ENGLISH 2321:01 Introduction to British Literature

Fall 2019

 

Instructor: Dr. Clay Daniel Place: TBA Day and Time: T 5:00-7:30PM

Office: 233 ELABS; e-mail: clay.daniel@utrgv.edu (best way to contact me) Internet Site: faculty.utrgv.edu/clay.daniel

Office Hours: TBA and by apptmnt.

 

I.Course Description: Introduction to British Literature: A study of several masterpieces of English Literature

 

II. Texts:

A. OPTIONAL: The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors, 9th ed. (or 8th or 7th or 6th) IMPORTANT: Be sure to get the right anthology; there are several versions of The Norton Anthology with a similar name. If you want to use another edition (usually much cheaper), however, you may. Also, all of the works are on the internet or in the library. And I have a textbook on reserve in the library.

B. Course study guide: this guide includes the notes that I use to deliver class lectures.

C. Blackboard/Learn)

1). You do not have to use this free Internet/WWW program. It is strictly intended to enhance the class as well as provide the opportunity to gain extra-credit points 2). Some of its course-enhancements are extra credit quizzes, extra credit essay assignments, an electronic forum, and an up-to-date calendar, and a listing of your grades.

 

III. Course Requirements: Your grade will be determined as follows:

A) Quizzes: 10%

B)  Essay: 15% each

C) Research Terms: Two weeks before the end of the final class day, I will give a 50 question test on these terms. If you score 70 or higher, I'll add 10 pts. to one of your test grades. If you score below 60, I'll subtract 5 pts.

D) 3 major exams, including comprehensive final: 25% each

E) Blackboard Extra Credit Assignments

 

A). Quizzes: I will give 4 quizzes that will consist of 5 short answer questions. I will drop the lowest grade. Grading: 0 incorrect: 100; 1 incorrect: 90; 2 incorrect: 75; 3 incorrect: 55; 4 incorrect: 20; 5 incorrect: 0. All Blackboard/Extra Credit work is due three weeks before the last class day (excluding the day of the final exam).

B). Essay: See online handout for essay guidelines.

C). Research Terms: These 70-80 terms (which I will provide on the first class day) will add significantly to your understanding of the material taught in the course. But we simply do not have time to cover these topics in class (though you can question me in class or after about these topics). To find definitions, consult textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, other reference books, indexes, and the library's card catalogue for books on the topic. You do not have to turn in anything. You will only take a test. The test will be scantron-matching.

D). Major Exams:  Exams will consist of a mixture of essay and objective questions

E). Blackboard: All work due three weeks before the last class day (excluding the day of the final exam). There is a 40 point total limit for all extra credit:

i. Extra Credit Quizzes: The computer gives you the answer when it grades the quiz, so take the quiz, get the answer, take the quiz again, and make a 100. This will replace an in-class quiz grade.

ii. Advanced Study Questions are difficult, often covering material that is not covered in class or that occurs in assigned readings (but comes from non-assigned readings in the textbook). The computer will not give you the answer for most of these questions. One-half point for each question. Print them (the questions-answers) or give me a hand-written copy of the answers.

ii. Advanced essay assignments: These assignments are more difficult than the regular essay assignments. You can earn anywhere from 1 to 5 points, depending on the quality of the essay. The requirements for this essay are the same as for the required essays.

 

IV.TENTATIVE OUTLINE OF COURSE WORK: CHECK BB CALENDAR

FOR CURRENT/UP-TO-DATE SCHEDULE

 

Week 1---Jan 14: Introduction to Course. Assessment test. 

Week 1---Jan 21: Beowulf

Week 2---Jan 28: Canterbury Tales; ballads; medieval drama.

Week 3---Feb 4: Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur

Week 4---Feb 11: TEST 1. 

Week 5—Feb 18: Library Work

Week 6---Feb 25: Elizabethan Theatre: Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus 

Week 7---March 3: Elizabethan Theatre contd.: Measure for Measure. Literary Studies

SPRING BREAK---March 10

Week 8---March 17: Elizabethan Theatre: Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Week 9---March 24: Elizabethan Theatre: Shakespeare's King Lear

Week 10---March 31: TEST 2

Week 11---April 7: The Victorian novel. A Christmas Carol. Modernism Background. All Extra Credit, BB work, and Essay due.

Week 12---April 14: T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland and The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock;

Week 13---April 21: Day before Thanksgiving---class?

Week 14---April 28: W H Auden’s “Lullaby” RESEARCH TERMS TEST. Review for final.

Week 15---May 5: Final Exam

 

V. Course Policies: All course policies are subject to change to accord with university policies.

1. Make‑up work: Make-up quizzes are available through Blackboard. You can make up one missed major exam. The make‑up tests will be given after the final exam.

2. You can provide suggestions or questions to me throughout the semester in person, during conferences, or by posting comments (anonymous allowed) through Blackboard/Class Forum.

3. Be aware of current university policies on drops and changes-of-grade. Be particularly aware that you are responsible for having the course dropped by the appropriate date.

4. Post-Course Policy: The material taught in this course is covered by a kind of informal "warranty." If you pass this course with a "C" or better, please feel to ask me any questions---throughout your academic career---on any material covered in this course---especially material whose lack of understanding interferes with your doing well in other classes.

5. Email me. If you must call (not a good idea), see me and I’ll give you a number. If you email me, either with questions or material, expect an answer within 48 hrs., except on weekends. If I don’t respond, I didn’t receive it.

