Basic
Course and Instructor Information
Office—Spence Hall R10 (just past the registrar, see map of Spence)
Office Hours (hyperlink)
Email—ptcorrigan@seuniversity.edu
Phone—863.667.5534
Classroom—TR A 214
Class Meeting Times—TR 12:00-1:15
University Mission Statement
Southeastern, a dynamic, Christ-centered university, fosters student success by integrating personal faith and higher learning. Within our loving Pentecostal community, we challenge students to a lifetime of good work and of preparing professionally so they can creatively serve their generation in the spirit of Christ.Required Texts, Materials, and Other Costs
- Bruce Beiderwell and Jeffrey M. Wheeler, eds., The Literary Experience.
Compact Edition. (Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2008).
- C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996.
- Tom Griffin, The Boys Next Door. New York: Dramatist Play Service, 1995.
- Ticket to The Man Who Came to Dinner, a Southeastern theater production to be held at the Polk Theater. $10 with student ID. See the university’s Arts and Events Calendar.
- Meal at Tuscana Ristorante. About $10 unless you already have a meal plan.
- Brushes, paints, and a sketch pad suitable for painting, something other than watercolor. About $10.
Catalog Description and Intended Learning Outcomes
This course
introduces an in-depth study
of the poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama of American, English and
world literature. Prerequisite: ENGL 1233. Credit Hours: 3. Students who successfully complete this course will:
- Understand the general nature, purposes, and techniques of literature with a sense of its relationship to life and culture.
- Recognize a representative selection of literary works by major writers (including notable stylistic devices and features) representing a diversity of prominent historical and cultural traditions and issues.
- Understand the biographical, historical, and cultural contexts of a representative selection of works by major writers.
- Identify the relationships among the literary works studied and the philosophical/religious and political/social/economic milieus of the cultures and subcultures within and among which they were written.
- Engage and respond to literary texts personally and creatively.
- Think, write, and speak about literary texts critically and effectively.
- Blogging Project. (70 percent of the final grade) As the primary course requirement, student must keep an extensive blog in response to course readings and content. See The Guide to Blogging in this Class and How to Set Up Your Blog which constitute extensions of this syllabus.
- Commenting Project.
(20 percent) As a corollary to the blogging project, students will be
responsible
for posting comments on each other’s blogs on a weekly basis. See The Guide to Commenting in this Class which constitutes an extension
of this syllabus.
- Preparation and
Participation. (10 percent) Students must consistently come
to class on
time having done the appropriate reading and writing. Work will be
necessary in
preparation for every class. Students should always bring to class the
assigned reading for the day. Preparation and participation will be
evaluated
through quality of work, quizzes, exams, attendance (and
non-tardiness), and
observations made by the teacher during class discussion and small
group work. Several
in-class activities will include painting. Participation on those days
depends
on you bringing painting materials to class as indicated on the course
calendar. Students are also expected to attend and participate in field
trips,
film nights, and a Southeastern theater production chosen by the
professor.
These events will be weighted more heavily than typical class sessions
in terms
of the participation and preparation grade. Alternative assignments, if
arranged with the instructor in advance, are worth equal participation
credit.
- Exams. (pass/fail—passing requisite for passing the course) A midterm and a final will be given.
- Attendance: Students
should attend every class session. Students
will not receive
any credit for participation on those days in which they are absent,
regardless
of the reason for the absence. Per university policy students may miss
one week
worth of classes without a direct grade penalty based on absences: two
classes
for a class that meets once a week, three classes for a class that
meets three
times a week. If a student misses more than the allowed number of
absences, his
or her final grade will be reduced by one full letter grade. Illness or
other
personal emergencies do not count as “excused absences,” so the allowed
number
of absences should be saved for the possibility of being needed in an
emergency.
- Lateness: Because of the place of
dialogue in this course, being on time it particularly important. Late
blog posts and
comments will receive
no credit. Students
arriving to
class five or more minutes late will usually be counted absent.
Students
arriving to class late any amount of time more
than once may be accounted absent.
- Technology: While the
technologies we are using in
this class represent a basic level of technological literacy, it is
understandable that some students may have difficulty learning how to
use them.
These difficulties can be worked out. In general, excuses will be
allowed for technological
difficulties during the first two weeks of the semester.
- Email
as Official
Communication: Southeastern University requires
all faculty, staff
and students to use their Southeastern email address for official
university
communication. Students are required to check Southeastern
email daily as
they will be held accountable for all communications sent through this
medium.
- Accommodations
for Students
with Disabilities: I fully endorse this
school’s position on accommodations: "Southeastern University is
committed
to the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with
learning and or
physical disabilities, as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act
1973. If you think you may qualify for these accommodations,
notify your
instructor. You will then be directed to contact the Director
of Academic
Success at 863-667-5157."
- Mandatory Final Exam: Attendance
at the final exam
for this course is mandatory per university policy: "Every professor is obligated to
administer a final exam or
hold an appropriate class during the regularly scheduled exam period.
Every
student is obligated to take the final exam or attend that appropriate
class
during the regularly scheduled exam period. Please plan accordingly and
carefully for final
exams. You must not plan vacations, ministry
appointments, weddings,
airline flights, or any other similar activity or engagement that will
conflict
with the final exam schedule. Also, do not schedule any of these
activities so
close to your final exam that the commute to the activity conflicts
with the
final exam schedule. Final exams will be
administered in the room
where the class normally meets. Students with more
than 3
exams scheduled on one day can petition the instructor and department
chair/college dean to take one of the exams another day."
- Mandatory Course Evaluations: In
order to help the
faculty and administration to assess the effectiveness of our courses
and
instructors, all registered students must complete a course evaluation
at the
end of the semester. You must complete a course
evaluation form for this
course before your grade can be posted.
- Original Work: In
general, all work submitted for this class must be a student’s original
work
created for this class. Students may not submit for this course any
work
created for some context other than this course without specific
permission
from the instructor. Doing such constitutes academic dishonesty.
- Academic Honesty: The entire
policy on academic
honesty/dishonesty available in the university catalogue (link)
and
in the student handbook (PDF) constitutes
as an extension of this syllabus. Students should carefully read it to
be
familiar with the definitions and penalties associated with plagiarism
and
other forms of cheating. Ignorance of these policies cannot serve as an
excuse.
In some instances, a first offense can result in
consequences up to
failing the course and/or being expelled from the university.
- Consent to Comply: Students must indicate their consent to comply with this syllabus by completing the “Content to Comply” form linked to here. This is an expanded version of the standard university form—it includes a number of pedagogical disclosures that are important to note at the beginning of the course—and must be completed uniquely for this class by the end of the second week of the semester.
Selected Bibliography and Useful Links
Brueggemann,
Walter. The Prophetic Imagination.
Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001.
Eagleton,
Terry. How to Read a
Poem.
Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2007.
Gwynn,
R. S., and April Lindner, eds. Contemporary American Poetry: A Pocket
Anthology.
Penguin academics. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005.
Hunt,
Douglas, ed. The Riverside
Anthology of Literature.
Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
Lauter,
Paul, ed. The Heath
Anthology of American Literature. Volumes A through E.
Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co, 2006.
Morgan,
Dan. “Connecting
Literature to Students’ Lives.” College
English
55.5 (1993): 491-500.
Moyers,
Bill D., James Haba, and David Grubin. The Language of Life: A Festival of
Poets.
New York: Broadway Books, 2001.
Miller,
Richard E. Writing at the
End of the World.
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005.
Ryken,
Leland. The Christian
Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing.
Colorado Springs, Colo: Shaw Books, 2002.
