Dr. Steve Hicks Office Hours: M 4-5; TuTH 9:30-11;
1-2
Home: 387-9306 And by appointment
Office: 484-2211 Raub 402 Email: shicks@lhup.edu; www.lhup.edu/shicks
INTRODUCTION TO
LITERATURE
Objectives/Description: Introduction
to Lit. is designed to fulfill the General Education requirement for
literature. It does so by providing a
broad survey of the types of literature -- drama, poetry, and fiction -- and by
providing the vocabulary necessary to discuss intelligently those types.
Methods: Discussion with some lecture for background.
Grading: Two tests, one at midterm, one
final, and two 3-5 page papers, all weighted equally. Anyone making B- or better on a paper or
midterm is exempt from the final.
Participation: Ten percent of your class
grade is based on participation; you get one point per day, based on quality of
participation.
Text: Literature
(fifth Compact); Fight Club
Supplements: American Heritage Dictionary; Handbook for Literature, Thrall,
Hibbard, and Holman
A note on plagiarism: Any student caught using another student's work,
or the uncited work of another writer, will be penalized by a grade of E for
the course. See Literature’s discussion of plagiarism on 1417, then 1474-77.
Paper Topics: The first paper will be
written on an element of a story found in the book. An element is one of the topic headings in
the book ("plot" "characterization" "tone"). See the topic suggestions (start with page
80) in the book for possibilities.
Daily Agenda
|
Jan
15 |
Introduction, one story |
Mar
18 |
Person & Irony 450-467 |
|
Jan
17 |
Plot (11-19): “A&P” |
Mar 20 |
Words 467-489 |
|
Jan
22 |
Point of View: “A Rose for
Emily” |
Mar
27 |
Saying…489-501 |
|
Jan
24 |
Character: “Granny
Weatherall” |
Apr
1 |
Figures 523-540 |
|
Jan
29 |
Setting: “Greasy |
Apr
3 |
Sound 558-575 |
|
Jan
31 |
Tone: “A Clean Well-Lighted
Place” |
Apr
8 |
Rhythm 575… |
|
Feb
5 |
Theme: “How I Met My
Husband” |
Apr
10 |
Closed & Open Form 592… |
|
Feb
7 |
Symbol: “The Chrysanthemums” |
Apr
15 |
Symbol 627… |
|
Feb 12 |
“Revelation” (248…) |
Apr
17 |
DRAMA Trifles 837… |
|
Feb 14 |
“Things they Carried”
(389…) |
Apr
22 |
Oedipus 879… |
|
Feb 19 |
Fight Club |
Apr
24 |
Oedipus; paper
due |
|
Feb 21 |
Fight Club |
Apr
29 |
Darker Face of the Earth, 1134… |
|
Feb 26 |
Paper Due; POETRY 423-38 |
May 1 |
Darker Face of the Earth, 1134… |
|
Feb 28 |
Tone 438-50 |
May 5 |
Final |
|
Mar 4 |
Midterm |
|
|
First Paper Assignment
The papers are
due on Feb. 26, in class. I do not have
to take late ones.
[The second
paper will be exactly like this one, except it will be on either a poem
or play, not a short story]
The papers
should be 3-5 pages long, typed. Use the
paper format (with no cover page) from Literature
(1431).
Write on any
short story in the book or Fight Club.*
The type of
paper is an analysis. If you read
Literature (particularly Chapter 37),
or the section on writing lit papers in a composition handbook, you will find
that an analysis breaks into parts and focuses on one part. The headings in Literature (character, point of view, plot, etc...) are those most
basic elements.
Analysis is not summary. Do not summarize. Imagine you are writing for a person in class
who has read the story but does not understand it. Give that person some insight into the
story. That the point of view works this
way, or that the character they might have thought was round was really
predictable and therefore flat, etc.
If you are in
some doubt, read the section in Literature
starting on 1415. Also, since I know
some people work better from models, look at “Tell-Tale Heart” paper on 1431,
but please don’t write on that story!
Make sure you
support your topic sentences and generalizations with support from the
text. Almost every body paragraph should
refer to the text (either through quote or paraphrase or specific
reference). Support is everything.
Write well. I don’t expect genius-level literary
analysis, but I do expect polished writing about literature. It is not the brilliance of your idea but the
brilliance of your presentation that matters.
Think carefully
about what the book says about creating an “argument.” You are arguing something, so be sure that
your thesis reflects that; to argue will mean that you have an insight -- if it
is not arguable, then it is a given, therefore not worth writing about.
*If you write on Fight Club, I will give you ½ letter
grade extra credit – a B becomes an A-, a C becomes a B-. However, you cannot qualify out of the final
based on extra credit – you have to earn the B- BEFORE extra credit.