ENGLISH 210: INTRODUCTION TO TEXTS
Section 002, MW
10-11:50 am and F 10-10:50 am, HHH 226
Fall 2012, UWEC
PROFESSOR BOB NOWLAN
Office: HHH 425,
Office Phone: (715) 836-4369
Office Hours: MW
11:55 am to 12:25 pm, M 6:35 pm to 7:05 pm,
W 5:35 to 6:05 pm,
F 10:55 to 11:25 am, as well as By Appointment
ranowlan@uwec.edu
http://uwec.edu/ranowlan
STEPHANIE TINBERG,
Academic Apprentice, tinbersa@uwec.edu
COURSE EXPLANATION
English 210: Introduction to Texts, the principal
foundational core course for all UWEC English major and minor emphasis
areas, focuses on
basic concepts and practices useful for interpreting a wide variety of
texts by situating these in relevant and useful cultural contexts.
The word “texts” in the title of this course likely
leads many of you to imagine a considerably different focus for this
course than is actually the case. This is not, in other
words, a class focused on studying “textbooks” or on studying print
design or on studying only particular kinds of books in
print. In order to begin to grasp what this course is about I
need, right away, to explain what “texts” means instead, in this context.
In order to do so, allow me first to a take a brief
step back. English 210 focuses on teaching you concepts and
practices that maintain wide applicability, across a range of
disciplines, not only within “English” but also across the arts and
humanities–as well as the social and behavioral sciences (and even to a
significant degree within the natural and physical sciences as well as
in pre-professional fields like business and nursing for that
matter). These concepts and practices are ones that are shared by
practitioners of disparate critical and theoretical approaches, by
people working with different subjects, through different media, and in
pursuit of different objectives. These concepts and practices
come from multiple overlapping and interrelated kinds of
interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary fields:
semiotics, rhetoric, critical studies, cultural studies, textual
studies, critical theory, and more. For simplicity sake, I will
now refer, in the next few paragraphs, to this considerable array of
interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary fields as,
simply, “cultural studies,” but I believe it is important that I make
clear that the broad understandings of “text” and “textuality” and of
“reading” and “writing” I will explain in these forthcoming paragraphs
is shared even more widely than within just cultural studies alone.
Introduction to Texts is a course in Cultural Studies.
Cultural Studies is a cross-disciplinary field of intellectual work
that emerged in the 1980s, with particular emphasis in the arts and
humanities. Cultural
studies engages the "writing" and "reading" of all "texts" of culture
(and not just conventional "literary"–or print or verbal–varieties of
texts). According to cultural studies, we "read" whenever
we interpret what something "means," and we "write" whenever
we create something which others must interpret so as to determine what
it means. This
leads us to approach all products of culture as "texts" insofar as they
are written and read, insofar as they are understood as possessing or
bearing meaning. "Texts" include everything from the
seemingly most "profoundly meaningful" to the seemingly most "mundanely
meaningless" (as, after all, to be considered insignificant, or of
little or no meaning, is to be judged to mean in a particular way as
well). Cultural studies thus focuses on making sense of
"texts" such as films, television shows, music and video productions
and performances, paintings and drawings, sculpture and architecture,
sports teams and games, trends in clothing and fashion, commercial
advertisements, individual dreams and plans, shopping lists and
checkout receipts, buildings and rooms, kinds of food and drink, roads
and vehicles, manners and gestures, ceremonies and rituals,
personalities and personal relationships, and individual actions and
specific incidents. Cultural studies focuses on making sense of
the meaning
of human products and practices–as well as of the meaning
of the social relationships humans form in the course of interacting
with each other. Cultural studies further inquires into the ways
meaning often, in fact, changes over time, from one period to another,
and varies across space, from one location to another. Likewise,
cultural studies further inquires into the ways meaning, even at one
place and in one time, is often multiple, complex, and
contradictory. Cultural studies attempts to explain what accounts
for meaning–and especially what accounts for the ways that it emerges,
develops, and changes, as well as for the ways that it is complex and
contradictory, in particular as site, and stake, of conflict and
struggle among social groups representing different social positions,
maintaining different social interests, and striving toward different
social ends. A “text” is any
entity (of any kind, in any form,
and in any medium) that people interpret as meaningful–i.e.,
anything that people “read” as meaningful and anything that people
“write” so that others can and do “read” it as meaningful.
