Syllabus: American Novel

The American Novel Fall 2012: TR 10:50-12:05/Robinson 305 CRN 42828/ENGL 02423-1 Instructor: Dr. Jesse Zuba Email: [email protected] Office hours: TR by appt. Course Description Beginning with Edith Wharton’s pre-modernist account of downward mobility in high society New York and ending with Junot Diaz’s postmodernist take on the aftermath of colonialism, this course surveys American novels of the last hundred years. The primary goal of the course is to provide an overview of shifts in aesthetic sensibility in the context of the cultural changes that inform the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but other objectives include the development of critical thinking, writing, and research skills through reading and writing assignments, exams, oral presentations, and discussion. Required Texts Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead) Patricial Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley (Vintage) Nella Larsen, Passing (Norton) Philip Roth, The Counterlife (Vintage) John Updike, Rabbit, Run (Fawcett) Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth (Oxford) Student Learning Outcomes 1. Think and write critically about literature, building arguments that are supported with textual evidence 2. Work with the formal elements of literature (plot, style, figurative language, etc.) 3. Perform accurate and insightful close readings of literary texts 4. Understand how issues of nation, culture, and social status help shape literary texts 5. Realize how schools of literary theory can offer new perspectives from which to read literary and non-literary texts 6. Find, evaluate, and incorporate critical sources to expand understanding of a literary text 7. Comprehend the evolution of the American and British literary traditions 8. Participate in class: speaking cogently as well as listening carefully and responding to others’ ideas 9. Demonstrate an understanding of correct spoken and written English 10. Understand and demonstrate academic integrity Grading Class Participation: Essay 1 (4-5 pages): Essay 2 (6-7 pages): Midterm Exam: Final Exam: 15% 15% 20% 25% 25% Written work must be submitted on time to receive full credit. Students sign up to lead discussion twice over the course of the semester. As discussion leader you will be responsible for introducing aspects of the reading you want to discuss in a brief opening comment and guiding our discussion through a series of questions related to the reading assigned. Your work as discussion leader will count toward your class participation grade. Essays 1 and 2 should each focus on the work of one or two authors on the syllabus. These are intended to be open-ended critical writing assignments: what you address in your essay is up to you to choose, though it is important that you do not focus on a topic that we’ve covered at length in class. Incorporating one secondary source is optional for Essay 1, but required for Essay 2. Format and document both essays using MLA style. Detailed guidelines for writing both essays will be provided at least a week in advance of the respective duedates. Course Policies Attendance: Students may be excused for four absences over the course of the semester. Five or more absences will result in deductions from the final grade for the course. Plagiarism: See the English Department website or the description below for information about standards of academic honesty and the consequences of plagiarism. Assignments: All written work, including both exams and both essays, must be completed in order to receive a grade of C- or above in this course. Departmental and University Policies See Registrar’s website http://www.rowan.edu/registrar for more complete information. COURSE WITHDRAWAL POLICY 1. Add/drop period runs from Tuesday, September 4th, through Monday, September 10th. To add or drop a course, use Banner Self Serve and adjust your schedule during this first week of classes. Use Section Tally to determine which courses have available seats: http://www.banner.rowan.edu/reports/reports.pl?task=Section_Tally 2. Any course dropped during the drop/add period will not be recorded on the permanent record. 3. After the Add/Drop period ends, between September 11th through October 22nd, if you want to withdraw from a course, you must complete a Withdrawal Request Form (print out the correct Withdrawal form—not the Add/Drop form--from the Registrar’s Office website) and have it signed by your professor, with the last date of attendance indicated. Upon receipt of the form, the Registrar’s Office will enter a W on your transcript. You do not receive any money back when you withdraw from a course. 4. If you want to withdraw from a course between October 23d and November 22nd, you must complete a Withdrawal Request Form and have it signed by your professor and his or her department chairperson. If the professor approves the withdrawal, he or she will indicate that you are withdrawing with a passing academic standing (WP) or with academic failure (WF). The faculty member must mark WP or WF and must provide the last date of attendance before the chair can sign. You must then deliver the paperwork to the Chair, pick it back up, and take it to the Registrar’s Office. Upon receipt of the form, the Registrar’s Office will enter either a WP or a WF on your transcript. 5. After November 22nd, withdrawal is considered exceptional and occurs only with the approval and signature of the professor, department chairperson, and the College’s Assistant Dean. If you are withdrawing from a course in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the hardship Withdrawal Request Form must be obtained from the Assistant Dean’s Office in Bunce Hall 257, and withdrawal at this point must be justified by hardship circumstances beyond the control of the student, with documentation. (WP/WF remains in effect, as does the last date of attendance.) NOTE: If you do not withdraw officially but stop attending a course, you will receive a grade of “F.” Also remember that you are allowed to attempt a course only two times. Withdrawal after the drop/add period constitutes one course attempt. