Research and Literature

Introduction; Literary Terms; Academic Integrity

 Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside a dog, its too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

Writers transform the facts the world providespeople, places, and objectsinto experiences
that suggest meaning. Michael Meyers

Welcome to English 102

Literature can be a source of much joy for people. Many people have favorite books or stories.
However, even those who dont like to read can enjoy literature in the form of TV shows, plays,
or movies.

If youve been around children, you know that they often ask, Tell me a story? The comfort of
the words and a familiar ending mean that as soon as one story is done, youre sure to hear
Read it again or Tell me another story. Once children start school, however, so often that joy
of reading and of stories is crushed because teachers turn reading into a chore where there are
right and wrong answers.

My goal in this course is to try to help you reach a better understanding of literature without
crushing that inherent love of tell me a story. By understanding the craft that goes into writing a
story, poem, or play, we can better appreciate how the writer achieves that magic when the
story does hit home.

Of course, since this is a college class, there will be papers, tests, and measurements. Try not
to let them get in the way of enjoying the story. If we work together, Im sure we can find ways to
meet the learning objectives without losing that deep-rooted love of literature.

General Guidelines

Please be sure to read the entire syllabus. It will be your guide for the course. When questions
arise, please let me know. I cant help you if I dont know there is a problem.

Much of this course is based on the readings in the textbooks. The reading assignments are
designed to help you understand the elements, terminology, and styles of literature, as well as
to expose you to various examples. Please read the reading assignments. The lectures will
include material to help tie together the elements in the reading assignments and to help put
things in perspective.

This course will be conducted in an asynchronous style. That means there is no set time when
you have to log in. That gives you the flexibility to manage your time so that you can log in when
it best fits your schedule. At the same time, that puts a lot of responsibility on you. You need to
ensure that you are logging in often enough to keep up with coursework. For example, each
week includes a discussion question that each student is required to answer. Each student is
then required to post comments on the input of at least two other students. For this to work best,
the majority of students must post their initial comments by midweek so that everyone else has
a chance to review the comments and post their thoughts on those comments. If students only
log in once a week to post their own thoughts, well miss out on the input they could have on
other students posts. If everyone waits until the end of the week, there will be nothing to

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 comment on earlier. The best plan is to log in at least every other day or so to see whats new
and to keep up with the coursework.

Late Work

Keep up with written assignments. In addition to the discussion questions each week, there are
several written assignments due throughout the course. Do not fall behind. In addition to
suffering a late penalty if writing assignments are not submitted in the week they are due,
submitting late also means you have less time to prepare for the next assignment. Also, I will
not accept any work more than one week after it is due. In other words, if you dont turn in the
assignment due in week 4, I will still accept it in week 5 with a late penalty, but I will not accept it
after week 5. Youve just blown off a portion of your overall course grade.

If you run into any problems, please let me know as soon as possible so we can decide how to
proceed. These problems could be computer difficulties, family emergencies, or other issues.
Obviously, its best to have a backup plan before a crisis occurs. If youve backed up your
material and havent waited until the last minute to do/send the work, we have more flexibility.
Still, life often intrudes on our studies. Ill do my best to work with you for a resolution.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to abide by the standards of academic integrity as set forth in the current
Washington Adventist University (WAU) Academic Bulletin, and the current Student Handbook.

Plagiarism: Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as ones

own work. Students work must reflect their own efforts, maintaining the highest standards of
honesty and integrity. Your research will include studying the research of others. This research
may be incorporated into your work, but it must be properly cited. Your research is expected to
build on the research of others. It should add new insights, new data, and new correlations
between researchers. Most written assignments must be submitted through www.turnitin.com in
addition to submitting them to the instructor via the course drop boxes. Students will be held
accountable for any plagiarism detected by www.turnitin.com.

Fabrication: Intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation

in an academic exercise. Do not make up sources and information. You must cite only actual
information and sources; any material must be actual and factual. Studies and surveys must
have been actually performed. Results must be reported as they actually occurred. You must
interpret information based on logic and fact. Keep in mind that for this course, fabrication
applies mostly to material presented in you research paper. Your other written assignments and
discussion posts are based on your own thoughts, creativity, and interpretations, and so of
course you will make up those things based on your own ideas.

Many students do not intentionally set out to cheat, but often only misunderstand where the
lines are drawn. Having another student or friend review your work and make suggestions for
improvement is not plagiarism or cheating. In fact, I encourage it as a way to improve your
writing. However, having another student rewrite portions of your work, which you then submit
as your own, is plagiarism. Including properly documented quotes or paraphrases from other
sources is not plagiarism. Including those same quotes or paraphrases without documenting
(citing) their original source is plagiarism.

Introduction; Literary Terms; Academic Integrity Page 3 of 6

 The Are You Ready section of this course includes a resource on academic integrity, including
definitions and procedures. Please be sure to review that resource.

