Required Textbooks. Books can be purchased at the Bookie and at Crimson and Gray.

Course Description

English 372, 19th-Century Literature of the British Empire and the Americas, approaches Anglophone literature—literary and cultural texts in English from 1800 to 1900—via identifiable “points of intersection" significant in the nineteenth century: Romanticism, Society, and Individualism; Ecology and Industrialism; Imperialism and Global Expansion; and Aesthetics, Gender, and Sexuality. Although certain sections are identified on the syllabus with one of these four themes, each of these ideas recurs throughout the century and throughout the course. Our purpose is to understand these works in a broader framework of social, literary, and political contexts; thus we will also read cultural documents of the times such as pictures, cartoons, and maps as well as tracing these ideas in popular culture.

Course Goals and Student Learning Outcomes. The goals and learning outcomes for students in the course are as follows. Each is addressed through multiple class activities and evaluated through class discussion, papers, quizzes, group presentations, debates, exams, reports, laptop days, and individual presentations.

• To read and closely analyze a number of works of literature and journalism within the course materials described.
• To view and interpret multiple kinds of texts, including maps, songs, and political cartoons, to understand the ways in which they comment on and reflect their culture.
• To learn about significant issues, movements, and trends in literature of global British and American literature of the 19th century.
• To search for instances of how 19th-century perspectives, language, and literature permeate contemporary culture and to assess the ways in which they affect our perspectives on issues such as individualism, industrialism and ecology, relations with other countries, and aesthetics, gender, and sexuality.
• To work with and learn to evaluate primary and secondary resources, including locating primary print sources and digitized versions online, learning to use the MLA Bibliography and other databases to find secondary sources, and learning to assess web materials for reliability, and locating primary source materials. These will be addressed on laptop days and during our visit to the MASC.
• To synthesize the knowledge thus gained and to produce into papers and other modes of presentation in order to disseminate those insights to the class (reports, presentations) and the world beyond the classroom (blogs).
  

Important: You need to bring your book with you to class each day. Having your book in class is a vital part of class participation: you'll be asked to read passages aloud, give page citations, and so forth. Reading the book online and then coming to class is not sufficient, and your class participation grade will be lower as a result.

Schedule of Assignments.This is a tentative guide to the assignments. ASSIGNMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Listen for class announcements and follow the class blog for notices about changes to assignments.

Most readings are in the assigned books or in the course pack. You can get a copy from Cougar Copies or print it out and fasten it with staples or a binder, but you must bring it in paper (not electronic) form to class with you.

Requirements and Assignments

Attendance and Class Participation.  Class participation and attendance are important, and you should come to class prepared to discuss each day's reading. Since the syllabus is online, as are the readings not in your textbooks, you should have no trouble in reading the next day's assignments even if you're absent on the previous day. If you have questions about the day's reading, don't hesitate to ask; chances are good that someone else had the same question.

• You have four free absences; a fifth unexcused absence means that you will fail the course. Use your "free" absences wisely. Excused absences include only documented absences due to medical or legal issues
• Because we will be reading and analyzing passages from the readings during the class period, bringing your book with you is an essential part of class participation and will count in your class participation grade. As mentioned above, reading the assignment online and then coming to class is not sufficient.
• You can expect to spend at least 2-3 hours in reading and preparation for each hour of class time.

Formal Papers. Students in this class will write the following:

• Two shorter papers of literary interpretation or analysis requiring no research (3-4 pages or 750-1000 words).
• The third paper is optional; it includes a creative topics option and may substitute for either of the first two. In other words, if you complete all three short papers, the lowest short paper grade will be dropped.
• One longer paper (7-9 pages) that will require either research or the reading of additional texts. The longer paper may be a group project and may take the form of a web site, wiki, or video production; more details will be available later in the course. This paper will be the subject of a final presentation.

Format. Papers must be neatly typed and carefully proofread. Citations should follow MLA style as outlined in the MLA Handbook, Bedford Handbook, or other such guides. See more formatting guidelines at this link: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/format.htm.

Electronic and Paper Versions. Except for Paper 4, all the papers are due on days when we have no class. If you would prefer to hand in a paper copy, it must be turned in on the previous class day at the beginning of class. Either a paper version or an electronic version is acceptable. paper versions will receive handwritten comments, and electronic versions will receive typed comments in the margins.

• Electronic versions of papers must be uploaded to Angel (http://lms.wsu.edu) by 9 p.m. on the deadline date.
• Electronic versions will be returned through Angel in .pdf format.
• If you upload your paper, name your file as follows: LastnameFirstinitial_ClassNumber_Papernumber. Example: If Joan Smith turns in her first paper, the file would be called SmithJ_372_Paper1.doc. See the formatting guidelines for more information.

Late Papers and Extensions. Late papers are penalized at the rate of one letter grade (10 points) per class day late; a paper that would have received a "B" on Tuesday will receive a "C" if handed in on Thursday.

If you do not turn in a paper, you will receive a 0 for that portion of your grade. Papers received after four class days will receive 50 points but will not be formally graded.

You have one 48-hour extension in this class. This extension means that your paper will be due on the next class day, which could be more than 48 hours, without penalty.You must request the extension ahead of time, and you should save it for a true emergency, since no other extensions will be granted for illness, funerals, weddings, or any other reason.