“Textuality”
refers, in turn, to the operations of meaning in textual
form–to how, in short, texts provide means and medium for expression
and communication, and for interpretation and understanding, of meaning.
From the vantage point of Cultural Studies, literary
texts are not the only kinds of texts that English engages, not by far,
yet “literature,”
taking a cue from literary and cultural studies
theorist Terry Eagleton, here refers to whatever a particular
culture
(or subculture) happens to regard as especially "highly valued
writing." This flexible definition recognizes that what is
defined as “literature” and what is not–and especially “good” or
“great” literature–varies considerably across time and space, and
remains a continual focus of popular debate and critical
contestation. But it also recognizes that literary studies
maintains a crucial place within a larger field of cultural studies:
inquiry into what makes for different conceptions of highly valued
writing within and across different historical cultures (and
subcultures), as well as interpretation and appreciation of those texts
that do maintain the status of “literature.”
Within Cultural Studies, however, and also
throughout the history of the existence of this particular course,
English 210: Introduction to Texts, practitioners tend to emphasize
texts that are not conventionally conceived as great works of art–or
the mainstays of ‘high’ or ‘fine’ culture–instead focusing on the vast
array of cultural processes and productions we find in the broad,
diverse arena commonly referred to as “popular culture.”
In doing
so, work in Cultural Studies shows how it is possible–and
useful–to
bring to bear concepts and practices for interpretation of cultural
texts of all levels and kinds. At the same time, cultural
studies
takes ‘great works of art’–and, more broadly, texts of ‘high’ or ‘fine’
culture–seriously too, focusing on showing how these are related
to
texts of popular culture, including, often, as deliberate
critiques of,
rejections of, departures from, escapes from, and ways of, even if only
partially and temporarily, transcending the qualitative problems and
limitations of popular culture.
English 210 aims to help you to engage critically
with all of these different texts of culture, thereby far less easily
subject to manipulation, indoctrination, dogmatism, demagoguery, or any
other tendencies to end up as mere mindless consumers, shallow
conformists, or passive victims versus the power exercised by dominant
social–and political–groups. Ultimately, English 210 aims to help
you engage as producers (and not merely consumers) of your culture, and
of your cultural experience.
In the first half
of this course we will focus on
learning and initially applying key concepts and practices for
understanding and interpretation of cultural texts. You will
learn and apply techniques of “close reading”: what Barry Brummett
defines as “the mindful, disciplined reading of an object with a view
to deeper understanding of its meanings.” You will learn and
apply methods and approaches for effective critical and argumentative
writing. And you will, ultimately most important of all, learn
and apply key concepts: concepts of theory, author/ authoring/
authority, reading/ textuality/ writing, subjectivity,
culture/ multiculturalism/ popular culture/ media culture, ideology,
history, space/time, and ‘differences’–including race, gender,
queer(ity)/ sexuality, and class. Unlike English 284,
Introduction to Theory and Criticism, in English 210 we will not focus
in depth or detail on learning and applying distinct theoretical and
critical approaches, such as feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis,
strructuralism, deconstruction, and so on. And further unlike
English 284 we will not concentrate
on reading primary texts written by
leading exemplars of these kinds of theoretical and critical
approaches. When we engage with theoretical and critical concepts
in this class, our aim will be to focus on what does it mean to begin
to think, to read, to write, and to act critically and theoretically,
in general.
All of what we concentrate on, in the first half of
the course, will be concerned with introducing you to broadly useful
ways of reading–and writing about–cultural
texts, and as we do so, we
will make reference to a range of different kinds of cultural texts,
including many from contemporary American popular culture.
In the second half
of this course we will transition
from working with ways of reading–and writing about–cultural texts to
focus as well on learning and initially practicing writing–that is
creating–cultural texts. Here we will begin by reading,
discussing, and interpreting a series of six critically acclaimed
modern and contemporary plays that all offer overtly challenging and
deliberately provocative interpretations of a broad range of complex,
serious, and persistently topical issues: Lorainne Hanberry, A Raisin
in the Sun; Bruce Norris, Clybourne
Park; Caryl Churchill, Far
Away;
Harold Pinter, The Hothouse;
Jo Clifford, Every One; and
Arthur Miller,
Death of a Salesman.
