Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus

COURSE NUMBER:              ENG 2140 - 001

COURSE NAME:                   Fantasy Worlds

CREDIT HOURS:                  3

CONTACT HOURS:              3

INSTRUCTOR:                      Carter Kaplan

OFFICE HOURS:                   M 12:00-12:30, 2:00-3:00; T 3:30-4:00, 5:30-6:00; W 12:00-12:30, 

                                                       2:00-3:00, 5:30-6:00; R 3:30-4:00, and by appointment.

MAILBOX:                             28

PHONE EXTENSION:           1152

OFFICE LOCATION:            302

EMAIL ADDRESS:                ckaplan@belmontcollege.edu

I.      COURSE DESCRIPTION:  Introduction to a variety of literary fictional worlds representing the tradition of fantasy in world literature.  Students will discover how different fictional realities are created and what to expect while visiting those fictional worlds.  They will learn how their reaction to fictional reality is governed by particular narrative methods.  Genres studied are selected from among science fiction, magical realism, fairy tale, gothic romance, ghost story, fantastic tale, realistic fantasy, and legend.   

II.      PREREQUISITE:  ENG1110

III.      COURSE OBJECTIVES:  The course is an exploration in world literature that meets, through literary discussion, the traditional objectives of humanities electives.   The course introduces students to a variety of genres of literary fantasy from world literature, including classics of the tradition.  The methodology for teaching the course is rooted in fictional-world semantic theory, narrative theory, and principles of comparative literature.  Course work includes focused class discussion, directed reading questions involving independent critical thinking, a four-page essay conducting textual analysis, and a comprehensive final exam involving short essay questions.      

IV.      LEARNING OUTCOMES:  Successful students will achieve the following results:

  

1.       Read and interact with fantasy literature, developing an awareness of (and appreciation for) the fantasy tradition in world literature and its impact on the contemplation of human concerns.

2.       Distinguish and explore differing genres of fantasy in world literature.

3.       Recognize variable fictional-world structures that depend on the priorities of differing genres.

4.       Reflect on possibility as truth within particular fictional worlds.

5.       Develop an increased understanding of methods of narration available in literary fiction.

6.       Recognize the impact of literary structure on reading and understanding--that reader reaction to fictional worlds depends on the differing narrative methods employed.

7.       Reflect on thematic concerns through an appreciation of fictional-world structures and narrative methods.

8.       Become involved in focused class discussion of literary texts and undertake independent and thoughtful literary analysis in writing, developing and applying independent critical thinking strategies on the basis of class exploration of methods of textual analysis.    

9.       Understand the importance of communication about literature as a means of attaining better human awareness and self-understanding.

V.      BELMONT COLLEGE CORE LEARNING OUTCOMES PHILOSOPHY:  The following general education outcomes are cultivated in all students seeking the Associate Degree and/or Certificate.  When appropriate and applicable to the course content, the faculty will integrate the outcome competencies and goals and emphasize them in course activities and assignments.

Core Learning Outcomes:

1.       Communicate Effectively (Written, Oral, Reading)

2.       Think Critically and Creatively

3.       Learn Actively

4.       Accept Accountability

5.       Build Global/Multicultural Diversity Awareness

VI.      MATERIALS REQUIRED:

              Fantasy Worlds, Carter Kaplan, ed.

             Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

             UBIK, Philip K. Dick

VII.      SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS AVAILABLE:  Drop-in and individually scheduled writing tutor support is available, both on campus and online, in the Student Success Center.  Enquire in the SSC also about individualized tutoring assistance for all courses.  The Learning Commons (library) offers help and materials to support learning.  Materials include free use of computers and other equipment, as well as books, articles, videos, and multimedia.  Materials are located within the library, accessed online using a library card, or easily requested from colleges and universities throughout Ohio.  Library staff can help students find and learn to use the right materials efficiently.

VIII.      INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS:  Instruction will include lectures and group discussion on the basis of readings completed for class.  Student success will require application of the principles explored in class lecture and discussion to individual written textual analysis.  Class discussion will be informed often by the directed reading questions completed by the students in preparation for class.  The instructor will also conduct individual discussions with students depending on their needs as they complete assignments.

IX.      COURSE REQUIREMENTS/POLICIES:

Requirements for the Student:  Students are expected to consult the course schedule, keep up with reading and writing assignments, and come to class each day with any completed assignment(s) and/or prepared to participate in the day’s discussion. 

Special Class Requirements:  Off-campus access to a computer is highly recommended, to facilitate the timely completion of writing assignments.  But if needed, computers are also available in the Learning Commons (library). Students are also welcome to use the Student Success Center computers.   

