Syllabus

Syllabus for ENG 204 Fall Quarter 2011 Instructor: Crystal B. Lake Class Meeting Times: Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays 9:45-10:50 Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 11:30-1:00 (& by appointment) in 447 Millett Contact information: crystal.lake@wright.edu (e-mail is the best way to reach me)

__Course Description:__ In this class, we will read three of the most famous literary works in British literature: Jane Austen’s //Persuasion// (1816), Mary Shelley’s //Frankenstein// (1818), and William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s //Lyrical Ballads// (1798). These three works are clustered around a significant moment in British literary history: the transition from the Enlightenment to the Romantic Era. They are also clustered around important historical developments, including the rise of industrialism and urbanism, the French Revolution, the new emphasis on science, changes in colonialism, increased literacy rates, and the abolition of slavery. Reading these literary works will allow us to consider the value of literature as a way of making sense of historical and social changes. We will pay particular attention to the kinds of political and social concerns these works exhibit as well as the ways in which they try to direct their readers to think critically about the world around them.

This course takes as its central concern the idea that literature demands its readers to actively and continuously engage with characters, language, themes, plots, and contexts. In other words, literature isn’t just a means of escapist entertainment, but rather an invitation to see the world in new and complex ways. In order to bring home this point, this class will be largely structured as a series of live-action role-playing games that require you to work collaboratively with your peers in order to act out the parts of characters, authors, readers, and critics based on both your close reading of assigned texts and independent research you and your group will conduct. This particular method of teaching has been adapted from the “Reacting to the Past” pedagogy developed for history courses ([]). This pedagogy has been shown to engage students in new ways and to push their understandings to new limits. It requires, however, a significant commitment of time and energy on your part: after an initial series of lectures, the students – not the professor – run the classes on their terms. This facilitates students’ agency in their own learning process and offers unique opportunities for students to engage critically and creatively with important humanistic concepts.

Additionally, this course is a WI Section of English 204, a General Education (GE) course. Each WI section of a GE course will include writing assignments totaling approximately 1500 words, which will be evaluated for content, form, style, correctness, and overall writing proficiency and give students the opportunity for revision and improvement. Assignments may take many forms and include a mix of formal writing (e.g., a number of short papers evaluated in both draft and final form, a long assignment broken into smaller parts, thus allowing for multiple drafts, feedback, and revisions,) and informal writing (e.g., journals, logs, short responses to lectures, essay examinations). All the writing will count as part of students' performance in the course. The learning objectives for this course are as follows:
 * recognize and critically discuss significant creative, philosophical and religious works
 * understand the complex blend of personal vision, social-cultural background, ethical values and aesthetic judgement in such works
 * discuss the diverse means of communication in such works

The objectives of GE courses in general are as follows: A bachelor’s degree awarded by a university implies more than career preparation or specialized technical competency. A university education should be broadly based in order to promote intellectual growth, cultivate critical examination and informed understanding, encourage breadth and flexibility of perspective, and provide students an opportunity to develop skills and knowledge that will form the basis for their life-long learning. Accordingly, the General Education program at Wright State University is a planned and coherent program that is designed to help students: The General Education Program is required of all students and serves as a foundation upon which all baccalaureate programs are built.
 * sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">learn about the aesthetic, ethical, moral, social, and cultural dimensions of human experience needed for participation in the human community;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">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.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">__Required Texts (please purchase these editions):__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">1) Austen, Jane. //Persuasion//. Ed. Patricia Meyers Spacks. Publisher: Norton. ISBN: 9780393960181 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">2) Shelley, Mary. //Frankenstein// (2nd edition). Ed. Susan Wolfston. Publisher: Longman. ISBN: 9780321399533 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">3) Wordsworth, William and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. //Lyrical Ballads//. Ed. Dahlia Porter and Michael Garner. Publisher: Broadview. ISBN: 9781551116006 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">4) Other materials as assigned and provided by the instructor

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">__Grading Criteria:__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Participation: 300 points (100 points per game series) / 30% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">2 Reflection Essays (500 words each): 200 points (100 points each) / 20% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Final Reflection Essay (1000 words): 200 points / 20% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Final Exam (multiple choice, identification): 300 points / 30%

