English 1B: Introduction to Literature--Online
Schedule #53600
Spring 2010
Online
Ms. Apperson
Office Hours: TWTH 9:30-10:30
Office: HUM 60
Office phone: 638-3641, ext. 3223
email: eileen.apperson@reedleycollege.edu

Course description: An introduction to literature course is meant to provide an overview of literature, examining how literature communicates to us and why it matters.  To take this course, you must have passed English 1A with a C grade or better.  

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

A.	Demonstrate critical thinking and literary skills with literature through a variety of linked reading, writing, and discussion activities.
B.	Demonstrate connections between literary works of the same or different genres.
C.	Make connections between the situations of literature and his/her experience.

Required Text:  Meyer, Michael. Thinking and Writing About Literature: A Text and Anthology. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2001.
	
Participation:  Class participation is vital.  Since weekly discussion board posts will be required, your final grade will suffer the consequences of lack of participation.  It is a good idea to check Blackboard and email regularly (more than once or twice a week).  Generally, assignments will be posted by noon on Friday for the following week.  

Discussion Board Posts: The discussion board will be central to this course.  Follow the instructions on each week’s discussion board post which will include word length and prompt.  Late responses will not receive credit.  Any responses that merely repeat what has already been stated will also not receive credit.  You will have one week to reply to the previous week’s responses.  Unless otherwise noted, all discussion board responses are due on Fridays at noon.
  
Reading Assignments:  We will be reading a large amount of materials every week, usually 100 pages or more.  Failure to complete these reading assignments will be detrimental to your final grade.  Always read the short author biographies prior to reading.

If you have not completed the reading assignments for the week (in whole or part) do not attempt to bluff your way through the Discussion Board and Reading Journal assignments.  This will be a large waste of your time and mine.  Life happens.  Please just admit you did not complete the reading assignments within your posts and journal.  I will appreciate your honesty.

Reading Journal: Take weekly notes on all reading assignments in a Reading Journal created as a Word document.  This journal will be submitted frequently and at random and graded on its thoroughness.  Use this when participating in the discussion board for additional notes.  Be sure the journal is clearly dated and labeled and respond to every work assigned to prove that you have completed the reading assignments.  Submit your reading journal when prompted via the digital drop box.  Follow suggestions in pages 11-24 of our text in reading, annotating, and responding to literary texts.  Each entry in your journal may resemble a combination of the Journal Note (p. 15) and Sample First Response (p. 23-24), comprising both a critical examination of what the text is doing and how the author is getting this meaning across to the reader AND your personal responses to the text.  Expand your knowledge by using the Glossary of Literary Terms both in our textbook and the external link on blackboard in writing your journal.  The length of your Journal Responses will vary each week depending on the number of assignments.  There is no set number of pages.  Journals will be graded on your thoroughness and thoughtfulness.  
	
General Writing Assignments:  This class requires the completion of various graded writing assignments.  All assignments must be completed within the timeframe provided.  Written assignments must be in MLA format and on time.  Please keep all of your prewriting and drafts of each out-of-class paper--I may ask to see your writing processes before I will accept assignments.  
	
Late Paper Policy:  Papers will not be accepted passed the due date/time.  Unless otherwise noted, all assignments are due on Fridays at noon.  Generally, assignments will be posted by noon on Friday for the following week. 
	
Other Items:

Plagiarism/Cheating:  Plagiarism is the act of using another person’s words OR IDEAS as your own with no citation for their work.  Cheating includes having anyone else complete your work for you or turning in a paper you have written for another class.  You will be caught, automatically dropped from the course, and reported to the administration.  If plagiarism and/or cheating are suspected, you may be asked to provide drafts of your written work and submit your paper to turnitin.com, a plagiarism-checking service.  Keep all drafts of your writing assignments or you may be dropped from the course. 

Respectful Learning Environment:  Be considerate to others—enter the discussion board  prepared to share equally with others in the class, respect the opinions of others, read attentively.  Failure to do so may result in being asked to leave the class.

Instructor Contact: It is your responsibility to contact the instructor with any “absence” from class or intention to drop the class.  This may be by phone or email.  Academia is a professional environment. When addressing your instructors, refer to them as Mr., Mrs., or Ms. unless they have asked to be referred to by their first name.   Be sure that all correspondence is professional (no text-language emails) and follows all conventions of proper English usage (correct punctuation and grammar).