These plays will present stimulating
challenges to your own interpretive abilities, especially in drawing
out implications from what each represents that will enable you to make
illuminating connections with diverse other cultural texts–and
contexts. All six playwrights have achieved the stature of major
writers of our times, while scholars, critics, and general audiences
have lauded all six plays, even as each play deals with sensitive
issues through often bold and unsettling means. What you will be
doing, after we take the time initially to read, discuss, and interpret
these plays as a whole class, is to divide into three teams where each
team will be working together to compose, produce, and ultimately
perform–for the rest of the class–a short play of your own. These
plays you write will be related to and inspired by one of the following
three sets of two plays we earlier read and discussed: 1.)
Lorainne Hanberry, A Raisin in the
Sun, and Bruce Norris, Clybourne
Park; 2.) Caryl Churchill, Far
Away, and Harold Pinter, The
Hothouse;
and 3.) Jo Clifford, Every One,
and Arthur Miller, Death of a
Salesman. Your play will
be set in the here and now as well as
otherwise significantly adapted and transformed from your two source
plays. So, in sum, in the second half of class you will gain the
opportunity to bring to bear the key concepts and practices you have
learned in the first half of class toward the creative writing of a
cultural text of your own. And you will gain the benefit of
working closely with drama, which tends to be taught and studied
considerably less often in other English literature and creative
writing courses, at many US colleges and universities, than is the case
with poetry, fiction, and even creative non-fiction.
What’s more, you will gain the benefit of working as part of a creative
team. This kind of experience is increasingly widely rated, by
education leaders and scholars, by graduate programs, and by both
for-profit and non-profit employers not only as an especially valuable
“high-impact practice,” but also as a crucial “liberal education
learning outcome.”
BOOKS
The following books are required:
1. Brummett, Barry. Techniques of Close
Reading. SAGE Publications, 2010. ISBN#:
978-1-4129-7265-9.
2. Nealon, Jeffrey and Susan Searls Giroux. The
Theory Toolbox: Critical Concepts for the Humanities, Arts, &
Social Sciences. Second
Edition. Rowan and Littlefield
Publishers, 2012. ISBN#: 978-0-7425-7050-4.
3. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the
Sun. Seventh Edition. Vintage, 2004. ISBN#:
978-0679755333.
4. Norris, Bruce. Clybourne Park. Faber
and Faber, 2011. ISBN#: 978-0865478688.
5. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman.
Penguin, 1974. ISBN#: 978-0140481341.
6. Clifford, Jo. Every One. Nick Hern
Books, 2011. ISBN#: 978-1848420915.
7. Churchill, Caryl. Far Away. Nick Hern
Books, 2003. ISBN#: 978-1854597441.
8. Pinter, Harold. The Hothouse. Grove
Press, 1999. ISBN#: 978-0802136435.
All of these books are available for you to purchase
at the UWEC Bookstore. You may purchase them elsewhere, as you wish, as
long as you do acquire them in time to use for class; these days many
students find many required texts for their classes through on-line
booksellers. All are readily available through that means from
multiple different vendors. I will supply additional written
texts in the form of photocopied handouts, or on Desire2Learn and the W
(the Student-Faculty Shared) Drive. I will also supply copies of
the visual, audio, and audio-visual texts that we may make use of from
time to time as well. Please note well that you must obtain
access to the second edition of
The Theory Toolbox; you may
acquire
access to different (complete) editions of all the other books
(especially the plays, #s 3-8 above) that I have ordered if this is
easier for you.
SCHEDULE
Part One
W 9/5: Introduction and Orientation.
F 9/7: Why Theory?
Read
for Class, F 9/7: The Theory
Toolbox, Chapter
1, 1-9.
M 9/10: Author/ity.
Read
for Class, M 9/10: The Theory
Toolbox, Chapter
2, 9-20.
W 9/12: Reading.
Read
for Class, W 9/12: The Theory
Toolbox, Chapter
3, 21-34.
F 9/14 and M 9/17: Subjectivity.
Read
for Class, F 9/14: The Theory
Toolbox, Chapter
4, 35-50.
*
Paper #1 Assigned, M 9/17: Explanation and
Illustration of Key Concepts. *
W 9/19: Introduction to Techniques for Close Reading: On Noticing What
You See and Hear.
Read
for Class, W 9/19: Techniques
of Close Reading,
Chapter 1, 1-26.
F 9/21 and M 9/24: Techniques for Close Reading: Using Form for Close
Reading.
Read
for Class, F 9/21: Techniques
of Close Reading,
Chapter 3, 49-71.