6. Often the class, at the beginning of the semester, changes to a different classroom. Since it takes time officially to process this change, the change might not appear on the Assist system. If you can’t find the classroom (students almost always have), contact me (or the English Department).

 

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:

Students with a documented disability (physical, psychological, learning, or other disability which affects academic performance) who would like to receive academic accommodations should contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS) as soon as possible to schedule an appointment to initiate services.  Accommodations can be arranged through SAS at any time, but are not retroactive.  Students who suffer a broken bone, severe injury or undergo surgery during the semester are eligible for temporary services. 

 

 

Pregnancy, Pregnancy-related, and Parenting Accommodations

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination, which includes discrimination based on pregnancy, marital status, or parental status. Students seeking accommodations related to pregnancy, pregnancy-related condition, or parenting (reasonably immediate postpartum period) are encouraged to contact Student Accessibility Services for additional information and to request accommodations.

 

Student Accessibility Services:

Brownsville Campus: Student Accessibility Services is located in Cortez Hall Room 129 and can be contacted by phone at (956) 882-7374 (Voice) or via email at ability@utrgv.edu. Edinburg Campus: Student Accessibility Services is located in 108 University Center and can be contacted by phone at (956) 665-7005 (Voice), (956) 665-3840 (Fax), or via email at ability@utrgv.edu.

 

 

SCHOLASTIC INTEGRITY (ALSO SEE CODE BELOW):

As members of a community dedicated to Honesty, Integrity and Respect, students are reminded that those who engage in scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and expulsion from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating, plagiarism (including self-plagiarism), and collusion; submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person; taking an examination for another person; any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student; or the attempt to commit such acts. Since scholastic dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the integrity of the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced (Board of Regents Rules and Regulations and UTRGV Academic Integrity Guidelines). All scholastic dishonesty incidents will be reported to the Dean of Students.

 

SEXUAL HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, and VIOLENCE: 

In accordance with UT System regulations, your instructor is a “Responsible Employee” for reporting purposes under Title IX regulations and so must report any instance, occurring during a student’s time in college, of sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, or sexual harassment about which she/he becomes aware during this course through writing, discussion, or personal disclosure. More information can be found at www.utrgv.edu/equity, including confidential resources available on campus. The faculty and staff of UTRGV actively strive to provide a learning, working, and living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect that is free from sexual misconduct and discrimination.

 

VI. THECB Core Objectives

A. UTRGV Student Learning Outcomes:

1.   Critical Thinking (CT): Students will demonstrate comprehension of a variety of written texts and other information sources by analyzing and evaluating the logic, validity, and relevance of the information in them to solve challenging problems, to arrive at wellreasoned conclusions, and to develop and explore new questions.

2.   Communication Skills (COM): Students will demonstrate the ability to adapt their communications to a particular context, audience, and purpose using language, genre conventions, and sources appropriate to a specific discipline and/or communication task.

3.   Social Responsibility (SR): Students will recognize and describe cultural diversity, the role of civic engagement in society, and the link between ethics and behavior.

4.   Personal Responsibility (PR): Students will demonstrate an awareness of the range of human values and beliefs that they draw upon to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making.

B. Department Objectives for ENGL 2321

        In this course,

 1. Students will extend their communication and critical thinking skills by developing well-reasoned, logical, and ethical arguments and by enlarging their ability to analyze texts, to synthesize ideas, and to think abstractly. (CT, COM, PR)

2. Students will be able to recognize literary texts as vehicles of value from an assortment of cultures: national, regional, ethnic, gendered, privileged, and oppressed. (CT, SR, PR)

3. Students will study a mixture of literary works from a variety of cultural backgrounds in order to advance their intercultural literacy. (SR, PR)

4. Students will gain an aesthetic understanding of the creative treatment of social and cultural debates as well as a growing awareness of their own relation to the social/cultural stakes inherent in these issues. (CT, SR, PR)

5. Students will develop thoughtful personal responses to the social issues covered in the course and will further develop an ethical sensibility to inform their own choices as

ethical actors. (CT, COM, SR, PR)

6. Students will develop, evaluate, and deploy a variety of critical methodologies for understanding the human condition, including but not limited to historical, psychological, biographical, social, and feminist approaches. (CT, COM, PR, SR)

7. Students will demonstrate their ability to ethically cite from other texts in order to create a persuasive argument. (CT, COM, PR)

 

UTPA [UTRGV?]CODE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

v The first confirmed violation of academic dishonesty (as defined in HOP section 5.5.2) by an undergraduate student will result in the following action:

Ø The recommended penalty will be an F for the course and completion of an educational program on academic integrity.  If the matter is taken to a hearing officer, the academic penalty imposed will consider any recommendation of the faculty member involved.

Ø The student will be informed that a second violation may result in suspension or expulsion.

Ø A copy of the sanction letter will be forwarded to the student’s academic chair.

 

v The second confirmed violation of academic integrity by an undergraduate student (or first by a graduate student) will result in the following action:

Ø The recommended penalty will be an F for the course and suspension or expulsion.  If the matter is taken to a hearing officer, the academic penalty imposed will take into consideration any recommendation of the faculty member involved.

Ø If expelled, the student’s transcript will contain the notation, “Expelled for Academic Misconduct,” along with the applicable date.

Ø A copy of the sanction letter will be sent to appropriate academic officials.

Also be aware of “the Bronc/Vaquero Honor Code: As members of a community dedicated to honesty, integrity, and mutual respect in all interactions and relationships the students, faculty and administration of our university pledge to abide by the principles in The Bronc/Vaquero Honor Code.”