts of the Plays" (pp. 7- 13)(quiz: pp 7-13) Tu 4/25 Hamlet (quiz: entire play) Th 4/27 Hamlet ***** LAST DAY TO SUBMIT FIRST SHORT ESSAY (GROUP A) ***** CLICK HERE FOR TOPICS Tu 5/2 Hamlet Th 5/4 Gulliver's Travels, Book I (quiz) Tu 5/9 Gulliver's Travels, Book I Th 5/11 Gulliver's Travels, Book II (quiz) Tu 5/16 Gulliver's Travels, Book II Th 5/18 Maupassant, "Boule de Suif" (quiz) ***** LAST DAY TO SUBMIT SECOND SHORT ESSAY (GROUP B) ***** CLICK HERE FOR TOPICS Tu 5/23 Owen and Sassoon poems (handout) (quiz) Th 5/25 Regeneration (quiz: entire novel) Tu 5/30 Regeneration Th 6/1 Regeneration ***** FINAL PAPER DUE *****
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