English 1020.03

Section. 01 CRN 22550

Winter 2007

Introduction to Poetry and Drama

http://integratedlearningonline.academiccomputing.dal.ca/index.php

David McNeil TR: 10:00 - 11:30

3193 McCain, 494-3508 dmcneil@dal.ca                                                    Hicks 212

http://myweb.dal.ca/~dmcneil/home.html

Office Hours: W: 3:30- 4:30, R 3:30-4:30, or by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Melissa Dalgleish melissadalgleish@dal.ca

Office Hours: T: 11:30-1:30 McCain 2186

Description:

This semester class is an introduction to the study of poetry and drama. Students will cover the basic aspects of each genre by examining a selection of texts from Shakespeare to the present. Considerable attention will be also be given to writing.

Three essays are required, and there will be other in-class writing assignments. Students are also required to keep a journal or blog, in which they are encouraged to record their responses to the assigned reading or the class; however, the content of your journal/blog is entirely up to you. The instructor will ask to see your journal/blog once during the term. Students are expected to be ready to discuss assigned texts and to submit various writing exercises as per the class schedule. Late essays will be penalized one grade (B to B-) for each day overdue. As with all first-year English classes, there is a final exam worth 20% of the student’s final grade.

This section will also make use of WebCt. Students with disabilities should register as quickly as possible at Student Accessibility Services if they want to receive academic accommodations. To do so, please phone 494-2836, e-mail <disabilities@dal.ca>, or drop in at the Killam, G28.

Texts:

Harbrace Anthology of Drama. 4^th Ed. Eds. Stott, Jones, Bowers.

Harbrace Anthology of Poetry. 4^th Ed. Eds. Stott, Jones, Bowers.

Harbrace Handbook for Canadians. 6th Ed. (Thomson * Nelson)

Recommended: Gage Canadian Dictionary or The Oxford Canadian Dictionary

Tentative Schedule: (check WebCt “Calendar” for details and updates)

Jan.     4          Introduction (format, texts, schedule, evaluation, WebCt, Infotrac)

                        - writing exercise

            9          - Introduction to Drama, pp. 3-11

                        - Glossary of Literary Terms (Drama), pp. 497-502

                        - Introduction to Blood Relations

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 27 - paragraphs)

            11        Blood Relations, Act I

                        - Writing About Literature, pp. 481-96

            16        Blood Relations, Act II

- writing (Hand. Chap. 28 - planning and drafting; Chap. 35 - writing for special purposes: drama, pp. 650-57))

                        - Essay #1 Assigned

            18        Blood Relations

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 29 - revising and editing)

            23        The Importance of Being Ernest

                        - Oscar Wilde, p. 133

                        - introduction to the play, pp. 133-35

                        - Act I, pp. 135-52

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 30 - writing under pressure)

            25        The Importance of Being Ernest

                        - Act II, pp. 152-72

                        - Essay #1, First Draft Due (peer editing)

            30        The Importance of Being Ernest

                        - Act III, pp. 173-83

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 31 - writing and thinking critically)

Feb.     1          The Importance of Being Ernest

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 26 - design and format)

                        - Essay #1, Final Draft Due

            6          The Tempest

                        - introduction to Shakespeare; Elizabethan playhouse, pp. 12-14

                        - Acts I & II, pp. 14-44

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 5 - writing arguments)

            8          The Tempest

                        - Acts III - V, 44-71

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 2-3 - fragments, splices, fused)

                        - Essay #2, Assigned

            13        The Tempest

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 17-21 - punctuation)

            15        The Tempest

- writing (Hand. Chap. 35 - writing for special purposes: business communication, pp. 672-89)

            19, 23              STUDY BREAK

            27        - Introduction to Poetry, pp. vii, 3-8

                        - “Sir Patrick Spens,” pp. 25-26

                        - Essay #2, First Draft Due (peer editing)

