ENG 242 Survey of American Literature II

Course Information

Instructor:

Dr. Thomas L. Long

241 Wythe Hall

757.825.3663 (voice) | 757.825.3842 (fax)

longt@tncc.cc.va.us (email)| http://www.tncc.cc.va.us/faculty/longt/ (Web site)

Office Hours: MTWR 5:30-6:30 p.m.

The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 2. 3^rd ed. Paul Lauter, general ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.

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.

Reading, lecture, discussion, quizzes, in-class writing, reports written outside of class.

Grade Points

Quizzes:

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

In-class Writing:

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

Attendance and Participation:

Reliable attendance by all students is essential to learning. Students who miss more than nine hours of the course, for whatever reason, will receive a grade of "F." Students cannot make up quizzes or in-class writing assignments. Students are expected to contribute to classroom learning, to refrain from behavior that that detracts from learning (which includes use of pagers or cell phones), and to meet or exceed the minimal course requirements.

Reports:

Students will submit two reports during the course, selecting from these options:

	Historical site with interpretation center (including site visited, date of visit, general description of the site, the historical periods covered of the site, a detailed description of one aspect of the site and an explanation of its relevance to students of American literature and culture). [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]
	Cultural collection site visit report (e.g. Chrysler Museum [American collections], DeWitt-Wallace Museum, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Hampton University Museum [American collections]) (including collection visited, date of visit, general description of the collection, the historical periods covered in the collection, a detailed description of one aspect of the collection and an explanation of its relevance to students of American literature and culture). [Point and click here for an example of a student's cultural collection 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 library report (university rare book & manuscript libraries, city libraries, museum libraries & collections, historical society)—particularly looking for cultural documentation or publication related to the period covered by this course. [Point and click here for an example of a student's archive/rare book collection report.] [Point and click here for another example.] [Point and click here for still another.] [College of William and Mary Swem Library Special Collections] [Mariners' Museum Library and Archives] [Newport News Public Library Virginiana Room]

The subject of the report should be relevant to the chronological scope of the course (ENG 241—1500 to 1870; ENG 242—1870 to present). Reports are due at the beginning of class on the day assigned. Students may request in advance a 24-hour extension without penalty. Reports should conform to MLA composition format standards and should include a minimum of 3 full double-spaced pages.