*
Paper #1 Due, M 9/24: Explanation and Illustration
of Key Concepts. *
W 9/26 and F 9/28: General Recommendations for Critical Reading About
Cultural Texts: a Review and Elaboration Concerning the Writing Process
and Effective College-Level Writing.
Read
for Class, W 9/26: To Be Announced.
*
Paper #2 Assigned, W 9/26: Application of Key
Concepts in Analysis and Interpretation: A Critical and Argumentative
Reading of a Single Cultural Text. *
M 10/1 and W 10/3: Ideology and Argument.
Read
for Class, M 10/1: Techniques
for Close
Reading: Chapter 5, “Ideology and Argument” and “Conclusion: a
Close
Reading Using Multiple Techniques,” 97-130 and The Theory Toolbox,
Chapter 6, 93-105.
F 10/5 and M 10/8: Culture.
Read for Class, F 10/5: The
Theory Toolbox, Chapter
5, 51-91.
*
Paper #2 Due, M 10/8: Application of Key Concepts
in Analysis and Interpretation: A Critical and Argumentative Reading of
a Single Cultural Text. *
W 10/10 and F 10/12: History and Space/Time.
Read
for Class, W 10/10: The
Theory Toolbox,
Chapters 7-8, 107-137.
M 10/15, W 10/17, and F 10/19:‘Differences’: Gender, Queer, Race,
Class, and More.
Read
for Class, M 10/15: The
Theory Toolbox, Chapter
7, 171-205.
*
Paper #3 Assigned, F 10/19: Application of Key
Concepts in Analysis and Interpretation: a Critical and Argumentative
Reading of Two Cultural Texts. *
Part Two
M 10/22, W 10/24, F 10/26, and M 10/29: A Raisin in the Sun and
Clybourne Park.
Read
for Class, M 10/22: A Raisin
in the Sun, The
Entire Play.
Read
for Class, W 10/24: Clybourne
Park, The Entire
Play.
* Paper #3 Due, M 10/29: Application of Key Concepts
in Analysis and Interpretation: a Critical and Argumentative Reading of
Two Cultural Texts. *
W 10/31, F 11/2, M 11/5, and W 11/7: The
Hothouse and Far Away.
Read for Class, W 10/31: The
Hothouse, The Entire
Play.
Read
for Class, F 11/2: Far Away,
The Entire Play.
F 11/9, M 11/12, W 11/14, and F 11/16: Every One and Death of a
Salesman.
Read
for Class, F 11/9: Every One,
The Entire Play.
Read
for Class, M 11/12: Death of
a Salesman, The
Entire Play.
*
Paper #4 Assigned, F 11/16: Interpretation of and
Reflection on Six Dramatic Texts.*
M 11/19, W 11/21, M 11/26, W 11/28, F 11/30, M 12/3, W 12/5, F 12/7,
and M 12/10: Work in Teams Writing, Producing, and Practicing
Performing Short Plays.
W 12/12 and F 12/14: Performance of Short Plays and Conclusion/Wrap Up.
M 12/17: *
Paper #4 Due, Interpretation of and Reflection on Six
Dramatic Texts, by 4 pm in My English Department Mailbox, HHH 405 *
* THIS SCHEDULE IS
SUBJECT TO CHANGE *
** THERE IS NO
FINAL EXAMINATION IN THIS CLASS **
ORGANIZATION AND CONDUCT OF CLASS
SESSIONS
We will work continuously throughout each
period. (If you need to take a short restroom break, you should
feel free to go ahead and take it–but try to keep it short.)
Class will follow a variety of formats, but throughout you will be
consistently actively involved. In other words, while I will
devise the structures for what we do, and direct all of our work
together, this will be a discussion-emphasis as opposed to a
lecture-emphasis class. From time to time I will make short
presentations, but that’s it, as it will be up to you to help us work
our way toward a consensual understanding of key concepts and
practices–what they mean, how and for what they are useful, and what
their significance happens to be. You will need to work with me
in order to enable your learning and that of your peers; I find that
students learn better, in this kind of class, through active
participation and extensive collaboration (including often as part of
groups and teams) rather than by remaining largely quiet and merely
taking notes during the course of long lectures. Plus, we will be
making use of your prior, and other, knowledge, skill, talent, and
experience as a crucial point of connection with everything “new” you
encounter in this class. While working, toward the end of the
semester, on your short plays you will be working in three separate
classrooms. I will give you directions, including targets, for
what you should aim to accomplish each day. I will also ask you
to account in precise detail for what you do as part of these teams
throughout the process, as well as precisely to evaluate your
teammates’ contributions toward your collective work.
