Fall  2004                                                                                                             Prof. Elizabeth M. Mills

                                                                                                                                3286 Chambers, Ext. 2288

                                                                                                                                Office Hours: 1:30-3:30 M, W

                                                                                                                                                                10:00-11:00 W

                                                                                                                                                and by appointment

                                                                                                                               

ENGLISH 100W (B)

COMPOSITION AND LITERATURE - THE HERO’S QUEST

 

Welcome to English 100W.   The Hero's Quest is designed for first year students seeking greater self-knowledge as well as composition and literature credit.  The readings, discussions, and writing assignments focus on the heroic search for something valuable, although what that something may be differs according to the text.   The course explores poetry, drama, and short fiction as well as essays.  It asserts that the individual writing process is a journey toward personal and communal discovery through verbal self-expression.

 

                                . . . Every phrase

And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,

taking its place to support the others,

The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,

An easy commerce of the old and the new,

The common word exact without vulgarity,

The formal word precise but not pedantic,

The complete consort dancing together)

Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning. . . .

 

                                                T. S. Eliot.  "Little Gidding"

 

Course Goals:

                *To present exposition as an achievable skill based on the recursive process of prewriting,   writing, and rewriting and involving definite strategies for addressing a particular audience for             a specific purpose.

                *To provide opportunities to read and discuss various types of literature, examining each for             the author's choices in strategy and style as well as for               content.

                *To practice the different modes of discourse.

                *To practice evaluating student writing, learning to look for rhetorical concerns as well as for             grammatical and mechanical correctness.

                *To introduce the researched paper as a writing project using  multiple sources, rhetorically               ordered and properly documented, for an identifiable purpose.

                *To develop and encourage a community of writers for whom discussions                 and written         assignments will become each student's own heroic quest for self-expression.

 

 

Required Texts:

Fowler and Aaron.  The Little, Brown Handbook.  Little. (eighth edition)

Frayn, Michael.  Copenhagen.  Anchor.  ISBN  0-385-72079-3

Glück, Louise.  Meadowlands.  Ecco.  0880015063

Homer.  Odyssey.  Ed. Rober Fagles.  Penguin.  0-14-044529-3

MacLean, Norman.  A River Runs Through It and Other Stories.  U of Chicago P, 1979. 0226500578

O'Brien,Tim.  The Things They Carried.  Broadway.  0767902890

Shakespeare.  Hamlet.  St. Martin’s.  0-32-05544-7

Smith, Lee.  Fair and Tender Ladies. 

 

Readings for English 100W  (photocopy collection for which students will pay $10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attendance:  Daily attendance is required; students who miss class more than two classes during the semester can expect to lose 2 points from their final average for the course for every additional absence.   Preparation for class includes reading the assigned pages and preparing whatever written work is required.  I expect you to have studied  the reading assignments and to be able to participate enthusiastically in class discussion, at times even to lead the discussion.

 

All work for English 100W is subject to the Davidson College Honor Code.  Please pledge all written work.  Review pages 2-3 of the “Readings” book for information about submitting written work.

 

Journals:  You must complete 10 out of 16 possible journal assignments by Tuesday, Nov. 23.  Although some may be written in a more informal style than the papers, journal entries should be typed and should develop all assertions and responses with sufficient specific details to satisfy an audience.    Generalizations and value judgments without supporting evidence make weak journal entries.  All entries should also be more than one paragraph. Use the journal assignments as “exercises” in different modes of writing and as an opportunity to develop your writing voice.    See options and requirements for journal entries under "Assignments Due" on the syllabus.  Your final journal entries should be revised, as they will receive a formal grade.

 

Peer Review, Workshop, Individual Conferences:  We will use all three of these interactive techniques to help you develop and improve as a writer.  Because they are such an important part of the writing process, your performance in these activities will comprise a part of your grade for that particular assignment.  Please treat the work you are reviewing with respect and careful attention.   We will discuss and clarify the relationship between the College Honor Code and the collaborative activities of our writing community before the first writing assignment.

