101A W22 Johnson

ENGL 101A

Winter 2022

Tues/Thurs 10:00-11:20, HH 150

Instructor Information Instructor: Melissa Johnson Office: PAS 1059

Office Hours: Thurs. 11:30-1:30, and by appointment

*While we remain online, office hours will be virtual via MS Teams on Thurs. 12-1 (and by appt.)

Email: mnpjohnson@uwaterloo.ca

Course Description

This course offers an introduction to the study of literature. During the term, we will work our way through a wide range of literary works from different time periods. Although this is not a survey class, these works will span several centuries and will cover different forms of literature, such as poetry, drama, and prose fiction. As we analyze this literature, we will consider the basic elements of major literary theories, narrative structure, genre, figurative language, intertextuality, social criticism, and contextualize each text within its historical context. Assignments and close reading activities will give you opportunities to practice textual interpretation and clearly organize and communicate your ideas.

Course Objectives

• Learn how various literary forms and genres work, and examine their key features and devices
• Paraphrase and summarize texts correctly and appropriately
• Be able to close read a text and describe, analyze, and offer an interpretation with attention to its literary features
• Make a claim about a work and persuade an audience of that claim by providing evidence
• Appreciate and enjoy reading literary works, and have something to say about them

Required Texts

• Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818 text)
• Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret (Broadview)
• Shakespeare, Macbeth: The Graphic Novel (classical comics) – Original Text
  • If you cannot access the graphic novel of Macbeth, you are welcome to use the free online edition available at http://www.shakespeare- online.com/plays/macbethscenes.html

Optional Text

• Richmond Lattimore, The Odyssey of Homer

Evaluation

Assignment Descriptions

All assignments are to be submitted to the appropriate dropbox on Learn. If we do resume in person classes, I will ask you to also submit a stapled paper copy.

Participation/Discussion Questions (15%)

You must complete 5 of 6 discussion questions for a weighting of 3% per question. If you complete all 6 discussion questions, your lowest grade will be dropped.

*Participation/Discussion Question grading will differ based on the mode of instruction:

• IF ONLINE: If this course remains online for the entirety of the term, Discussion Questions will be posted online on specific weeks. Responses to these questions will be due at the end of the week (Sunday). Please refer to the Course Schedule for the specific dates.
• IF IN PERSON: In person classes will grade discussions differently. In this case, your participation grade will depend on a mix of class discussion and group activities.

Paraphrase Assignment (10%), due Jan. 27th Task: Textual Paraphrase

Rationale: Sometimes when we’re approaching a text we skip the paraphrase stage and jump to what a passage means before establishing what it says. This assignment is entirely focused on what a passage SAYS.

Process: What you want to do is restate the material directly in modern prose. Be thorough. It is also a direct summary, not an indirect one, so do not add tags such as “Lady Macbeth says.” If you choose to paraphrase the Shakespeare passage, maintain the format of who is speaking as it is laid out below.

Length: The length will depend on the passage chosen to paraphrase. Your paragraph should be as long or slightly shorter than the original passage.

A Note: Keep in mind that whichever passage you choose to paraphrase will be the same passage you will be using for your Literary Patterns Assignment. You might want to think ahead to which passage you would prefer to write about for the next assignment.

• Format in MLA, 12 pt. Times New Roman, double-spaced
• Submit to the appropriate dropbox on Learn.
• Post to the Discussion Board for Peer Review

Peer Review (5%), due Feb. 3rd

Task: Once you have completed your Paraphrase Assignment and submitted it to the dropbox, you will also post it to the appropriate Discussion Board on Learn for peer review. Choose one of your classmate’s paraphrases to compare with your own (this means you must choose the same passage you wrote on).

Rationale: It can be helpful to see how others have gone about paraphrasing a selection of text in comparison to our own.

Process: In a reply to your classmate’s thread, note the similarities and differences in their paraphrase from your own. Comment on their effectiveness: was their paraphrase more accurate in areas or less so in others? Why? The point here is not to criticize, but to be cognizant of how paraphrases function and the importance of their accuracy to the original. This is not an exhaustive process, so use your judgement on how much or how little to comment on.

Note: This activity will be conducted in class, if we are back in person by this time.

Literary Patterns (15%), due Feb. 15th

Length: 500-700 words

Task: isolation of imagery or other patterns of expression

Using the Paraphrase you created for Assignment One, create a close reading of your selected passage.

Rationale: These general patterns are the bedrock of meaningful interpretation. Sometimes we tend to skip to a pre-determined critical conclusion of a text. These are typically very valid conclusions; however, the specific logic underpinning these conclusions is sometimes lost or omitted. This assignment, therefore, is to ensure you can isolate the patterns of expression that lead to these conclusions.