UWEC MISSION AND GOALS OF THE
BACCALAUREATE
The following is the official mission statement of
the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a mission which includes us
all, and which each of us helps realize, bringing to bear our own
distinct talents, abilities, knowledges, skills, backgrounds, and
experiences:
We foster in one another creativity, critical
insight, empathy, and intellectual courage, the hallmarks of a
transformative liberal education and the foundation for active
citizenship and lifelong inquiry.
This is a mission to aspire to meet, and each of you has a vitally
important role to play in helping us do so.
The following, in addition, are the six official
liberal education learning goals for undergraduate education at UWEC,
and this class aims to help you, in particular, with goal number two:
1.) Knowledge of Human Culture and the Natural World
2.) Creative and Critical Thinking
3.) Effective Communication
4.) Individual and Social Responsibility
5.) Respect for Diversity Among People
6.) Integrative Learning
These goals require your striving
to meet them. Striving means
learning actively and deliberately, completing assignments in a
thorough and timely fashion, participating in class discussion, and
making connections between what we do while meeting in class and what
you do when engaged outside of the classroom.
GENERAL EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS
I expect students in this course to strive to become
sincerely interested in learning about the subject matter of this
course, and to be consistently intellectually serious as well as
academically diligent in your pursuit of this learning. I expect
students to strive to bring actively and extensively to bear–in your
essays and contributions to class discussion–insights you gain through
your engagement with the texts and topics addressed as part of this
course, and I expect you to strive at the same time to relate these
texts and topics as closely and as fully as possible to subjects of
genuine interest and concern in your own lives, past and present.
And I expect you to let me know right away when and if you have any
questions or problems about any aspect of how you are doing in and with
the course, so that I can do whatever I possibly can to help answer
these questions and solve these problems. In addition, you need
to be ready to engage seriously, thoughtfully, and respectfully–at all
times–with positions that you don’t necessarily agree with, and even
with ones that you may find troubling. After all, great works of
art–including many great works of literature–are often created with the
deliberate aim of disturbing, even shocking many people who will
encounter these. Often the intent is to provoke strong response,
as well as thought–and action–that goes beyond what has become
familiar, conventional, commonsensical, and, especially, merely
“safe.” You are capable of dealing with these kinds of challenges
in an intellectually serious, mature adult manner–and I will expect you
to do so.
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
GRADE
General Standards for Evaluation of
Student Work
In evaluating all work done for this class, I will
take account of how carefully, seriously, intelligently,
enthusiastically, and imaginatively students engage with the concepts,
issues, positions, and arguments addressed in the class and represented
by the texts we read, by me, and by each other. I will also take
account of how carefully, seriously, intelligently, enthusiastically,
and imaginatively students engage with class activities, projects, and
assignments.
Attendance
This course cannot contribute effectively to
students' learning if students do not attend class. What happens
in class is indispensable. Therefore, the following attendance
policy will apply:
1.) Students may miss a maximum of four
classes
without needing to provide an official excuse, although students should
always let me know, preferably
beforehand, if and when you
are not going to be able to attend
a class, just as the same as you
would for a shift at a paid job, because we will count on everyone in
the work we will be doing together this semester.
2.) If you need to miss more than four classes
total
over the course of the semester you should seek to arrange an
officially authorized absence, through the Dean of Students’
Office. Otherwise you will lose
one full letter grade, off your
final grade, starting with your fifth absence from class.
If you
need to miss more than four classes, please contact me, as well as the
Dean of Students’ Office, as soon as possible, so we can work together
to make arrangements to help you make up what you miss.
3.) Students are expected to arrive for class on time
and to stay through the very end of class. If you don’t do so,
you won’t be counted as attending class. In addition, you need to
be awake, alert, and attentive while in class; this means you can’t
expect to sleep or rest in class. Again, if you do so, this will
count as an absence from class. And the same is true of doing
other school work in class or attending to other–personal–matters
irrelevant to what we are focusing on at that point in time in
class. You
should avoid text-messaging, or web-searching, or
facebooking, or playing games on your cell phone–just to mention a few
common temptations–while we are working together in class.
