Course Prerequisites: To take this class, students must have passed English 102 with a “C” or better.
Course Description:
Eller's American Literature I course is reading and writing intensive. During the semester we will read a significant set of documents --
- journals and memoirs from early European explorers in North America,
- sermons both religious and political,
- slave narratives,
- Native American creation stories and folktales,
- and American Renaissance stories and poetry from Poe to Dickinson.
Summary of Course Goals:
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To learn common vocabulary from the masters and mistresses of the English language.
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To acquire some specific knowledge
about the culture and society of Early American life.
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To acquire some basic literary and philosophical vocabulary and learn
how it applies to our texts.
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To see that what we believe today is rooted in the literature of the past.
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To act as a useful community member by contributing to the discussion
of ideas and the community effort to understand our shared readings.
Objectives: Course Requirements and Evaluation
Every Week Activities--
14 Reading Checks/Quizzes (15 pt. apiece for 210 pt.) --
| Here's how to do well on Reading Checks: If you look at the moodle schedule of reading and assignments, you will see that there are many links, a link for each reading and some links to Study Center materials. Click on a link to open up a Reading Guide. Print the Reading Guide and as you read follow the Reading Guide, answering questions as you go. Most questions on the Reading Checks are drawn from these Reading Guides. |
Most Reading Checks for the week's required reading will be available on-line at moodle.ulm.edu from Sunday to 9 p.m. Wednesday night every week.
Reading checks cover the week's readings.
Reading Checks are usually completely objective multiple choice and short matching and ask you to recall information from the readings including introductory material, Study Center material and material from websites you've been asked to view.
Occasionally, a Reading Check will be short answer style in which case you'll have more time to complete and be able to save and return to the quiz later.
Click Here for a Rubric of evaluation criteria for all writing submitted -- tests, papers, etc.
Weekly Discussion Credit (14 @ 15 pts. apiece for 210 pt.) --
Engage with fellow students and Teacher in a weekly Discussion forum. You are expected to post an initial "substantive" response to the questions of the week, then follow up with two "substantive" responses to fellow students' comments. All responses should be:
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Substantive -- that is, refer back to what others have said and use detail from our readings to support a main point;
- Use vocabulary from our vocabulary lists, either common or technical vocabulary;
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Responsive to what your fellow classmates have had to say before you [for instance, by referring directly to what another said or summarizing a previous person's posting before going on to what you have to say in response];
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Address others directly -- that is begin with a salutation and end with your name [like a letter]
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Be distributed throughout the discussion round period which loosely begins on Sundays and ends on Saturdays.
- Be free of grammatical/mechanical errors.
- Use a lead-in and an in-text citation when quoting.
NOTE: Non-Substantive Postings to moodle will occasionally be removed from the discussion. Thus, you will know if the reader evaluating your discussion considers your contribution substantive and often will be able to count your points as the discussion proceeds through the week. In addition, you will sometimes receive occasional moodle messages about your contributions to discussion group as the discussion proceeds through each week.
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Glossary Work [14 entries in moodle glossary @ 5 pts. each; one per week for a total of 70 pt.]:
All students participate in building a glossary from vocabulary lists found in Reading Guides. You can find Reading Guides linked to the names of readings in our moodle classroom schedule. You can also find detailed descriptions of what makes for a good glossary entry in moodle.
Round Robin Participation [2 entries at 2 pts. each for 14 weeks; 56 pts]:
Everybody takes turns answering questions from the Reading Guides. Answer a question. Wait 24 hours or more; answer a second question.
Periodic Activities--
4 Response Papers [75 pt. each for a total of 300]
-- All papers are to be submitted in moodle Assignments by due dates listed below.
Here are the physical requirements for every writing assignment:
- Exactly one page [from the top line to the bottom line], single-spaced using either
- 12 point Times New Roman Font with 1" margins or
- 10 point Courier New with 1" margins.
- MLA style citations
- in-text or parenthetical citations
- full citations on the second page (for our shared text book you should use the anthology form).
Here are the content expectations for all papers:
- Is
the writing coherent; that is, does the writing have a central focused
idea which all the other parts support and discuss?
- Is
the writing developed; that is, does the writing use relevant and specific
detail especially from our shared readings to support several ideas
related closely to a central idea?
- Does
the development of the essay include something new, a new idea or new
information in support of the ideas being discussed; that is, is the
writing fresh and original with an authentic tone [good] or a re-hash of old hat [say, from class discussion] in a flat reporting style [bad]?
- Is the writing personal; that is, does the writing try to authentically respond to the subject with strongly felt ideas and real connections to one's own life experience [This characteristic is specific to
RESPONSE papers].
- Is
the writing free of serious grammar/mechanical errors and relatively free
of careless, minor problems?
- Is
the writer careful to recognize the source of information; that is, does
the writer use clear citations and lead-ins to quotes and paraphrases?
- Outside research is allowed, but neither encouraged nor discouraged. These are not research papers except for the requirement that you must use the ideas and information in our shared readings and use proper citations. Our readings, in other words, are the primary source of information.
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Including a small illustration, chart, graphic WITH caption and source identified is a plus. If such an illustration with caption is included, it must be discussed briefly in the body of the essay.
