ENG 241 Survey of American Literature I

 ENG 241-40H, 726 Hampton III, Tuesday/Thursday 7:00-9:50

 Instructor: Dr. Thomas L. Long, 850 Templin Hall

757.825.3663 (voice) | 757.825.3842 (fax)

longt@tncc.edu (email) | http://community.tncc.edu/faculty/longt/ENG241/ (Web site)

 Summer Office Hours: TBA

 Textbook: The Heath Anthology of American Literature.  Vol. 1.  4th ed. Paul Lauter, general ed.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. The publisher has provided a useful Web site for instructors and students:

http://www.georgetown.edu/bassr/heath/

 Course Description: ENG 241-242 Survey of American Literature I-II (3 credits/3 credits)  Prerequisite: ENG 112 or divisional approval.  Recommended to be taken in sequence.  Examines American literary works from Colonial times to the present, emphasizing the ideas and characteristics of our national literature.  Involves critical reading and writing.  Lecture 3 hours per week.

 Learning Methods: Reading, lecture, discussion, quizzes, in-class writing, site visits, reports.

 Grading:

Quizzes –                                  30%

Reflective Essays –                   30%

Reports and Final Exam–           30%

Attendance & Participation –     10%

Grading Scale

After years of receiving inflated grades ("earning" a C for simply attending, "earning" a B for doing the work in the course), students are frequently surprised and disappointed in the grades they receive at this college or in this course. This is a college course, however, and in this course students will be held to the standards of college-level work, not the standards of high school. Most students who complete the course typically earn a B or C.

90-100             (excellent work)                        = A

80-89               (good work)                             = B

70-79               (minimally competent work)      = C

60-69               (less than competent work)       = D

0-59                 (failure)                                     = F

 Quizzes:

Quizzes will be fill-in-the-blank or short answer quizzes used to determine how carefully and effectively students are reading the assigned texts.

 Reflective Essays:

Each week students will write a brief essay related to each week’s discussion of the assigned texts.

Reports:

[Point and click here for an example of a student's historical site visit report.] [Colonial Williamsburg] [Jamestown] [Civil War Peninsula/Tidewater sites] [Flowerdew Hundred]

 

Museum/Cultural Collection Report

Purpose: To immerse students in the material culture of an American historical period, to engage students in a reflection on broader cultural themes that are evident in literary and visual arts, and to broaden students' familiarity with the complex web of American culture. I will provide a guided tour of the Chrysler Museum and notes on its relevant collections.

 Pre-Approved Collections

Chrysler Museum of Fine Arts (Norfolk)

Hampton University Museum (Hampton)

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (Williamsburg)

DeWitt-Wallace Museum (Williamsburg)

In this project students will:

·        Visit one museum and view its galleries for Native-American, Euro-American, and African-American art of the Colonial, early-republic, and antebellum periods.

·        Select two or three works or objects.

·        Describe the objects and explain their production and context, using additional research if necessary.

·        Infer the ways that the works or objects reflect broader American cultural themes of the historical periods in which they were produced (see introduction to American Cultural Themes).

[Point and click here for an example of a student's cultural collection report.] [Point and click here for another example of a student's report.] [Mariners' Museum] [Chrysler Museum] [Hampton University Museum] [DeWitt Wallace Museum] [Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum] [Point and click here for notes on the American collection at the Chrysler Museum.]

 

Archives/Rare Book and Special Collections Report

Purpose: To engage students in the methods of sophisticated library research and scholarship, to immerse students in diverse forms of manuscript and print culture, and to enable students to reflect self-consciously on their work as honors scholars.

 Pre-Approved Collections

Hampton University Archives

Hampton City Library, Virginiana Room

Newport News City Library, Virginiana Room

Swem Library, College of William and Mary, Rare Books and Special Collections

 In this project students will:

·        Identify the library or archive and explain their reasons for selecting this collection.

·        Provide a general description of this collections purposes and resources.

·        Explain how they went about researching and selecting one manuscript, collection, or early printed book.

·        Describe the material conditions of the material selected.

·        Explain the origins of its production and of its publication (if print material).

·        Summarize the material's contents.

·        Explain its relevance or relationship to American literature.

The subject of the report should be relevant to the chronological scope of the course (ENG 241—1500 to 1870). Reports are due at the beginning of class on the day assigned.  Students may take a 24-hour extension without penalty if they inform the professor in advance of the deadline of their intention to do so. Reports should conform to MLA composition format standards and should include a minimum of 3 full double-spaced pages.

 

Writing Standards

While to some degree the evaluation of writing entails subjective judgments, there are clearly definable standards of competent academic and professional documents. These standards examine conventions, composition, and content in the document or project. By "conventions" is meant that the writer has conformed to the standard formats and document design of the assigned task (a memo should look like a memo, an academic paper should follow all MLA format and documentation conventions). By "composition" is meant that that the writer has used standard spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence construction, and paragraph coherence devices. By "content" is meant that the ideas are clear and coherent, logically developed, and supported by details.

90-100 (A) Excellent writing sets the gold standard. It does not simply meet the specifications of the assigned task; it exceeds them and does so with conspicuous excellence. It is not simply free of serious composition errors or relatively free of minor errors generally; it is exemplary (i.e. could be a textbook example). Therefore, it is rare.