If you repeatedly do any of these things you will suffer a loss of one
to two full letter grades (depending on the severity of the issue) for
participation and contribution during each period of the semester where
this becomes a problem. Since you are all mature, responsible
adults, I respect, if you choose to ignore this warning, that you also
choose to accept the consequences. In other words, I won’t
repeatedly warn you not to do any of these things; instead I will just
note what you are doing, and adjust your grades accordingly. I
know that cell phones–and other electronic devices, especially
providing access to the internet and the world wide web–present plenty
of temptation, and most of us are used to being plugged in and
connected all the time, but you can and will concentrate better, learn
more, and contribute more and better if you set these devices aside and
put them away while we are working together in class, unless you are
using these devices as part of work on class activities or
projects. If I can do so, you can too.
4.) IT IS VERY IMPORTANT IN THIS CLASS THAT
YOU COME TO CLASS HAVING DONE THE READING REQUIRED OF YOU PRIOR TO
CLASS. The quality of your own learning, and that of the rest of
your classmates depends upon you taking this seriously and carrying it
out conscientiously.
Papers
Papers #1-#3 will provide you an opportunity to test
out your developing grasp of key concepts and practices for reading and
writing about cultural texts. Paper #4 will provide you an
opportunity to elaborate your interpretations of and reflections on
significant issues raised by each of the six plays we will read and
work with in class. Each paper assignment will be different,
asking you to work with a different set of concepts and to engage in at
least somewhat different kinds of practices. Each paper
assignment will directly relate to concepts and practices and/or texts
and topics we will have been working with together since the last paper
assignment (or, in the case of paper assignment #1, since the beginning
of the semester through the time of that, initial, paper
assignment). I will provide a precise and thorough explanation at
the time that I distribute each of these paper assignments to you,
including specifications for length (although I will mention here that
I tend to be quite flexible in working with different lengths depending
upon what works for different students). I will also, at the same
time, provide you an explanation of the criteria I will be using in
evaluating, and grading, your work on these papers. Paper #1 will
be worth 7.5% of the overall course
grade, Paper #2 will be worth
10%
of the overall course grade, Paper #3 will be worth 12.5% of the
overall course grade, and Paper #4 will be worth 15% of the overall
course grade. The four papers will, together, be worth a total
45% of the overall course grade.
Participation and Contribution
As a discussion-intensive class, this one depends on
students’ participation. By raising questions, testing and trying
out ideas, taking risks and making mistakes, you learn a great deal–and
help others learn a great deal as well. You learn through talking, not
just talk to show what you have learned. At the same time,
however, talking which pulls us off on far-fetched tangents, which
remains disconnected from and disengaged with the reading and the rest
of the class, or which effectively silences others, is negative
participation. In other words, quality participation is key,
although a certain quantity is necessary in order to enable quality.
Quality class participation does not, however, involve merely asking
questions of me and responding to my questions; quality class
participation also requires you to work to advance a serious discussion
with your peers about the texts we are addressing, and about the issues
these texts raise for our consideration.
At the same time, I certainly understand that not
everyone is equally at ease talking in class, for multiple and varied
reasons. Listening carefully, making effective use of what is
discussed in class in papers and other assignments, and working with
me, with your academic apprentice Stephanie Tinberg, and/or with tutors
in the Writing Center outside of class are all other ways in which you
can demonstrate your quality contribution to our collective
endeavor. At the same time, work in small group discussions and
as part of group and team projects provide diverse opportunities for
different kinds of participation, and contribution. For those who
are especially shy or otherwise hesitant to speak forth in class, for
whatever reason, I will provide you an opportunity to write two
additional reflection papers, in which you can share with me some of
what you have been thinking about and how you have been working with
ideas discussed in class–demonstrating kinds and degrees of engagement,
in other words, that I might not readily recognize, because of you
being shy or quiet. I will offer you opportunities to write one
additional reflection paper prior to my determination of your
participation and contribution grade for part one of the semester, and
one additional reflection paper prior to my determination of your
participation and contribution grade for part two of the semester.
