Required Materials
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (Broadview)
Mary Prince, History of Mary Prince (Michigan)
Copy packet

Course Description
Introduction to English Studies is designed to do two things.

First and foremost it is designed to help you make sense of the field of college English study (and Eastern's English major) in the 21st century.  Though English may seem like a field of study that's been around since time immemorial (everybody has had to read Shakespeare in college since the seventeenth century, right?) this is not the case.  English Study has a relatively short and contested history; and its rationale,  purpose, and content has changed quite dramatically during its lifetime.  English Study continues to be built on a foundation of (mostly polite) debate, argument, and controversy, and this course will allow you to "peel back the curtain" and join the conversation in English Studies, at Eastern and beyond.

Second, the course is designed to introduce you to the particular specialties and approaches of the English Department at Eastern, and you will have a chance to learn about your professors, their approaches to English, and their teaching specialties.

This course is required of all English majors, but not limited to them.  If you are are just thinking about being an English major, this course might be of interest.

Course Requirements
Reading Response papers 40%
Summary Response papers 15%
Participation 10%
Oral Research presentation  10%
Colloquium project 10%
Final exam 15%

Reading Response Papers 40%
Response One
Response Two
Response Three
Response Four

Summary  Response Papers 15%
Summary Response One
Summary Response Two
Summary Response Three

There are four response papers, one due about every three weeks.  About every three weeks you will receive a response question handout with questions taken from the upcoming reading assignments. You are to respond to any one day’s questions from the list. Response questions must be typed, double-spaced and turned in on the day that you have selected.  For example, answers to questions from October 6th's reading must be turned in class on that day.

There are also three summary response papers, one due about every third week. Response questions must be typed, double-spaced and turned in on the day that you have selected. For example, a summary of October 6th's reading must be turned in on that day.

Papers are due in class on the assigned date. Late papers will be subject to a reduction in grade.  If you feel you have a good reason for requiring an extension, please come talk to me about it beforehand. However, after-due date extensions, except in the case of emergencies, will be difficult to obtain.

Oral Research Presentation
At some point early in the semester I will divide the class up into four groups.  Each group will then be given the task of putting together an oral presentation, due at several-week intervals throughout the semester.  Each presentation will be devoted on a specific topic.  (See the Calendar for specific topics)  Each presentation should be at least 15 minutes (and last no more than 20 minutes) and must include at least one handout to be given to the class as a whole.  Beyond the handout, the materials and format of the presentations are only limited by the group's imagination and may include use of a variety of media.

Exams
There will be a cumulative final exam

Participation
Regular attendance of classes is absolutely expected for this course. Three or more unexcused absences will lower your participation grade significantly.

Avoid plagiarism (stealing the words or ideas of another) like the plague. In this class acts of plagiarism incur a zero and could also result in course failure or even dismissal from the university.

Disclaimer:  I reserve the right to change the syllabus and assigned readings (with plenty of advanced warning)

Calendar
Week 1
August 30: Introduction

September 2:  Introduction: copy packet, The English Major, then and now

September 8: Copy packet, Amy Tan, "Mother Tongue"

Week 3
September 13: Copy packet,  Richard Rodriguez, "Speaking a Public Language,"

September 15: Colloquium question day
 

Week 4
September 20: Oral Presentation:
Copy packet, Leslie Marmon Silko, "Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective"

September 22: Faculty Colloquium

Week 5
September 27: Copy packet, Salman Rushdie, "Outside the Whale"

Student Response: "Outside the Whale"

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September 29: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre; (Read to Chapter 8) Copy packet, Reading the Victorian Age (summary response)

Week 6
October 4: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (Read to Chapter 20); copy packet, Carol Senf, "The Prison House of Victorian Marriage" (summary response)

October 6: Oral Presentation: Biographical Background on Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (read to Chapter 30)

Week 7
October 11: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (read to end); Copy handout, Eric Solomon, "Jane Eyre, Fire and Water," (summary response)

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October 13: Mary Prince, History of Mary Prince; Copy handout, Harold Bloom, "Elegiac Conclusion," (summary response)

Student Response: "Elegiac Conclusion"

Week 8
October 18: Mary Prince, History of Mary Prince

October 20: Oral Presentation:  The Literary Canon

History of Mary Prince

Week 9
 October 25: Colloquium question day

Student Response: Jane Eyre Vs. Mary Prince
Student Response: Jane Eyre and Mary Prince

RHETORIC AND WRITING IN COLLEGE

October 27: Mike Rose, "The Politics of Remediation"

Student Response: "The Politics of Remediation"

Week 10
November 1: Faculty Colloquium

November 3: Peter Elbow, "Being a Writer Vs. Being an Academic"

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Week 11
November 8: Haswell and Haswell, "Gendership and the Miswriting of Students"

November 10:  Oral Presentation: Composition Studies in America, a background
John C. Brereton, ed., Introduction to The Origins of Composition Studies in the American College (summary response)

Week 12
November 15: Donald M. Murray, "Teaching Writing as a Process Not a Product" (summary response)

November 17: Oral Presentation: The Writing Program at Eastern

Faculty Colloquium question day

Week 13
November 22: Catch-up Day

November 24: Happy holiday

Week 14
November 29: Joseph M. Williams, "The Phenomenology of Error"

December 1: Faculty Colloquium

Week 15
December 6: Creative Writing Workshop

December 8: What Can I Do with an English Degree?

Final Exam Week
Final exam:
Section 1: December 15th, 9:00-11:00
Section 4: December 15th, 12:30-2:30