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY Academic dishonesty, in any form, will not be tolerated. The English Department adheres to the following policy for cases of plagiarism: Plagiarism consists of “copying or imitating the language, ideas and thoughts of another author and passing off the same as one’s original work” (American College Dictionary). It is academic dishonesty and violates the integrity of the academic process. According to Rowan University policy, students committing any act of academic dishonesty may fail the assignment and/or fail the course, at the faculty member’s discretion. All violations of Academic Integrity MUST be reported to the Provost’s office using the RAIV process. Serious cases will be brought to a hearing. In order to avoid plagiarism, students should provide appropriate documentation whenever quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, or otherwise using the language or ideas of others. Multiple submission (handing in a paper written for one class to another class) is also a form of academic dishonesty and will be treated accordingly. Visit http://www.rowan.edu/english for more in-depth information on this topic; for University policy and procedures, visit the following website: http://www.rowan.edu/provost/policies/AcademicIntegrity.htm Students have rights as well as responsibilities; if you feel you have been unjustly accused of plagiarism, there is a mechanism for addressing that in a hearing. Again, see the Provost’s website for more information. Many English classes use turnitin.com or the Bb-CE equivalent to upload and submit papers. Such programs give faculty members an archive of your papers, which helps them be specific when you ask them to write you letters of recommendation. No one else can access your work. Plagiarism is not determined by either system; it shows the faculty members the correlations and lets them make the decision. ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ATTENDANCE POLICY Individual professors may establish their own attendance policies, within the guidelines specified by the University Attendance Policy: (http://www.rowan.edu/provost/policies/documents/AttendancePolicy-classroom_000.pdf). After a student has accumulated more than two weeks of absences (i.e., four 75minute classes), the faculty member can evaluate whether a student’s semester grade should be lowered. Faculty members retain the right to fail a student for excessive absences. Please try to avoid tardiness. This is disruptive to class. Habitual tardiness may result in your grade being lowered. REPEATING A COURSE In the event that a student must or voluntarily chooses to repeat a course, the grade received for the repeated course will constitute the final grade for cumulative GPA purposes—whether the grade is higher or lower than the grade received in the original course. The original grade, although not counted in the cumulative GPA, remains on the student’s transcript. By University policy, the same course may not be taken more than twice, including withdrawals. INCOMPLETES Incompletes are given only in the event of a last-minute emergency that keeps a student from finishing a final paper or final examination. It is the student’s responsibility to arrange an incomplete with the faculty member before final grades are submitted. If you fail to turn in a final paper or final examination but haven’t talked with your professor, he or she will have the right to fail you; you will not automatically be given an incomplete. The Incomplete will convert to an F if it is not extended or resolved. It is the student’s responsibility to keep track of his or her Incompletes. OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS AND OTHER IMPORTANT DATES Tuesday, November 6th: Election Day: no classes Thursday, November 22nd, through Friday, November 23d: Thanksgiving: no classes Final Exams: Friday, December 14th, through Thursday, December 20th: Final Exa,s EMERGENCY CLOSING INFORMATION For information on emergency closings, check www.rowan.edu or www.kyw1060.com, call 856-256-4636, or listen to KYW Newsradio 1060. Syllabus 9/4 Introduction Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, ch. 1 (bk. 1) 9/6 Wharton, Mirth, ch. 2-6 (bk. 1) Discussion leader/s: 9/11 Wharton, Mirth, ch. 7-13 (bk. 1) Discussion leader/s: 9/13 Wharton, Mirth, ch. 14 (bk. 1) - ch. 6 (bk. 2) Discussion leader/s: 9/18 Wharton, Mirth, ch. 7 (bk. 2) - end Discussion leader/s: 9/20 Nella Larsen, Passing, Part I Discussion leader/s: 9/25 Larsen, Passing, Parts II-III Discussion leader/s: 9/27 William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, pp. 3-96 Discussion leader/s: 10/2 Faulkner, Dying, pp. 97-179 Discussion leader/s: 10/4 Faulkner, Dying, pp. 180-end Discussion leader/s: 10/9 Essay 1 Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley, pp. 9-70 Discussion leader/s: 10/11 Highsmith, Ripley, pp. 70-141 Discussion leader/s: 10/16 Highsmith, Ripley, pp. 141-217 Discussion leader/s: 10/18 Midterm Review Highsmith, Ripley, pp. 217-73 Discussion leader/s: 10/23 Midterm Exam 10/25 John Updike, Rabbit, Run, pp. 5-63 Discussion leader/s: 10/30 Updike, Rabbit, pp. 64-129 Discussion leader/s: 11/1 Updike, Rabbit, pp. 129-188 Discussion leader/s: 11/6 Election Day 11/8 Updike, Rabbit, pp. 188-end Discussion leader/s: 11/13 Philip Roth, The Counterlife, pp. 3-83 Discussion leader/s: 11/15 Roth, Counterlife, pp. 83-172 Discussion leader/s: 11/20 Roth, Counterlife, pp. 172-254 Discussion leader/s: 11/22 Thanksgiving Break 11/27 Roth, Counterlife, pp. 255-end Discussion leader/s: 11/29 Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, pp. 2-75 Discussion leader/s: 12/4 Diaz, Oscar Wao, pp. 77-165 Discussion leader/s: 12/6 Diaz, Oscar Wao, pp. 166-261 Discussion leader/s: 12/11 Diaz, Oscar Wao, pp. 264-335 12/13 Final Review Final Exam TBA