COURSE STRUCTURE. Course Structure Required Texts Expectations and Requirements About the Discussion Forum Final Exam Grading Academic Policies

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1 ENGL 128: Major American Authors Course Structure Required Texts Expectations and Requirements About the Discussion Forum Final Exam Grading Academic Policies COURSE STRUCTURE This course on major American authors is geared not only towards canonical authors, but also towards exploration of a major American theme: individual realization. Our texts explore elements of the American character and the challenges of the American s quest for self identity. We will look at figures who offer prototypes for success and also consider the structure, goals, and outcomes of individual quests. As you may have assumed, our texts offer varied opinions on the nature of the American character. I have suggested further ways to categorize this theme: Getting Started; Hawthorne, the Individual, and Society (Lesson 1) Whitman and Song of Myself (Lesson 2) Douglass and Individual Freedom (Lesson 3) Chopin and Individual Freedom (Lesson 4) Hemingway and the Lost Soul (Lesson 5) Pynchon and the Individual Quest in Modern America (Lesson 6)

2 Morrison and Beloved (Lesson 7) You will notice that these readings span a long time frame. They have been selected because they provide both a long term view of American literature as a whole as well as a representative cross section of American writers. Hawthorne and Whitman represent the American Renaissance, a period of unmatched literary creativity in the mid nineteenth century. These northeastern writers (along with Melville) helped establish what would be the themes and archetypal characters of our national literature for at least the following century. Douglass is a central figure in the tradition of African American writing, as well as the author of a story of individual power and success. His story is very much the quintessential story of personal empowerment. Chopin is a key figure in the discussion of women s writing in the United States, and she provides another perspective of individual self exploration, one that proved quite controversial in its day. Hemingway, Pynchon, and Morrison represent the twentieth century and the aesthetics of Modernism and Postmodernism. All provide new angles on the creation of individual character. REQUIRED TEXTS See the course description for the most up to date list of materials. EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS You are responsible for reading the books on time, reading ALL of the lessons, contributing to the discussion forum, thinking about what you've read and what others in the class say, completing all written assignments, and taking the final exam. The theme of the course centers on the individual and his or her quest for self knowledge. However, along the way, I may teach or you may discuss other issues ranging from stylistic devices (what is a metaphor and so on) to background information. This information is all fair game for the exam. There are seven lessons. Each lesson includes introductory material study questions questions for the discussion forum. Assignments range from short essay responses to papers. You are responsible not only for participating in the discussion forum and completing assignments, but also for exploring all links. The assignments are explained in detail in each lesson. They include: 1. a paragraph response on Web sites 2. Whitman, a 300 to 500 word essay (roughly one page) 3. Chopin, a 250 to 300 word essay; 4. Pynchon, a 500 to 750 word essay 5. Morrison, a 500 word essay 6. Final exam: essay, based on information and topics from the discussion forum and the course s theme of

3 the individual quest. You will receive a study guide before the final exam. Part of the challenge with completing these assignments is in adhering to the established work limits. Most often, students run into trouble with writing too much. While a little over or under every so often is not a cause for concern, a successful essay will respond to the assignment prompt within the designated word limits. Due Dates and Times Part of the beauty of an online course is its flexibility; however, we will still have due dates that you must honor in order to receive credit for your work. Since you have all readings, notes, and assignments from the beginning of the course, you are welcome to turn in your work early if you know that you will have other commitments at the time an assignment is due. Reading assignments: The Schedule (in the navigation bar at left) includes the starting dates for each text. Have the book read in time to start discussion; ideally you will have finished the book by the beginning of the lesson. Discussion forum responses are most successful when they are made regularly, and when they engage in critical analysis and discussion with fellow students posts. All written assignments are due by 11 pm on the dates listed on the Schedule, unless otherwise noted. I will not accept late submissions. If extenuating circumstances arise, it will be to your advantage in terms of leniency to contact me before the deadline for the assignment in question. Submit your assignments as Microsoft Word (.doc) files. You will send your files to me through the Assignment feature (Go to Assignments, choose the Writing Assignment you are completing, then attach your file and click Submit). Getting Help I am here to help you! Please don't hesitate to send your questions about the course, the reading (what is going on in this part of the story?), the assignments any aspect of our work that s on your mind. I will check my at regular intervals, and, depending upon the nature of your query and what time of day you send it, you can expect a response within 24 to 48 hours. A few minutes of individual help can be worth more than several lectures, so do not hesitate to contact me. If you want help with a particular trouble spot in writing one of your papers, please follow these guidelines: 1. Always start your or instant message with at least one specific question to help me focus my response on your concerns. Avoid questions like this: Does the paper flow? Better questions: Is my thesis statement clear and specific enough? Are my topic sentences argumentative? Does my interpretation of this passage make sense? 2. I do not usually read full drafts; rather, please send me a section of not more than two paragraphs at a time to look over. Usually you can then apply my comments to the rest of the paper. You are also welcome to send me your thesis statement and a list of topic sentences. Tips for Doing Well Expect to work hard! This course will be just as much work as a traditional classroom course. If you're here to save time, you will probably be disappointed. Of course, you will save time in that you won't have to get to a physical classroom. However, talking about books is an important part of understanding them, and since we can't talk in person, we'll talk by writing. The bad news is that writing usually takes more time than simply saying the same thing out loud, and many people find writing more difficult than talking. The good news is that writing gives

