AMERICAN LITERATURE II
1865 - End of World War I
English 245 Online  / 5 credits

Instructor:  Karen Robertson                                kroberts@bcc.ctc.edu

Note: This course is associated with ENGL 101 and/or ENGL 271. Although students can register for this section or for writing classes as stand-alone courses, there are significant benefits to taking literature and composition courses simultaneously. See information at the end of this course description.

         English 245 examines representative works in American Literature from the beginning of the Civil War to the end of World War I -- approximately the mid-1850s until about 1915.  These chaotic years in our history were marked by rapid change. Our physical borders expanded westward.  Our social boundaries broadened to include groups of people vastly different from the pilgrims and Puritans who first settled the eastern coast of the United States.  Immigrants arrived by the shiploads, hoping to make a better life for themselves in a new country.  Farmers migrated to cities in masses, no longer able to make a living on land that they had previously farmed.  Families of aristocratic, English ancestry, no longer found their  inherited, "old money" adequate to support their lifestyles.  All the while, a new breed of "businessmen" began building factories that produced greater numbers of goods with fewer laborers, and these wealthy, new-moneyed capitalists assaulted the social ranks of "old families" who had previously guarded their privacy from such low-class commoners.  As cities began to expand, cultural groups clustered together in neighborhoods of their own ethnicity, while slums absorbed the unfortunate overflow of people unable to earn enough money to sustain even a bare-bones lifestyle.  Women and minorities began to talk about equality with men.  New states and territories were admitted to the union as our country struggled to right itself after a war that divided North and South.  Individual citizens, political figures, advocates for social change, religious groups, and particularly writers, grappled with how to create an American "identity."  Their deliberations impacted the social consciousness of a nation whose Declaration of Independence declared that "all men are created equal...."  But, clearly, all people were not equal!  The times were ripe for debate about how our society should proceed.  

Writers of the period address multiple, universal issues, many of which our country still struggles.  [Depending on the quarter, we will read writers listed below or or the representative authors.]  Kate Chopin and Emily Dickinson write about choices available to women in a society where private conduct was monitored by ever-watchful, public eyes. Walt Whitman and Mark Twain write about individual, lifestyle choices that often contradicted societal dictates.  William Dean Howells writes about morality and ethics in both public and private arenas. African-American document the struggle of their ethnic groups to gain individual rights and freedoms in a country to which they had been transported as "property."  Edith Wharton writes about the inevitable crumbling of outdated social customs in her characters' constantly changing world.    And, Native Americans write about the unwelcome mandate to abandon a way of life on land where their ancestors had lived for centuries. 

        The readings in English 245 will allow us to look beyond perspectives of specific writers to universal, human issues that transcend any time period. We will examine ways that people of different backgrounds use their literary "voices" to create literature that represents both communal and individual choices.  We will consider reasons that Americans sometimes experience conflict when they confront people and places different from those they have known in their pasts.  We will discuss how our duel loyalties to the United States and to our "parent" cultures abroad, continue to impact the our decisions.  We will look at how minority groups seek to incorporate recognition of their values into our social framework.  And, finally, we will look at how the Past intrudes upon our present in both positive and negative ways.  As you read, put yourself in the place of each of  the characters you meet.  Evaluate their values and their behavior.  Then, think about the context and perspective of each writer whose face lies just beneath the words on the page.  Ask yourself if the writers like their characters or agree with their characters' choices?   Ask yourself how the selections you are reading could be merely different versions of what you find on the front pages in today's newspapers or of what you hear broadcast on our major news networks.

How Much Reading Should You Expect in English 245?

        I use a course CALENDAR.to organize your assignments.   You will find the CALENDAR by clicking on the appropriate icon on left margin of our course site.  During the quarter, you will read several short novels or novellas.  You will also read short stories, short prose selections, and poetry selections.  I have structured the calendar so that readings are as evenly spaced throughout the quarter as possible.

        To help you read each of the assigned selections and to help you prepare for your quizzes and essays, I have included an APPENDIX in our course site.  It contains general information about how to read critically.

