2016 Schedule

Readings Key:

  • CW=Course Website (access via “Readings” tab) 
  • TT = Theory Toolbox 
  • TO = Tropic of Orange 
  • MLA = MLA Handbook
  • BG = The Bedford Glossary

WEEK 1: Why We Read / How We Read

MONDAY 1/11 WEDNESDAY 1/13
In Class:

  • Why we read, why you’re here, why I am here
  • Course Introduction & Policies
  • What we might write about: starting our final project on day one by brainstorming genres, modes, periods, and materials in literature and beyond
In Class:

Reading Due:

  • Blogging instructions
  • “Why Theory” (TT, 1-8))
  • Eaglestone, “Where Did English Come From” (CW)
  • Eaglestone, “Critical Attitudes” (CW)
  • “Theory,” “Literary Criticism,” “Practical Criticism,” “Discourse Analysis,” “New Criticism,” “Historicism,” “Form” (BG)

WEEK 2: TheoryCamp

MONDAY 1/18 WEDNESDAY 1/20
MLK Day–No Class In Class:

Readings Due:

  • “Authority,” “Reading,” and “Subjectivity” (TT)
  • “Author,” “Authorial Intention,” “Ambiguity,” “Reader-Response Criticism,” “Sign,” “Signified,” “Close Reading,” “Psychoanalytic Criticism,” Psychological Criticism,” “Subjectivity” (BG)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 1: Groups 1, 2, 3, & 4

Assignment Sheet:

WEEK 3: TheoryCamp

MONDAY 1/25 WEDNESDAY 1/27
In Class: 

  • Applying Methods: Text(s) TBA

Readings Due:

  • “Ideology,” “History,” and “Culture” (TT)
  • “Marxisim,” Historicism,” “New Historicism,” “Ideology,” “Hegemony,” “Periodicity,” “Collective Unconscious,” “Cultural Materialism” (BG)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 2: Groups 1 & 2

Reminder:

In Class: 

  • Applying Methods: Text(s) TBA

Reading Due:

  • “Space/Time” and “Posts” (TT)
  • “Deconstruction,” Postmodernism,” “Postmodern Period,” “Poststructuralism”(BG)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 2: Groups 3 & 4

WEEK 4: TheoryCamp

MONDAY 2/1 WEDNESDAY 2/3
In Class:

  • Applying Methodology: TBA

Readings Due: 

  • “Differences” and “Life” (TT)
  • “Aporia,” “Binary Opposition,” “Postcolonial Literature,” Postcolonial Theory,” “Feminist Criticism,” “Queer Theory,” “Disability,” “Disability Studies,” “Essentialism,” “Hybridity,” “Race” (BG)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 3: Groups 1 & 2
In Class:

  • Applying Methodology: Juliana Spahr (from Well Then There Now), Mary Oliver (“One or Two Things”), and Thylias Moss (“Tornados”)

Reading Due:

  • “Nature” and “Agency” (TT)
  • “Ecocriticism,” Deep Ecology,” Ecofeminism,” “Mimesis”   (BG)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 3: Groups 3 & 4

WEEK 5: Acts of Reading, Part I: Tropic of Orange

MONDAY 2/8 WEDNESDAY 2/10
In Class: 

Readings Due:

  • Front Matter (Contents, Hypercontexts, and Epigraphs)
  • Please note, chapter titles in Tropic of Orange are named after the days of the week.  Begin with “Monday” and “Tuesday” (TO 3-93)
  • “Magic(al) Realism” (BG)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 4: Groups 1 & 2
In Class:

  •  Concept Map Quiz

Reading Due:

  • “Wednesday” (TO 97-134)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 4: Groups 3 & 4

WEEK 6: Acts of Reading, Part II: Tropic of Orange

MONDAY 2/15 WEDNESDAY 2/17
In Class:

Readings Due:

  •  “Thursday” and “Friday” (TO 137-207)

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 5: Groups 1 & 2
In Class:

Reading Due:

  • “Saturday” and “Sunday” (TO 211-268)

Assignment Sheets:

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 5: Groups 3 & 4

WEEK 7: The Writing Workshop: Summary Edition

MONDAY 2/22 WEDNESDAY 2/24
Workshop: 

  • Group discussion of Lee’s article will lead to revised outlines of our own summaries as well as plans for engaging / responding to the argument.

Readings Due:

  • Sue-Im Lee, “‘We Are Not the World’: Global Vilage, Universalism, and Karen Tei Yamashita’s Tropic of Orange” (CW)

Assignment Due:

  • Please come to class with Lee’s article printed out and annotated (underline key parts, write marginal notes, indicate difficult areas). On a separate sheet of paper, please offer an outline of the argument, noting all the most important points as well as questions you have about it.
Peer Review: 

  • Workshop our “Summary and Response” assignments in class.

Assignment Due:

  • Working Draft: “Summary and Response.” Two hard copies in class, and submit to OAKS prior to class.