4 you more time to think before you speak, and your writing will probably improve significantly during the course: You'll be writing a lot and you will be held to a high standard for the formal papers and formal discussion forum questions. I will be doing all I can to help you write very well by the end of the course. For each lesson, you should log on at least three times and spend the equivalent of nine hours of outside study time in addition to reading time. This timetable is only a guideline, not a rule, designed to help you judge your involvement in class. Work hard, but work intelligently. Here are some tips for using your time: 1. Read each work, then reread it. Time will probably not allow you to reread many of the works entirely during the semester, so mark the sections that seem either difficult or particularly significant and reread them. 2. Pace your reading and spread it out. I usually can't read something difficult for more than an hour at a time without glazing over, and I can't read several poems in a row and get anything out of them. Whenever possible, spread out your work rather than reading the entire assignment at once: You'll learn more and enjoy yourself more. 3. Take notes on your reading: Why Taking notes helps you to remember passages that interested you and that are key for understanding the works. By writing down page numbers, you'll also help yourself find important parts again. Your notes will help you to (a) discuss the works on the discussion forum, (b) write your papers, and (c) review for the final exam. How Using a piece of paper, a 3x5 card, or even the inside front or back of the book, write down (a) page numbers and (b) brief phrases to remind you what was important on those pages. You are, of course, welcome to take more extensive notes if you wish. You may want to make separate lists of page numbers for different topics; for example, a separate list for each of the main characters and/or themes (such as the relationship between the past and the present) in The House of the Seven Gables. What Your notes should include (a) answers to the study questions under the Notes for each author, (b) notes on passages needed for writing your papers, and (c) other matters that interest you too, such as what you find difficult to understand and what you find particularly interesting. You may then bring up these matters for discussion. 4. Use the study questions you find in the many of the lesson notes to make sure you are grasping the material. Write out your answers and use them as a resource for your papers and the exam. These are not to be submitted for grading. 5. Allow yourself plenty of time for the writing assignments. You may want to read the writing assignment, discussion forum question, and /or study questions before reading so that you can keep an eye open for parts of the text that will help you do your writing. ABOUT THE DISCUSSION FORUM Since we will not be meeting for traditional classroom announcements, lectures, and discussions, the discussion forum will be an essential part of the course. When you click on the Forums (in the navigation bar at left), you will see one forum called Our Class, and a forum for each of our authors.

5 Our Class: Please post your initial self introduction to this section. Feel free to talk here about other matters as well, whether related to the class or not (think of this as the informal talk that goes on before or after a regular class). As long as it s courteous, you're welcome to post it. After the first post introducing yourself, this section of the forum will be optional. Individual Authors and Texts: You can use the forums to post comments and/or questions, read the comments of other students, post responses, and read comments from me. Plan to visit the discussion forum several times a week. You are required to post a minimum of three times per week (note, not three times a lesson). Some of your posts might be brief reactions to your reading experience, or responses to other posts. These reactions may be informal, but do answer intelligently. For example, NOT I hate this book! It s stupid! Rather, I'm not enjoying this book much so far because I find it hard to follow the way this author writes: the sentences are long and the language is different from the way we talk today. I was especially confused on page 17: What s going on here? Similarly, NOT just This book is great! Instead, explain why you like it: I like character x and I find character y really interesting; I wonder where he'll be at the end of the book. At least one of your posts must respond to the more formal discussion forum questions provided with each lesson. Specific guidelines for these posts are included in each lesson. The answers to discussion forum questions will be graded on much the same criteria as your papers (see Grading below), but with the added expectation that you will interact with your classmates comments. You will need: awareness of and interaction with others arguments and ideas be sure to credit the person by referencing his or her name in your post. Do you strongly disagree with someone else? Your topic sentence might say so, and why. Do you agree with someone else and want to add another example or reason for what they said? If you are the first person to write about an author, then mention some comment made in the Notes on each author, one of the Web sites you've read for class, or a comment from a forum discussion on a previous author. The idea is that we're having a conversation here not a series of write and run posts, but intelligent interaction. If you go to post yours and find that someone else has just said something similar, that s OK. Your thoughts will always be at least a little different: Point out where you differ from the other person and acknowledge how much you agree. accurate understanding of the work(s) you discuss a topic sentence: a clear sentence explaining what you will argue evidence from the text(s): quotations or examples from the reading. They need to be clearly paraphrased or correctly quoted, and correctly attributed and cited (giving page numbers for prose; poem titles and line numbers for poetry). interpretation: For every piece of evidence, whether a quotation or an example, provide a statement in your own words pointing out what we should get from the quotation or example and how it supports your argument. correct grammar, word choice, and punctuation. FINAL EXAM Your exam will consist of several essay questions that touch on major themes covered throughout the course. These questions are designed to test your ability to think critically about the authors, works, and issues we encounter in the course, not just test your memory. As the day for the final exam draws closer, I will pass along