What Kinds of Activities Should You Expect in This Course?

Your grade in English 245 will come from the DISCUSSION comments that you contribute, from the QUIZZES that you take, and from the ESSAYS that you will write.    

****The date on the CALENDAR where a reading assignment is posted is the date that the assignment is DUE.  Be sure to READ each primary work BEFORE  your calendar indicates that a quiz will open.  Also, CLICK on the Reading Guide icon to read introductory material about authors and their works.  ****  

Reading, Discussion, and Quizzes. Along with the CALENDAR which outlines all of your assignments for the quarter, I have prepared information that you should use as a guide for your reading.  You can access this information by accessing the DISCUSSIONs section  of our course.  Before each quiz, you should talk about your reading with your classmates.  Whatever interests you can be a subject for discussion, but I have also given you information about writing "Why...?" questions.  The "why" questions will help you make inferences about specific and universal "Meaning" in the works that we will read.   I especially want you to look at each writer's relevance -- first, in the time period our course covers, but, secondly, in our modern world. 

VISTA now allows discussions to be evaluated.  I assign a value to each discussion based on its length, its complexity, and the level of critical thinking your words suggest.  Your final discussion grade for the quarter is based on the number of discussion points that you earn, calculated on  a 100 point scale grading scale.  Periodically throughout the quarter, I will post your discussion average, based on the number of discussion points that you have earned up to that point in the quarter. 

Quizzes.  After each reading selection, you will take a multiple-choice quiz on what you have read.  Literal quiz questions count 1 point.  Inferential quiz questions count 2 points.  Your final quiz grade will be based on 10% less than the total number of possible quiz points for the quarter.  [This will allow you to miss some questions and still have a 100 quiz average.  It also prevents quibbling about answers when you want to argue!]  Periodically throughout the quarter, I'll post your quiz average up to that point in the quarter, again calculated on a 100 point scale.

Essays. Two times during the quarter you will submit analytical/evaluative essays  [app. 4 pages per paper].  These essays will require that you synthesize course readings and evaluate them from own perspectives.  [These essays will be the same ones that you can use to fulfill requirements for the English 101 or English 271 sections if you are also registered in a section linked to English 245.]

How Will You Earn a Grade?

    Quiz Points                                         20% of total grade
Discussion Points                              40 % of total grade
   Essays                                                40% of total grade

At the end of the quarter, I "translate" numeric grades into letter grades as follows:

A	94-100	C	74-76
A-	90-93	C-	70-73
B+	87 - 89	D+	67-69
B	84-86	D	64-66
B-	80 - 83	D-	60-63
C+	77-79	F	Below 60

• What are the Objectives for English 245?

By the end of the quarter, you will satisfy English Department objectives for college-level, survey literature courses.  Specifically, you will be able to –

Identify details in the work of the writers whose work you have read this quarter.  You will do this when you answer questions on reading quizzes, when you use details from your reading in your discussions, and when you write your critical essays.

                Demonstrate that you understand the importance of posing your own questions about literature.  You will do this when you answer quiz  questions, when you use details from your reading in your discussions, and when you write your critical essays.

                Identify the “tools” of fiction, drama, and poetry.  You will do this when you use details from your reading in your discussions and in your critical essays.

                Demonstrate that you can apply critical, interpretative, cognitive skills – analysis, synthesis, and evaluation -- to your reading.  You will do this when you use details from your reading in your discussions and when you write your critical essays.

                Demonstrate your ability to communicate your ideas to others in a logical, coherent fashion.  You will do this when you participate in discussions and when you submit your focused, mostly error-free essays.

What are the Prerequisites for English 245?

Although there are no enforced prerequisites for English 245, you should have met placement criteria for English 101 at Bellevue Community College.  That is, you should read and write at college level.  Students without English 101 placement generally perform very poorly in this course.

        What Behavior Do I Expect of You as a Student?