What is literature?

- Is Moby Dick literature?

- Is the Bible literature?
- Is Thoreaus Walden literature?
- Is the movie Titanic literature? Is the movie script literature?
- Is a play literature?
- Is Lincolns Gettysburg Address literature?
- Is Longfellows The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere literature?
- Is a song literature?
- Alices Restaurant, by Arlo Guthrie
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
- Is The Ring of the Nibelung cycle by Richard Wagner literature?
- Is a poem that is sung literature?
- Is a dance literature? How about in cultures where the dance tells a story?
- American Indians telling of a hunt
- Swan Lake
- Interpretive dance
- Is prehistoric cave art literature? What about modern art?

- Must literature be written down, or can it include oral traditions and stories?

Michael Meyer defines literature as a fiction consisting of carefully arranged words designed to
stir the imagination. This would eliminate Walden, the Gettysburg Address, and possibly the
Bible because they are nonfiction. Many broader definitions would not limit literature to fiction.

Dictionary.com defines literature as imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized

artistic value. Websters New Collegiate Dictionary (1976) defines it as writings in prose or
verse, especially writings having excellence in form or expression and expressing ideas of
universal interest.

What is the purpose of literature?

Early humans constantly faced situations and occurrences they did not understand. How did the
monkey get its tail? Why do the rains come when they do? What are the stories behind the
constellations? Stories and myths helped to make sense of the chaos of the natural world and
also formed the basis of literature.

Another early purpose of stories and literature was to pass down information. As time passed,
the purposes of literature expanded to include entertainment, conveying a mood or impressions,
helping people see within themselves, and bonding families, societies, and cultures. Family
stories bond families. They may be based on fact, such as Little House on the Prairie or The
Waltons. They may be fictitious, such as the bedtime stories that formed the basis for The Swiss
Family Robinson or the Harry Potter books.

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 Stories bond societies and cultures. How would you react if someone compared you to Romeo,
Scrooge, Frankenstein, Lolita, James Bond, or Homer Simpson? You might get the reference
and be flattered, insulted, or laugh along with the joke, but someone from another culture
probably wouldnt. Would you understand if someone from Germany said you were a modern-
day Baron Munchausen or Till Eulenspiegel? Literature works its way into everyday language,
such as when you hear someone refer to a Cinderella story, a good Samaritan, Big Brother is
watching you, the boy who cried wolf, or tilting at windmills (from Don Quixote, by Cervantes).

Stories can effect change. Uncle Toms Cabin played a major role in building antislavery
sentiment before the Civil War. Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man also had an impact on race
relations. Roots affected both genealogy and race relations. Often stories try to create change
through satire, such as in Gullivers Travels, 1984, and Animal Farm.

Why do we study literature?

Because you need it to graduate.

In The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Michael Meyer says that the study of literature
engages you in the kinds of problem solving important in a variety of fields, from philosophy to
science and technology. He also says, The interpretation of literary texts requires you to deal
with uncertainties, value judgments, and emotions. Careful reading and analysis helps you to
better recognize these elements.

Think of the study of literature like the Olympics. Its fun and exciting to watch athletes, but your
appreciation increases if you understand how a feat was accomplished or the training and
planning that went into it. You can also enhance your appreciation of literature if you recognize
the craft of the author and the effort and planning that went into creating the literary work. This
could include word choice; descriptive images and symbolism; the use of irony; the use of
rhyme and meter in poetry; or any of the other elements of literature we will cover in this course.
Often TV coverage of the Olympics includes background on the athletes: the obstacles they
overcame, the type and depth of training, and their family support. The materials used in this
course provide backgrounds on the authors to show similar aspects of their lives.

What will this course cover?

In addition to reading numerous poems, stories, and plays, we will take a closer look at three of
the major types of modern literature: short stories, poems, and drama. We will look at the
elements that go into those forms: characters, plot, theme, symbols, and all the rest. We will
look at special devices that apply to poetry: rhyme, meter, sound, and form. Similarly, we will
look at aspects of drama such as set direction, asides, and soliloquies. You will demonstrate
your understanding of various elements through short writing assignments, including creating
your own poems and a scene from a play. You will attend a live performance of a drama in
order to better understand and appreciate how the experience differs from simply reading a
play.

As the course draws to a close, we will examine the various methods of critical analysis: the
different ways of looking at a literary work and assessing its meaning. You will apply critical
analysis to a topic of your choosing, and will prepare a research paper in which you support and
document a thesis relating to that topic.

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In the end, the ultimate goal of this class is to increase your understanding, appreciation, and
enjoyment of literature.

Once again, if at any time you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. This would
also include any suggestions for course improvement. Online courses lose much of the
personal contact inherent in face-to-face classes. Keeping in touch via email, discussion
forums, or phone calls will help to build camaraderie.

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