6 more information. Your test questions will become available in the Assignments section of the Sakai site (see left hand sidebar) on the noted dates and times. See the Schedule for dates. GRADING Papers Your papers will be graded according to the following criteria: accurate (supportable by evidence from the text) understanding of the work(s) you discuss thesis statement: a clear sentence that presents an argument, stating specifically what you will prove to your reader clearly stated reasons for your argument evidence from the text(s): quotations or examples from the reading. These need to be clearly paraphrased or correctly quoted, and correctly attributed and cited (giving page numbers for prose; poem titles and line numbers for poetry) interpretation: For every piece of evidence, whether a quotation or an example, provide a statement in your own words pointing out what we should get from the quotation or example and how it supports your argument connection of your argument to the larger theme(s) or broader significance of the text correct grammar, word choice, and punctuation. Your grade for the course will be calculated as follows: Work Discussion forum participation Writing assignment on Web research Writing assignments on Whitman, Chopin, and Pynchon Writing assignment on Morrison Final exam Value 25 percent 5 percent 30 percent (10 percent each) 15 percent 25 percent ACADEMIC POLICIES By enrolling as a student in this course, you agree to abide by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill policies related to the acceptable use of online resources. Please consult the Acceptable Use Policy on topics such as copyright, net etiquette, and privacy protection. As part of this course, you may be asked to participate in online discussions or other online activities that may include personal information about you or other students in the course. Please be respectful of the rights and protection of other participants under the UNC Chapel Hill Information Security Policies when participating in online classes.

7 When using online resources offered by organizations not affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill, such as Google or YouTube, please note that the Terms and Conditions of these companies and not the University s Terms and Conditions apply. These third parties may offer different degrees of privacy protection and access rights to online content. You should be well aware of this when posting content to sites not managed by UNC Chapel Hill. When links to sites outside of the unc.edu domain are inserted in class discussions, please be mindful that clicking on sites not affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill may pose a risk for your computer due to the possible presence of malware on such sites. Academic Integrity As a Carolina Courses Online student, you are responsible for obeying and supporting an honor system that prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing in relation to the academic practices of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You are expected to do your own work in all aspects of your course. The honor system also requires you to refrain from conduct that significantly impairs the welfare or the educational opportunities of others in the University community. An especially serious Honor Code violation is plagiarism. Please view this brief Plagiarism Tutorial created by the librarians of UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University, NC State University, and NC Central University. The Honor Code applies to all work in the course, including discussion forum postings, papers, and the exam. Office of Accessibility/Special Accommodations If you are a student with a documented disability, you can receive services through Accessibility Resources & Service. You must self identify through Accessibility Resources to receive services or accommodation from either of these offices. Accessibility Resources works closely with programs, offices, and departments throughout the University to help create an accessible environment. The office is located in Suite 2126 of the Student Academic Services Building (SASB), 450 Ridge Road, Chapel Hill, NC, and is open from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. You can contact them by phone at or 711 (NC RELAY), or by at accessibility@unc.edu. LESSONS Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Hawthorne, the Individual, and Society Whitman and Song of Myself Douglass and Individual Freedom Chopin and Individual Freedom Hemingway and the Lost Soul Pynchon and the Individual Quest in Modern America Morrison and Beloved The University of North Carolina Send comments and questions to fridaycenter@unc.edu.