REQUIRED TEXTS:

Lynn, Steven. Texts and Contexts: Writing About Literature with Critical Theory. 2nd Edition. New York, etc.: Longman, 1998.

Cassill, R. V., and Joyce Carol Oates, eds. The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction. 2nd Edition. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1998.

Bakis, Kirsten. Lives of the Monster Dogs. Warner Books, 1998

1. To read, analyze, inform one another about, and cultivate an enjoyment of a selection of works of literature from the major genres--the short story, poetry, the novel.

2. To investigate the contemporary literary critical scene in its most significant manifestations.

3. To practice the art of written literary criticism in a series of essays.

4. To construct an annotated bibliography of selected literary-critical and theoretical texts for posting on our class website.

MAJOR CLASSROOM PATTERNS (i.e., regularly recurring events):

1. Lynn, "Practicing," pp. xxx.

2. Handouts: Classic interpretations of major works.

3. Reporting On: Individually read and reported-on assigned ancillary reading within various critical-theoretical schools and movements.

English 398, the third writing course for English majors, is an intensive writing course that provides students the opportunity (1) to discuss the conventions, practices, and expectations of scholarly writing in English studies, and (2) to practice and thereby further develop the writing skills learned in First-Year Writing and 367. To these ends, students will produce during the term 20-25 pages of graded writing assignments, which might include the following: reading responses, critical exercises, short essays, annotated bibliographies, library or internet exercises, or research papers. A significant number of these assignments should include the possibility for revision. Although the literary texts studied in the course may range across genres, the content of the course may be alternatively organized. An instructor may choose, for example, to organize the course around a particular theme, historical or literary period, critical problem, or other topic.

398 instructors also serve as their students' major advisors. As advisors, faculty are expected to work closely with students in constructing their major programs. In most cases during the quarter, students will, in direct consultation with faculty, complete major program worksheets or (in the cases of students nearing the end of their programs) complete and file major program forms.

The Department of English recognizes the following goals for English 398:

* Familiarize students with the scholarly discipline of English, including an awareness of genre and various methods of critical reading and response;

* Assist students in improving their command of prose style in critical argument;

* Instruct students in the close reading of primary texts and in using that close reading in their writing;

* Develop in students an ability to use both primary and secondary sources in their writing;

* Instruct students in research skills and tools necessary to critical study, including the use of library and computer resources.

ENGLISH 398--3

As noted above, English 398 is (at least) a writing course. It satisfies the "third writing course" requirement of the General Education Curriculum. In the course of the quarter, then, I will assign and ask you to write FOUR 4-5 page essays of about 1200 words, topics to be drawn from the literary and critical reading.

In practical terms, that means, for instance, that you'll be writing a paper on the poetry in The Best American Poetry 1999., a paper on one or more short stories, another on one of the novels we read, etc. All of the papers will involve research into and the incorporation of secondary sources, and one of them will involve substantial formal research in secondary literature and full MLA-style documentation. Given the small number of assignments, I expect that I will ask to see multiple drafts of each of the essays, and I hope you will agree as a class to conduct writing seminars (workshops) with one another, reading and critiquing first and intermediate drafts in small groups. We will space out the writing of these four essays as evenly as we can across the quarter.

I propose that we apportion the subjects of the essays as follows:

In their final revised forms, the four essays will be presented in a portfolio during Final Exam week and will constitute 80% of your course grade.

There will, of course, be other, incidental writing assignments in the nature of exercises, overnight "homework", critical essays/handouts, and the like.

If you've been reading till now, you've come across WJS Course Objective #4:

To construct an annotated bibliography of selected literary-critical and theoretical texts for posting on our class website.

That Annotated Bibliography is the subject of this "ETC." and it amounts to a Course Group Project. In order to construct the bibliography, I'll ask that you each read a minimum of THREE (3) critical/theoretical articles in addition to those we read as a group. I'll provide lists to choose from or, at the least, give you some leads on where to find materials. For each of these three items, you'll write a short precis (5-6 sentences), suitable as an introduction to the piece for English Majors. We'll workshop these summaries, decide collectively who our audience is and what they need to know, and be responsible collectively for what the summaries say and how they say it. The students in the section of English 398 in Autumn 1999 began this project. We will add to their work. Your successful participation in the Course Project will net you 20% of your course grade.

ENGLISH 398--4

ATTENDANCE: Required. I'm convinced that a writing course like English 398 "requires" a consistent commitment on the part of all its participants--a commitment that includes coming together when scheduled and whenever possible. The good of the class--and therefore, by definition, your own personal good--depends on it. That's most of what I mean by "required." In more concrete terms, though, I mean that I will allow THREE absences with no questions asked; thereafter, I will dock your final grade (i.e., your average) by a point for every hour missed without an awfully good and well-documented reason. I hope it doesn't come to that.

LATE PAPERS: In general, I will take a hard line on late papers; even when fully justified, they are a nuisance and they undermine valid pedagogical goals. In order to have a clean operating policy, then, let me say that the grade for any given paper will be docked one-third of a letter grade for each day late after a deadline. I encourage you to consult with me if you're experiencing trouble about a given deadline: a limited grace period can be arranged (limit: one time per quarter).

I reserve the right to refuse to accept, without giving a reason, any particular late paper.