ENGLISH 101W-C: Love, Art, and Death

 

Dr. Kuzmanovich

Place: Chambers 316 MWF 11:30-12:20

Office: Chambers 310B, # 2237

1:30-2:30 WF; 10:00-11:00 R  and by appt.

e-mail: zokuzmanovich

 

 

TEXTS:

McQuade and McQuade, Seeing & Writing (New York: St. Martin’s, 2000)--0312180160

Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (New York:  Simon & Schuster Trade, June 1995)--0684801523

Gwynn, Fiction 3rd Ed. (Reading:  Addison Wesley Longman, 1998)—0201392666

Hodges, et al., The Writer’s Harbrace Handbook,  Brief Edition (London: Heinle & Heinle, 2002) –015506830-x

Selected Materials On the Web

Selected Handouts and Films

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines the principles of, and gives practice in critical reading and effective written communication. Thus, in your reading, you will be asked to think about and react to (even against) the persuasive strategies used by authors of published writing, while in your own writing you will adapt those strategies to your own purposes--with the goal always being lucid thinking presented through stylish and convincing writing across academic disciplines. Finally, you will combine those strategies in a ten-page research paper. While we are examining, practicing and polishing, try not to forget the following bit of wisdom from Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: "The trouble is that essays always have to sound like God talking for eternity, and that isn't the way it ever is. People should see that it's never anything other than just one person talking from one place in time and space and circumstance. It's never been anything else, ever, but you can't get that across in an essay."  That it's just one person talking makes it more, not less challenging, since time, space, and circumstance are the writer's "talking" tools.

 

DAY-TO-DAY FORMAT: Informal lecture on some aspect of writing built around the reading for the day, followed by brainstorming for the next paper, followed in turn by a discussion of your own writing. All students will have at least two of their papers discussed in class. Students are responsible for making and distributing copies of their papers. DISTRIBUTION OF PRINTED PAPERS MUST TAKE PLACE ON THE DUE DATE: BY THE TIME I HAVE YOUR PAPER IN MY HANDS, ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR GROUP SHOULD HAVE THEIR COPIES AS WELL.  During Week Two, the class will be divided up into two discussion groups which will meet separately for a portion of class time. Sometimes lectures and discussions will be supplemented by films or videos (in class for short films; at a mutually convenient time for longer ones).

 

GRADING: Your final grade will be based on seven short (2-4pp.) essays (63%), one of which will be done in class, the research paper (20%), discussion group work, quizzes, and classroom participation (17%). In order to participate in discussions, test your ideas, offer help to your classmates, and create a supportive learning community, you need to attend. Your final grade will be lowered by one full letter grade should you miss more than FOUR classes (or ANY discussions) without a valid excuse, and college policy requires that you receive a failing grade if you miss one fourth or more of your classes. Try not to miss any of the small group discussions since they cannot be made up. Contact me ahead of time if you must miss class because of illness, emergency, or college business.

 

READING: Reading (of both published and class writings) is to be completed by the day for which it is assigned; otherwise you'll be wasting your time in class. Seeing & Writing’s essays tend to be fairly light, so, yes, I do expect you to have finished reading them by the time you come to class. And you should not even think of writing about an essay or a short story until you have re-read it.

 

LATE PAPERS: All papers are due in my office by 5:00 PM of the day for which they are assigned, and late papers (when accepted) are penalized one full letter grade per day.

 

HONOR CODE: All work must be (1) original and (2) pledged and must follow the current MLA guidelines for documentation.  They are available at many internet sites, but the Purdue University one is especially thorough.  Although you may use spelling checkers, they must be of the non-human variety. Plagiarism is the undocumented or improperly documented use of someone else's ideas, research, and/or distinctive prose style. Even inadvertent plagiarism may lead to failing this class. In addition to the timely reminders from me you will find a thoughtful explanation of plagiary and ways to avoid it at http://www.writing.nwu.edu/tips/plag.html .

 

A FEW WORDS ON GRADING IN WRITING COURSES: I am convinced that writing helps you to develop and clarify your understanding of the world and of yourself. I tend to search for signs that such clarification is taking place. What I look for in your writing are the following elements. (Words like sense and feeling hint at the subjectivity; remember, however, that I am a trained reader and that these criteria are constants for everyone in this class):

 

  1. a sense that you have understood and considered all aspects of the assignment and have something interesting to say in response to it.
  2. depth of understanding of the subject you are pondering (considering details which might be interpreted quite differently from the way you read them, anticipating those disagreements and fending them off rather than conveniently forgetting about them; appropriate details brought forth to make the reader share your impression or opinion of your subject; citations, always with sources.
  3. . a feeling (very early in your response to the assignment) of some insightful or compelling point being made and of the method you plan to use in demonstrating that point (the more I have to guess what it is you are getting at, the more time I have to think about your grade; mystery has a better place on late-night television).
  4. 4. rhetorical awareness: when you write for me, you write for a sympathetic but also skeptical reader. To get me to share your vantage point while reading, assume an authoritative interested tone (achieved through precise propositions which are qualified where necessary and through a consideration of other points of view); carefully selected and contextualized details or citations; coherent exposition and sufficient development of your insight gained by clear transitions between sentences and paragraphs; fair use of outside materials in observance of the honor code and the current MLA guidelines.

 

 

 


Statement on Writing

Expressing ourselves well means making it possible for our audience to sense in our every sentence both the resonance of our race, gender, region, class, religion, ethnicity, sexual preference, and political ideology as well as the distinctive independence of our individual spirit's synthesis of, and reaction to those cultural and biological forces.  Keep reminding yourself that through your every word and image you not merely express but produce what you think.  And then, if such reminders do not silence you, treat your audience to the full complexity of your historical perspective, the breadth of you cultural literacy, the sharpness of your interpretive acumen, the richness of your understanding of the imaginative process, and thus the lucid pleasure inherent in any task done precisely and passionately.  Yes, it's scary, but I can't imagine doing anything else with as much commitment.