I expect that students registered for this course will abide by all Arts and Humanities guidelines.  You can find a detailed statement of these expectations at  http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/ArtsHum/policy.html.   You will obviously have to use common sense in interpreting the policies because they primarily speak to our students who commute to campus every day.  In addition, I expect that you will participate in all of the course activities as outlined in the course description and in the syllabus.  This will include, but is not limited to, checking the Calendar, your Email, and  the Bulletin Board frequently so that you will remain up-to-date in the course.   In addition, you should --

                Be responsible for saving and backing up your files.  Computers and networks often experience problems!!

                Show respect when you discuss course content with your classmates by responding to their comments in a way that you would like for them to respond to you.  This doesn’t mean that you cannot disagree with their ideas.  In fact, you should always bring up opposing positions because this is the “stuff” of which literary analysis consists.  Just make sure that you do this without being rude or offensive.

                Submit your papers on time.  You will earn fewer grade points [or NO points] on late work.

                Do your OWN work.  I try to provide discussion topics and paper assignments that are too specific to this course to invite plagiarism, but I reserve the right to submit any paper I find suspicious to a plagiarism site for analysis.

        What Texts Will You Use?  Where Can You Get Them?

McQuade, Atwan, et el. THE HARPER AMERICAN LITERATURE, Single-volumn
                 edition.  This text can be purchased from the BCC bookstore.  Except for the introductory
                 sections and Dreiser's "He Got A Ride," ALL of the literature that you will read is available
                 on the internet.         [The picture at the top of the page is a picture of this text.]

Frye, Baker, Perkins, ed.  THE HARPER HANDBOOK TO LITERATURE.  This
                 text is strongly recommended and can be purchased from the BCC
                 bookstore.

What Sources Did Your Instructor Use to Generate Class Discussions
and Provide Background Information?  [NOT REQUIRED!  But, consult if you'd like!]

Auchincloss, Louis.  "Foreword" to THE AGE OF INNOCENCE.  Signet Classic edition. 1962.

Brinnin, Malcolm.  DICKINSON Laurel Poetry Series, 1981.

Bradley, Beatty, Long, and Cooley, eds.  ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. Norton
               Critical Edition, 1961.

Culley Margaret, ed. THE AWAKENING.  Norton Critical Edition. 1976.

Frye, Baker, Perkins, ed.  THE HARPER HANDBOOK TO LITERATURE.  Harper and Row,
                1985.

Harmon, William and Holman, C. Hugh.  A HANDBOOK TO LITERATURE.  Prentice Hall,
                1996.

McQuade, Atwan, et el. THE HARPER AMERICAN LITERATURE, Vol. II, 2nd
                 edition.  Harper and Row, 1987.

McQuade, Atwan, et el. THE HARPER AMERICAN LITERATURE, Single Volume edition.  
Addison, Wesley, Longman. 1999.

Moore, Harry T.  "Afterword" to THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM.  Signet Classic edition.  1980.

Twain, Mark.  THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN.  Facsimile edition.  University
                 of California Press,  1985.

Wilbur, Richard, ed.  WHITMAN Laurel Poetry Series, 1959.

Various internet sites noted within DISCUSSION GUIDES for each module of this course site.

BENEFITS of Registering for Composition and Literature Simultaneously

1 - Students read the same literature for composition as they do in their literature classes. Compositions students, however, do not read ALL of the material assigned in the literature class.

2 - Students in a composition section linked to Engl 244, 245, 246 write NO essays in their literature section. The cumulative "Essay Grade" in the composition section "counts" as the essay grade [40% of the final grade] in their literature section.

3 - Students registered for both composition and literature take literature quizzes twice, once in their literature section and once in their composition section. The highest of the two grades is the one which "counts" in both sections.

4 - Students post literature discussion messages in both classes. [Copy and paste from one class to the other.] And, they have the benefit of reading discussions in both classes -- a help in writing essays and in taking quizzes.

5 - Students registered for both composition and literature classes reinforce reading and writing skills, as well as critical thinking skills, simultaneously.