Spring 2016 Syllabus

Hum 2413:  Responding to Literature

Instructor:  Dr. Steve Benton                                                                  Office:  Faust 155, ext. 877

E-mail:  sbenton@ecok.edu                                                                          Office Hours:  M-TH 2-3

Course website:  www.bentonseculit.blogspot.com                                             and by appointment

How will my performance in this class be evaluated?

·         Daily reading journal entries (50%).

·         Four major writing assignments (50%; each assignment is worth 10 points; your best grade counts twice—so it’s worth 20% of your final grade)

What is required for the daily reading journal entries?  The reading journal entries are an accountability measure. They will be written in class. Journal entries will confirm whether students are keeping up with the reading assignments. Students who do not come to class on days when we write journal entries are responsible for sending me an entry via e-mail after they have read the text.  The e-mail should include the sentence: “I have read every word of the assigned text,” if the sentence is true.  If the sentence is not true, don’t send the e-mail.  Students who come to class on days when we write in-class journal entries without having finished all the text are responsible for sending me a journal entry via e-mail after they have read the text.  Read the full text by its due date and get me a journal entry by then and you will get full credit.  Read it late or turn in the journal entry late, and you get half credit.

What will the major writing assignments require?
The major writing assignments require responses of four different kinds:

1)     A personal essay that relates the text to your life and experiences.
2) An aesthetic analysis that answers the question: “Why does this text amuse/entertain/move readers? Why might an admirer consider it artful?”
3) An ideological analysis that answers the question: “What values does this text affirm or challenge?”
4) A literary response that carries forward either the theme or the style of the original text while translating it into a new mode. This response may take the form of poetry, a work of short fiction, a video, a live performance, or some other creative medium. It should also include an author’s comment, describing your approach, why your text is a response to the original text, and what effect you were seeking to have on your readers.

How long should the major writing assignments be?

For the first three assignments listed above, you have options.  At least one of the responses listed above must be 4-6 pages in length; the others should be 2-3 pages in length (this does not include works cited listings, if you have any).
For the literary response, lengths will vary.

When are the major writing assignments due?

You may choose the order in which you turn in each major writing assignment, but the due dates are set.  If you do not turn in a major writing assignment on the due date, you will get no more than 50% credit for that assignment.  Each major writing assignment may be revised and resubmitted on the next due date.  This is optional.

1) The first major writing assignment is due Thursday, February 18th at 2 p.m.
Optional revision due: Monday, March 10th.

2) The second is due: Thursday, March 10th at 2 p.m.
Optional revision due: Tuesday, April 5th.

3) The third is due: Tuesday, April 5th at 2 p.m.
Optional revision due: Thursday, May 3rd.

4) The fourth is due: Tuesday, May 3rd at 11:30 (this is the time set for our final exam).

You may revise and resubmit one response (the first, second, or third) for a higher grade at the time of the final.

What criteria will be used to evaluate the major writing assignments?

Each assignment should be coherent, clear, artfully organized, and mechanically proficient.

Each assignment should also demonstrate careful attention to the particulars of the original text.

If the assignment is turned in on time and meets the word count requirement, it will get a minimum score of 50.

If the assignment is turned in late, it will get a maximum score of 50.

If the assignment needs considerable revision to achieve coherence, clarity, artful organization, and/or mechanically proficiency, of if does not demonstrate careful attention to the particulars of the original text, it will get a score somewhere between 50 and 80, depending on the extent of the revision required.

If the assignment is coherent, clear, artfully organized, and mechanically proficient, and demonstrates careful attention to the particulars of the original text, but I can still offer suggestions or questions that could lead to a meaningful revision experience, it will get a score of 80-90.

If I cannot think of any suggestions that could lead to a significant revision experience, it will get a score of 90-100.

How do you want our assignments formatted? All major writing assignments must be submitted in two forms: in the body of an e-mail and in hard copy form. Submission guidelines are specified on the course website.

What are the required texts for the course?

 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Norton 3^rd ed., 2000)

Paperback: 552 pages; ISBN-10: 0393975428; ISBN-13: 978-0393975420

Transfer by Naomi Shihab Nye (BOA, 2011)

Series: American Poets Continuum (Book 128)

Paperback: 128 pages; ISBN-10: 1934414522; ISBN-13: 978-1934414521

As You Like It by William Shakespeare (Cambridge UP 3^rd ed., 2015)

Series: Cambridge School Shakespeare

Paperback: 216 pages; ISBN-10: 110767512X; ISBN-13: 978-1107675124

Which texts should I respond to on the major writing assignments?

You may choose from any of the required texts listed above (including individual poems) that we have completed reading in class by the assignment due date OR any of the following literary and cinematic events that you have attended before the assignment due date:
1) Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus,” starring Tom Hiddleston (Fri., Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.);
2) “Phoenix” (Fri., Feb. 12 at 4 p.m.);
3) “PK” (Fri., Feb. 19 at 4 p.m.);

4) “Wild Tales” (Fri., Feb. 26 at 4 p.m.);
5) “The Beaux Stratagem” (Sun., Feb. 14 at 2 p.m.);
6) “Jane Eyre” (Sat., Mar. 26 at 2 p.m.);
7) Naomi Shihab Nye (Fri, Apr. 1 at 7 p.m.);
8) Any two sessions in the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival (Thu-Sat, March 31-April 2);
9) Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” (Sat., Apr. 23 at 2 p.m.)
Events 1-5 and 7 and 8 are free for ECU Students. Events 6 and 9 cost $5 for students.

Are there extra-credit opportunities?

Students who attend the entirety of any of the literary and cinematic events listed above and email the instructor an analysis of the most appealing or thought-provoking elements of that event (250 words minimum), may have their overall grade increased by one point for each corresponding e-mail.

Students who attend the entirety of “Jane Eyre” (March 26), “As You Like It” (April 23) or Naomi Shihab Nye’s reading (April 1) and email the instructor an analysis of the most appealing or thought-provoking elements of that event (250 words minimum), may have their overall grade increased by as many as 2.5 points for each corresponding email.  

What’s the attendance policy in this class?  Come to class ready to work.  If you have not completed a reading assignment by the time class starts, read the assignment first and come to class late if you have to.

Class will not meet on Thursday, March 10^th. Class will not meet on Thursday, March 31^st so that students may attend the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival.

What’s the administrative withdrawal policy?  After Thursday, March 3^rd (midterm), students may be involuntarily withdrawn from the class if their participation in the course is deemed inadequate as a result of a consistent failure to complete reading assignments or to complete writing assignments by their due date.