| Syllabus: Instructor: Term: Time: Room: Office: Office hours: E-mail address: |
English 204 [Great Books: Literature], Section A01 Maner Summer A, 2008 10:25-12:05, MTWTh 303 Oelman 441 Millett WTh 2:00-3:00, and by appointment at other times martin.maner@wright.edu |
| Texts: | Aristophanes. Lysistrata and Other Plays. Rev. ed. London: Penguin, 2002. |
| Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2001. | |
| More, Thomas. Utopia. 2nd ed. Trans. Robert M. Adams. New York: Norton, 1992. | |
| Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. 1st Perennial Classics ed. New York: Perennial-HarperCollins, 1998. | |
| Voltaire. Candide or Optimism. 2nd ed. Trans. Robert M. Adams. New York: Norton, 1991. |
| General Education Goals To read and discuss a selection of great books from several major periods; to sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, and communicating as a basis for life-long learning; to cultivate an awareness of moral and ethical insight; to increase knowledge and understanding of the past and present. |
| Date | Topic (Key items are marked in bold.) | Reading |
| Mon 6/16 |
Introduction to course; class policies Overview of course texts Literature and the history of ideas |
Complete the assigned readings before coming to class. |
| Tue 6/17 |
Lysistrata | Read Aristophanes vii-liii. |
| Wed 6/18 |
Lysistrata | 133-169 |
| Thu 6/19 |
Lysistrata Quiz |
169-93 |
| Mon 6/23 |
Utopia | vii-30 |
| Tue 6/24 |
Utopia |
31-85 |
| Wed 6/25 |
Utopia Quiz Last day to drop without a grade of "W." |
|
| Thu 6/26 |
Candide |
1-39 |
| Mon 6/30 |
Candide |
39-75 |
| Tue 7/1 |
Candide Quiz |
|
| Wed 7/2 |
Candide Distribute take-home essay exam questions |
|
| Thu 7/3 |
Midterm Exam Hard Times Distribute take-home essay exam questions |
ix-xi, 5-85 |
| Fri 7/4 |
Independence Day WSU closed |
|
| Mon 7/7 |
Hard Times Quiz (over first half of Hard Times, to page 165) Deadline for preliminary drafts of take-home essay exam answers |
85-165 |
| Tue 7/8 |
Hard Times Last day to drop a class with a grade of "W." |
165-222 |
| Wed 7/9 |
Hard Times Quiz (over second half of Hard Times, 165-222) |
|
| Thu 7/11 |
Brave New World | vii-xvii, 3-106 |
| Mon 7/14 |
Brave New World | |
| Tue 7/15 |
Brave New World | 107-259 |
| Wed 7/16 |
Brave New World Question-answer review for final exam Quiz Course evaluation |
|
| Thu 7/17 |
Final Exam |
| Evaluation | Attendance | 5% | |
| Quizzes (drop lowest grade) | 30% | ||
| Midterm Exam | 25% | ||
| Final Exam--Take-Home Essay Portion | 10% | ||
| Final Exam--Multiple-Choice Portion | 25% | ||
| Participation | 5% |
| Computing Course Grades Course grades are computed by multiplying weighted percentages times the numerical value of letter grades, using the following equivalents: A = 4.0, A- = 3.8, B+ = 3.2, and so on. |
| "Writing Intensive" Component Grades Two grades are submitted for this course: a grade for the course itself, and a grade for the "writing intensive" component. The writing intensive grade is "pass" or "fail." The total writing score must be C- or better to earn a "pass." I will compute the writing intensive grade using the following percentages: |
| Assignment | Portion of Writing Intensive Grade |
| Pop quizzes--average grade for writing Final exam--letter grade for essay |
40% 60% |
| Class Policies |
| 1. Attendance: You are required to attend every class. There are no "excused absences" for this course except under the following circumstances: 1) Your employer, or the National Guard, or a Wright State athletic team requires you to be absent from class, and 2) you notify me of these required absences during the first week of the course. All other absences are graded according to the following scale: 1 absence, "A" for attendance; 2 absences, "B" for attendance; 3 absences, "C" for attendance; 4 absences, "D" for attendance; 5 or more absences, automatic "F" for the entire course grade. If you wish to change this attendance policy, you must discuss this with me before the end of the first week of classes. After the first week of class, please do not give me any excuses for absences unless you provide documentation to show that a genuine emergency has taken place--such as a subpoena for a court appearance or a funeral notice for a family member with documentation to show your relationship to the deceased. Finally, note that the portion of the grade for "Participation and Attendance" will be reduced for rude and distracting behavior (such as talking to a neighbor, web-surfing during a lecture, or leaving immediately after a quiz or roll call). |
| 2. Recording Attendance and Late Arrivals: I begin class on time and take attendance at the beginning of the hour. If you arrive late, you must see me after class to have your attendance recorded. If you neglect to do this, the recorded absence cannot be corrected later. Also, because late arrival is disruptive and rude to your classmates, I will count two late arrivals as equivalent to one absence. Finally, if you come to class unprepared, I may count you absent and may ask you to leave. |
| 3. Office Hours and Assistance with the Course: I am happy to meet with you individually for assistance on writing and reading assignments, but administrative work may force me to miss office hours occasionally. Making an appointment a day ahead of time is always advisable. |
| 4. Make-Up Quizzes and Exams: No make-up quizzes will be given for missed quizzes or exams. The lowest quiz grade will be automatically be discarded, which makes allowance for missing a quiz because of illness or other unavoidable causes. Quizzes will be given at the beginning of the class period on the dates indicated above. Late arrival may mean that you will not be able to take the quiz and will receive a zero for it. |
| 5. Assistance on written work should be limited to the instructor, library reference personnel, and Writing Center personnel. Automatic penalty for any form of plagiarism (defined as passing off the work of someone else as if it were your own): F for the paper or the course, written notification of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and the English Department Chair. Your papers for this course must be exclusively your own and exclusively for this course. You may not submit a previously submitted paper, nor a paper simultaneously submitted for another course. |
| 6. I normally do not grant "I" grades, since they usually cause more problems than they solve. If you miss an assignment, your grade will be computed on the basis of the work you completed, with the missing assignment counted as a zero. |
| 7. Please do not ask me what you missed. You are responsible for making arrangements with a classmate to supply you with information about classes you missed. If questions remain, see me. |
| 8. Mid-course changes in the syllabus (assignments, readings, grading policies) are sometimes necessary, though I will always try to provide sufficient advance notice of such changes. |
| 9. My office is 441 Millett, telephone 775-2639. You may leave messages by voice mail at that number, or you may leave a message with the department secretaries at 775-3136. Another convenient way to have individual conferences is via e-mail. My e-mail address is listed at the top of the syllabus, and an automatic e-mail link is supplied at the bottom of the syllabus. I check my account daily. Note, too, that this syllabus is posted on the Web at <http://www.wright.edu/cola/Dept/eng/maner/maner.htm>. |
| 10. Wright State University now requires you to check your e-mail regularly. I may use your WSU e-mail account (not your AOL account or some other e-mail account) for last-minute announcements, changes in schedule, etc. |
| Resources |
| Writing Center: http://www.wright.edu/academics/writingctr/ |
| WSU Writing Web: http://www.wright.edu/cola/Dept/ENG/wsuwweb/ |
| Wright State University Libraries: http://www.libraries.wright.edu/ |
| E-Mail Links:
Martin Maner Erica Clay (Humanities Reference Librarian) Martin Jenkins (Humanities Reference Librarian) |