I do urge all of you, even those of you who conceive
of yourselves as shy or quiet students, to do your best to talk in
class, even as part of whole class discussions, now and then; start
slowly and work your way up. Work with me and with Stephanie,
your academic apprentice, to find ways to do so. Keep in
mind that what you have to say matters, and that everyone struggles to
articulate ideas in conversation about serious and substantial topics
as precisely as we might ideally like, but we all do in fact gain a
great deal from taking a stab at it, and speaking forth even when we
are confused and unclear. We can–and we will–help each other in
all the more precisely formulating what we each aim to say; all you
need to do is give us something, in discussion, to work with, to build
upon, develop, and refine. If you do so, that’s a highly positive
contribution. Don’t hold yourself to unrealistic standards for
participation, as I certainly won’t; this is an ‘introductory’ class,
and an ‘introductory’ level of understanding and engagement is all that
I am looking for. In my past English 210 classes all of the
students enrolled always eventually ending up participating regularly
and extensively in our class discussions, and that was great for
everyone involved. You can do it too; I know you can–I have
confidence in you; you wouldn’t be here if you were not eminently
capable of doing a fine job in participation and contribution.
You will receive two participation and contribution
grades, each corresponding roughly to one-half of the semester, with
each worth 10% of the overall course
grade, for a combined total worth
20% of the overall course grade.
Small Group Project–Leadership of
Class Discussion of Issues Related to
Two Plays
As part of a group of students you will be
responsible for leading our discussion of a significant issue, or nexus
of issues, from one of the following three sets of two plays: 1.) A
Raisin in the Sun and Clybourne
Park; 2.) Far Away and The Hothouse;
and 3.) Every One and Death of a Salesman. In
consultation with
me, you will get to choose the issue(s) and you will get to decide what
kind of short presentation and what kind of extended activity you think
will prove most useful, and most interesting. Your aims here will
be: to help your fellow students better understand and appreciate (the
meaning, value, and significance of) the plays for which you are
responsible, as well as to help stimulate an interesting discussion of
the plays, including by drawing connections (comparisons and contrasts)
with other cultural texts and contexts. If you can come up with
some good ideas to help the students who will subsequently be working
with these two plays as source material for composing, producing,
rehearsing, and ultimately performing their own short play that will be
great. Each group will meet with me (and, as possible, also with
Stephanie Tinberg, your academic apprentice, as well) in a conference
prior to the day in which you will be responsible for half of class; I
will help you prepare. Your performance on this assignment will
be worth 10% of
the overall course grade.
Large Team Project–Composition,
Production, Rehearsal, and Performance
of a Short Play
Here you will be working together with a team of
your peers from class to compose, produce, rehearse, and ultimately
perform–in class, for the rest of us–a short play directly inspired by
one of the following three set of two plays: 1.) A Raisin in the Sun
and Clybourne Park; 2.) Far Away and The Hothouse; and 3.) Every One
and Death of a Salesman.
You will be updating and translating
these plays so that your play is focused on the here and now. At
the same time, you will be maintaining significant elements of plot,
character, style, mood, tone, and even setting from your original
source-plays. And you will be working to find ways to make use of
the key concepts for reading and writing about cultural texts that we
discussed in the first half of the semester; you will be bringing these
to bear in how you compose, produce, and perform your play,
demonstrating how your “writing” here of a cultural text reflects your
critical “reading” of (and is in fact another way of “writing about”) a
series of other cultural texts. As such, your play will offer a
critical as well as creative take on some significant aspects of
contemporary American culture, linked with and inspired by Hansberry’s
and Norris’, Churchill’s and Pinter’s, and Clifford’s and Miller’s
creative and critical takes on significant aspects of American and/or
British culture. I will provide more details when I give
you the specific assignment for this project. I will also give
you instructions as well as suggestions and recommendations throughout
the time you will be working on this assignment. And you should
note well that even as this is the kind of assignment that students
overwhelmingly tend to enjoy working on, and that includes students
initially skeptical or worried about it, you will need to take it
seriously, and make productive use of your time. In addition, you
almost certainly will need to work on it outside of as well as inside
of class, even though you will have three weeks of class periods to
work in your teams on composing, producing, and rehearsing your short
plays. Please feel free to consult with me outside as well as
inside of class as you are working on this project; I will be glad to
help in any and every way I can. (Likewise, Stephanie Tinberg,
your academic apprentice, will be happy to assist you outside as well
inside of class as well.) I will be doing everything I can
to help you in class throughout the period of time that you are
developing your play. Finally, I will be giving each member of
each team an evaluation sheet to fill out and turn in after your play
has been performed in class, where you will evaluate your own and each
other member of your team’s contribution to the collective project you
have worked on; I will take what teams write on these evaluation forms,
about yourselves and your teammates, significantly into account in
determining your individual grades for this project. Please also
feel free to let me know right away, at any point in the process, if
any members of your team are not contributing constructively to your
collective project. The grade for your work as part of a team of
peers involved in composing, producing, and performing a short play
will be worth 25%
of the overall course grade.
