Required Text

Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Fourth Compact Edition, Interactive Edition. Longman, 2005. ISBN 0-321-22601-1. You may also purchase the Compact (non-interactive) edition 0-321-24550-4, but you will not have the CD and other technology benefits (book's companion web site).

Course Description and Goals

This online course (intended for English majors) will introduce you to the terms, methods, and theories of reading and writing about literature, especially American short fiction, poetry, and drama. Please be aware that some of the content you encounter in this course may be considered sensitive. You will explore the meaning and definitions of "literature" by studying reading assignments from the text, mini-lectures I provide throughout the semester, and by interacting with one another through online forums and peer writing groups. The success of the course will depend on your individual commitment to engage with other class members about the texts online. You should be moderately computer literate, use Microsoft Word, and, preferably, have a speedy Internet connection--or be prepared to identify a free computing site on an ASU campus that you can use regularly.

Collaborative and Writing Intensive Learning

Although this course is being offered fully online with no face-to-face component, it is not designed to be independent study. In other words, you will be required to interact with your peers and with me, your instructor, as you explore and interpret the literature. In addition, even without the online component, this course is writing intensive. The online component makes it even more so. These collaborative and writing intensive aspects of the course may be the most exciting and challenging parts of learning you're about to undertake. Afterall, you now have a real audience to write to, and you will learn mainly through guided study and peer-to-peer interactions. This can become a great opportunity to practice reader-based, rather than author-based writing. You must anticipate your readers' needs in every writing situation, including online forums, email messages, and more formal writing assignments.

Please decide early on whether you should embark on this journey or not. You should drop the course immediately if you're not committed to working with other people at a distance, participating in weekly online discussions, and managing the electronic demands of the course. I have provided links to online and on campus technical assistance, campus computing sites, and myASU Blackboard tutorials (click on "Web Resources" in the left navigation bar). If technical issues arise, you will need to know or be willing to learn how to troubleshoot and problem solve.

Also, I will be assessing the assignments, online activities, and course schedule as we go. If I discover a need to make major or minor adjustments along the way, I will. Before making an adjustment, I will provide an explanation for the change and fair notice to students, but you are responsible for staying in close contact by checking the course announcements, course schedule, and Q & A Forum at least three times a week or more. Our course web site may be down at times, either for regular campus maintenance or occasional technical snafus. Take care not to put off turning in your assignments at the last minute, since computer problems are generally not good reasons for missing a deadline.

My Teaching Philosophy

Expert Reader/Writer and Facilitator Role: I've studied a lot of research about how people learn. And guess what? People don't learn much by merely listening passively to someone lecture for 90 minutes. Granted, some lecturers can be very entertaining and hold your attention for a good long time (especially if they're funny), but research shows that even medical students (presumably some of the most intelligent people alive--right?) cannot, after about 15 to 20 minutes, sustain the same level of attention during a long lecture. That's why I enjoy teaching hybrid or online courses because online discussions, when done well, encourage everyone's participation. That's also why I require students to ask questions, discuss ideas, and write a lot. Such assignments are meant to make your thinking visible to yourself and to others. Any assignments I make are meant to help you learn--not to punish you with busy work! I view my role as an expert reader/writer and a key facilitator of meaningful conversation that will lead us to greater understanding of the texts we study. Through that study, we should all be led to greater understanding about ourselves and each other.

Identity and Social Presence: Another thing I know about effective teaching and learning online is that you will benefit from the opportunity to establish your identity and social presence among other class members in an online environment. This is why I will ask you early in the semester to create a student homepage with your photo and to address one another by name whenever you participate in online discussions. I also encourage you to self-initiate meeting together in pairs or small groups to discuss your writing with one another. Finally, I encourage you to call me on the phone, drop by my office, and/or arrange a face-to-face appointment.

Accountability and Timely Feedback: Research demonstrates that you'll learn best if I hold you accountable for the quanity and quality of your work. This is why I make regular, brief assignments that ask you to reflect on what you're studying and that ensure your participation online. I also know just from taking years of tennis lessons myself, that you'll also benefit from receiving immediate feedback and timely assessments of your efforts. In this online course, feedback will come from me and your peers, enabling you to understand what you're missing and where you need to make improvements. Ultimately, my primary goal is to help you hone your critical reading and writing skills so that you feel confident you can interpret challenging texts and then benefit from what literature has to offer throughout your academic, professional, and personal lives.

