For MANDATORY orientation information email hlynch@austincc.edu by June 30. You must have your ACC eID and password to access our Blackboard site to start the course. Contact the Help Desk if you need to get it. Call 223-HELP or email helpdesk@austincc.edu.

To learn about how distance learning courses work, go to http://dl.austincc.edu/students/#DL101

ENGL 2342-015 Introduction to Literature Syllabus--Distance Learning
Synonym 29328
Blackboard course site http://acconline.austincc.edu
Mailbox: South Austin Mailroom    Course length: June 30-Aug. 8

Note to students: This syllabus is like a contract between students and instructor. It is subject to change under my discretion, but its policies and rules will be applied and enforced throughout the semester.

Prerequisites
Enrollment in any literature course requires credit for both ENGL 1301 and ENGL 1302 or their equivalents.  The grade in ENGL 1302 must be at least “C.”  All students must submit proof of completing English 1302 or its equivalent. Electronic copies or photocopies of transcripts will suffice. You must verify coursework by July 8.

Course Description
English 2342, Introduction to Literature I is a study of the main genres of literature:  poetry, drama, and prose.  It thus involves selected readings, arranged by types.

Required Textbooks and Supplies (You must buy these editions.)
-Booth, Allison et al. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th edition. New York: Norton, 2010
-Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual. 5th edition w/ 2009 MLA update. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.
-Computer access is required. Lack of access is not an excuse for missing class or not doing assignments.

Essential Webpages
Online Blackboard class site (syllabus, assignments, etc.): http://acconline.austincc.edu
Blackboard help (extremely helpful and better than emailing a professor): http://irt.austincc.edu/blackboard/student.html
English resources from ACC: http://library.austincc.edu/w3/ENG/ 
Norton Literature site: www.wwnorton.com/literature

Scholastic Dishonesty
Acts prohibited by the College for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.  Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research, or self-expression.  Academic work is defined as, but not limited to, tests and quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations; and homework.

My policy: All work in ENGL 2342 must be your own original effort, written specifically for this course. No recycled papers from high school or other classes, please. Anything copied or borrowed from another source without proper MLA documentation and turned in as your own work constitutes plagiarism and results in an automatic 0% (F) for the assignment. This includes plagiarized sections of papers, if not an entirely plagiarized paper. Having read thousands of papers, I have caught several students plagiarizing and given Fs. Remember, an honest C is so much better than a dishonorable F. Also be prepared to produce any research sources to verify that you used them responsibly.

Students with Disabilities
Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities.  Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes.  Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester and inform me of any disabilities by July 8.  Please do not tell me you have a disability when it’s too late to accommodate you.

Accomodations OSD often provides: http://www.austincc.edu/support/osd/accommodations.php

Student Freedom of Expression
Each student is strongly encouraged to participate in class.  In any classroom situation that includes discussion and critical thinking, there are bound to be many differing viewpoints.  These differences enhance the learning experience and create an atmosphere where students and instructors alike will be encouraged to think and learn.  On sensitive and volatile topics, students may sometimes disagree not only with each other but also with the instructor.  It is expected that faculty and students will respect the views of others when expressed in classroom discussions. In other words, please treat each other well, even if you disagree. Bad etiquette can hurt your participation grade.

Online Etiquette, aka Netiquette
The above ACC policy applies, but for an online class, we must be extra aware of how to relate to each other. We are still in a formal academic setting, so we must show each other courtesy and respect, but through what we write. Sometimes the anonymity of the internet causes us to be less formal or thoughtful, and we want to maintain good standards while enjoying the convenience of an online class. Proper spelling and good grammar are also required, so please proofread your work, even if it’s on a discussion forum.

ACC’s Withdrawal Policy
The Texas State Legislature passed a bill stating that students who first enroll in public colleges and universities beginning in fall 2007 and thereafter may not withdraw from more than six classes during their undergraduate college career. See ACC Student Handbook for further information.

Instructors will provide specific written guidelines for each assignment and may establish deadlines by which students must complete a specific number of assignments or be subject to WITHDRAWAL from the course.   Students are responsible for knowing whether their instructor will withdraw them if they cannot meet such deadlines. See below.

My Withdrawal Guidelines
I expect you to withdraw yourself from class if you disappear, but some students want an F for financial aid reasons. If a student misses more than two weeks of class online, he or she is expected to drop the class. If you fail to return to class and hand in work, you will receive an F in the course if you do not officially withdraw yourself.

About Incompletes
These are very rare and are only given if there is a true emergency that keeps you from finishing the semester. (Extreme illness, death in the family, etc.) Do not count on being able to earn an Incomplete.

Online Class Logistics and Participation
Online attendance and participation: This is 10% of your grade but impacts the overall quality of your work. You are asked to participate June 30-August 8. Please arrange your life schedule so that you will be able to participate online for the entire session. Students who don’t meet the minimum requirements will not receive passing participation credit and should not expect an above average letter grade in this course. Students who do not observe good netiquette, as described on page will also receive a lower grade.

This class is interactive and we want students to “speak” to each other. We really will be an online community and get to know each other’s personalities. However, we will not be meeting online at a specific time. You are asked to go online at least three days a week, just as if we met three times per week. You will read announcements, check assignments, take quizzes, and respond to other students’ posts, to name just a few activities. You should also budget at least three hours of online time into your week, not counting the time it will take to do homework, read, etc. Much of your learning and work will be offline.

A week runs Sunday through Saturday, though many deadlines will be on specific dates. I will keep track of your online activity through quizzes, discussion threads, and other activities. You are also graded on the quality of your participation, not just simply logging in. I will specify what good participation looks like in another course document.

