Syllabus

ENGL 313 United States Literature I Fall 2009 Arden Jensen, Ph.D.

TEXT: Baym, Nina. Gen. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature 7th ed. Vol. A and B. New York and London: Norton, 2007.

UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT:

Lee University is a Christian institution which offers liberal arts and professional education on both the baccalaureate and graduate levels through residential and distance programs.? It seeks to provide education that integrates biblical truth as revealed in the Holy Scriptures with truth discovered through the study of arts and sciences and in the practice of various professions.? A personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior is the controlling perspective from which the educational enterprise is carried out.? The foundational purpose of all educational programs is to develop within the students knowledge, appreciation, understanding, ability and skills which will prepare them for responsible Christian living in a complex world.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

A survey of American Literature from the founding of the colonies to the Civil War. Prerequisite: ENGL 110. Three Credit Hours
I. This course is intended to offer students the opportunity to read and discuss selected works from the literature of the United States from the founding of the colonies to the Civil War in relation to their cultural context, to absorb important concepts that have helped to form the United States culture, to grow aesthetically through contact with great literary art, and to apply insights of universal value to their own lives.

II. OBJECTIVES OF COURSE
A. General Learning Objectives
This course seeks to
1. Introduce students to a selection of literary works from the foundation of the American colonies through the Civil War
2. Enable students to view selected works from the foundation of the American colonies through the Civil War in relation to life views and typical lifestyles of the culture that produced them
3. Improve students? ability to analyze, interpret, and evaluate literature in written and oral formats
4. Challenge students to relate literature to modern culture and to their own life views and lifestyles, with the assumption of a Christian philosophy as controlling
5. Provide opportunities for students to develop effective speaking and listening skills
6. Acquaint students with the relationship between print literature and film in selected works.
B. Specific Behavioral Objectives
As a result of the activities and study in this course, the student should be able to:
1. Interpret selected works from the foundation of the American colonies through the Civil War at a level reasonable for upper-division English major undergraduates
2. Relate selected works from the foundation of the American colonies through the Civil War to philosophies, religions, art and music, politics, and typical lifestyles of their culture
3. Discuss literature intelligently with their peers in the classroom setting
4. Analyze, interpret, and evaluate selected works from the foundation of the American colonies through the Civil War in informal and/or formal writing assignments
5. Apply to modern culture and to their own lives insights of universal value derived from study of literature in the course
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between print literature and film through class discussion and/or informal writing assignments.
III. TOPICS TO BE COVERED
A. Selected pieces from the Puritans
B. Selected pieces from the Neoclassical period
C. Selected pieces from the Transcendentalists
D. Selected pieces from the Romantic period
E. Cultural and literary history closely associated with the above
IV. INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
A. Lecture
B. Oral discussion?with various possible formats
C. Formal and/or informal writing assignments
D. Audio-visual presentations
E. Optional non-traditional techniques such as panel discussions, group projects, etc.
V. RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENTS
A. Required attendance
B. Assigned readings
C. Oral participation
D. Informal and formal writing assignments
E. Reading quizzes
F. Preparation for examinations
G. Coming to class prepared for the day?s activities
VI. EVALUATION
A. Grading
1. Daily grades 20%
2. Essays 60%
3. Final Essay 20%
B. Attendance: You have one week of absence as sick/personal leave. Any absences beyond a total of the equivalent of one week will result in a three-point penalty on the final grade in the course up to a total of 10 points. In order to have absences beyond one week total marked as excused, the student must provide official documentation for all absences during the semester. The professor must approve the official documentation. Any work missed for any kind of an absence must be made up at the professor?s discretion before the next class meeting. Students who miss tests and examinations may or may not be allowed to make them up at the professor?s discretion.
C. Grading Scale
A=90-100, B+=88-89, B=83-87, B-=80-82, C+=78-79, C=73-77, C-=70-72, D=60-69, F=Below 60
VII. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Lee University is committed to the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Students who think they may qualify for these accommodations should notify their instructor immediately. Special services are provided through the Academic Support Program.
VIII. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
As a Christian community of scholarship, we at Lee University are committed to the principles of truth and honesty in the academic endeavor. As faculty and students in this Christian community, we are called to present our academic work as an honest reflection of our abilities; we do not need to defraud members of the community by presenting others? work as our own. Therefore, academic dishonesty is handled with serious consequences for two fundamental reasons: it is stealing ? taking something that is not ours; it is also lying ? pretending to be something it is not. In a Christian community, such pretense is not only unnecessary, it is also harmful to the individual and community as a whole. Cheating should have no place at a campus where Christ is King because God desires us to be truthful with each other concerning our academic abilities. Only with a truthful presentation of our knowledge can there be an honest evaluation of our abilities. To such integrity, we as a Christian academic community are called.

Electronic Device Policy: Anyone using a cell-phone, electronic game, earphones, laptop, etc. may be dismissed from class and counted absent. A zero will be recorded for the day, including for any assignments that are due on that day. There will be no make-up for any assignments missed.