Permenter College Writing Syllabus

Slippery Rock University
Spring 2005

Dr. rachela Permenter

Office Hours, etc.

American Literature I

English 319

Blackboard

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Dr. Rachela Permenter

Office Phone: (724) 738-2358
Office: 312C Spotts World Culture Bldg.

Office Hours: MW 12-2, F 1-2, and by appt.

Textbooks:

The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Vol. I , Paul Lauter, ed. 4^th ed.

Walden. (150^th Anniversary Edition). Henry David Thoreau. Houghton Mifflin.

Charlotte Temple. Susanna Hoswell Rowson. Oxford UP.

Ceremony. Leslie Marmon Silko. Penguin.

Class Information is available on Blackboard. Check regularly.

You are responsible for the reading assignments for class on the day they are listed.

The following schedule may be modified as the course proceeds:

M 10 Jan. Intro to Course.

W 12 Jan. “Colonial Period to 1700, 1-13; “Native American Oral Literatures,” 18-24; Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass, Song of Myself, Lines 1-5, 22-29, 326-359 (pp. 2863-77)

F 14 Jan. Oral tales, 51-59, 63-65

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M 17 Jan. No Class. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

W 19 Jan. Tribal poetry (Aztec, Inuit) 89-90, 91-96

F 21 Jan. Christopher Columbus 107-108, 111-116 (begin with “Thursday Nov. 1^st”), 116-119; John Smith 242-48 (REQUIRED READER RESPONSE – double for two weeks – approx. 800 words)

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M 24 Jan. Anne Bradstreet 382-85, 390, 394-95, 398-401

W 26 Jan. Silko, Ceremony

F 28 Jan. Silko, Ceremony

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M 31 Jan. Silko, Ceremony

W 2 Feb. Silko, Ceremony

F 4 Feb. Samuel de Champlain, 205-11

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M 7 Feb. View the film Black Robe from 2:00-4:05. If you have a class, arrange for watching the second half at another time (rent or borrow tape or DVD).

W 9 Feb. Discussion of Black Robe REQUIRED Reader Response on Black Robe

F 11 Feb. Rowson, Charlotte Temple

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M 14 Feb. Rowson, Charlotte Temple

W 16 Feb. Thomas Paine 936-37, 942-43, 948-51; Phillis Wheatley 1212

F 18 Feb. Benjamin Franklin 785-88, 805-807, 856-67, 802-804 798-801

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M 21 Feb. Thomas Jefferson, 970-74, 1006-1007; John & Abigail Adams 954

W 23 Feb. Jonathan Edwards 641-42, 645-46, and last paragraph on 652

F 25 Feb. Frederick Douglass 1817-22

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M 28 Feb. Douglass 1824-43

W 2 Mar. Sojourner Truth 2023-24, 2027-29

F 4 Mar. No Regular Class (due to professor’s trip with students)

Spring Break – Fri., Mar. 4^th, 5 p.m. -
Mon., Mar 14^th, 8 a.m.

M 14 Mar.

M 14 Mar. Ralph Waldo Emerson 1578-81, 1512-18, 1555-58, 1569-72

W 16 Mar. Emerson 1572-75, 1578-79, 1584-87

F 18 Mar Emerson 1543-47 and last paragraph on 1554-55

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M 21 Mar. Margaret Fuller 1626-28, 1631-37, 1644-53

W 23 Mar. Elizabeth Cady Stanton 2038-40, 2042-44;

Fanny Fern 2037-38

Spring Weekend — Wed., Mar. 23^rd, 5 p.m. – Mon., Mar. 28^th, 8 a.m.

