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Dr. Tom Shields GCB 1031 |
Class Hours: Office Hours: |
Tu/Th 3:30-4:45 p.m. (Bate 2019)
Tu/Th 10:00-10:45
a.m. |
ENGL 1000 (sect. 004)
Appreciating Literature
Fall 2003
In this course, students will examine a variety of literary works in order to gain an appreciation of how texts can be read for a mixture of purposes and in a number of different manners.
The course is presently being put onto ECU’s Blackboard
system. (The Blackboard Gateway <http://ecu.blackboard.com/> is also
available through the Quicklinks dropdown list on the ECU homepage
<http://www.ecu.edu>.) Until
then, updates to the syllabus can be found at the class web site, <
http://core.ecu.edu/engl/shieldse/engl1000/home.htm>.
TEXTS:
The following are the required texts for the course:
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1959. New York: Anchor Books-Random House, 1994.
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. New York: Harper Perennial, 1994.
Cather, Willa. O Pioneers! 1913. New York: Dover 1993.
Chase, Mary. Harvey. 1944. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1971.
Hudson, Marjorie. Searching for Virginia Dare: A Fool’s Errand. Wilmington, NC: Coastal Carolina P, 2002.
Pound, Ezra, and Marcella Spann, eds. Confucius to Cummings: An Anthology of Poetry. New York: New Directions, 1964.
Sedaris, David. Me Talk
Pretty One Day. Boston: Little, Brown, 2000.
CLASS SCHEDULE:
Date |
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Assignment
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August |
28 |
Introduction |
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September |
2 |
Pound and Spann, Confucius
to Cummings
Lyric Poems: “Adam Lay Yboundin,” 107-08; “Western Wind,”
126; Elizabeth I, “When I Was Fair and Young,” 130; Christopher Smart, “For I
Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry,” 179-82. |
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4 |
Pound and Spann, Confucius
to Cummings
Narrative Poems: Ovid, “Dedalus,” 43-45; John Greenleaf
Whittier, “Barbara Frietchie,” 218-20; Francis Bret Harte, “Plain Language
from Truthful James,” 274-76. |
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9 |
Pound and Spann, Confucius
to Cummings
War Poems: “Sans Equity and Sans Poise,” 6-7; Bertrans de
Born, “War Song,” 80-81; Walt Whitman, “The Centenarian's Story,” 265-70;
Ford Madox Ford, “What the Orderly Dog Saw,” 303-04. |
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11 |
Pound and Spann, Confucius
to Cummings
Class Selected
Poems: Come with a suggested poem
from Pound and Spann, Confucius to Cummings, that is not on the
syllabus and that we might read in class. |
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16 |
Achebe, Things Fall
Apart, Chapters 1-6, 1-51. |
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18 |
HURRICANE ISABEL—Class Cancelled |
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23 |
Achebe, Things Fall
Apart, Chapters 7-11, 52-109. |
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25 |
Achebe, Things Fall
Apart, Chapters 12-17, 110-53. |
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30 |
Achebe, Things Fall
Apart, Chapters 18-25, 154-209. |
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October |
2 |
EXAM #1
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7 |
Alexie, The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven “Every Little
Hurricane,” 1-11; “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who
Saw Jimi Hendrix Play the Star Spangled Banner,” 24-36; “The Only Traffic
Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore,” 43-53. |
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9 |
Alexie, The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven “This Is What It
Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” 59-75; “The Fun House,” 76-82; “The Trial of
Thomas Builds-the-Fire,” 93-103; “Jesus Christ’s Half-Brother Is Alive and
Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation,” 110-29; “A Good Story,” 139-144. |
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14 |
FALL BREAK (No Class) |
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16 |
Alexie, The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven “Imagining the
Reservation,” 149-53; “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor,” 154-70;
“The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” 181-90; “Somebody Kept
Saying Powwow,” 199-210; “Witness, Secret and Not,” 211-23. |
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21 |
Cather, O Pioneers!,
“The Wild Land,” 1-28. |
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23 |
Cather, O Pioneers!,
“Neighboring Fields,” 29-71. |
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28 |
Cather, O Pioneers!,
“Winter Memories” and “The White Mulberry Tree,” 73-107. |
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30 |
Cather, O Pioneers!,
“Alexandra,” 109-22. |
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November |
4 |
Chase, Harvey,
Act I, 1-33. |
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6 |
Chase, Harvey,
Act II, 34-56. |
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11 |
Chase, Harvey,
Act III, 57-71. |
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13 |
EXAM #2
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18 |
Hudson, Searching
for Virginia Dare, Chapters 1-3, 1-49. |
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20 |
Hudson, Searching
for Virginia Dare, Chapters 4-7, 51-113. |
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25 |
Hudson, Searching
for Virginia Dare, Chapters 8-Epilogue, 115-73. |
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27 |
THANKSGIVING BREAK |
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December |
2 |
Sedaris, Me Talk
Pretty One Day, “Go Carolina,” 3-15; “You Can’t Kill the Rooster,” 60-68;
“The Youth in Asia,” 69-82; “A Shiner Like A Diamond,” 132-141. |
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4 |
Sedaris, Me Talk
Pretty One Day, “See You Again Yesterday,” 153-65; “Me Talk Pretty One
Day,” 166-73; “Jesus Shaves,” 174-80; “Picka Pocketoni,” 219-27. |
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9 |
Sedaris, Me Talk
Pretty One Day, “Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa,”
192-200; “I Almost Saw this Girl Get Killed,” 228-38. |
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18 |
FINAL EXAM
(2:00-4:30 pm) |
GRADES:
Grades will be determined by three examinations and several in-class
writings/quizzes. The breakdown of the final grade is as follows:
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Examination #1 |
25% |
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Examination #2 |
25% |
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Final Exam |
35% |
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In-Class Writings/Quizzes |
15% |
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100% |
Final grades are averaged using a 4.0 scale (A=4.0, A-=3.66, B+=3.33, B=3.0,
and so on). Students with excused absences (preferably given before the missed
class) will not be penalized for missing an in-class writing.
IN-CLASS WRITINGS/QUIZZES:
At various times throughout the semester, the professor will ask students to
write short (no more than one-paragraph) responses based on the assigned
reading for the day. In addition, there may be other in-class exercises that
students will be asked to turn in.
EXAMINATIONS:
The three examinations will consist of several short response questions that
will take from one sentence to one paragraph to answer in addition to one
longer (2-3 paragraph) essay.
The final examination will have an additional essay treating several works from
throughout the semester that will be assigned in advance. EXAMINATION DATES:
September 30; November 11; December 18.