General Formatting Requirements: Papers
All papers should be typed, double-space, on
standard white letter-sized (8" X 11") typewriter, computer printer, or
photographic paper. You may use any standard font you wish but
your print size must remain between 10 and 12 points. Pages
should be numbered, and your name should be at the top of the first
page. The pages of your paper must be stapled together and you
are responsible for doing so; I do not bring staplers to class.
You are also responsible for proofreading your paper before you turn it
in; if you catch any typographical errors, you should neatly cross
these out and write your corrections on top of these with a pen.
I will expect you, furthermore, to observe the rules and conventions of
Standard Written English to the best of your ability in writing these
papers, including MLA format for citation and documentation of sources
outside of those read for–and discussed in–class.
Late Papers
Late papers will lose credit unless you have made
arrangements ahead of the time with me to turn in these papers late due
to a serious personal or family problem. Alternately, if you
provide a reasonable explanation why you are late shortly after the
paper is due, you won’t suffer any grade penalty. It is best to
talk with me directly about this, and to make sure to do so within a
week’s time of the due date at the absolute latest. I do
understand that at times real problems come up for all of us, no matter
what we might intend or prefer.
Academic Honesty
Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic
dishonesty are serious offenses. They not only undermine the goal
of learning but also are exploitative of the work of others.
Deliberate dishonesty in written work as part of this course will
result in a failing grade. In addition, plagiarism may result in
further disciplinary action on the part of the University
administration, ultimately including expulsion from the
University. Also, if you directly echo someone else’s thoughts as
articulated in the course of class discussion you should add the last
name, followed by the letters CD (for class discussion), followed by
the date, in a parenthetical citation right after the end of the
sentence, viz: (Nowlan, CD, 10/7/12).
CONFERENCES/EXTRA HELP
I encourage you to meet with me in conference during
office hours or at another mutually convenient time to discuss any
issue of interest or concern related to what we are doing in this
course. Learning that takes place in conferences can be equally
as important, and at times even more important, than what takes place
in class. Please do not hesitate to meet with me during office
hours or to ask for an appointment at any time you think this might be
helpful; making myself available for conferences with you outside of
class is part of my responsibility as your teacher. Moreover, I
always sincerely do welcome getting to know and work with my students
outside as well as inside of class. I am ready to do whatever I
can to help you in your understanding of issues addressed in
discussions and readings, as well as to help you in your writing for
and participation in this class. I want to make sure that I do
all that I can to help you succeed in this class and I want to help
you, as far as I can, to gain as much out of it as possible through
your participation in and work for it. You may also feel free to write
me via e-mail, and to call me–or leave a message for me on the
answering machine–at my office. Keep in mind “my office hours”
are for you, so please do not
worry about “disturbing” me in coming to
talk with me; these are times I have set aside to work with students;
that is their purpose. Let me know that you would like to meet
with me, and don’t assume that this is a big deal of any kind; I think
it’s great when students want to meet, talk, and work on matters
related to a class I am teaching. I am pleased whenever you do
so.
Stephanie Tinberg has joined this class as an
academic apprentice–a teaching assistant–to work with me to help you
learn, and to gain the most from your experience in class.
Stephanie will be helping out with class discussions, with group
activities and team projects, and with papers. Please take
advantage of the opportunity to work with Stephanie; she is ready,
willing, and able to give you a great deal of useful help.
* Any student who
has a disability and is in need of classroom
accommodations, please contact both the instructor and the Services for
Students with Disabilities Office, Old Library 2136; for more
information on the services the latter office provides you, check out
their webpage: http://www.uwec.edu/ssd/index.htm
*
CONCLUSION
In the interest of accountability–me to you–I am
here providing you a weblink to: 1) my autobiographical profile:
http://www.uwec.edu/ranowlan/PROFILE_.htm.
You are also welcome
to look me up 2.) on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1755562371
[If you are
interested in becoming facebook friends, feel free to contact me about
that]. I encourage you to check these sites out; it is useful for
you to know who your teacher is, what he’s about, and where he’s coming
from–and I like to be open, honest, and forthright with you about all
of that. I look forward to a great semester working together with
you!