80-89 (B) Good writing meets the specifications of an assigned task very well. It is free of major errors, though it may have some minor composition errors. It may fall short of the sophistication and thoroughness of excellent writing, but it is not embarrassing and demonstrates the writer's intelligence and thought.

70-79 (C) Minimally competent writing only meets the minimal specifications of an assigned task. It has minor composition errors and it falls short in several areas.

60-69 (D) Less-than-competent writing seriously falls short in from one to a few areas of an assigned task. It has serious composition errors.

0-59 (F) Failed writing either completely does not succeed in meeting the specifications for a task, is plagued with serious errors, or has violated academic honesty (plagiarism).

The College Writing Center, located in Wythe Hall behind the library, is available for all students who need to work on specific problems with writing or who would like some coaching to improve their writing.

 

Attendance and Participation

A portion of the final grade for the course will depend on the student's attendance record and participation in the course. Just as a successful learning experience depends on the reliable presence of the professor, it also depends on the regular attendance and the active, prepared participation of all students. Students who miss more than 20% of the course (9 hours or the equivalent three weeks in a standard semester) will fail the course. There are no "excused" absences. Students are also expected to arrive on time and not to leave before the end of class. Late arrivals and early departures (which are distracting to both professor and students) will be recorded and every two instances will count as one absence. Because of the accelerated pace of the summer course, each class meeting is the equivalent of one week in a regular semester.

 

Classroom Decorum

A college classroom is not a publicly subsidized form of adult day care (unlike high school classrooms, apparently). Behavior that is disruptive or hostile will not be tolerated. The professor reserves the right to dismiss any student from the classroom, either temporarily or permanently. Students should consult the "Student Handbook" section of the College Catalog in order to acquaint themselves with the student code of conduct.

 

ADA Accommodations

Students with documented disabilities should contact the college's Counseling Center in order to secure a letter stating the specific reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act that professors can make in order to enhance a student's likelihood of academic success. The Counseling Center is located in 201 Diggs Hall and can be reached by voice phone at 757.825.2827 or by TDD 757.825.2853.

 

Repeating a Course

Students may attempt a course twice for credit. However, if a student wants to take the same course a third time, the student can only do so with the approval of the dean of Instruction. Registering for a course but withdrawing from it later counts as one attempt.

 

Withdrawals and Incompletes

Students may withdraw from a course on their own until the designated deadline at the middle of a term. Students' transcripts will record this attempt as a "W," which will not affect a student's GPA but will count as an attempt (see Repeating a Course). After the withdrawal deadline, only a faculty member is authorized to withdraw a student administratively and only for documented extenuating circumstances (e.g. illness, change in work schedule, military deployment). The professor has the discretion whether or not to request the withdrawal at this point. In addition, a student may request to take an incomplete at the end of the course, provided that the student a.) is passing the course and b.) has already completed the majority of the work for the course. The professor has the discretion whether or not to grant an incomplete. Students must complete the work for the course by the end of the following semester in order to earn a passing grade. Unfortunately, most students who take an incomplete fail to complete the work, so this option should be requested only in extraordinary instances.

 

Student Success

Success in a college course depends on many factors. Our college and its faculty try to provide students with competent, professional instruction and with a variety of learning resources (print media, electronic media, computing resources, tutorial services, counseling). No matter what the professors and the college provide, however, most of responsibility for a student's success lies with the student. Some suggestions may help you to enhance your own learning:

·        College is not high school; in many of the college's courses you are likely to need to spend two to three hours' preparation out of class for every one hour you spend in class. In a normal semester, that means six to nine hours weekly on each course. If you are spending considerably less, you are in trouble.

·        College grading is not high school grading; be grateful when you earn a "B" or "C" even when you are accustomed to earning "B" or "A." A grade of "C" is "average."

·        Weak habits or skills in math, reading, or writing took you years to develop; you will not undo them in one visit to a tutorial center or seeking assistance from a knowledgeable friend one time. If you do not devote time to consistent, regular, long-term remedial work, your skills will not improve. (If you doubt this, ask an athlete, musician, or entertainer how many hours of practice they spend.)

·        Meet one other person in each class, even if you are an introverted person. Having a network of peers will enrich your experience and give you someone else to rely on.

·        Meet with your professor outside of class at least once. You might discuss your work in the course, talk about the college, ask your professor's advice about a course, a college, or something else. That professor might later serve as a reference when you apply to a college or university bachelor's degree program.

·        Get involved in one campus event, activity, or organization. You may find it difficult to fit into a busy schedule, but you will find yourself more connected to your program and you will have another support network to help you pursue your academic goals.

·        Professors teach because education excites and rewards them. You may not share their enthusiasm. Courtesy and diplomacy suggest that you might try pretending to like learning, at least for the sake of your professor. (Your mother should have taught you not to make an unpleasant face when your dinner host places before you some food you dislike or have never tried before.)

·        Lifelong learning is the central fact of postmodern, information-age society. You and I will spend the rest of our lives having to learn new things. If you don't like learning, learn to like it.

·        Take pride in your work. Shabby, careless work communicates three things: I don't care about myself. I don't care about you. I don't care about our common goals.

Workload/courseload. Some students who are impatient to complete their educational goals take a heavy courseload in addition to other work and family commitments. The result is rarely very good for family, work, or academic achievement. Students working at a full-time job should not take a full-time courseload.