English 300
Spring 2006
Dr. Stewart

Reading and Assignment Schedule
(Tentative)

Note One: All papers written outside of class should:

• Be typed using Times New Roman 12
• Be double-spaced
• Have 1" margins (you'll probably need to readjust your margins since the default margin for most word processing programs is left margin 1.5")

Note Two: At some point before you write your teaching observation, you should read Lynn Langer Meeks's article, "Making English Classrooms Happier Places to Learn." The article is available through Educator or you can access it at:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8274%28199903%2988%3A4%3C73%3AMECHPT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0

If you access this through the above link and you want to view the entire article at once or want to print it, follow these directions:

At the top of the page you will see PRINT | DOWNLOAD | CITATION/STABLE URL | TABLE OF CONTENTS

Either print or download

Week 1: Jan 16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday)

Week 2: Jan 23: Introductions, in-class writing (analysis); talking about topics and themes

Week 3: Jan 30:

• Short Guide to Literature (SG), Chapters 1-4. Pay particular attention to terms in bold used in those chapters (conflict, resolution, gap, indeterminicies, etc.), to the section on compare/contrast in Chapter 4, and to "Checklists" provided in some of the chapters. Keep all of these in mind for the remainder of the semester.
• Read Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby" found at http://departments.weber.edu/vetsupwardbound/new_page_6.htm
• Read O. Henry's "The Last Leaf" found at http://www.eastoftheweb.com/cgi-bin/version_printable.pl?story_id=LasLea.shtml (you'll be writing your fiction essay on one of these)
• Identify a theme in each
• Annotate the short stories by noting literary elements such as:
  • Irony
  • Setting
  • Characterization
  • Conflict
  • Symbolism or metaphor
  • Ambiguity
  • Point of view
  • Other literary elements

Week 4: Feb 6:

• SG, Chapters 6-9 (pay close attention to various approaches to literature (feminism, Marxism, etc.)
• Draft of Fiction Essay Due for peer review (5 pages) (working from "Desiree's Baby" or "The Last Leaf")

Week 5: Feb 13

• An Introduction to Poetry, Chapters 1-6
  • Find 2 poems from An Introduction to Poetry that share the same theme
  • Identify that theme
  • Note literary elements such as
    • Irony
    • Setting
    • Characterization
    • Conflict
    • Symbolism or metaphor
    • Ambiguity
    • Point of view
    • Other literary elements
• In class, we will brainstorm your ideas regarding the above
• Fiction Essay Due

Week 6: Feb 20

• Draft of poetry essay (compare/contrast) due for peer review (5 pages)
• Yellow Brick Roads (YBR), Chapters 1-2
• Reading Resource/Response Journal (RRRJ) 1
• Presentation

Week 7: Feb 27

• Poetry essay due
• YBR, Chapters 3-5, RRRJ 2
• Presentation

Week 8: March 6

• YBR, Chapters 6-8, RRRJ 3
• Presentation
• Fiction/Poetry selections TBA
• In-class brainstorming for ideas regarding above selections

Week 9: March 13-17 (Spring Break)

Week 10: March 20

• YBR,Chapters 9-11, RRRJ 4
• Presentation
• In-class writing - Practice constructed response

Week 11: March 27

• Handout-literary theory, postcolonialism
• Draft of constructed response due for peer review
• RRRJ 5 (Prereading Strategy)
• Presentation

Week 12: April 3

• Handout-literary theory, feminism
• In-class writing - Practice constructed response
• Constructed response due
• RRRJ 6 (During Reading Strategy)
• Presentation

Week 13: April 10

• Handout-literary theory, Marxism
• RRRJ 7 (After Reading Strategy)
• Presentation
• In-class practice exam (poetry)

Week 14: April 17

• Teaching Observation Due
• Handout-literary theory, TBA
• Read "Why Johnny's Teacher Can't Teach" at http://www.city-journal.org/html/8_2_a1.html and George Will's article, "Ed Schools vs. Education" found in Educator.
• Written response to "Why" and George Will's article
• In-class discussion of articles
• Presentation

Week 15: April 24

• Lesson plan incorporating an approach to analyzing literature
• Presentation
• Discuss Handout: Commeyras, Michelle. "Provocative Questions That Animate My Thinking About Teaching." Language Arts 80 (2002): 129-33
• Written response to "Provocative"
• In-class practice exam

Week 16 (Last week of classes): May 1

• Presentation
• Presentation
• Wrapping it up

Week 17: Finals Week