Questions and Answers

If you have questions you'd like to discuss in private, please email or call me in my office at work (480-727-1850) or at home (480-755-8989), drop by during my office hours (Tue, Wed 9:30 a.m. - noon, Bell Hall M6), or make an appointment for a different time. I'm happy to speak with you about your individual work in the course. However, many questions that students ask are administrative. Therefore, I'd prefer you ask such questions in the public Q & A Forum of our myASU Blackboard course since other students will benefit, and I won't have to keep repeating myself by email. I and my Teaching Assistant will check the Q & A Forum throughout the day. One of us will usually get back to you within 12-24 hours or sooner. As students in the course, I'd invite you to answer one another's questions in this Q & A Forum as well.

Email Protocol and Forwarding ASU Email

If you DO send me an ocassional email (L.Bush@asu.edu), please put Eng 200 in the subject line of your message. This will automatically sort your message into a special folder in my Outlook account. Also make sure you sign your full name to each message, especially if I won't know who you are from your email address. If you send me an email mesage from an off-campus email address (or even sometimes from an ASU address), it will likely get caught in my spam filter and I may not receive it immediately. Using the Q & A Forum of our web site is often the best way to get my attention. Email messages sent from myASU Blackboard web sites automatically go to everyone's ASU email account. This means to be enrolled in this course, you MUST check your ASU email OR you MUST IMMEDIATELY have your ASU email redirected to the actual email account you use (e.g. cox, hotmail, google, yahoo, etc.). For a tutorial explaining how to redirect your ASU email, visit http://asuonline.asu.edu/StudentSupport/Tutorials6/RedirectEmail.cfm

Learning Objectives

After successfully completing this course, you should be able to do the following:

1. Write a persuasive interpretation of a text with a clear controlling idea and well chosen, well organized evidence to support your argument.
2. Seek out additional knowledge about a literary work, its author, its content, and its interpretation.
3. Relate texts to one another and synthesize ideas about them that emerge from your own thinking and the interactions you have with your peers and other authors' texts or literary criticism.
4. Work with other students to hone your critical reading and writing skills through meaningful conversations and peer writing groups.
5. Think creatively about problems by using literature to broaden your own experience and practical knowledge.
6. Explain basic aspects of at least three critical approaches to literature and apply those approaches to a text [e.g. formal, historical, biographical, cultural, psychological, or gender criticism]

Assignments, Naming Files, and Grading (subject to change with notice)

Course assignments are intended to assist you as you work to achieve the six main learning objectives outlined above. If you don't understand some aspect of the course, please ask in the Q & A Forum of our myASU Blackboard course web site . You're also welcome to schedule an appointment with me in person.

I understand that grades are often very important to students, and I'm committed to evaluating your work fairly, honestly, and equitably. I assume you are taking this course because you want to learn reading and writing skills you have not yet fully mastered. Having something to learn means you may not always earn the grade you would like to earn at first, but if you are making efforts to improve with each assignment, then you can improve your ultimate grade in the course. My hope is that learning, not grades, will be your primary motivator throughout the semester.

You will be receiving and submitting some assignments using the "Assignment" feature of myASU Blackboard. These assignments will appear in the "Weekly Assignments" area (see the left navigation bar). When you work on written assignments, please use Microsoft Word and save the document as your Last Name, followed by the Assignment Name, which I will provide in the assignment instructions. Do not use spaces in file names or odd characters such as #, %, * because these will cause problems when you submit a document.

Example File Names: When you submit the second draft of the Fiction Paper, you will name the file using your last name and the name of the assignment (Fiction2). If your last name were "Brown," you would save the file as BrownFiction2.doc or BrownFiction2.rtf.

Accessing Your Grade and My Comments: You will keep track of your grade and read my comments to drafts of your papers through Blackboard's gradebook feature. I will evaluate your paper drafts as soon as possible and plan to return most assignments through the online Gradebook within 7-10 days. To access your grade and my comments, click on Student Tools-->My Grades --> then locate the assignment and click on the link to that assignment.

POINTS

MAIN ASSIGNMENTS - specific assignment info available within myASU course

Late Work, Participation, and Extra Credit

Assignments are due on the date and time (Arizona / MST) indicated. I do not accept late work, except for serious circumstances. Rarely, if ever, do computer problems qualify for serious circumstances. Please plan your time wisely to avoid last minute technology glitches. I understand, however, that real life sometimes gets in the way of our best laid plans. Therefore, you may, if you choose, do up to 2 extra credit assignments. I will let you know about extra credit opportunities throughout the semester by way of announcements and a folder of upcoming events with links to further information.

To receive extra credit, you should attend the event, write a one-page description and response about your experience, then within ONE WEEK after the event, send your one-page description and response by email attachment to me and my teaching assistant. You will receive up to 5 extra credit points for each of the TWO events (10 extra credit points maximum possible for the semester). Because the gradebook in Blackboard does not provide a way for me to add extra credit points, I do this manually. Therefore, you will never see extra credit points show up in the online gradebook. I will, however, acknowledge your write-up and, at the end of the semester, confirm the number of extra credit points you will receive.

