Honors English 106
Spring 2006
Prof. Scott Peeples
22 B Glebe St. Rm. 201
peepless@cofc.edu
Office Hours MWF 10-11
TR 2-3 and by appointment
COURSE OBJECTIVES: The goals of this coarse are (1) to help you become a more
active reader and (2) to help you learn new writing skills and build on some
old ones, to become more adept particularly at analytical writing.
REQUIREMENTS
1. Attendance and participation are requirements of this course. Negative result of poor attendance: After a student misses four classes (including those in which I meet with groups) over the course of the semester, I will deduct two points from his or her final grade for each additional absence. For example, if you miss six classes and your average at the end of the course is an 82, it would change to a 78. I do not monitor or record "excused" or "unexcused" absences, but I do appreciate your letting me know why you missed class. Positive results of regular attendance and participation: See #2 below. Also, I'll award some points for class participation (up to 5 at midterm and 5 at the end of the course).
2. You will write short responses in class frequently - probably about 20 times over the course of the semester. The main purposes of these short writing exercises are to give you more practice writing without the pressure of a substantial grade, and to generate ideas for discussion or for your essays. If you demonstrate a reasonable effort, I will give you 2 pts. For writing that shows little effort, I will give you 1 pt. For no effort, no points. Essay corrections are also worth 2 pts. - I'll explain how to do these when I return your first essay.
3. You are required to attend a play and a poetry or fiction reading at some time during the semester. You must turn in a review within a week of the performance. The review should consist of a brief (one-paragraph) summary of the play or description of the poems, without evaluation, followed by a paragraph commenting subjectively on what you saw - what you thought its strengths and weaknesses were, or what it reminded you of, the kind of effect it had on you, etc. If programs are distributed at the event, please staple one to your review.
Please note that you must also watch the films Six Degrees of Separation, Equus, and Adaptation, either with the class or on your own.
4. In February, you (and others in
your group) will stage a reading of a portion of one of four plays we'll be
studying.
5. Four substantial essays written outside of class, and an exam that includes
a substantial essay. You will keep a portfolio of your work: a simple two-pocket
folder works best. Keep all of your graded work on one side of the folder, including
daily in-class writing, and all work-in-progress on the other side. You will
turn the entire folder in each time you submit an essay.
GRADES / CRITERIA
On the four major essays and the exam essay, the first thing I'm looking for is evidence of your sincere engagement with the text(s) and an attempt to say something original. The essay should be effectively organized - built on the ideas that contribute to your overall argument. You should use textual evidence to support your points. You should construct paragraphs and sentences carefully, aiming at both mechanical correctness and a clear, fluid style.
Use MLA style to document primary and secondary texts. For the specifics of MLA documentation, consult your handbook. There's also a link on my homepage to a documentation site; the library web page also includes easy access to MLA documentation guides, and copies of the MLA Handbook are available at the reference desk.
I will turn over any paper that I suspect is plagiarized to the Honor Board, and if the student who submitted that paper is found in violation of the Honor Code, he or she will automatically fail this course.
Here are the point values for the work you will do in this course:
Authority/Subjectivity essay (2-3
pp.) 20 pts.
Essay on Six Degrees / Equus / Adaptation (4-5 pp.) 40 pts.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" essay (3-4 pp.) 30 pts.
Poetry / "Difference" essay (3-4 pp.) 30 pts.
Reviews of a play and poetry reading (1 page each) 10 pts. (2 x 5)
Staged reading 5 pts.
Class participation, essay corrections, and in-class writing approx. 50 pts.
Final exam 30 pts.
Total approx. 215 pts.
I will assign number grades to your essays. At the end of the course, I will divide the number of points you've accumulated by the number of available points and convert that percentage to a letter grade:
A = 90-100, B+ = 86-89, B = 80-85, C+ = 76-79, C = 70-75, D = 65-69, and an F = 64 or lower.
Papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date. I will penalize late papers one letter grade for each class period they are late. I will not accept any work after the last day of class.
Improving: If you want to improve your grades, talk to me about how you can write better essays: that's what I'm here for. However, I will not give extra credit for rewriting a paper once it's been graded or for doing extra work.
TEXTS and MATERIALS
Nealon and Giroux, The Theory Toolbox
(Rowman & Littlefield)
Guare, Six Degrees of Separation (Vintage)
Shaffer, Equus (Penguin)
Kaufman and Kaufman, Adaptation: The Shooting Script (Newmarket)
Bauer, ed., The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Bedford)
O'Brien, The Things They Carried (Broadway)
Other texts will be available via Web-CT.
You'll also need a college handbook, such as The Little, Brown Essential Handbook for Writers, and a pocket folder for turning in papers.
Schedule (subject to change)
1/9 Introduction
1/11 Theory Toolbox, Chs. 1 & 2
1/13 Class cancelled
1/16 MLK Holiday
1/18 Toolbox, pp. 21-29 and Ch. 4
1/20 "Paul's Case" (Web-CT)
1/23 Catch up, discuss assignment
1/25 I meet with groups 1, 2 & 3
1/27 I meet with groups 4, 5 & 6
1/30 Essay 1 due / Bring Six Degrees of Separation to class.
2/1 Six Degrees of Separation
2/3 2 staged readings and discussion of Six Degrees of Separation
2/6 Staged reading and discussion of Six Degrees of Separation
One night this week, we'll watch the film Six Degrees of Separation.
2/8 Discussion of Six Degrees of Separation.
2/10 Equus, Act 1 / Brenner, Ch. 1 of An Elementary Textbook of Psychoanalysis (Web-CT)
2/13 Equus, Act 2 / Brenner, Chs.
2-3
2 staged readings from Equus.
One night this week, we'll watch the film Equus.
2/15 We'll take this day off from class to allow time for the film.
2/17 Discussion of Equus.
2/20 This week's film: Adaptation.
We'll watch it Monday or Tuesday evening instead of having class Monday.
Read the shooting script of Adaptation.
2/22 Discussion of Adaptation.
2/24 Discussion of Adaptation and
writing assignment.
2/27 I meet with groups 4, 5 & 6.
3/1 I meet with groups 1, 2 & 3.
3/3 Essay 2 due.
SPRING BREAK
3/13 Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" (pp. 41-58)
3/15 Power, from The Ugly-Girl Papers; Willard, from How to Win; Mitchell, pp. 142-50; Kellogg, 155-63,181-73 (in Yellow Wallpaper)
3/17 Toolbox, Chs. 6 & 7
3/20 Ross, from "The Causes of Race Superiority"; Veblen, from Theory of the Leisure Class; Gilman, from The Living . . ., "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper,'" and "On the Reception . . ."; Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"
3/22 I meet with groups 1, 2 & 3
3/24 I meet with groups 4, 5 & 6
3/27 Essay 3 due.
3/29 Toolbox, pp. 51-70
3/31 Toolbox, Ch. 10
4/3 poems (TBA)
4/5 poems (TBA)
4/7 poems (TBA)
4/10 I meet with groups 4, 5 & 6.
4/12 I meet with groups 1, 2 & 3.
4/14 Essay 4 due. Bring The Things They Carried to class.
4/17 The Things They Carried, pp. 1-66.
4/19 The Things They Carried, pp. 67-134.
4/21 The Things They Carried, pp. 135-88.
4/24 The Things They Carried, complete.
4/28 Exam, Section 1 (9:00 class) -- exam is from 8-11 am
5/1 Exam, Section 2 (1:00 class) - exam is from 12-3 pm