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ENG 221 Novel, Short Story and Non-Fiction Writing
Term: Fall 2016
M/W 9:00-10:15
Dr. Angelyn Arden
860-632-3005
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1. COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines classic and contemporary novels and short stories. The students write a paper on the literature with guidance through the research and drafting processes.
2. ENVISIONED LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of how the novel arose from the
genres of poetry and drama as well as the differences between the short story and the novel.
- Students will be able to explain the various aspects of the novel - narrative elements, character development, theme, plot, historical placement, and purpose (telos).
- Students will be able to explain why it is that characters and plots in one person’s imagi-nation at a particular time and place has relevance for and speaks to a modern audi-ence across centuries and geographical distances.
- Students will be able to write a research paper in correct grammatical and discursive style demonstrating their ability to write an academic analysis of a classic piece of litera-ture that is well researched and notated.
3. COURSE SCHEDULE
Why did Jesus choose to speak in parables? Why is it that stories facilitate our ability to learn? Why is it that we can get lost in a novel? How is it that characters can reach out to us across centuries? How is it that a character in Jane Eyre not only has relevance for us today yet can teach us about love, loss, betrayal, sin, atonement and redemption?
We will study what makes up a classic piece of literature. You will learn how to critically an-alyze such work and write a literature research paper. Pertinent investigations will include whether you agree with Aristotle that plot is the most important aspect and Plato that fiction can be a hindrance to the ideal culture.
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We will ask: Is there Truth in imagination? Can the literary author represent the search for God? Can an attentive reading to a classic novel or short story unravel truth previously hid-den? Can the novel lead to self-knowledge? Is the novel dependent on historical, social and political factors? Do literary theories lead to cookie-cutter interpretations? Do we need the novel at all or should we exclusively read the Bible for moral truth? Do we agree with Kundera that literature can influence reality and Kermode that classics are satisfying because of their coherent beginning, middle and end?
Many of you will have to write non-fiction articles, newsletters and analyses in your various ministries. In this course, your project is to write a critical analysis of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I will guide you through the research and draft-writing phases of your paper. Using Strunk & White’s fourth edition The Elements of Style, you will correct grammar and style over your drafts. We will use the Turabian format for notation style. The paper will be in Times New Roman, font 12, 8-10 pages, double-spaced.
August 29 Introduction, short story compared to novel
31 Things Fall Apart (TFA), chapter 1
September 7 TFA, chap. 2-5
12 TFA, chap. 6-10
14 TFA, chap. 11-15
19 TFA, chap. 16-20 TOPIC AND THREE ARGUMENTS
21 TFA, chap. 21-25
26 Exam 1
28 The Moviegoer (M), chap 1, sec 1 to sec 4
October 3 chap. 1.4 - 2.5
5 M, chap. 2.5 - chap 3.2 PAPER RESEARCH LIST
10 M, chap. 3.2 - 4.1
12 M, chap. 4.1 - 4.3 PAPER FIRST DRAFT
17 M, chap. 4.3 - end
19 Exam II
24 Jane Eyre (JE), chaps. 1-10
26 JE, chap. 11-16
31 JE, chap. 17-22 PAPER SECOND DRAFT
November 2 JE, chap. 23-28
7 JE, chap. 29-35
9 JE chap. 36-end
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14 Exam III
16 “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”
21 “Temple of the Holy Ghost” and “Good Country People” PAPER DUE
23 “The River” and “A Circle in the Fire”
28 Presentations
30 Presentations
December 5 Exam IV
4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
• Four Exams – 50%
• Critical Research Paper – 20%
• Presentations on Research Paper - 10%
• Participation – Class exercises and overall participation 20%
• Tardiness – assignments that are tardy will lose 5 points/day late
5. REQUIRED READINGS and RESOURCES
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre: Norton Critical Edition. Ed. by Richard J. Dunn.NY: Nor-ton, 2001. ISBN 0-393-97542-8 paperback $18.64
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. NY: Anchor, 1994. ISBN: 0-385-47454-7; $9.48
Walker, Percy. The Moviegoer. NY: Vintage, 1998; ISBN: 0-375-70196-6; $12.05
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. NY: Harcourt, Inc., 1977 (sometimes listed as 1976). ISBN-10: 0156364654; $9.57.
6. RESOURCE
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. Ed. by Strunk, White & Angell. NY: Pearson, 1999. ISBN 10: 1-292-02664-2; $6.95.
7. EVALUATION
(Basis of evaluation with explanation regarding the nature of the assignment and the percentage of the grade as-signed to each item below). Students who have difficulty with research and composition are encouraged to pursue assistance with the Online Writing Lab (available at http://www.holyapostles.edu/owl).
