Course Description

This course offers an introduction to the academic study of literature in English. We will closely read poetry, drama, short stories, and a novel, spanning the last 500 or so years of English literary history, paying attention not only to what these texts mean but also to how they mean. How does a poem use imagery and rhyme, for example, to affect our understanding and to move us? How does a story encourage us to sympathize with one character’s point of view and not another’s? And what kinds of evidence from literary texts might we use to convince others of our interpretations? As we ask these questions and others, will we consider how writers’ aims and historical circumstances influence their varying uses of literary form. In regular writing assignments, students will employ the critical terms and concepts we discuss in class to analyze and make arguments about literary texts. You will also have the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge on some short exams. In addition to helping you to say informed and insightful things about works of art and literature, the skills you learn in this course will help you to succeed in more advanced courses in the English major at City College.

Course Learning Outcomes

Students successfully completing the course will: (1) acquire a basic understanding of the tools and concepts in the study of literature; (2) sharpen critical and rhetorical skills through close textual analysis; (3) attain a basic familiarity with a range of poetry, drama, and fiction in literary history; (4) learn to communicate well-argued claims both orally and in writing; and (5) develop introductory skills in academic research and literary analysis.

Required Texts and Materials: Required Texts will be posted to the course website under “Readings” as PDFs, which you will be required to bring with you to class. You will be required to buy the following 3 texts, available in the bookstore: http://ccny.textbookx.com/institutional/index.php?action=browse#books/1860214/

• Baldwin, James. If Beale Street Could Talk. Vintage, 2006. ISBN: 9780307275936
• Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Theatre Communications Group, 2013. ISBN: 9781559363846
• Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. W. W. Norton & Company; Third edition, 2017. ISBN: 9780393285000

Attendance and Participation

In this course, participation is a broadly defined category. It includes an array of factors, including your proven ability to discuss the texts, your willingness to discuss them, and your active presence in the classroom. The rules for earning all 10 points are simple: 1. Do the readings on the date they have been assigned, because 2. You may be asked to volunteer your thoughts on them. And I expect you to cease all cell phone use during class. Any violation of these three rules will count against your final participation grade.

However, weekly attendance is a very straightforward matter: More than four (4) unexcused absences will lower your final grade by 3 points for each subsequent day missed. Both arriving late and leaving early will be counted as an absence.

Assignments/Grade Breakdown (100 points total)

Writing Assignments (70 points): Details of each assignment can be found the course website. Each essay will be due via e-mail by 9:30 AM on the date indicated on the syllabus.

Poem (10 points)

Paper 1: Poetry Explication (10 points)

Paper 2: Application of Aesthetic Theory (10 points)

Paper Proposal & Annotated Bibliography (10 points)

Final Research Paper (30 points)

Reading Quizzes & In-Class Writing (10 points): Reading “checks” will be given at random within the first 10 minutes of class. The quizzes will not be meant to trick you; if you have finished the week’s reading you will most certainly pass with flying colors. Your lowest quiz grade will be thrown out at the end of the semester. There are no makeups.

Moby-Dick Presentation (10 points): Each of you will be responsible for giving a presentation on an unassigned chapter of Moby-Dick. Chapters will be randomly assigned the week before we start reading the text.

Class Participation (10 points): See policies above.

Scale:

A: 93-100 / A-: 90-92 / B+: 87-89 / B: 83-86 / B-: 80-82 / C+: 77-79 / C: 73-76 / C-: 70-72

The Writing Center

Every single one of us could use a bit of help with our writing, and while I am more than willing to give you one-on-one feedback during my office hours, I encourage you all to visit the Writing Center. Located in the Samuel Rudin Academic Resource Center on the third floor of the North Academic Center, the CCNY Writing Center is a great resource for additional help on papers in this or any other class. Call (212) 650-8104 to make an appointment or do so online (www.ccny.cuny.edu/writing).

If you visit the writing center before May 6, you will earn 3 extra credit points. You must present me with written proof of your attendance in order to earn the credit.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism has reached epidemic proportions in higher education. Blame smartphones, blame laziness, blame very understandable concerns over not having time to finish an assignment; either way, plagiarism will result in immediate failure of this course. Remember that as a student at City College, you are a part of a community of scholars for whom intellectual exchange is a privilege. Plagiarism, or the act of taking words and ideas that are not yours and passing them off as your own, is stealing, so don’t do it! And remember: I know how to use Google too, so yes, I will catch you.

For more information, see the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy: http://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/la/Academic_Integrity_Policy.pdf