Click here to find assignment description for Response Paper #1:
Click Here to find Response Paper #2:
Response Paper #3:
Response Paper #4:
Objective measure of your reading and comprehension skill level [20 pt.]-
- To be taken on Saturday, March 29 at 9 am.
- A university assessment requirement. At the end of the semester, you'll be asked to answer several questions about a reading you've not seen before but by an author we have read. You'll get a score out of 50 points for this. Although the measure will be as objective as possible, some interpretation will be required.
Two Objective Matching Tests on course material [50 pts each for 100]
- Two test -- one just before mid-term and one at finals.
- 5 or 6 questions each with 10-15 items to match.
- How much can you remember -- dates, vocabulary, characters and authors.
- Severe timelimit.
Multimedia Recitation of MEMORIZED passage from our readings [50 pt.]
Using PowerPoint recorder, deliver your MEMORIZED passage/poem with commentary and send to moodle assignments upload at the end of the semester.
All MEMORIZATIONS will be evaluated on the following rubric:
- Recitation and comments fit into 2-4 minute time frame;
- Recitations are sensibly inflected; that is, they are spoken in such a way as to emphasize meaning and show that the recite understands the meaning of the passage;
- Recitations are delivered without stumbling and forgetting;
- Explanatory comments that briefly explicate difficult sections of the passage or vocabulary problems are included before or after the recitation.
- Ambition -- does the author go an extra step: sound effects? graphics? textual cues? length of memorized piece?
PowerPoints will be shared with the whole class
Summary of Approximate Available Points and Objectives:
14 timed Reading Checks Quizzes(15 apiece; all on-line at moodle.ulm.edu)
|
210 |
Participation in 14 Discussion Boards. Participation must be substantive and follow the rules [15 points a week; up to 5 points per posting]. |
210 |
Glossary Work: 14 submissions to weekly moodle glossary
|
70 |
Round Robins based on Reading Guides: 28 postings (2 per week) @ 2 pts apiece |
56 |
| 4 Short response papers (75 each) |
300 |
2 on-line, timed objective tests. [50 pts. apiece] |
100 |
| PowerPoint based memorization and recitation of poem or other short passage we've read this semester. [Send to moodle assignments upload] |
50 |
| An objective measure of your reading and comprehension skill level -- 30 minute reading exercise at the end of semester. |
20 |
| Total |
1016 |
You must earn:
60% of available points to pass with a D
70% of available points to pass with a C
80% of available points to pass with a B
90% of available points to pass with an A
Mid-term grades will be posted on March 11 at http://arrow.ulm.edu
Class Policies:
Attendance:
- Required on-line activities and discussions are class attendance.
- Class attendance is regarded as an obligation and a privilege, and all students are expected to attend regularly and punctually all classes in which they are enrolled. Failure to do so may jeopardize a student’s scholastic standing and may lead to suspension from the University.
- Any student who is not present for at least 75% of the scheduled class sessions in any course may receive a grade of W if this condition occurs prior to the last day to drop a course or a grade of F after that date.
- Any University-related activity requiring an absence from class will count as an absence when determining if a student has attended 75% of class meetings.
- Students are responsible for the effect absences have on all forms of evaluating course performance. Thus, the student is responsible for arranging the allowed make up of any missed work.
Submission of Work
- Formats: Submit your finished
essays to moodle.ulm.edu Assignments Upload using any format you like.
Time Spent:
- You are expected to follow traditional University workload expectations and spend 2-3 hours for each
classroom hour in research, writing, and reading/study. This
means that this class will take you a total of about 8-12 hours per week,
sometimes a bit less, sometimes more. This is the standard formula for all college
classes.
Communication with Eller:
- The preferred method of communication with Eller is through Moodle Messenger. You will have the fastest turn around using Moodle Messenger.
- Students using email can expect about a 72
hour turn around. If Email gets "out of hand," it may take Eller longer.
- Not all emails will be answered, especially
if the question can easily be answered by reference to previous emails
or by reading the syllabus, schedule or assignment descriptions on moodle.
- Teacher is not on email and Moodle messenger 24/7.
After 5 o'clock in the evening during the work week, email will not be
answered. On weekends, teacher will usually spend a period responding
to messages and emails. If teacher takes a short email holiday for conference
visits, etc. he will inform the class before hand.
- You can find teacher's weekly resident
schedule by going to <http://www.ulm.edu/~eller/eschedule.htm>.
Cell Phone and Laptop:
- If you get kicked out of a test or quiz, call immediately to get back into the test or quiz. Be aware, though that you are very likely to get a brand new test or quiz. Do not call after 9 pm in the evening.
Late Fees and penalties:
- Writing will be
accepted late. No penalty will be assigned if you turn paper into
moodle Assignment Upload before teacher finishes grading the ones that are turned
in for that particular assignment. After that a severe and arbitrary penalty will be deducted.
- Submitting Final Assignments: All final writing assignments should be sent to teacher using
moodle Assignment Upload. Resident classes may also be asked to turn a hardcopy into the the teacher either on the day it is due or the class period immediately after the due date.
- First time plagiarism or cheating of any kind, whether intended or "accidental," will
fail a writing assignment or test. Second time plagiarism will fail
you in the course.
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