Grading:  You will be graded on a point system scale.  If you are failing the course at mid-term, you may automatically be dropped. 

Skills and Knowledge:  It is assumed that since you passed English 1A with at least a “C” or better, there are set skills and knowledge you have obtained.  It is assumed you know how to conduct sound research, document using correct MLA format, avoid plagiarism, complete an annotated bibliography, write a thesis-driven paper that is well-organized and supported and generally free of punctuation and grammatical errors.  Guidance on any of these foundational skills may be found at the Writing Center.    

Writing Center (HUM 58):  You are required to submit at least one major paper to the Reedley College Writing Center via their online tutorial: mailto:rc.writingcenter@reedleycollege.edu.  The importance of this service to your success in English 1B cannot be stressed enough.  Consider additional submissions or enrolling in English 272 a ½ unit Writing Center tutorial.  Web address for more information: http://www.reedleycollege.edu/index.aspx?page=127
 
Accommodations: Please inform me of any special circumstances you might have.  If you have special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including alternate media requests, please notify me immediately.  Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate your needs.

Policies are subject to change in order to create a positive learning environment.  All assignments are subject to change.   The weight of graded materials may be modified at any time.

	Percentages are as follows:

Critical papers grade=50%
2 (5+pgs). Short, researched critical papers 	
	Additional assignments grade=30%
Comprised of exams, reading journal, paper proposals, etc. Points will vary.
Participation=20%
	Willingness to engage in the class discussions, the quality of this 
engagement, presentations, in-class activities, etc.
Points will vary.  	
		 				
100% - 90% = A, 89% - 80% = B, 79% - 70% = C, 69% - 60% = D, 59%-50% = F

A final, important note:  Keep in mind that in this class, and for your entire academic future as well, your education is dependent upon you.  Your instructors are resources and facilitators.  It is you who is responsible for the learning that takes place.

“Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” 
–George Washington Carver

SCHEDULE—ENGLISH 1B ONLINE—SPRING 2010

1.	1/14—Introduction to course; 	Discussion Board. 	
2.	1/21— annotating a text; journaling; sample paper; types of writing assignments ; thesis statements; critical analysis approaches	Have read pages 11-82.  Quiz on reading assignment material.	
3.	1/28—Reading and Writing About Fiction and Poetry	Have read pages 83-103; 137-174; 213-281
Open note exam on critical approaches (turn in notes)	
4.	2/4—Reading and Writing About Drama and Essay	Have read pages 282-286; 443-493; 511-544.  Quiz on reading assignment material.	
5.	2/11—“Home and Family”	Have read pages 561-562, and
Alexander—Harlem Birthday Party
Barecca—Nighttime Fires
Cheever—Reunion
Dickenson—The Bustle in a House
Hall—Letter with No Address
Hemingway—Soldier’s Home
Hudgins—Elegy for My Father , Who Is Not 
Dead
Larkin—This Be the Verse
Roethke—My Papa’s Waltz
Soto—Behind Grandma’s House
Wolff—Powder	
6.	2/18—“Home and Family”	Have read:
Douglass—A Slave Family’s Life
Hansberry—A Raisin in The Sun
Mukherjee—A Father
Sant—Household Fires
Song—The Youngest Daughter	
7.	2/25—“Love and Its Complications”	Have read pages 104-134
TBA	
8.	3/4—“Love and Its Complications” 	Have read:
TBA	
9.	3/11—Mid-term paper due; mid-term exam; presentations		
10.	3/18—“Life and Its Lessons”	Have read:
Updike—A & P
Hughes—Theme for English B
Soto—The Childhood Worries, or Why I 
Became a Writer	
11.	3/25—“Life and Its Lessons”  	Have read:
TBA	
12.	4/1—SPRING BREAK	Have a safe vacation.	
13.	4/8—“The Natural and Unnatural” 	Have read:
TBA	
14.	4/15— “The Natural and Unnatural” 	Have read:
TBA	
15.	4/22—“Culture and Identity”	Have read:
TBA	
16.	4/29—“Culture and Identity”	Have read:
TBA	
17.	5/6—Conferences	Make an appointment—failure to meet at your arranged time will negatively affect participation grade.	
18.	5/13—Presentations; final paper due		
19.	5/20—FINAL—Final exam 	Have a wonderful summer!