Introduction
Welcome
to English 2040: Great Books. The course is a study of five classic "chillers and thrillers": Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. All of these books are generally considered to be canonical works of literature that explore the dark side of the human condition.
Here
is a syllabus. You are responsible for the information therein, so please read it over carefully
and print out a hardcopy.
In this online course, you will be responsible for completing multiple reading and writing assignments within the context of five moduels (one per book). While strict deadlines will be upheld for assignments, you are encouraged to work at your own pace. Be sure to read the modules slowly, carefully, and repeatedly; they contain all core information and are designed to provide you with what you need to know while guiding you from the beginning to the end of the course as smoothly and clearly as possible.
This
course is run by way of my
own website in conjunction with Wright State University's
distance learning program Pilot. The index page will operate as your primary resource for the course. You may access
this page via www.wright.edu/~david.wilson or via Pilot.
You may
email me with questions via Pilot and [email protected]. I always answer within 24 hours, usually sooner, on the condition that your emails are written in complete sentences and free of mechanical errors. This is a college writing course, so make sure your queries are polished and professional and I will promptly address your concerns. Even better than email: visit me in my office to discuss matters in person. I want to see everybody excel and I’m here as a resource, but too frequently, students in my online courses don’t contact me when they encounter difficulties. Students who do make an effort to connect with me, however, invariably get better grades.
Please check your WSU email regularly throughout the semester. I often send out reminders about assignments, holidays, etc.
Identification responses and summaries should be submitted to me via Pilot on their respective due dates and times. Go to the Dropbox (beneath the ASSESSMENT tab) and upload your work as .doc, .docx, .rtf or .pdf files. Discussion postings, on the other hand, should be posted directly onto the appropriate forum in Discussions (beneath the COMMUNICATION tab). You are encouraged to respond to your peers on this forum.
You are responsible for monitoring your uploads and postings. Assignments submitted after the due date has elapsed (whether it be one day, ten days, or one minute) will not be accepted. Assignments are due every Friday at 9 a.m. Both the modules and Pilot provide you with all due dates from the beginning to the end of the course, so you are responsible for organizing and managing your time accordingly. Never wait until the last minute to submit work in case of computer glitches, power outages, etc. Always provide yourself with enough time to upload and post your work.
Writing assignmens in the form of short essays and summaries should be formatted according to MLA style.
Grades are based upon a simple point system tallied throughout the quarter by Pilot. Identification responses and summaries are worth 100 points apiece; discussion postings are worth 50 points apiece. I will provide feedback on your work via Pilot.
FINAL
NOTE: Under no circumstances should parents or guardians of students
contact me with questions or concerns regarding a student's performance, grades,
or the course itself. Such matters are confidential and protected by
university policy. Parents and guardians need to contact the Wright
State University administration with questions or concerns. Students,
however, should feel free to contact me at any time.
