TTh 8 -- 9:30 GS 103
Instructor: Dr. Leverett Smith
Office: Lea 180
Office hours: MW 8-9, TTh 9:40-11:30 and by appointment
E-mail: lsmith@ncwc.edu
Web page: faculty.ncwc.edu/LSmith/
Phone: 5193
Text:
Barnet et.al., An Introduction to Literature, 13th edition
Course description and objectives:
English 115 is “An introduction to literary forms (fiction,
poetry, drama) designed to give the student a basis for the appreciation of
literature as well as a foundation for further literary study.” More
specifically, we will study the basic elements of fiction, poetry, and drama
with an eye to understanding how they achieve the writers’ purpose; we will
develop an awareness of how literature embodies political, social, and religious
beliefs; and we will learn how to
explore a work of literature together and to present our conclusions clearly and
vividly in writing.
Written work required: English
115 is a writing-intensive course. During the semester you will be doing the
following kinds of writing: 1. Note-taking. A) Read with a pen or pencil in hand
and record your responses. B) take notes in class on the sheets provided. These
will provide a basis for review for the hour exams. I will not be directly
evaluating any of this writing. 2. reading quizzes. There will be a quiz on each
reading assignment. These quizzes will require complete-sentence answers. 3.
Hour exams. Including the final, there will be three essay exams. 4. papers.
Three one-page papers will be assigned. I will read first drafts upon request.
Your grade in the course: 50% of your grade in the course will be based on classroom work: your attendance, your participation, and your quiz grades, 25% of your grade will come from your one-page papers, 25% from the exams. I will drop the three lowest quiz grades. There will be no make-up quizzes, and late papers will not receive a grade higher than C. A grading rubric is printer in the college catalogue.
Attendance: ESSENTIAL. The college requires me to
allow two unexcused absences, but I have designed the class so that even one
absence will hurt your chances to success. Woody Allen once said “90% of
success lies in showing up.” He’s right.
Plagiarism: I have organized the class so as to
minimize the chances of certain kinds of plagiarism, defined as “the use of
someone else’s idea, as a quotation or paraphrase, without giving full credit
to the source.” See the college catalogue for more extensive discussions of
plagiarism and cheating.
Visiting writers: plan to attend readings by visiting writers. You will receive course credit for attendance. I will be announcing the dates later in the semester.