           

Academic Integrity:  Research is not a requirement of this course, which focuses instead on individual and independent critical thinking.  The English department has a zero-tolerance policy for cheating and plagiarism.  No form of cheating will be allowed, including passing off someone else’s work as one’s own, or recycling work for which credit is being (or has already been) obtained in another course.  Plagiarism is the unacknowledged borrowing of the words (however few) and/or ideas of someone else.  Students must identify within their essays the exact source of all words and ideas not their own.  Depending on the severity, cheating or plagiarism will result in a grade of either F or zero for the assignment, or in a failing grade for the entire course.

Absence Policy:  Attendance and participation are important components of this course.  Attendance records will be kept. Students who miss three classes can expect to have their final grades lowered by one letter. Four or more absences will result in failure. No exceptions. Contact the instructor in advance if you plan to miss class. Coming to class unprepared—without assignments or required text(s)—will be counted as an absence. Excessive tardiness can also lower the final grade. Two incidents of tardiness will be counted as an absence. Students should be aware that the Department of Education has certain attendance requirements concerning student eligibility for student aid.

            Make-Up Policy:  Students may make up missed in-class assignments only while the due date is still pending.  Work that takes place entirely in class, such as peer review, cannot be made up. 

Late Assignment Policy:  Due dates are indicated on the schedule; all assignments are due in class. Normally, late assignments will not be accepted except with medical certificate.  With prior permission, an assignment may be accepted up to three calendar days late, but only in compelling circumstances and with a set deduction of 5% per day. 

            Classroom/Online Etiquette:  Students should demonstrate respect for the learning environment, including their fellow students, and contribute to an atmosphere conducive to productive group discussion and learning. 

X.      COURSE EVALUATION METHODS:

Class participation:                                                   15%

Directed reading questions/quizzes:                           10%

Essay (1250 words minimum):                                   20%

Midterm:                                                                  25%

Final:                                                                       30%

The essay topic will be provided, with a choice of literary works to analyze.  All essays must be prepared on a computer.

The exams may involve both short-answer and short essay-type questions with no open-book privileges. 

The essay, exam, directed reading questions, and participation will be graded using standard percentages.  At the end of the course each component mark will be weighted, in order to determine a final percentage standing, which will be converted into the final letter grade.  Percentage divisions are the following: 100-94=A, 93-90=A-, 89-87=B+, 86-84=B, 83-80=B-, 79-77=C+, 76-74=C, 73-70=C-, 69-67=D+, 66-60=D, 59-0=F.

XI.      STUDENT CONCERNS:  Students should contact the instructor directly (in person, by e-mail, or by telephone) with any questions they have about class procedures.  Students are encouraged to voice concerns with the instructor.  Student feedback is essential to the continuing growth of the course.  More important, each student’s welfare is a concern for the instructor.  If students experience difficulties, they are asked to not stop attending or withdraw from the course before discussing the situation with the instructor.   In any case, the student must follow procedures outlined in the college catalog to withdraw from the course.

XII.      COLLEGE POLICIES

Waiting policy:  If the teacher is detained from a class longer than fifteen minutes for any reason, one student should report the absence to the reception desk.  Remaining students will wait in the classroom until the reporting student returns.

Americans with Disabilities Act:  It is the policy of Belmont College to provide reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities.  If a student has a physical, mental, or learning disability and wishes to request such accommodation, he/she must contact the Access Advisor, Room 115, in Student Services at the main campus or the Student Advisor at the North Center.

Code of Conduct:  Belmont College expects students to respect the rights and privileges of others, and to be responsible for self-conduct.  The College’s Board of Trustees has established a resolution pertaining to conduct.  See current college catalog for policy and resolution. 

Academic Misconduct:  The responsibility for academic honesty rests with the student.  The College expects the student to submit papers, projects, and reports resulting from the student’s own efforts.  Work submitted in any form should reflect the exclusive effort of the student.  It is assumed that cheating on quizzes, tests, or examinations is not practiced by mature learners. Plagiarism will not be tolerated at any time.  Submitting another’s work as one’s own, in part or in whole, is a dishonest practice.  A student may not appropriate another person’s ideas, whether published or not.  Consequences for proven cases of dishonest practices may include:  (a) Zero percent being given for the test, examination, report, quiz, paper, project, or any other course requirement on which the cheating has occurred; or (b) Failure for the course in which the offense occurred; or (c) Dismissal from the College.  The student shall have the right to present his/her case through the student appeals procedure.  Even though the primary responsibility for academic integrity resides with the student, the instructor will endeavor to create a secure learning environment that inhibits cheating.  The College encourages honest scholarship.

XIII.      WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM ASSIGNMENT:  All writing assignments in the course qualify as writing across the curriculum.

XIV.      MISCELLANEOUS:

            Tips for Success:  It is most important to keep up with the reading assignments, so that directed reading questions will not become a last-minute ordeal and active class participation will be possible.  Students should come to class prepared to enjoy the discussion. 

            Support Services:  Advising staff, Learning Commons, and the Charles W. Kocher Student Success Center. 

XV.      MAJOR AREAS OF STUDY TO BE COVERED – STUDY UNITS – COURSE CALENDAR - SCHEDULE: 

The study calendar appears on the following pages, as a schematic guideline offered to provide a sense of direction for the course.