Process: To begin, ask yourself some specific questions about the passage:

• What do you first notice? What do you notice next? Are they similar, do they contrast?
• What mood does the passage create in you? Why?
• Which words stand out as important? What is noteworthy about them?
• Do some words seem to have extra connotations?
• Are any words unfamiliar?
• What images are used? Are they repeated? Be specific: what is the image? How does it fit in? Are there connotations to the image that add a secondary idea to the content?
• Is there any other repetition in the passage?
• What are the sentences like? Are they rhythmic? Are they short and choppy?
• Do you notice any colours, sounds, or physical descriptions that appeal to the senses? Does this imagery form a pattern?
• Who speaks in the passage?
• Are there metaphors? Similes? What are they? Do they repeat?
• Do any of the images, objects, descriptions have additional connotations? Perhaps there might be religious or biblical significance?

Your paraphrase should also help you determine how the passage is organized. What internal sections are there here? What movements are here? What balances? What repetitions? Make a note about where they are found and how they work.

For submission, combine the literary patterns you have identified into organized paragraphs. These paragraphs do not need to be cohesive. This is not an essay. You might organize them as one paragraph for imagery, one paragraph for metaphor, etc. How you organize it will depend on what you focus on from the passage.

NOTES:

• Do not use secondary sources. We are not concerned with larger contextual matters.
• Avoiding bringing interpretations and theories to the passage rather than a close reading.
• Be sure to consult MLA format for setting up the page: double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman.
• Please use complete sentences (no point form) and formal prose – no colloquialisms or contractions.
• Include a title.
• Submit a .doc or .docx file to the appropriate dropbox on Learn.

Short Close Reading Essay (20%), due March 10th

Length: 750 words

Task: develop a short essay based on a close reading of a passage

Rationale: Your previous two assignments—Paraphrase and Literary Patterns—were to give you practice with close reading a literary passage. This assignment takes this process one step further to develop a cohesive statement about the passage based on your grasp of the text’s meaning, identification of patterns of significance, and your interpretation. This type of close reading is the building block for larger analysis.

Process: Following the same process as the previous two assignments, you will move toward making a statement about the passage and organizing your observations into a short essay with structured paragraphs. Refer to the Literary Patterns Assignment for how to jumpstart your close reading of the passage. From here, you will move beyond observation to interpretation and analysis.

For this essay, be sure to include:

• a title that names the work under consideration, as well as your approach
• a claim about the work/topic that is clear and capable of being supported by evidence
• paraphrase of and thoughtful quotations from the text that indicate you have a good grasp of the overall meaning of the passage
• quotations that support your claim and that are introduced and contextualized
• parenthetical citations after the quotations to indicate the page numbers (for the novel or essay) or line numbers (for the poetry) you have quoted
• No secondary sources are required for this essay.
• Format in MLA, double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman
• Submit a .doc or .docx file to the appropriate dropbox on Learn. Topics to be determined.

Final Essay (40% Total)

Using the tools of summary, interpretation, and analysis you have developed in this course, this essay is your opportunity to explore a topic that peaked your interest and develop an argument! You may pursue your own topic, but I will also provide some suggestions. More information concerning topics will be forthcoming during the term.

The Final Essay is split into two parts:

• Proposal Presentation (15%) – due March 29^th
• Final Essay, 1500 words (25%) – due April 12^th

Proposal Presentation: This assignment is intended to get you thinking about how you will approach the Final Essay and also to share your insights with your classmates. Ideally, we will be able to share these presentations with each other in person. If, however, the course remains online they will be submitted to me via the dropbox. For this assignment, you will:

• Prepare a 3-5 minute presentation of your topic and approach for the Final Essay. The presentation could take many forms and will depend on whether it is in person or online. If online, you may use a slide deck to present your information, or video, or audio. You can be as creative as you would like. If it is in person, we will be subject to the constraints of class time so I will ask you to keep it concise.

• What you include in this proposal can also vary. You might find you want to write an introductory paragraph to your essay that lays out your argument (thesis), and the points you want to make. Or you might give a more general outline of what you want to discuss in this essay. You could also identify sections from a text that intrigue you that you wish to explore further. Or you might have an idea of a theory you want to apply to a text and you can use this proposal presentation to think through how you would go about this in the Final Essay. It’s up to you.

Final Essay: You will write an essay on any text that you choose (excluding what you wrote on for your Close Reading Assignment). This essay will be between 1500 words.

A Note about the Final Essay:

You will start from a topic and develop it into an argument about the text. You want to focus your discussion and make sure that it has continuity. This essay should be organized in paragraphs that move in a coherent way toward a conclusion. You should be able to explain how any single unit in the essay fits into the overall design and argument (ideas that do not fit should be left out). A good essay combines argument and evidence. Evidence may be a reference to a particular section of the text or direct quotation from it. Feel free to use interpretations from the lectures, but do not merely repeat them.