GRADING SCALE:
A 94-100; A- 90-93; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 80-83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; C- 70-73 D 60-69; F 59 and be-low
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Grading Rubrics
(F) (C) (C+) (B) (B+) (A)
WRITING & EXPRESSION
Incomplete writing
Paper is only partially written or completely misses the topic
Writing difficult to un-derstand, serious im-provement needed
Paper fails to address the topic; confusing or-ganization or develop-ment; little elaboration of position; insufficient control of sentence structure and vocabu-lary; unacceptable number of errors in grammar, mechanics, and usage
Episodic writing, a mix of strengths and weaknesses.
Paper noticeably ne-glects or misinterprets the topic; simplistic or repetitive treatment, only partially-internal-ized; weak organization and development, some meandering; simple sentences, be-low-level diction; dis-tracting errors in gram-mar, mechanics, and usage
Acceptable writing, but could use some sharpening of skill
Paper is an uneven re-sponse to parts of the topic; somewhat con-ventional treatment; satisfactory organiza-tion, but more develop-ment needed; ade-quate syntax and dic-tion, but could use more vigor; overall con-trol of grammar, me-chanics, and usage, but some errors
solid writing, with something interesting to say.
Paper is an adequate response to the topic; some depth and com-plexity in treatment; persuasive organiza-tion and development, with suitable reasons and examples; level-appropriate syntax and diction; mastery of grammar, mechanics, and usage, with hardly any error
command-level writ-ing, making a clear impression
Paper is a thorough re-sponse to the topic; thoughtful and insight-ful examination of is-sues; compelling or-ganization and devel-opment ; superior syn-tax and diction; error-free grammar, mechan-ics, and usage
CONTENT
Absence of Under-standing
Analysis shows no awareness of the disci-pline or its methodolo-gies as the relate to the topic
Lack of Understand-ing
Analysis seems to mis-understand some basic concepts of the disci-pline or lacks ability to articulate them.
Inadequate under-standing
Analysis is sometimes unclear in understand-ing or articulating con-cepts of the discipline.
Adequate under-standing
Analysis demonstrates an understanding of basic concepts of the discipline but could ex-press them with greater clarity.
Solid Understanding
Analysis demonstrates a clear understanding and articulation of con-cepts with some sense of their wider implica-tions.
Insightful under-standing
Analysis clearly demonstrates an un-derstanding and articu-lation of concepts of the discipline as they relate to the topic; high-lights connections to other concepts; inte-grates concepts into wider contexts.
RESEARCH
Missing Re-search
Paper shows no evidence of re-search: citation of sources missing.
Inadequate re-search and/or documentation
Over-reliance on few sources; spotty documen-tation of facts in text; pattern of ci-tation errors.
Weak research and/or documen-tation
Inadequate num-ber or quality of sources; many facts not refer-enced; several er-rors in citation for-mat.
Adequate re-search and doc-umentation but needs improve-ment
Good choice of sources but could be improved with some additions or better selection; did not always cite sources; too many citation errors.
Solid research and documenta-tion
A number of rele-vant scholarly sources revealing solid research; sources appropri-ately referenced in paper; only a few minor citation errors.
Excellent critical research and documentation
Critically selected and relevant scholarly sources demonstrating ex-tensive, in-depth research; sources skillfully incorpo-rated into paper at all necessary points; all citations follow standard bibliographic for-mat.
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PRESENTATIONS
Incomplete
Presentation is un-finished, fragmen-tary, cannot be fol-lowed. Student shows little interest in the material with no enthusiasm while presenting.
Difficult to under-stand, serious im-provement needed
Presentation does not show under-standing of the topic of paper. Did not stay on topic, disjointed. Student unable to answer questions about it. Very little use of expression or into-nation; didn’t gen-erate interest and read almost all of it.
Mix of strengths and weaknesses
Presentation shows some understand-ing of material yet student tried to generate enthusi-asm and interest with over half of it read.
Student able to an-swer some ques-tions.
Acceptable
Presentation shows clear understand-ing of the material, most questions can be answered. An average amount of enthusiasm with expression, intona-tion, body language and about three-quarters read.
Student able to an-swer most ques-tions.
Good
Presentation shows good understand-ing of the material. Expression, intona-tion and body lan-guage generated good amount of en-thusiasm and inter-est and less than half read.
Student able to an-swer all questions.
Excellent
Presentation shows full understanding of material. Expres-sion, intonation and body language generated enthusi-asm and interest. Student would look at notes without reading them and was able to answer all questions and expound on them.
Presentation makes a contribu-tion to the learning community.
PARTICIPATION
Incomplete
Participation is un-finished, fragmen-tary, can not be fol-lowed. Student shows little interest or understanding of material.
Difficult to under-stand, serious im-provement needed
Participation does not show under-standing of the ma-terial Did not stay on topic, disjointed. Student unable to answer questions about material or engage in dialogue about it.