Mar.    1          - Introduction to Poetry, pp. 8-11, 18-19

                        - Renaissance Sonnet, pp. 27-28

                        - Shakespeare, Sonnets 73 & 130, pp. 36, 37

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 35 - writing for special purposes: poetry, pp. 657-71)

            6          - Introduction to Poetry, pp. 12-22

                        - Wroth, “In this strange labyrinth how shall I turn,” p. 49

                        - Keats, “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer,” pp. 144-45

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 1 - sentence sense)

                        - Essay #2, Final Draft Due

            8          - Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress,” pp. 64-65

                        - Broadstreet, “Upon the burning of our house, July 10, 1666,” pp. 60-61

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 4 - adjectives and adverbs)

            13        - Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard,” pp. 93-98

- Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn,”

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 5 - coherence)

                        - Essay #3, Assigned

            15        - Tennyson, “Ulysses,” pp. 161-63

                        - Rossetti, “Up-Hill,” “Song,” and “The World,” pp. 181-82

                        - writing ( (Hand. Chap. 33 - finding and evaluating sources)

            20        - Pratt, “From Stone to Steel,” pp. 219-20

                        - Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” pp. 225-30

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 6 - pronouns)

            22        - Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts,” p. 256

                        - Purdy, “Lament for the Dorsets,” pp. 286-88

                        - Essay #3, Draft Due (peer editing)

            27        - Livesay, “The Three Emilys,” pp 270-71

                        - Page, “The Landlady,” pp. 280-81

                        - Atwood, “Variations on the Word Love,” pp. 334-35 

                        - writing (Hand. Chap. 7 - verbs)

            29        - Nowlan, “The Bull Moose,” pp. 320-21

                        - Ondaatje, “To A Sad Daughter,” pp. 353-55

                        - Clarke, “Casualties,” pp. 390-91

                        - Essay #3, Final Draft Due

                        - writing ( (Hand. Chap. 8-9- sentence unity, subordination, coordination)

Apr.    3          - Philip, “Blackman Dead,” pp. 358-60

                        - Brand, “Spiritual Blues for Mammy Prater,” pp. 374-75

                        - Halfe, “My Ledders,” 376-77

                        - writing ( (Hand. Chap. 10-12 - parallelism, emphasis & variety)

            5          - Review

            9-23    - Exam Period (you must be available to write the exam on campus)

Evaluation:

Essays: 3 (20% each)                                      60%

Writing Exercises and Participation               20%

(includes peer editing, journal/blog)

Final Exam                                                     20%

Academic Integrity:

All participants in this class (i.e., students, instructor, teaching assistants) are expected to practice academic integrity. At Dalhousie there are University Regulations which deal with plagiarism and, prior to submitting any paper in a course, students should read the policy on “Plagiarism and Intellectual Honesty” contained in the Dalhousie Calendar or on the Dalhousie website <http://plagiarism.dal.ca/> and the section in the Harbrace Handbook (33g-h, G-38) .

Dalhousie University subscribes to Turnitin.com, a computer based service which checks

for originality in submitted papers. Any paper submitted by a student at Dalhousie

University may be checked for originality to confirm that the student has not plagiarised

from other sources. Plagiarism is considered a serious academic offence which may

lead to loss of credit, suspension or expulsion from the University, or even the revocation

of a degree. It is essential that there be correct attribution of authorities from which

facts and opinions have been derived.

The Senate has affirmed the right of any instructor to require that student papers be submitted in both written and computer readable format, and to submit any paper to a check such as that performed by Turnitin.com. As a student in this class, you are to keep an electronic copy of any paper you submit, and the course instructor may require you to submit that electronic copy on demand. Copies of student papers checked by this process will be retained by Turnitin.com. (Memo from Vice President Academic and Provost, August 7, 2002)

Objectives:

To provide students with a foundation in the genres of poetry and drama; to improve essay writing skills; and most importantly, to foster a love of literature!