Building on the study and practice of expository and argumentative writing ENC 1101, ENC 1102 teaches students how to analyze and appreciate literary texts, write critical arguments about literary texts, and employ literary devices in their own writing. While individual sections of the course may involve different literary texts and modes of analysis, all will proved opportunities to work with a variety of literary genres, including but not limited to short stories, novels poetry drama, essays, and multimedia texts. The course’s main focus is on the process of producing well-supported, polished and persuasive writing about texts.

Classroom explanations and discussions will guide you through the reading and writing assignments. You will also receive help in one-on-one conferences and peer editing sessions. Because this class fulfils the Gordon Rule, you will be asked to write a minimum of 6000 words over the course of the semester. You will also need to do the following:

1. Keep up with reading and writing assignments. The following books are available at Goering’s Bookstore unless otherwise noted:

• Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace.
• Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 4^th ed.
• Lynn, Stephen. Texts and Contexts. 2^nd ed.
• Course Packet (at the Custom Copies kiosk in UBS).

1. Do all assignments before a class session begins (by class, you should have read the text selections listed on the syllabus for that day).
2. Participate in class discussions and editing sessions. Bring texts to class and take notes.

Because class attendance is critical to your understanding of class material, you are allowed only two unexcused absences over the course of the semester. After two unexcused absences, your final grade average will be dropped five points for every day missed. An absence due to illness or family crisis may be excused if properly documented to my satisfaction. In addition, if you participate in a university-sponsored event (music, theater, field trip, or athletics), you must provide me with documentation from an appropriate authority. Whether or not an absence is excused, you are responsible for contacting a classmate or me to find out what material you missed and any work that was assigned. If work is due in class on the day of the absences, the work is due in my mailbox by 4pm that day.

One or two tardies (arriving late in class or departing class early) will be excused if the reasons are acceptable and if there is valid documentation. Otherwise, tardiness is not acceptable because it is disruptive, and, beyond any excused tardies, class participation grade and overall grade will be affected (2 tardies = 1 absence).

In addition to attending class, you are also expected to contribute class discussions and participate in workshop sessions with your peers. Learning is not a solitary process, but one that necessarily involves others and I thus consider class participation a very important part of achieving this class’s goals.

Every week, you will complete in-class writing assignments that will deal with the material that has been assigned and discussed that week. In addition, you will have reading quizzes throughout the semester on material that is being discussed for that class meeting. If you are reading the texts as we progress though the semester, you should do fine.

All work is due at the beginning of class on the day it is due. All major essays should be typed on only one side of 8 ½" x 11" white paper, MLA format, stapled, and be in Times New Roman font. On days when drafts are due (workshop days), you must bring two copies of your paper to class. These copies should be clean, typed papers (the same format as the final draft) and already well edited by you. I will not accept any papers that are not in this format.

Any in-class writing assignments should be on one side of loose-leaf college-rule notebook paper and in blue or black ink.

There will be a total of four major essays completed during this course (see daily schedule for peer review and final draft due dates).

Essay 1 will be a New Critical analysis of an assigned text.

Essay 2 will focus on how Deconstructive criticism reveals layers of seemingly contradictory

meanings in the same text.

Essay 3 will use Feminist Criticism to examine texts about women’s textile work (i.e. quilting

and sewing).

Essay 4, the Final Paper, will be an independent project of your own choosing (more guidelines

will be given later in the term). You will have the option of presenting this paper in a web

All work must be completed for a grade since the work assigned fulfills the Gordon Rule, which stipulates that students are to write a minimum of 6000 words that receive feedback, are graded, and give experience in various types of writing important in disciplines, workplace, and civic areas.

Unless the work assigned is specifically designed to be completed in groups, all work must be individual. Evidence of collusion (working with another student or tutor not connected with class), multiple submissions (turning the same work in two courses), plagiarism (use of another’s ideas, data, and/or statements without acknowledgement or with only minimal acknowledgement) will lead to the procedures set up by the university for academic dishonestly in the Honor Court.

