Course Description

ENG 335 American Literature - Realism and Modern

Outcomes

Description

English 335 examines American works of literature from Realist and Modern periods. It focuses on select works and authors, the influence of historical events and philosophical ideas, and specific literary trends. To gain a greater understanding of the material covered in this course, we will read various novels, poems, short stories, and plays. We will write papers, complete exercises, and take tests and quizzes, all in an effort to broaden and deepen our intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic experiences. In this course, we will not only read and interpret great American works, but we will also gain an understanding of the political, philosophical, literary, and historical contexts in which these works were created.

Learning Model Architecture

This course follows the regular rhythm of the BYU-Idaho Learning Model by allowing students to prepare, teach one another, and ponder/prove. Students are required to prepare each week by completing various readings by authors such as Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and E. E. Cummings. They will teach one another by participating in class discussions and will ponder/prove through quizzes, essays, and tests.

Prerequisites

Excellent writing skills are a prerequisite for this course. You must know how to write a focused, developed, well-researched academic essay. You must be familiar with MLA documentation. You must be practiced at literary analysis (in other words, if this is your first college-level literature course, you may want to drop it, start with a 200-level literature course, and come back to this class later). To be clear, I will not spend a lot of time teaching writing skills in this course (it's not, after all, a writing course). Instead, I'll use our time to examine literature. However, the vast majority of your grade will come from writing assignments (formal essays and essay tests). If you are not a confident writer, you may want to consider dropping this class and taking it once you've had more practice. Because writing skills are essential to your success in this class, I strongly recommend that you take English 251 before taking this class. If you haven't yet taken English 251 (or if you are enrolled in it now), let me know as soon as possible.

Required Materials

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Grading Policies

Grades will be divided into the following areas:

Quizzes (20%)

Tests (30%)

Essays (30%)

Exercises/Discussions (20%)

Grade Scale

(Grades will be assigned on the following scale.)

A

100-93

 B

86-83

 C

76-73

 D

66-63
A-

92-90

B-

82-80

C-

72-70

D-

62-60
B+

89-87

 C+

79-77

 D+

69-67

 F

59-0

Class Participation

Because this is an online class, your regular participation in class discussion boards and in other class activities is essential to the learning process. Plan to engage with the literature we will study this semester and share your ideas with the class.

Late Assignments

Students are expected to complete all course work on time. Late assignments will not be accepted.

A Note about Literature and Morality

I believe that all of the works we will read in this class have academic, aesthetic, and moral value.However, you may not agree with my assessment of these works, and that's just fine. In fact, you may find some pieces of literature I've assigned in this class to be offensive and valueless (and again, that's just fine). If such a case should arise, understand that you do not have to complete any reading assignments in this class that make you feel uncomfortable. In these cases, STOP READING IMMEDIATELY, and talk to me about the offending piece. This way I'll be able to give you an alternate reading assignment, and I'll be able to decide whether I should remove the offending piece from future syllabi.

I believe in each student's "right to read." This means that you have the right to refrain from reading anything that you find offensive without punishment or judgment, but this "right to read" also means that I and your classmates have the right to read what we choose without facing your judgment. As readers, we each make moral decisions about what we choose to read. Don't judge others for their reading choices,and don't allow others (including your teachers) to judge you for yours.