Woody Allen has been credited for saying that “80% of success is showing up.” If you miss a lot of class, you will fail. If you simply show up and do the work, you should pass. If you show up, work hard, and become part of an online community, you will have a truly positive distance learning experience.

Attendance and participation will be recorded each week. If you do not participate three times per week as asked, it is your responsibility to communicate with me and figure out what you missed. Checking Blackboard at http://acconline.austincc.edu will also help you. Missing class does not extend a deadline, nor can anyone make up short reading quizzes once they are closed, no exceptions. If you forget this policy, I will ask you to review your syllabus.

Penalty for not participating/attending: Students who miss more than three participation sessions overall will lose 2% from their total class grade with each additional “absence.” Please use your absences wisely.

Discussion board posts are scored and added to your participation grade. Reading quizzes are scored and go in your quiz grade. These activities directly impact your grade. The penalty for missing more than three sessions is a penalty on top of any zeroes for posts or quizzes (just as if we were in a classroom in person).

Please take special note: I do not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, so please do not feel obligated to ask for an "excused" absence. An absence = an absence, especially in an online class with 24/7 access.

Finding Assignments: Our Blackboard course site opens up on the Announcements page, but go to Assignments to get the actual latest assignments.

Submitting Assignments/Meeting Deadlines: You need to submit papers by the indicated due dates; otherwise, you may find it difficult to keep up. You are allowed one late paper this semester, so save it for a real emergency.  Believe me, one will come up. All papers must follow MLA guidelines, which we will discuss in detail. Electronic copies of assignments will be accepted in the digital dropbox; please do not submit assignments via email unless asked to do so.

Tips for Successfully Handing in Work: Always, always save your papers every fifteen minutes as you write them. Also email the files to yourself and/or save them to a disk or jump or flash drive. Computer or printer problems are never an excuse for a missing paper. Prepare your paper well before the deadline to avoid any mishaps.

To hand in work, we will use the digital drop box on Blackboard. You will receive specific directions soon.

How to Reach the Instructor: Not meeting in person changes our communication dynamic. While the internet allows you to come to class any time, please note that I teach other courses and there will be a lag time in my response to you. I will respond to your email within 48 hours, not including weekends. Please remember this if you send an email at 8 p.m. Friday night and want a response by the next morning. I check email about three times per day. I do not often check my email late at night or on weekends, so please do not plan on quickly reaching me at those times. An emergency on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine, so please manage your time, plan ahead, and ask questions by Friday afternoon.

Though email is the quickest way to reach me, you may call either the live office hour number or the voicemail number listed on page 1 of this syllabus.

How the Instructor Reaches You: Blackboard automatically sends email to your ACC Google account. You are required to use this email service for this online class. To set up your account, go to http://www.austincc.edu/google/ and carefully read the directions. Any technical questions go to the help desk at 223-HELP or helpdesk@austincc.edu. I cannot send emails to your personal address from Blackboard, and all important announcements are sent through that email system.

How to Use Blackboard: To avoid rewriting the instruction manual, I strongly encourage you to utilize BB’s help page as much as possible while learning how to use Blackboard. Go to http://irt.austincc.edu/blackboard/StudentSupport.php. You can find answers to most questions there, and you will get quicker feedback.

ACC’s Statement of Course Requirements and Grading
A.  Written Work:  Writing assignments will constitute at least two-thirds of the final grade.  Students must submit one assignment for each genre covered.  

For poetry, short stories, and drama, an instructor may allow the following options:  

• analytical essay(s)—at least one required
• test(s)
• literary writing—no more than one allowed

For the novel, an instructor may allow the following options:

• analytical essay(s)
• test(s)    

Other Credit Options:  An instructor may count other options for a maximum of two more grades, together accounting for no more than one-third of your final grade.  Such options include quizzes, reading, dramatizations, journal writing, brief literary writing exercises, oral book reports, reports on authors, or other activities.  

Our Course Grading and Evaluation
Participation, attendance, and etiquette 10%
Reading and grammar quizzes; response papers 10%
Formal essays/papers 30%
Genre exams (objective, short answer, and essay) 40%
Comprehensive final exam 10%

 
Course Objectives
To provide a working knowledge of the characteristics of each literary genre;
To develop analytical skills and critical thinking through reading, discussion, and written assignments;  
To broaden students’ intercultural reading experience;
To deepen students’ awareness of the universal human concerns that are the basis for literary works;
To stimulate a greater appreciation of language as an artistic medium and of the aesthetic principles that shape literary works;
To understand literature as an expression of human values within an historical and social context.

Updates will be announced via Blackboard and email.

Semester Calendar (Subject to Change) --Reading quizzes TBA. Additional activities and assignments may be announced during this class.

Please see the Assignments section each Monday, week by week, to see specific dates and deadlines. This calendar is an overview of topics and readings. Most readings will require some discussion questions and some will be subjects for reading quizzes.

Week 1  and 2

6/30-7/9
Course Introduction
Course and student introduction; syllabus quiz. Norton pp. 12 top of 15; Carver 28 ("Cathedral").

Short Stories and Literary Elements
Literary elements overview. Alexie 52; Chopin 607. Reading quiz and/or discussion. Literary elements quiz.

Week 3 

7/10- 7/16
Response paper.  Read novella.
Reading quiz and/or discussion. Fiction exam.

Week 4 

7/17-7/23
Drama and Tragedy
Paper #1 due. Oedipus the King. Reading quiz and/or discussion.

Week 5  

7/24-7/30
Drama and Comedy
The Importance of Being Earnest. Paper #2 due. Drama exam. 

Week 6 and 7  

7/31-8/8
Introduction to Poetry. Poems TBA. Reading quiz and/or discussion.
Paper #3 due. Poetry and final exam.