The Outsider
The Outsider
ENDI 1450.06 / Fall 2008
Syllabus
Mr. Matthew Cheney
Office: Ellen Reed 26
Office hours: M 5.30-6.30, W 1.30-2.30 and by appointment
Office hours by chat (Blackboard): T 10pm-11pm, Thurs 10am-11am (Suspended until I can get my computer and the chat system to speak the same language)
Course Description:
Humans are both social and individual. For centuries, literature has highlighted, debated, and critiqued the relationship between the individual and society, the impact the individual has on society, and that which society has on the development of individual identity, behavior, and the formation of beliefs. Cultures differ in the relative value they give to the individual and to the group; literature allows us to look at that value in terms of our roles as individuals and as (non)conformers to social expectations. Through examples taken from writing and film, we analyze the self and society through a selection of topics which include gender, sexuality, race, class, wealth, behavior, and socialization.
General Education Requirements: Self and Society:
A rich and productive life encompasses an understanding of one’s self and one’s relationship to the world. An educated person must grapple with a question that has interested human beings for centuries: the relationship between self and society. To understand one’s self, one must understand and acknowledge the impact of society on the development of identity and the formation of beliefs. The needs of the individual sometimes conflict with the needs of society. Cultures differ in the relative value they give to the individual and to the group. Using issues that impact on students’ lives, Self and Society courses explore questions of these sorts. They encourage students to inquire into multiple dimensions of self including the social, physical, emotional, and cognitive and to investigate the interactions between individuals and the spatial, temporal, political, economic, and technological aspects of the social environment. To these ends, an especially useful approach to this topic is to view the society through the eyes of its “outsiders,” those who feel separate, different, even alienated.
Self and Society courses emphasize the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, critical thinking, conducting research, and collaborating with others.
In this course, we will:
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Learn how writers from different places, periods, and experiences have written about the experience of being on the outside (or at least, on the fringe) of society.
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Develop an understanding of the way that stories are disseminated, and how they shape our perception of culture and society.
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Learn how literature shapes the way we act and react to challenges within the confines of our society and life experiences.
Required Texts
Büchner, Georg. Woyzeck. Trans. by John Mackendrick. Methuen.
Coetzee, J.M. The Life and Times of Michael K. Penguin.
Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Gioia, Dana & R.S. Gwynn. The Art of the Short Story. Longman.
Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Trans. by Michael Hofmann. Penguin Classics (deluxe edition).
Parks, Suzan-Lori. Venus. Theatre Communications Group.
McHugh, Maureen. China Mountain Zhang. Orb Books.
POLICIES & GUIDELINES
Attendance and Quizzes
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We will have reading quizzes on every day that reading is due.
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In-class writing will count for a quiz grade and will be graded as 100 (completed thoughtfully), 80 (completed), or 0 (not completed).
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On days when reading is not due and there is no in-class writing, I will take attendance: if you are present, you will receive a 100 quiz grade for the day; if you are absent, you will receive a 0.
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The quizzes will be given at the beginning of class, and they will consist of a few short questions that will be relatively easy if you have read with attention.
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Some quiz questions will re-appear on the midterm and the final exams.
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If you arrive late enough to class to miss the quiz, you will not be allowed to make it up.
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Your three lowest quiz grades will be dropped at the end of the term. This means that for every unexcused absence beyond three, you begin accumulating 0’s for quiz grades.
Excused Absences
Absences that qualify as excused under the University’s guidelines will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It is best to let me know about them beforehand if they are something predictable; emergencies, of course, cannot be predicted. It is your responsibility to let me know about excused absences.
Late work
The reading journa, quizzes, and the first draft of Paper 1 cannot be handed in late. Finished drafts of Paper 1 and Paper 2 that are handed in late will be penalized one whole letter grade for each day they are late.
Grading
Reading Journal (via Blackboard): 10%
Quizzes and in-class writing: 15%
Mid-term exam: 10%
Paper 1: 20%
Paper 2: 25%
Final exam: 20%
Reading Journal
You will keep a journal of your reading and film viewing using the feature on Blackboard. Entries should be a minimum of 250 words. We have, unless I’m counting wrong, 21 days of reading or film viewing. You need to have at least15 entries in your journal by the end of the course. Here’s how they should be divided:
By 10/8: At least 8 entries
By 10/29: At least 10 entries
By 12/15: At least 15 entries
If you complete all of the entries by the required times, you will receive a 95 for your journal grade. If you complete more than is required, you will receive a 100 (still an A, but a more powerful one). For every entry you are short, you will receive -5 points. Journals can not be completed late –a major purpose of the journal is to capture your thoughts over time, not all at once.
Extra Credit Opportunities
There are two ways you can get extra credit for this course.
1. The Writing Center. If you go to the Writing Center and have a conference about a draft of one of your papers, then revise the paper based on that conference, I will add half a grade to what you would have received on the paper — thus, a B becomes a B+, etc. I will also guarantee you that if you revise a paper after a conference, and that paper meets the guidelines for the assignment, you will not receive a grade below a B on the paper.
2. My PSU Blog. (Which is where you are right now!) The front page of my PSU blog is a miscellaneous gathering of stuff. If you contribute to this gathering, I will give you one extra point on your total quiz grade. You can do this up to five times, if you want. Email your post to me and I will determine whether to publish it. The blog is visible to anybody with an internet connection, so posts need to have some substance and be carefully proofread.
Academic Integrity
Be sure that you are familiar with the University’s policies on academic integrity (available on the website). Ideas and words that are not your own need to be given proper credit. If you have any questions about whether you are providing enough credit for an idea or quotation, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Cell phones
We will all keep our cell phones off or on vibrate during class, and only take a call if it is incredibly important and cannot wait until class is over. As long as cell phones are not a distraction from class, they are not a problem.
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