Mix of strengths and weakness
Participation shows some un-derstanding of ma-terial yet unrelated or digressive dis-cussions are there. Student able to an-swer some ques-tions and minimal engagement in dia-logue about mate-rial.
Acceptable
Participation shows clear under-standing of the ma-terial, most ques-tions can be an-swered. An aver-age amount of en-thusiasm with ex-pression, intona-tion, body lan-guage and about three-quarters read.
Student able to an-swer most ques-tions.
Good
Participation shows good under-standing of the ma-terial and ability to extend from mate-rial required in con-sistent ways. Stu-dent able to an-swer all questions and generate oth-ers in dialogue with class.
Excellent
Participation shows full under-standing of mate-rial. Student was able to answer all questions and ex-pound on them bringing in relevant material from other sources. Participa-tion makes a con-tribution to the learning commu-nity.
8. DISABILITIES ACCOMMODATIONS POLICY
Students in this course seeking accommodations to disabilities must first consult with the Disa-bilities Resource Center in the Academic Dean’s office and follow the instructions of that office for obtaining accommodations.
9. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Students at Holy Apostles College & Seminary are expected to practice academic honesty.
Avoiding Plagiarism
In its broadest sense, plagiarism is using someone else's work or ideas, presented or claimed as your own. At this stage in your academic career, you should be fully conscious of what it means to plagiarize. This is an inher-ently unethical activity because it entails the uncredited use of someone else's expression of ideas for another's personal advancement; that is, it entails the use of a person merely as a means to another person’s ends.
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Students, where applicable:
• Should identify the title, author, page number/webpage address, and publication date of works when directly quoting small portions of texts, articles, interviews, or websites.
• Students should not copy more than two paragraphs from any source as a major component of papers or projects.
• Should appropriately identify the source of information when paraphrasing (restating) ideas from texts, interviews, articles, or websites.
• Should follow the Holy Apostles College & Seminary Stylesheet (available on the Online Writing Lab’s website at http://www.holyapostles.edu/owl/resources).
Consequences of Academic Dishonesty:
Because of the nature of this class, academic dishonesty is taken very seriously. Students participating in aca-demic dishonesty may be removed from the course and from the program.
10. ATTENDANCE POLICY
Students should attend every class on time unless there is an emergency. The professor should be no-tified in all cases of nonattendance.
11. NOTICES
Course schedule is subject to change depending on the progress of the class.
These are things I don’t like: using cell phones in class or leaving class to speak on the phone, using any electronic equipment in class except to take notes, going to the lavatory during class unless an ab-solute emergency (please go before or after), talking privately in class to classmates, and, of course, being late which interrupts all of us.
Exams and assignments can be made up only with my agreement depending on the reason for the absence.
12. INCOMPLETE POLICY
An Incomplete is a temporary grade assigned at the discretion of the faculty member. It is typically al-lowed in situations in which the student has satisfactorily completed major components of the course and has the ability to finish the remaining work without re-enrolling, but has encountered extenuating circumstances, such as illness, that prevent his or her doing so prior to the last day of class.
To request an incomplete, students must first download a copy of the Incomplete Request Form. This document is located within the Shared folder of the Files tab in Populi. Secondly, students must fill in any necessary information directly within the PDF document. Lastly, students must send their form to their professor via email for approval. “Approval” should be understood as the professor responding to the student’s email in favor of granting the “Incomplete” status of the student.
Students receiving an Incomplete must submit the missing course work by the end of the sixth week following the semester in which they were enrolled. An incomplete grade (I) automatically turns into the grade of “F” if the course work is not completed.
Students who have completed little or no work are ineligible for an incomplete. Students who feel they are in danger of failing the course due to an inability to complete course assignments should withdraw from the course.
A “W” (Withdrawal) will appear on the student’s permanent record for any course dropped after the end of the first week of a semester to the end of the third week. A “WF” (Withdrawal/Fail) will appear on the
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student’s permanent record for any course dropped after the end of the third week of a semester and on or before the Friday before the last week of the semester.
13. HOPEFUL FORECAST: That you enjoy the course and it deepens your understanding of yourself, others, and how to contribute to the world.
14. ABOUT THE PROFESSOR:
Angelyn Arden, Ph.D. received a doctorate in cognitive psychology from the University of New Hamp-shire. She did postdoctoral work in depth psychology, literature, and phenomenology. She has written books on the interface of these areas with Christianity. Her teaching experience includes the University of Dallas which was formative in her interdisciplinary and great books approach to education. She also had a depth psychology practice for 25+ years. She is Professor of Humanities at Holy Apostles Col-lege and Seminary where she has been since 2006. She teaches courses in literature and psychology to undergraduates and Human Formation to seminarians. She participated in the Fides et Ratio semi-nars for 4 years and has lead these seminars at Holy Apostles since 2007.
