MALASPINA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE 1996

English 112 - 12

Instructor: Dr. John L. Lepage. Office: Liberal Arts 132; local 2116. Office hours: M,W 1:30-2:30; T, R, 11:00-12:00; or by appointment

Course Description

The purpose of this course is threefold: to acquaint students with a broad range of literature at a first year university level; to encourage critical and independent thinking; to promote skill in essay writing. In English 112 we will study the two genres of poetry and fiction (the novel). Students will write a minimum of four interpretative and critical essays on these genres. At the heart of the course is the research essay. Students will begin working this assignment in the first week, following a set of procedures that will take them through all the stages of research and writing. The final product will be due on the last day of class. There will be a final exam in December.

Texts: Stott et. al., The Harbrace Anthology of Poetry (1994); Rooke, The Clear Path: A Guide to Writing English Essays; Coupland, Shampoo Planet; Kogawa, Obasan; Gibson, Neuromancer.

Course Assessment

There will be two in-class essays (20%), one home essay (approximately 1000 words; 15%), the research essay (approximately 1500 words; 30%) and a final examination (20%). Quizzes, smaller assignments, attendance, and other forms of participation are worth 15%.

A Brief Introduction to Essays

The essay is the form of writing most used in literary study for the good reason that it is the most intellectually rigorous form of writing. An essay (the word is from the French essayer, to try) is a formal attempt to work out a logical or an intellectual problem. It goes without saying that before you write an essay you have wrestled with the problem and arrived at a framework within which to deal with it, if not to solve it. You need not necessarily solve the problem in the essay. Some problems are irresolvable. You must nevertheless attempt to solve it, and you must believe that you have some unique perspective on the problem to offer others. If you do not believe in your own ability to pose questions and try tentative answers you will be insecure throughout your university (and probably your work) career.

In literary study, frequently the greatest problem of essay writing is working out what the problem of the literary text is. You must always ask the questions: What is the problem for me? And, Will this be a problem for others?

Like all forms of communication, formal literature (that is, fiction, drama, poetry, and works designed to be read as literature) is indirect. Communication can never be direct because it involves the two variables of transmission and reception.

Things are communicated in voices and tones of voices - and in figures of speech - that have subtle implications for their meaning. Things are seen, heard, or read by people who are subject to moods, and who are limited by the range of their experiences or the extent of their memory. Therefore, no communication ever means exactly what it says. Meaning is invariably the source of the problem of a literary text and an essay. What does an essay look like? An essay is formal. It rarely falls back on the language of colloquial speech because that is too sloppy and indirect in meaning. An essay establishes a problem and defines it where definition is necessary. It works its way through all aspects of the problem methodically (if not logically).

Where possible, essays should be type-written or word-processed. They should be final drafts of works previously drafted and carefully proofread for mistakes in presentation (e.g., spelling, punctuation, grammar). They should be double-spaced and have appropriate margins at the top, bottom, right, and left sides. They should be on one side of a page only. They should be neat, and the pages free from coffee, egg, or other stain. Essays written in class should be handwritten on lined paper (standard eight and a half by eleven), again on one side only and with appropriate margins. All essays should have titles reflective of their content. If it does nothing else, a title reminds the author of the focus of the essay.

Course Outline

WEEK ONE
Introduction: What is a poem? Poetry, verse and form. Modes of poetry.

WEEK TWO
Quiz. Poetry and the English language. Oral traditions: the lyric and ballad. Poetry as sound.

WEEK THREE
Forms of poetry: popular forms (lyric); courtly, aristocratic, and urban forms (sonnet, pastoral, carpe diem). Research Essay topic proposal due.

WEEK FOUR
First In-Class Essay. Forms of poetry, continued.

WEEK FIVE
The ode, elegy, verse epistle, epigram, etc. Research Essay thesis proposal due.

WEEK SIX
Narrative forms. Free verse and poetics.

WEEK SEVEN
Free verse and poetics, continued. Research Essay preliminary bibliography due.

WEEK EIGHT
Quiz. The Novel. Coupland’s Shampoo Planet.

WEEK NINE
Shampoo Planet, continued. Research Essay outline due.

WEEK TEN
Quiz. Kogawa’s Obasan. Home Essay due.

WEEK ELEVEN
Obasan, continued. Research Essay draft copy of first two pages.

WEEK TWELVE
Second In-Class Essay. Gibson’s Neuromancer (time permitting).

WEEK THIRTEEN
Quiz. Neuromancer, continued. Review. Research Essay due.