Office: 24A Wilkinson
Phones: 997-6754 (office) 923-9545 (home - please don't call after 9pm.)
E-Mail: ruppel@chapman.edu 

Meetings:  Monday & Wednesday:  2:30-3:45pm, Wilkinson 210

Course Description:  The literary side of this course will emphasize how and why literature can take us out of our everyday selves.  We’ll read and analyze representative examples of the literature of love, the secular pursuit of the transcendent, and the divine, by poets, fiction writers, essayists, and playwrights.  To do this, we'll learn the basics of college-level literary analysis.  But this is also a course designed to help you make the transition to university-level work across the curriculum. 

Objectives:  You will hone your reading, writing, analytical, research, and general college skills.  This course will especially prepare you for other courses that require close reading, academic writing, and textual analysis. 

Course Syllabus
(Revisit this page through the semester to see changes & updates) 

Week 1:  August 31-Sept. 2—Introduction and first poems. 

Week 2:  Sept. 9—Poetry & discussions of how to make the best use of internet sources. 

Week 3:  Sept. 14-16—Poetry & study skills, including note-taking and other marks of successful class participation. 

Week 4:  Sept. 21-23—Library Presentation and Portrait of the Artist

Week 5:  Sept. 28-30—Portrait of the Artist

Week 6:  Oct. 5-7—Preparation for writing your literary analysis. 

Week 7:  Oct. 12-14—Literary analysis due October 14.  No class Monday, October 12.   

Week 8:  Oct. 19-21—Religious poetry. 

Week 10:  Oct. 26-28—Religious poetry - work on projects (either a second literary essay or another project). 

Week 11:  Nov. 2-4—Work on projects - secular poems concerned with transcendence. 

Week 12:  Nov. 9-11—Conferences November 11. 

Week 13:  Nov. 16-18—Poems concerned with transcendence but not (explicitly) with love or religion.   

Week 14:  Nov. 23—Erik and Ross lead the class.  Second projects due. 

Week 15:  Nov. 30-Dec. 2—Annie, Harpreet, and Sam lead the class. 

Week 16:  Dec. 7-9—Preparation for final. 

Final:  Wednesday, December 16, 8-10:30am. 

Course and Grade Requirements

Daily assignments: To prepare you to write the formal essays, I will make frequent writing assignments. These will constitute an important part of your final grade, so turn these in and take your time with them.

Communication:  Please be sure all of your communication, both online and in class, is courteous.  I'm happy to have email exchanges, but I receive a LOT of email.  So when you send me a message, please include the course abbreviation (FCC), your first name, and your subject in the subject line. 

Late Assignments:  If you anticipate having trouble getting an assignment in on time, let me know in advance. Late assignments will be penalized one grade per week.  To pass this class, you must turn in all of the major assignments.

Final drafts of your formal essays should be submitted in Microsoft Word format, following MLA style. 

Grades:  Participation, including Discussion Board posts:  25%
              Essay:  25%
              Project:  25%
              Final:  25%

Absences:  You may miss three classes over the semester. Any absences after that will affect your grade, and students with more than five absences will fail the course.

Revisions: You may revise your essay for a new grade. You must discuss that revision with me in a conference before you rewrite the essay.

Chapman University Academic Integrity Policy: 

Chapman University is a community of scholars that emphasizes the mutual responsibility of all members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith.  Students are responsible for doing their own work, and academic dishonesty of any kind will be subject to sanction by the instructor and referral to the university's Academic Integrity Committee, which may impose additional sanctions up to and including dismissal.  (See the Undergraduate Catalog for the full policy.)

Students with disabilities Policy: 

In compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any condition, either permanent or temporary, that might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the beginning of the term. The University, through the Center for Academic Success, will work with the appropriate faculty member who is asked to provide the accommodations for a student in determining what accommodations are suitable based on the documentation and the individual student needs.  The granting of any accommodation will not be retroactive and cannot jeopardize the academic standards or integrity of the course.

Daily Assignments

For September 9:  Find one love poem in our anthology.  Prepare to read it aloud to the class and to explain why you chose it. Answer the Blackboard discussion question concerned with The Soloist.    

For September 14: Respond to the Blackboard question about the poem you chose to read September 9.  Begin reading Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. 

For September 16:  Respond to the second Blackboard question about your poem.  Continue reading Portrait. 

For September 21:  Library presentation.  I'll send an email letting you know where in the library to meet (room 305).  Continue reading Portrait. 

For September 23:  Finish Portrait.  Bring a thesis that might work for a paper on love poetry or a specific love poem. 

For September 28:  Respond to the question in the Blackboard Discussion section by noon Monday. 

For September 30:  No new assignment. 

For October 5:  Bring the first and second paragraph of your first essay to class. 

For October 7:  Bring two copies of a draft of your first paper to class. 

For October 12:  No class.  Finish writing your literature essays and email them to me (as a Word .doc) by noon October 14. 

For October 19:  Find a poem with a religious theme (explicit or implicit) and be prepared to read it out loud to us. 

For October 21:  No new assignment. 

For October 26:  Develop a thesis for a second literary paper or a project idea.  Post these on Blackboard by noon, Oct. 26. 

For October 28:  Continued discussion of class projects. 

For November 2:  Be prepared to provide your thesis for your second paper or a description of your project to the class. 

For November 4:  Post a brief description of your second project on Blackboard by noon, November 4. 

For November 9:  Conferences on projects 1-3:30pm in Wilkinson 24A.  No formal class. 

For November 16:  Bring a draft of your second project to class for a draft workshop. 

For November 18:  No new assignment—bring the anthology to class. 

For November 23:  Answer the Blackboard question by noon, November 23. 

For December 7:  Answer the last Blackboard question by noon, Dec. 7. 

For December 9:  Bring questions about the final to class, and bring the anthology. 

 Course-Enriching Links

On Poetry

• The University of Toronto's extensive poetry pages, with links to a Glossary of Poetic Terms, Criticism, Poems, etc. 
• Shakespeare's sonnets:  18 ("Shall I compare thee"), 29 ("When in disgrace"), 71("No longer mourn"), 129 ("Th' expense of spirit"), 130 ("My mistress' eyes"). 
• James Fenton reading "I'm in Paris with You."
• The William Blake Archives. 

On Portrait

• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

On Writing about Poetry and Literature

• Extended definition of a poetry explication - from UNC Chapel Hill.
• Writing about Fiction - also from UNC Chapel Hill. 
• The Purdue Writing Center's description of how to write about literature. 
• A more elaborate and extensive description of how to write about literature from the Norton LitWeb. 

On Research

• Johns Hopkins University library's advice for "Evaluating Information Found on the Internet." 
• UC Berkeley University library's "Evaluating Web Pages:  Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask."

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