ENGL 147 Syllabus

ENGLISH 147

Great Moments in English Literature

Instructor: E-mail: Office: Office Hours:

Course Description: English 147 is an introductory literature course taught through a combination of lectures and small discussion groups (tutorials). With a series of influential literary works, you will explore a variety of historical periods, genres, and critical perspectives. By the end of the course, you should know what it means to study literature at the university level; be able to question literature’s interaction with its formal, historical, and cultural contexts; know what it means to analyze and make arguments about a text; and recognize that literature and academic writing can be important parts of your intellectual development. Frequent short writing assignments allow you to practice and improve your writing skills along the way. This course satisfies the University’s Academic Writing Requirement.

What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. – Carl Sagan

ENGL 147 also meets on Fridays, in tutorials led by Teaching Assistants (TAs). Friday tutorials are mandatory: all work is assigned in tutorials, turned in to your TA, and graded and returned by your TA. TAs lead discussions, work with you on assignments, and hold office hours. You cannot get a grade without participating in a tutorial, and absences from tutorials mean missed course materials and grade reductions. Your TA will distribute more details on assignments and policies at your first meeting.

Required Reading: Joyce, James. ‘The Dead’ and Other Stories LeGuin, Ursula. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (on Coursespaces) – not in bookstore Robinson, Eden. Monkey Beach Shakespeare, William. The Tempest Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein Books are now available at the UVic Bookstore; please use only the editions ordered.

ENGL 147 Syllabus

Assignments (all facilitated through tutorials): “Diagnostic” with “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (1-2 pages) 2.5% Library/Citation Exercises (small source-finding tasks) 2.5% Close Readings (4 x 1-page maximum) 40% (10% each) 2 Short Essays (3-4 pages, or 800-1000 words, each) 30% (15% each) Final Exam (literary vocab., passage I.D. and commentary, essay) 25%

IF YOU MUST USE A LAPTOP OR OTHER DEVICE DURING CLASS, PLEASE ENSURE THAT IT PERTAINS DIRECTLY TO THE MATERIAL AND DOES NOT DISTRACT OTHERS.

COURSE READING & ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

PART 1: “THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS”

Lecture 1 Sept 5 Introduction to course and to LeGuin

Tutorial 1 Sept 7 First Assignment (in-class “Diagnostic”): in your first tutorial, you will summarize and comment on the first paragraph of Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” in 1-2 pages of writing. Show up prepared to do this; you will turn your assignment in to your TA.

First Assignment Goals: Clear, well-organized paragraph(s); paragraphs(s) that show correct and engaged comprehension of the text; prose free from basic mechanical errors (i.e., writing at a level appropriate to AWR courses).

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Lecture 2 Sept 11 “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”

Lecture 3 Sept 12 How We Read and Why – Close Reading and Contextual Reading

Tutorial 2 Sept. 14 Check handouts/communications from your TA

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PART 2: THE TEMPEST

Lecture 2 Sept 18 The Tempest Acts I and II

Lecture 3 Sept 19 The Tempest Acts I and II

Tutorial 3 Sept 21 Close Reading #1 Due (on The Tempest) ________

Lecture 4 Sept 25 The Tempest Act III and IV

Lecture 5 Sept 26 The Tempest Act III and IV

ENGL 147 Syllabus

Tutorial 4 Sept 28 Check handouts/communications from your TA ________

Lecture 6 Oct 2 The Tempest Act V

Lecture 7 Oct 3 “’Play me false’: Rape, Race, and Conquest in The Tempest” (a scholarly article on Shakespeare’s play, available on Coursespaces)

Tutorial 5 Oct 5 Close Reading #2 Due (on The Tempest) ________

PART 3: FRANKENSTEIN

Lecture 8 Oct 9 Frankenstein, Volume I (47-110)

Lecture 9 Oct 10 Frankenstein, Introduction (13-24)

Tutorial 6 Oct 12 Check handouts/communications from your TA ________

Lecture 10 Oct 16 Frankenstein, Volume II (111-160)

Lecture 11 Oct 17 Frankenstein, Introduction (24-31), Appendix C

Tutorial 7 Oct 19 Short Essay #1 Due (on The Tempest or Frankenstein)

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Lecture 12 Oct 23 Frankenstein, Volume III (161-221)

Lecture 13 Oct 24 Frankenstein, Introduction (31-37), Appendices D and I

Tutorial 8 Oct 26 Check handouts/communications from your TA ________

PART 4: “THE DEAD”

Lecture 14 Oct 30 “The Dead”

Lecture 15 Oct 31 “The Dead,” continued and Appendix C

Tutorial 9 Nov 2 Close Reading #3 Due (on Frankenstein) ________

Lecture 16 Nov 6 “Araby”

Lecture 17 Nov 7 “Araby” and Appendix D

Tutorial 10 Nov 9 Check handouts/communications from your TA

ENGL 147 Syllabus

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Reading Break Nov 13 NO CLASS

Reading Break Nov 14 NO CLASS

Tutorial 11 Nov 16 Close Reading #4 Due (on “The Dead” or “Araby”) ________

PART 5: MONKEY BEACH

Lecture 18 Nov 20 Monkey Beach Part I (1-138)

Lecture 19 Nov 21 Monkey Beach Part I continued

Tutorial 12 Nov 23 Check handouts/communications from your TA ________

Lecture 20 Nov 27 Monkey Beach Part II (139-295)

Lecture 21 Nov 28 Monkey Beach Part II continued

Tutorial 13 Nov 30 Check handouts/communications from your TA ________

Lecture 22 Dec 4 Monkey Beach Part III and Part IV (295-375)

Optional Reading (recommended for those who want to write their final essay on Monkey Beach) – “On Critical Frameworks for Analyzing Indigenous Literature: The Case of Monkey Beach” (scholarly article available on Coursespaces)

Lecture 23 Dec 5 Last Lecture – Exam Review / Course Evaluations

Short Essay #2 Due (on either “The Dead,” “Araby,” or Monkey Beach)

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Final Exam Period Dec 8-22 Date and Time of Exam TBA

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