WEEK 8: Looking Ahead to Research 

MONDAY 2/29 WEDNESDAY 3/2
In Class:

Individual Conferences: 

  • Attend One-on-one conferences to discuss your “Text Selections and Rationale”
  • Theory Quiz
  • Use ClassWrap TheoryCap overviews to review

Assignment Due: 

  • Rough Draft: “Text Selection and Rationale” assignment: bring a hard copy with you to our conference this week
  • Summary & Response: Final Draft due Friday by Noon

WEEK 9: Spring Break

And After:  post-spring break our work will continue to reflect the increasing emphasis on your own work and writing that began in weeks 7 and 8.  You will spend a lot of time in the library after the break, a lot of time discussing your individual project, and a lot of time writing and workshopping while learning more about the discipline through Professor Visits from various faculty here at the College of Charleston.

WEEK 10: Research Week 

MONDAY 3/14 WEDNESDAY 3/16
Library Workshop #1: 

  • Meet in Addlestone Library for a hands-on workshop that will allow you to explore and practice research methods
  • Mapping the Final Project

Assignment Sheet: 

Assignment Due: 

  • Final: “Text Selection and Rationale Assignment”placed in dropbox. Revise / refine as needed in light of our conversation. This will form the foundation for your early research as you work towards the proposal.

Readings Due:

  • MLA 1.1-1.7, 5.1-5.6
Library Workshop #2: 

  • Meet in Addlestone Library

Assignment Sheets:

Assignment Due: 

  • Working Draft (incomplete) of your Annotated Bibliography, including at least one sample annotation (hard copy) that you can share with the class.

In Class:

  •  Troubleshooting the Annotated Bibliography.
  • Mentored research time

WEEK 11: Back to the Workshop 

MONDAY 3/21 WEDNESDAY 3/23
Assignment Due:

  • Source Roundtable: Bring in your favorite source and be ready to discuss (with the class) how you plan to use it. Please also indicate a moment in the source that shows how the author explicitly engages a broader research conversation and positions their ideas within that conversation.

In Class:

Assignment Sheet:

Readings & Assignments Due:

  • MLA 2.1-2.8, 4.1-4.4, 3.6-3.7, 6.1-6.5
In Class: 

Assignment Due:

  • Draft: Title, Intro Moves and “Dueling” Thesis Statements (bring hard copy to class).
  • Final: “Annotated Bibliography” (in OAKS by Friday 3/25)

WEEK 12: ProfTalks

MONDAY 3/28 WEDNESDAY 3/30
In Class: 

  • ProfTalks #1: Professors Myra Seaman  & John Bruns will join us to talk about their work in medieval and film studies, respectively.

Assignment Sheet:

Readings Due: 

Assignment Due:

  • “Proposal” (including the “Dueling Thesis Statements”). Post your proposal to the blog by the start of class.

 

In Class: 

  • Group workshop of CVC essays
  • Sharing Ideas for the Close-Reading Capstone
  • Writing Tips

Assignment Sheet: 

Assignments Due:

  • “Critical Voices in Conversation” (Friday by 8pm in OAKS)
  • Blog 6: Groups 1 & 2: please respond to the Prof Talks from Monday’s  class with attention to what the general talk was about, how it related to the reading provided, and how it helped you think in different / fresh ways about English Studies and the work we’re doing.


WEEK 13: Peer Review and ProfTalks 

MONDAY 4/4 WEDNESDAY 4/6
In Class: 

  • ProfTalks #2:  Chris Warnick and  Emiliy Rosko (see readings below)

Assignment Due:

  • Complete Draft: “Final Project” (via OAKS prior to class). This document will contain the final versions of the various pieces of the project so far: a Works Cited (no annotations necessary), the “Dueling Thesis Statements,” the “CVC,” and the new additions: the “Close Reading Capstone,” and the “Conclusion”

Readings Due:

In Class: 

Assignment Due:

  • Blog 6: Groups 3 & 4

WEEK 14: Speaking Lab & Conferences

MONDAY 4/11 WEDNESDAY 4/13
“Final Project” Peer Review:

  • Please bring in 2 hard copies of your “Final Project” revised, if possible, in light of feedback from our one-on-one conferences.

Handout: 

In Class 

  • Presentation Skills: A visit from the Speaking Lab
  • Last-minute troubleshooting for final projects: question and concerns
  • Revision Prompts“: Bring polished working draft of your “Final Project” to class. I’ll ask you to accomplish 10 specific tasks to improve your paper’s organization, clarity, and effectiveness.

Assignment Sheet:

WEEK 15: “Doing English”: LIT-CRIT Undergraduate Conference 

During the final week, we will hold a final, celebratory LIT-CRIT conference called “Doing English”–a conference similar to the ones at which your professors present their research each year.  I will divide your papers into related panels, provide refreshments, and offer a keynote address and closing remarks.  There will be ample time for questions and answers.  Though this is meant to be a celebratory moment, it also asks you, once again, to learn and practice particular and useful skills–presentation and speaking skills in this case–that will be important in your English career, and in your life in general.

* Final Projects Due Sunday 4/24 by Midnight–you will also post your introduction and conclusion (with some connecting elements as needed) for your Blog 7–make sure to include links, images, videos, etc., as necessary *

In Place of a Final Exam: A Blog Reflection (Blog 8)

Having completed all the major work for this class, you should have a good deal of hard-earned confidence in your skills as a writer, researcher, and critical reader.  But you also will likely have a clearer sense of what makes “English”–whether it is your major or minor–important to you both personally and professionally.  In your final blog post, please reflect very specifically upon what you’ve learned here, and how it might play a key part in your future at the College.


Powered by WordPress. Designed by Woo Themes