Group I:

Group II:
 

Course Calendar for English 101W-C Groups I and II

 

NB: The course will be organized around these eight interpretive filters: reading, education,  media, family, desire, justice, the past, and faith. Not every reading will exemplify all of them, but several come very close. The Great Gatsby will manifest them all  in a complex, rewarding, and memorable configuration.

 

COURSE CALENDAR:

 

I. Observing the Ordinary

 

January

 

M 14 of the Course;  Introductions; Qualities of Good Writing; Writing is good when it succeeds in saying effectively something worthwhile to a specific audience for some specific purpose. When writing is clear, unified, economical, grammatically acceptable, vigorous and authentic, that is, projecting a personal, risk-taking, and intelligent voice, it is undoubtedly worthwhile.

 

 16  Read: Fiction 1-29 (Introduction) and 297-304 (“A&P”)

1.      Read: Handbook, Chapter 1

M 21 MLK Day

 23  Preparing for first paper; Read Handbook, Chapter 2
 24èPaper # 1 First two workshopped papers due

 25 Group I Meets

 26 Paper # 1 Due for the rest of class

 M 28 Group II Meets

II. Coming to Terms with Place

 

30 Read: Seeing and Writing, Chapter 2;  

See Life is Beautiful

 

February

 

1 Discuss Life is Beautiful; Read: Handbook, Chapter 3

M 4 Read:   “Reunion” in Fiction

T 5è Paper # 2  Due

6 Group I Meets

8  Group II Meets

III. Capturing Memorable Moments

 

M 11 Read: Seeing and Writing, Chapter 3

13 Read:  “Hills Like White Elephants” in Fiction

See American Beauty


15 Discuss American Beauty; Read: Handbook, Chapter 5

S 16 èPaper # 3 Due

M 18 Group I Meets:

20 Group II Meets: 

22 Thinking about the research paper; Read Handbook, Chapter 6

M 25  Taking tests; Read: Handbook, Chapter 8

27 èMidterm Test; Counts as Paper # 4ç  

 

March

IV. Figuring the Body

F 1 Reserved day: Read Handbook

Read in Fiction : “The Story of an Hour,” “Paul’s Case,” “Eveline,” “A Rose for Emily,” “The Gospel According to Mark,” “The Chrysanthemums”; think which one you wish to write on for the Research Paper

 

M11 Read:  Seeing and Writing, Chapter 4

13 Read: “The Birthmark” from the Website Hawthorne, The Birthmark

15 Violet

S 17  The introductions for Paper # 5 Due by E-MAIL at 5:00 PM

M 18 Library Day: Meet in the Computer Room on First Floor of the Library

 Read: Handbook, Chapter 7 through page 205

T  19 Paper # 5 Due for Everyone at 5:00PM

W20 Group II Meets

F 22 Group I Meets 

 

V. Engendering Difference

 

M 25 Read: Seeing and Writing, Chapter 5

27 Read: “Bliss” from the Website Mansfield, Bliss

 

 

VI. Constructing Race

 

 29 Read:  Seeing and Writing, Chapter 6

 

April

 

Over the Break, please read “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” “A Small Good Thing,” “Look on the Bright Side,” “The Red Convertible,” all in Fiction; think which one you wish to write on for the Research Paper

 

3  Read: “Everything that Rises Must Converge” in Fiction

4 See Mogambo

     Read: “Everyday Use” in Fiction

5 Discuss Mogambo; Learn almost by HEART pages 141-178 in the Handbook

7è Paper #6 Due

 

M 8 è Read in Fiction : “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

PROPOSALS FOR THE RESEARCH PAPER DUE

 

 

VII. Reading Icons

 

10 Read:  Seeing and Writing, Chapter 7or a research day

 

12 Revised PROPOSALS FOR THE RESEARCH PAPER DUE

 

VIII. Writing in the Age of the Image

15 See The Great Gatsby (1972)

17 read:  The Great Gatsby, Chapters 1 and 2

19 read:  The Great Gatsby, Chapters 3 and 4

22  See The Great Gatsby (2001)

 read:  The Great Gatsby, Chapters 5 and 6

24 read:  The Great Gatsby, Chapters 7 and 8

 

26 èRough Draft of the Research Paper Due

Read:  Seeing and Writing, Chapter 8

 29 Research Paper Mop-Up

May          

1 Research Paper Mop-Up

3è Research PAPER DUE; ALL OTHER WORK, including Paper # 7 DUE ç    
 

 

A Guide to My Manuscript Markings

agreement missing                                                                      apostrophe needed

awkward phrasing                                                                       capital letters required

coherence missing--get glue                                                         comma splice -- serious problem

development --example, argument, quotation                         fact --check that claim again

fragment (not justifiable by the context)                               manuscript error

organization principle unclear                                           paragraph needed

passive voice (hides the agents)                                          WHAT THE ?

punctuation                                                                                reference confusion--get a pointer

repetition--you're too fond of that word/phrase                      small case letter required

sense--you're contradicting yourself                                                              spelling

style (anything from clichés to inconsistency)                      tense jumpShift

tone--puzzling shift in tone                                                            transition missing--get a ladder

transpose                                                                                   unclear or ambiguous statement

wordy prose                                                                                word choice suspect

wrong word (clearly)                                                                    NICE WORK

WOW