Note: In general, my reason for providing extra credit opportunities is to promote participation in on-campus lectures and events that students might not participate in otherwise. Still, I recognize that some students actually take online courses because they are truly distant students living nowhere near any ASU campuses. If this is the case for you, you may contact me to suggest your participation at a local event that connects with topics and issues related to our course content. You may also choose to see up to two acceptable films I list in the extra credit folder. My preference, however, is for students to participate in live events.

Writing and Tutoring Assistance

University College at the Polytechnic Campus offers subject area tutoring, writing assistance, and other resources to ensure the success of ASU students. I strongly encourage you to be familiar with and USE their services, especially for this writing class. They are open daily and located in the Academic Center building on the Polytechnic campus. You may also access their tutoring and writing assistance services at a distance online. For more information, visit http://www.east.asu.edu/learningcenter/

Writing assistance is available at any stage of the writing process: brainstorming, drafting, and revising. In other words, you can have a writing conference even when you haven’t written anything yet but could benefit from talking about potential ideas or approaches to the task. Once you do have a draft—whether that draft is one page or eight pages—you are welcome to schedule a writing conference. Maps and Hours at http://www.poly.asu.edu/learningcenter/MapsAndHours.htm. The writing center recommends making an appointment for a writing conference by calling (480) 727-1452. However, they do try to accommodate walk-in students. Writing tutors also offer online writing assistance through Blackboard. For information about how to request an online conference, please visit http://www.poly.asu.edu/learningcenter/OnlineWritingConferences.htm

Academic Integrity/Plagiarism

Please do not use or share electronic files you receive in this course without permission from me or other student authors. Please do not share quiz or exam questions, even though all quizzes and exams are open book. If you use or share materials and papers inappropriately, you may be cheating yourself or others out of an education. I urge you to demonstrate integrity for everyone's sake, including your own.

You are responsible for knowing and observing the ASU Student Life Academic Integrity Code. The introduction to this code states the following: "The highest standards of academic integrity are expected of all students. The failure of any student to meet these standards may result in suspension or expulsion from the university and/or other sanctions as specified in the academic integrity policies of the individual academic unit. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, cheating, fabrication, tampering, plagiarism, or facilitating such activities. The university and unit academic integrity policies are available from the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs and from the deans of the individual academic units." For more information, please visit the Student Academic Integrity Policy at http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/studentlife/judicial/academic_integrity.htm

Harassment Prohibited

ASU policy prohibits harassment on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, Vietnam era veteran status and other protected veteran status. Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action, including termination of employees or expulsion of students. Contact me or Student Affairs if you feel another student is harassing you based on any of the factors above. Contact Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action (480-965-5057) if you feel an ASU employee is harassing you based on any of the factors above.

Military Personnel Statement

A student who is a member of the National Guard, Reserve, or other U.S. Armed Forces branch and is unable to complete classes because of military activation may request complete or partial administrative unrestricted withdrawals or incompletes depending on the timing of the activation. For information, visit http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/ses/ses201-18.html

Disability Accommodations for Students

Students who feel they may need a disability accommodation(s) in class must provide documentation from the Disability Resource Center to me at the beginning of the semester verifying the need for an accommodation and the type of accommodation that is appropriate. Students who wish accommodations for a disability should contact DRC as early as possible (i.e. before the beginning of the semester) to assure appropriate accommodations can be provided. For more information, visit http://www.asu.edu/drc/genInfo.html

Student Counseling Services

Student Counseling Services provides confidential psychological services for students enrolled in courses on the Polytechnic campus. Counseling services are primarily short term and include developmental, preventive and educational services. All SCS staff have training and experience in issues facing university students and are committed to helping students adjust to campus life and meet their academic goals. For more information, visit http://www.east.asu.edu/students/counseling/

Incomplete Grades

I only give “Incomplete” grades in extreme situations. Most students who request incompletes never finish the course. For information about university policy regarding a grade of “Incomplete.” Please visit http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/ses/ses203-09.html

Drop / Add / Withdrawal Dates

August 21-27: Late Registration & Drop/Add - In Person or ASU Interactive

October 27: Course Withdrawal Deadline - In Person

October 29 : Course Withdrawal Deadline - ASU Interactive

December 5: Complete Withdrawal Deadline

Pick up the “Withdrawal Request” form in East College or online at http://www.asu.edu/registrar/forms/pdf/withdrawal.pdf
Bring the completed form to the East College Advising Center (Sutton 101).

For more details about withdrawals, visit
http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/ses/ses201-08.html