Because class participation relies heavily on individuals feeling comfortable expressing their opinions, you must always show respect for the diversity of opinions expressed in this class. You must also demonstrate respect for gender, racial, class, and ethnic differences among your colleagues and instructor.

Any complaints about separate assignments should be addressed to me and not to the English Department. If you have any complaints on the final grade, you may see me at the beginning of the next term. If you find that you still have complaints after our meeting, you may express your complaints on a form in the English Department Office (4012 Turlington). The form and accompanying course material will be given to the Director of Writing Program Administration for further action. A review committee may decide to raise, lower, or keep the originally assigned grade. This decision is final. The material submitted will remain on file in the English Department Office.

These assignments are due in class on the dates indicated. There will be NO LATE assignments accepted. Also, there will be additional assignments and materials not indicated on this sheet (I will announce them in class), and this schedule as well as individual assignments is subject to change. All readings are in the course packet unless otherwise noted (T/C = Texts and Contexts and A/G = Alias Grace).

T, Jan. 9 – course introduction

R, Jan. 11 – syllabus quiz

T, Jan. 16 – T/C Ch. 2 "New Criticism," Robert Frost’s "Home Burial," and Analyzing Fiction,

Poetry, and Drama

R, Jan. 18 –Ray Bradbury’s "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" and from Pietro Di

Donato’s Christ in Concrete

T, Jan. 23 –Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s "The Yellow Wallpaper," Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Cask

of Amontillado"

R, Jan. 25 – T/C Ch. 3 "Reader-Response Criticism" and Sandra Cisneros’s "The House on

Mango Street" and "A House of My Own"

T, Jan. 30 – William Upski Wimsatt’s "If Graffiti Was Rap," "Dear Kozak: The Rules of

Graffiti," "Stations on the National Subway: A Third Wave of Graffiti Sweeps America,"

R, Feb. 1 – Draft of 1 Essay Due, peer review

T, Feb. 6 – Essay 1 Due, T/C Ch. 4 "Deconstructive Criticism," and more NWE stuff

R, Feb. 8 – Ovid’s "The Myth of Pygmalion," Marge Percy’s "Barbie Doll," and Andrew

Marvell’s "To His Coy Mistress"

T, Feb. 13 – Muriel Rukeyser’s "Boy with His Hair Cut Short" and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s "We

Wear the Mask"

R, Feb. 15 – Sylvie Plath’s "Daddy" and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "The Birthmark"; web page

design I

T, Feb. 20 – Octavia Butler’s "Bloodchild"

R, Feb. 22 – Collette’s "The Hand," Kate Chopin’s "Story of an Hour," and Sharon Olds’ "Sex

without Love"

T, Feb. 27 – Draft of Essay 2 Due, peer review

R, Mar. 1 – Essay 2 Due

T, Mar. 6 – Spring Break

R, Mar. 8 – Spring Break

T, Mar. 12 – T/C Ch. 7 "Feminist Criticism" and Susan Glaspell’s Trifles; web page design II

R, Mar. 15 – Adrienne Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers," Alice Nelson-Dunbar’s "I Sit and Sew"

and Katherine Anne Porter's "The Old Order"

T, Mar. 20 – Alice Walker's "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens," and "Everyday Use" 1085-

1092 and Baker et. al’s "Patches"

R, Mar. 22 – Melvin Dixon’s "Aunt Ida Pieces a Quilt," Irwin Shaw’s "The Girls in their

Summer Dresses," and Cathy Song’s "The Grammar of Silk"

T, Mar. 27 – How to Make an American Quilt

R, Mar 29 – Draft of 3 Essay Due, peer review

T, Apr. 3 – Essay 3 Due, T/C Ch.5 "Biographical, Historical, and New Historical Criticism,"

A/G 1-61; Library Session during period 6

R, Apr. 5 – A/G 62-133

T, Apr. 10 – A/G 134-231; web page design III

R, Apr. 12 – T/C Ch. 6 "Psychological Criticism" and A/G 232-298

T, Apr. 17 – A/G 299-389

R, Apr. 19 – A/G 390-460

T, Apr. 24 – Draft of Essay 4 Due, peer review