The instructor reserves the right to revise the syllabus and study schedule to accommodate the needs and interests of the class and any exigencies.  Any changes will be announced in class.

Exact timings for readings and directed reading questions will be assigned weekly in class.

DATE OF REVISION:  7-11-14 (dlc)

INITIALS:  MC

TAG APPROVED?  No TAG available  (approved in the Transfer Module)

DATE APPROVED:

TAG ELIGIBLE:

COURSE NUMBER:  ENG 2140                                      COURSE NAME:  Fantasy Worlds                                              

MAJOR AREAS OF STUDY TO BE COVERED – STUDY UNITS – COURSE CALENDAR - SCHEDULE:

Week	Class No.	Textbook/Chapter(s)	Topic(s)	Learning Outcome No.
1	1-2	“Sedna” and “Oki Islands” (with the exception of Dick and Coleridge, all selections are found in the Fantasy Worlds reader)	Introduction to course: Fantasy literature; mythology; folk tales	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
2	3-4	“Sedna” and “Oki Islands” from The Iliad Book 1.1-52 from The Iliad Book 18.202-214 from The Iliad Book 18.462-616	From Shamanism to Myth “Sedna” “Oki Islands” From Myth to Epic From The Iliad: opening lines, the shield of Achilles, epic simile	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
3	5-6	The Odyssey Book 11	From The Odyssey: Odysseus in the Underworld Film: Ulysses	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
4	7-8	from Paradise Lost Book 1.1-330  from Paradise Lost Book 2.614-1055	Out of the Darkness: The Middle Ages Film: Excalibur	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
5	9-10	from Paradise Lost Book 1.1-330  from Paradise Lost Book 2.614-1055	Film: Monty Python and the Holy Grail The Renaissance: Epic, Romance, and Reformation John Milton, from Paradise Lost: Opening Lines from Book I; from Book II: Satan, Sin, Death, Chaos… and the Universe	1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8
6	11-12	Hawthorne. “Young Goodman Brown”	Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown.” Film: The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
7	13-14	Hawthorne, “The Hall of Fantasy” Blake, “The Tyger”  “The Ancient Poets” Wordsworth, “The world is too much with us”,  “I wondered lonely as a cloud” Shelley, “Ozymandias”	Film, Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Hall of Fantasy” Romanticism and… Materialism? William Blake, “The Tyger” William Blake, “The Ancient Poets” William Wordsworth, “The world is too much with us” William Wordsworth, “I wondered lonely as a cloud” Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias”	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
8	15-16	Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner	Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
9	17-18	Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner	Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Review for Midterm Wednesday: MIDTERM EXAMINATION	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
10	19-20	Dick, UBIK	Paper Discussion Gothic Romance, Monsters, Sense, Sensibility, and the Novel Jane Austen, Northanger Abby	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
11	21-22	Dick, UBIK Keats,“On First looking into Chapman’s Homer”, “Le Belles Dame sans Merci: A Ballad” Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott, The Kraken”	Jane Austen, Northanger Abby The Aesthetics of Escape and of Beauty: The Victorians Pre-Victorian: John Keats, “Le Belles Dame sans Merci”, from Endymion Victorian: Alfred Lord Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”, “The Kraken” Late-Victorian: Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Morris, George Meredith, Arts and Crafts, Art Nuevo	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
12	23-24	W. B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”, “Byzantium”, “The Second Coming” George Orwell: “W. B. Yeats”, The Scientists Take Over” (review of C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength Introduction to Emanations: Third Eye Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”	New and Modern Ages: Fantasy, Occult Sciences, Vienna Secession, Art Deco, Cubism, Futurism, The Dada, Surrealism, Fascism, Stalinism, Democracy; Workers and their Revolutions W. B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”, “Byzantium”, “The Second Coming” George Orwell: “W. B. Yeats”, The Scientists Take Over” (review of C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength Introduction to Emanations: Third Eye Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
13	25-26	H.G. Wells, “The Country of the Blind”, “The Crystal Egg”	Music, Animation and Fantasy Film, Allegro Non Troppo The Modern World, continued H.G. Wells, “The Country of the Blind”, “The Crystal Egg”	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
14	27-28	Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”,   from Supernatural Horror in Literature   Smith, “The City of the Singing Flame”	Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”,   from Supernatural Horror in Literature   Smith, “The City of the Singing Flame” Film: Fantastic Planet	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
15	29-30	Riches, “Beware the Subtle World” Meadley,  “Meeting Dr. Malthusian” Jackson,  “Everything Changes”	Papers Due: brief presentations Fantastic Trends   Riches, “Beware the Subtle World” Meadley,  “Meeting Dr. Malthusian” Jackson,  “Everything Changes”	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8
16	31-32		Review for Final Examination FINAL EXAMINATION	1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

The instructor reserves the right to revise and update the information on this syllabus.