Exams. This course has two exams. Exams in this course will consist of objective (multiple choice, short answer, matching) questions, identification questions, and an essay written in class. Exams cannot be made up without a doctor's note.

Quizzes. Unannounced quizzes over the reading will be given frequently in this class. The quizzes test your specific knowledge of the reading assignment for that day and sometimes ask about information from a previous day's class discussion or lecture. For example, you might be asked the name of a character, the meaning of a term discussed in the previous class, the character associated with a particular quotation, or the results of a specific action that occurs in a scene. Their purpose is to reinforce your close reading of the material by asking you about significant points in the book.

• Quizzes are usually composed of 10 multiple-choice questions, although some quizzes will ask you to write a few sentences in response to a question. If you've done the reading and have paid attention in class, you should easily be able to get a 10/10 on them.
• Quizzes cannot be made up, even if you are absent because of illness, but the lowest quiz grade will be dropped.
• Quizzes are usually given in the first 10 minutes of class; if you come in late and the quiz is in progress, you will not be able to take the quiz.
• An optional quiz will be given as a universal "make-up" quiz at the end of the semester.
• Students who have their books will be able to look up material for the bonus questions on quizzes.

In-class writing and short assignments. Short, typed responses to the reading may be assigned from time to time, as will short pieces of in-class writing.

Reports and Blogs. Students in this class will either present a brief oral report to the class or, in a group of 2-4 students, keep an online journal (weblog) of their reading this semester. Both options will involve about the same amount of work, but with the blog option, you'll be spreading the work out over the entire semester. Those who choose both to present a report and to keep a weblog will not have to take the second exam.

• You'll sign up for a report or a weblog in class. See the Reports and Blogs pages for more details.
• To make the schedule updatable and available to all, it will be posted on our course site, as will the list of blogs.
• Because the point of the weblog is to share your thoughts with others in the class, our main class site will contain a link with your name as part of the requirement. If you have any privacy concerns (under FERPA) about having people know that you are in this class or do not want your name posted anywhere on our class site, you should choose the Reports option instead. You'll also need to write to me (on paper) requesting that your name be omitted from the Reports page.

Policies

Electronics Policy. Recent studies have shown that people remember material better when they take notes by hand rather than on the computer, since typing on the computer tends to produce a transcription rather than the kind of selective note-taking that leads to understanding. Also, students participate more actively when they are not using a laptop, which benefits their class participation grade, and there are fewer distractions in the classroom without laptops. The following policies thus apply in this class:

• No cell phones or texting. Those using cell phones or texting will be counted as absent for the day.

• No laptops (iPads, netbooks, etc.) except on laptop days unless you have a reason that you've cleared with me ahead of time. If you must have a laptop open, the wireless should be turned off except on laptop days.

Plagiarism Policy. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's words or ideas. This definition includes not only deliberately handing in someone else's work as your own but failing to cite your sources, including Web pages and Internet sources. Plagiarism also includes handing in a paper that you have previously submitted or are currently submitting for another course.

• For a first offense, any paper plagiarized in whole or in part will receive an "F" (0 points), and the incident must be reported to the WSU Office of Student Conduct.  You will NOT be allowed to rewrite the plagiarized paper for a better grade.

• Penalties for a second offense can range from failing the course to suspension from the university.

WSU Statement on Academic Integrity. Academic integrity is the cornerstone of the university. You assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work you submit. You may collaborate with classmates on assignments, with the instructor's permission. However the guiding principle of academic integrity shall be that your submitted work, examinations, reports, and projects must be your own work. Any student who attempts to gain an unfair advantage over other students by cheating will fail the assignment and be reported to the Office Student Standards and Accountability. Cheating is defined in the Standards for Student Conduct WAC 504-26-010 (3).

WSU Midterm Policy. Based on ASWSU student requests and action by the Faculty Senate, WSU has recently instituted Academic Rule 88, which stipulates that all students will receive midterm grades. Midterm grades are not binding, and because the bulk of the graded work in this course occurs after the midterm point, it can only accurately reflect student performance up to that point.

WSU defines a "C" grade as "satisfactory," and those whose grades at midterm are in the "satisfactory" range or above (A, B, or C) will receive a "C" for the midterm grade [or will receive no listed grade at midterm]. Those whose performance is deficient (D) or seriously deficient (F) will receive those grades.

This does not mean that your grade is a "C" but that your grade is in the satisfactory range (A, B, or C) and that there are no significant deficiencies noted up to that point.

WSU Policy on Students with Disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a disability and need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please either visit or call the Access Center (Washington Building 217; 509-335-3417) to schedule an appointment with an Access Advisor. All accommodations MUST be approved through the Access Center. For more information contact a Disability Specialist: Pullman or WSU Online: 509-335-3417  http://accesscenter.wsu.edu, Access.Center@wsu.edu

WSU Safety Policy. Washington State University is committed to enhancing the safety of the students, faculty, staff, and visitors. It is highly recommended that you review the Campus Safety Plan (http://safetyplan.wsu.edu/) and visit the Office of Emergency Management web site (http://oem.wsu.edu/) for a comprehensive listing of university policies, procedures, statistics, and information related to campus safety, emergency management, and the health and welfare of the campus community.