On secondary sources: you may use secondary sources for this essay if you wish, but it is not necessary. Some of the ways you could use a secondary source are 1) to support your argument,

2. as a starting point for your essay. If you do use a secondary source, be sure it is used sparingly. Superfluous use of secondary material will not benefit your essay. This essay is for you to explore your thoughts on a text and you want to maintain that focus throughout.

Be sure to include:

• • a title that names the work under consideration, as well as your approach
  • a thesis statement about the text that is clear and supported by evidence and argumentation
  • parenthetical citations after quotations
  • Format in MLA with a Works Cited page; double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman
  • Submit a .doc or .docx file to the appropriate dropbox on Learn

COURSE SCHEDULE

(subject to change based on student feedback)

*Please complete the following readings before the day assigned. For example, complete reading vol. 1 of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein before the scheduled class on Feb. 1^st et cetera.

Course Policies

Late Submissions

All assignments are due by midnight on the date specified.

However, you can have up to 5 penalty-free extension days ("flex days") to use however you wish throughout the term for major written assignments (not class activities). You can use all 5 flex days on one assignment, spread them out over several assignment due dates, or not use any at all. These are intended to give you a little breathing space if you need them. If you choose to use any flex days, you don’t need to ask permission or provide documentation other than a note with your submission stating how many days you are using and how many you have left. It's your responsibility to keep track of those numbers.

Once you use up your flex days, late assignments will incur a deduction of 2% per day, including weekends.

If you have used up your flex days and find you require an extension for any reason, please talk to me as soon as possible. If it is past the due date, still talk to me! You do not have to disclose the reason you need an extension. You are all adults and I trust that you will do your best to submit assignments on their due dates, but I also know that life is not always kind and things happen.

Unless we have made a prior arrangement, assignments submitted 10 days after the due date will not be accepted and will receive a grade of 0.

Accommodations

If you expect you will miss class due to illness/other reasons, or you have missed a significant number of classes for which you have reasons that aren't necessarily accommodated through AccessAbility Services, please come talk to me or email me. The same goes for missed assignments. I will never ask you to divulge personal reasons why unless you wish to, but we can, perhaps, come up with solutions together for mitigating unfair disadvantages.

Please also let me know if I can do anything to make this course more accessible for you.

Course Etiquette

I want the course environment to be a positive one for everyone. Please communicate throughout this course in ways that promote mutual respect, positive discussions, and the free exchange of ideas.

Email Etiquette

Please be respectful in your email communication. It’s always a good idea to begin an email with some sort of salutation, such as “Dear” or “Hi!” Please feel free to call me Melissa! I am not a professor, so if you feel uncomfortable referring to me by my first name you can always call me “Instructor Johnson.”

Department Policies

Intellectual Property

Students should be aware that this course contains the intellectual property of their instructor, TA, and/or the University of Waterloo. Intellectual property includes items such as:

• Lecture content, spoken and written (and any audio/video recording thereof);
• Lecture handouts, presentations, and other materials prepared for the course (e.g., PowerPoint slides);
• Questions or solution sets from various types of assessments (e.g., assignments, quizzes, tests, final exams); and
• Work protected by copyright (e.g., any work authored by the instructor or TA or used by the instructor or TA with permission of the copyright owner).

Course materials and the intellectual property contained therein are used to enhance a student’s educational experience. However, sharing this intellectual property without the intellectual property owner’s permission is a violation of intellectual property rights. For this reason, it is necessary to ask the instructor, TA and/or the University of Waterloo for permission before uploading and sharing the intellectual property of others online (e.g., to an online repository).

Permission from an instructor, TA or the University is also necessary before sharing the intellectual property of others from completed courses with students taking the same/similar courses in subsequent terms/years. In many cases, instructors might be happy to allow distribution of certain materials. However, doing so without expressed permission is considered a violation of intellectual property rights.

Please alert the instructor if you become aware of intellectual property belonging to others (past or present) circulating, either through the student body or online. The intellectual property rights owner deserves to know (and may have already given their consent).

University Policies

Note for students with disabilities: AccessAbility Services, located in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AccessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term.

Submission Times

Please be aware that the University of Waterloo is located in the Eastern Time Zone (GMT or UTC-5 during standard time and UTC-4 during daylight saving time). As such, the time that your activities and/or assignments are due is based on this zone.

Academic integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information.]

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of their university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence, and to take responsibility for their actions. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information.] A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline. For typical penalties, check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes they have a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals.

Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students' submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin in this course.