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Participation: Because of the unique nature of this course, your participation will count towards a significant portion of your final grade. You will need to plan to be actively involved in the games we play. This means that not only do you need to be in class, you need to be participating in class by listening to your peers, offering your own spoken contributions, and engaging clearly and productively in group work. Bring your books and supplementary materials with you; plan on directing your peers to specific pages and passages; come prepared to make a comment or ask a question. You cannot just sit and let the class go on without your contributions; you are responsible for making sure that your participation is obvious to both your classmates and your professor. If you are shy, please plan to see me during my office hours so that I can help you overcome your anxieties and take full advantage of the course. On game days, I will make a note of each students’ quantity and quality of participation and use these records to determine your participation grade for each game series (100 points each for a total of 300 points towards your final grade). I will also check the wiki for signs of your participation online.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Reflection Essays (500 words each): After each game series (i.e. for //Persuasion//, for //Frankenstein//, and for //Lyrical Ballads//) you will have the opportunity to turn in a short reflection essay of 500 words that examines how the game changed your understanding of the significance of the assigned text. Before the first game has ended, I will provide you with a detailed assignment sheet for the reflection as well as a grading rubric. You only need to turn in this reflection for two of the three assigned texts; that is, you may skip one at no penalty. I will not, however, offer extra credit for doing all three.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Final Reflection Essay (1000 words): After you receive feedback on your two reflection essays, you will need to revise your writing and draw larger conclusions about how your view of literature has changed as a result of participating in this course. Before this final assignment, I will give you a detailed assignment sheet and grading criteria. Additionally, you will need to prepare a draft of this essay, submit it for peer review, and then revise it before the deadline in order to receive full credit.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Final Exam: The final exam for this course will test your completion of assigned texts with multiple choice, identification, and short essay questions. Before the exam, there will be a review session, but I recommend that you keep careful notes as you read throughout the quarter in order to be prepared to succeed on the final exam. I’ve set up a page on the wiki for this.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">__Course Policies:__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Wiki: During the first week of class, you need to request to join the wiki. Please follow the instructions for doing so carefully; failure to follow these instructions to the letter might make it difficult for me to assess your online participation in the course. The wiki is a space where you can share information with your classmates before any given game day. If there’s a text you want others to read or an idea you want people to think about or information you know that it’s crucial to understand for your group’s arguments, the wiki is the place to do just that. I will also post information on the wiki, and you may work collaboratively to take notes for the final exam on the wiki. Plan to check the wiki at least once every twenty-four hours. And if you’re the kind of person who feels shy participating in class, the wiki is a great place for you to make sure your voice is heard.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Attendance: Attendance is required for this course. You may miss three classes without penalty; after the third absence, however, your grade will be lowered according to the percentage of the class you have completed by attending. For example, if you miss four total classes, you have attended 87% of the class, and you can expect to see a 13% deduction from your final grade that takes into account the number of classes you have missed. Your participation grade will also suffer. If you have an emergency that will keep you from attending class, please let me know as soon as possible. I can’t promise that I will accommodate you, but I may be able to help you get in touch with an administrator who can help you to complete this and the other courses that will have been affected by your emergency. Please note, however, I will do this only in the most dire of circumstances (a death in the family, a major illness requiring hospitalization, etc).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Academic Integrity: “It is the policy of Wright State University to uphold and support standards of personal honesty and integrity for all students consistent with the goals of a community of scholars and students seeking knowledge and truth. Furthermore, it is the policy of the university to enforce these standards through fair and objective procedures governing instances of alleged dishonesty, cheating, and other academic misconduct.” The policy defines plagiarism as “Quoting, paraphrasing, or otherwise using the words or ideas of another as your own without acknowledging or properly citing the other.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The policy then defines the processes by which faculty may pursue allegations of academic misconduct and potential sanctions on students who violate the policy. This part of the policy may be found at []. Assignments submitted by students that violate Wright State’s Academic Integrity policy will automatically be reported and assigned a grade of 0.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Students with Disabilities: If you anticipate needing accommodation for a disability in this course, please register with the Office of Disability Services ([]) and plan to meet with me during the first week of the quarter to talk about how we can work together to ensure that you succeed in the class.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Turning in Work: Work is due at the time sand day as stated on the syllabus. Technological difficulties such as a broken printer, a failed hard drive, or a disrupted internet connection are not acceptable excuses for late work. I recommend that you complete your reflection essays before the deadline. I also recommend that you download and install Dropbox (http://www.dropbox.com) as a way to protect your work for the course should your computer crash at an untimely moment. Late work will receive a grade of 0 in order to mirror professional climates: missing a deadline for a job application, project report, or appointment will mean that you cannot take advantage of those opportunities and that you have compromised your professional reputation. I only make exceptions to this policy for documented emergencies (a death in your immediate family, a serious illness requiring hospitalization).