 

Late Work:   Work turned in after the due date and time will be penalized by one letter grade (ten points) for every 24 hours the work is late, including weekends, breaks, and holidays.  For example, a paper due at 5:00 on Thursday and turned in at 5:20 on Thursday is already a day late.  Please note that technological malfunction is NOT a valid excuse for late work.  I will grant extensions for serious extenuating circumstances, but you must pursue this option as early as possible.  I grant no extensions on or after the due date and time.

 

Grading:  Your final grade will be based on your individual work throughout the term.  Journal entries, short writing assignments, class discussions of the readings, oral presentations, and rough draft workshops will count 40% of your grade.  The researched paper, with its multiple assignments, will count 30%, and the formal workshopped papers will count 30%.  There will be no final exam.

 

                                A=95   A-=92  B+=88  B=85  B-=82  C+=78  C=75  C-=72  D+=68  D=65

 

 

Course Outline:

 

The readings, class activities, and written assignments for each day appear under  Assignments. “  All assignments are due by class time on the day listed unless otherwise noted on this syllabus.

 

 


 

 

 

Assignments 2004

 

"The unexamined life is not worth living."   Socrates

 

Week 1

Date

Reading

Activity

Assignment Due

Tue      8     24

 

 

“Little Gidding”

Setting forth/ introductions to course, syllabus, class members

 

Something from home

Th        8     26

 

Readings 4-22;

85-127

LBH 2-17; 797-98

 

Discussion of Writing

& Reading

Definitions

 

Assignment #1:

Home

(definition and description: LBH 96-98)

 

"The line of words is a miner's pick, a woodcarver's gouge, a surgeon's probe.  You wield it, and it digs a path you follow.  Soon you find yourself in new territory."   

The Writing Life

 

Week 2

Date

Reading

Activity

Assignment Due

 

Tue      8      31

 

Readings 23-35

LBH 118-40

Discussion

of types of

journeys

Journal entry:  Leaving home

(narration: LBH 95)

 

Th        9      02

Odyssey 

Books 1-6

Readings 36-46

LBH 618-20

Discussion;

Introduction to Researched Argument

 

Journal entry: an adventure

(description: LBH 96-97)

 

"Who Are You?  Where are your from?"  Odyssey . 7

Week 3

Date

Reading

Activity

Assignment Due

 

 

Tue      9     07

 

Odyssey 

Books 7-12

Readings 47-70

 

Discussion of Books 7-12

__________

GRAMMAR

 

 

 

Th        9     09

 

Odyssey 

Books 13-18

LBH 686-03 (plagiarism)

LBH 925-42 (glossary of usage)

 

Discussion of Books 13-18

__________

USAGE

Journal entry:

qualities of  the

hero(definition

and illustration:

LBH 97-98)

 

 

“Talent and discipline combined with time can make your dreams come true.”  A Writer’s Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best way out is through"  Frost

Week 4

Date

Reading

Activity

Assignment Due

Tue      9          14

Odyssey

Books 19-24

Readings  71-83

Discussion;

Introduce Assignment

# 2

_______

Discuss plagiarism

 

Journal entry:

sex/gender and heroism

(comparison &

contrast: LBH 100-01)

Th        9          16

Meadowlands

LBH 809-13

Audience and its effect

Discussion of approach

Journal entry:

original poem

 

 

 

"We look at the world once, in childhood.

The rest is memory."  Meadowlands

Week 5

Date

Reading

Activity

Assignment Due

Tue      9          21

Meadowlands

 

Reading and discussing

poetry

Journal entry:

interpretation of one

poem from

Meadowlands

(LBH 809-13)

Th        9          23

LBH 48-69;

106-115;

215-18(MLA form)

Revising a Draft—

global issues;

Writing Workshop

Draft for Assignment

# 2

 

 

 

“Who’s there?” Hamlet

Week 6

 

Date

Reading

Activity

Assignment Due

 

Tue      9          28

“A Critical History of

Hamlet” 181-207

LBH 60-61(Revision)

Editing a Draft—

local issues;

Grammar Workshop

Revised Assignment

# 2 due at 5:00 PM

Wednesday 9/29/04

 

Th        9          30

 Hamlet as Hero?

Hamlet I & 2

Discussion of the hero

archetype

Journal entry:

Hamlet’s first soliloquy

1.2. 129-59

(cause & effect:

LBH 102)