M 28 Mar. Thoreau, Walden, “Economy,” “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”

W 30 Mar. Thoreau, Walden, “Solitude,” “Visitors,”

F 1 Apr. Thoreau, Walden, “The Village,” “The Ponds”

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M 4 Apr. Thoreau, Walden, “The Pond in Winter,” “Spring”

W 6 Apr. Thoreau, Walden, “Conclusion”

F 8 Apr. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, “Loomings,” “The Spouter Inn” (Blackboard)

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M 11 Apr. Melville, “The Whiteness of the Whale” (Blackboard)

W 13 Apr. Melville, Billy Budd, Sailor, Chaps. 1-6

F 15 Apr. Melville, Billy Budd, Sailor, Chaps. 7-15

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M 18 Apr. Melville, Billy Budd, Sailor, Chaps. 16-23

W 20 Apr. Melville, Billy Budd, Sailor, Chaps. 24-end

F 22 Apr. Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Birth-Mark” 2170-73, 2215-34

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M 25 Apr. Edgar Allan Poe, 2387-89, 2465, 2467-70, 2473-74

W 27 Apr. Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” 2400-13

F 29 Apr. Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher”

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Final Exams May 2 – 6 Final Exam due at regularly scheduled Exam time

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Attendance in all classes.

2. Seven to Ten Reader Responses

Reader Responses for this course are your comments written after reading the week's assignments: free-writing, free association, gut reaction, or unabashed opinion about the material read as well as some critical analysis and summarizing of basic points. For any ten weeks of class, turn in reader responses on Fridays ONLY unless otherwise specified. You will meet this requirement if you (1) reach the required length of approximately 400 words, (2) demonstrate involvement with the material and some critical analysis with direct reference to the text (this differentiates a reader response from a personal diary), and (3) include comments on all the reading assigned for the week. Don't worry about consistency or organization. Responses will be kept on file in the professor's office, so make certain you have copies of your own. You are responsible for office hour visits or appointments to discuss these responses and to receive constructive feedback (they will not be graded -- see "Basis for Grades" below). Responses are required on Jan. 21^st (double points for 2 weeks) and will be returned to you with comments and revision opportunity. These responses will provide material for you to use on the take-home components of your exams.

3. Four exams (essays & quotation explication, mostly take-home).

4. Research assignment (on one day's readings, presented very informally with handout for class)

5. 6-8 pp. Critical Paper (a large part of Exam #4).

BASIS FOR GRADES

Final grades for this course will be assessed by your percentage of points.
Scale:

               90-100% = A

               80-89%  = B

               70-79%  = C

               62-69%  = D

               0-61%   = F

Research Assignment: 40 pts.

Exams# 1-3  (3 @ 100 pts.):   300 pts.

Exam #4   50pts,

Critical Paper (turned in with Exam #4):  100 pts.

Reader Responses:  Possible 100 pts.

Total Possible: 590 pts.

COURSE GUIDELINES

Papers: All papers must use MLA format. If you don’t already own an MLA Handbook, buy one.

Syllabus: The correct syllabus is on Blackboard. Check it for updates when asked by your professor.

Absence: Class attendance is a course requirement. Absence and tardiness are strongly discouraged. For each missed class above three (one week of classes), 25 pts. will be deducted from your final grade.

Critical Papers: From your Reader Responses, but using strong textual evidence and organized analysis, you will present a critical opinion of a work or a group of short works on the syllabus. Must be a well-written, reasoned argument in defense of your reading of the text(s).

Piracy: Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you submit any work which is not the product of your own study and efforts, you will receive a grade of F for that work and probably for the course. It is wise to remember that what you can find on the internet can also be found by your professor, who subscribes to a plagiarism-finding service. Extreme violations will be reported to the appropriate university authorities.

Conferences: You are encouraged to seek individual discussion with the professor during regular office hours, after class, and by appointment. It is highly recommended that you discuss your critical paper with your professor, bringing research and drafts to her office.

Dr. Rachela Permenter

312C Spotts World Culture Bldg., 738-2358

Office Hours: M 3-5, WF 9:30-11

rachela.permenter@sru.edu

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Slippery Rock UniversitySpring 2005

Slippery Rock University
Spring 2005