EDUCATIONAL
MATERIALS
West Chester University
West Chester University
Home Course Syllabi and Announcements Notebook for Topics in Literature: Imaginary Worlds (Spring 2008) Notebook for Topics in Literature: Rites of Passage (Spring 2006) Notebook for Effective Writing I (Spring 2006) Go Exploring Notebook for Topics in Literature: Imaginary Worlds (Fall 2005) Notebook for Effective Writing I (Fall 2005) Go Exploring
LIT 165 Syllabus
LIT 165 Announcements and Assignments
WRT 120 Syllabus
WRT 120 Announcements and Assignments
A Reading of THE TEMPEST
Goals of the Course
Fundamental Questions about Literature
Valuing Literature
Critical Thinking and Reading Literature
Critical Approaches to Literature
Literature as ART
Ambiguity
Approaching the Art of Fiction
Defining the Short Story
Evaluating Short Fiction
Craft of Fiction: PLOT
Craft of Fiction: CHARACTER
Small Group Exercise
ARABY by James Joyce
WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? by Joyce Carol Oates
Our RITES OF PASSAGE Theme
A note about GIRL
POE and the art of STORY OF A HOUR
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
YOUNG MAN ON SIXTH AVENUE
Notes on Innovative Fiction
Assignment Sheet for Paper #1
Fiction and Ambiguity - Your Questions
Writing Workshop - Short Fiction
Poetry Journal Project Assignment Sheet
LITERARY SYNTHESIS PROJECT
Defining Poetry
Reading Poetry
The Craft of Poetry
Drama and Tragedy
Study Questions: DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Paper #4 Assignment Sheet
Critical Thinking and Commentary
Casebook: Evaluating Sources Worksheet
Selecting Information
Evaluating Arguments
CASEBOOK PROJECT Assignment Sheet
Approaching Persuasive Writing
Topic Development - Profile Essay
Generating Ideas for the Profile Essay
Paper #2 Assignment Sheet
Profile Exercise
Analyzing THE FIVE BEDROOM, SIX FIGURE ROOTLESS LIFE
Objective Writing: Selected Readings
Writing Workshop: Paper #1
Expressive Writing in the NYTimes
Writing Effective Introductions and Conclusions
Paper #1: IDENTITY
Expressive Writing
Open Letter Exercise and Examples
EMERSON on Individuality vs. Conformity
Literature related to IDENTITY
Understanding the 'Rhetorical Situation'
Weblog for WRT 120
Writing Assistance on the Web
Blackboard at WCU
WCU Homepage
WCU's Francis Harvey Green Library
One Last Look at Imaginary Worlds
Franz Kafka's BEFORE THE LAW
Analyzing WAITING FOR GODOT
Approaching WAITING FOR GODOT
Paper #3: Assignment Sheet
Paper #4: Independent Project
The Problem of Stability in BRAVE NEW WORLD
UTOPIA/DYSTOPIA Links
Analyzing Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD
Defining Utopia
Embarking on Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD
A Reading of Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST
From today's news (11/3/05)
Assignment Sheet for Paper #2
Goodbye to Dante's Imaginary World
Stepping Through Dante's Inferno: Cantos 10-34
Stepping Through Dante's Inferno: Cantos 1-10
INFERNO: Questions/Analysis: Cantos 32-34
INFERNO: Questions/Analysis: Cantos 18-31
INFERNO: Questions for Analysis: Cantos 12-17
INFERNO: Structure
INFERNO: Questions for Analysis: Cantos 1-5
INFERNO: Analyzing Canto 1
Relating to Dante's Inferno
Approaching Dante's DIVINE COMEDY
A Little Help with Dante's INFERNO
Assignment Sheet for Paper #1
Notes on LEAF BY NIGGLE
Responses to LEAF BY NIGGLE
ON FAIRY STORIES: An Essay by Tolkien
Notes on Axolotl
Reading Ovid's Tales
From Myth to Literature: Approaching Ovid's Tales
Notes on THE EYE OF THE GIANT
Functions of the Genesis Tales
Analyzing Mythic Tales
Defining Mythology
Filtering the Introduction to FANTASTIC WORLDS
Commentary on LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI by Keats
Commentary on DARKNESS by Byron
Handout: Imagination Poems Set
What is Imagination?
Our Course Theme: Imaginary Worlds
LIT 165 Assignments: Fall 2005
LIT 165 Announcements: Fall 2005
Imaginary Worlds: Course Syllabus
Paper #4: Independent Thinking/Reading/Writing
Casebook Preparation Checklist
Casebook Assignment Schedule
Evaluating Sources for the Casebook
Casebook Project Assignment Sheet
Notes on Rational Argument
Argument
Assignment Sheet: Objective Writing
Reviewing Elements of the Profile Essay
Writing the Profile Essay
Readings: Objective Writing
Assignment Sheet: Expressive Writing
Rubric for Evaluation of Writing
About SKIN DEEP
Emerson on Individuality vs. Conformity
Mind-map: Identity
Understanding the 'Rhetorical Situation'
Assignments Page
Announcements Page
WRT 120 Course Syllabus for Fall 2005
Weblog for WRT 120
Writing Assistance on the Web
Blackboard at WCU
WCU Homepage
WCU's Francis Harvey Green Library
~~ LIT 165 Assignments ~~
|
DATE DUE
|
ASSIGNMENT
|
|
WEEK 14
|
We'll discuss
and then view Samuel Beckett's Waiting
for Godot. |
| 11/29 | We'll begin
discussing Waiting for Godot in class;
we may also try to cover Franz Kafka's "Before the Law." |
|
WEEK 13
|
We'll finish
screening the film Gattaca.
No class on Thursday--happy Thanksgiving!! |
| 11/22 | Gattaca, part 2. |
|
WEEK 12
|
We'll finish
studying Brave New World and
begin screening the film Gattaca. |
| 11/17 | Finish reading Brave
New World. For class on Tuesday 11/16, prepare to discuss
the debate between John ("the Savage") and Mustapha Mond in chapters 16
and 17. Do you think there's a winner or loser in this
debate? Which argument do you personally find more compelling? |
| 11/15 | Finish reading Brave
New World. For class on Tuesday 11/16, prepare to discuss
the debate between John ("the Savage") and Mustapha Mond in chapters 16
and 17. Do you think there's a winner or loser in this
debate? Which argument do you personally find more
compelling? [12:30 class--sorry we missed our class discussion
because I had to cancel class--here are the notes I would have
distributed, "The Problem of
Stability in Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD."] |
|
WEEK 11
|
Paper #2 is due on Tuesday, 11/8. Finish reading Brave New World by Thursday (11/10) |
| 11/10 | Study through
chapter 6 in Aldous Huxley's Brave
New World. For class on Thursday 11/10, do some informal
internet research on the terms "dehumanization" and "transhumanism." Wikipedia.com is an excellent
online encyclopedia. |
| 11/8 | Paper #2 is due today. We'll
begin discussing Aldous Huxley's Brave
New World. |
|
WEEK 10
|
We will finish discussing Dante's Inferno this week. Topics for Paper #2 are due on Thursday, 11/3. |
| 11/3 | Read Dante's Inferno through to the end, Canto XXXIV (34) for class today. Also, I'll ask you to submit your topic for Paper #2. |
| 11/1 | Read Dante's Inferno through Canto XXV (25) for class today. |
|
WEEK 9
|
We are continuing work on Dante's Inferno. |
| 10/27 | We'll discuss Dante's Inferno through Canto XII (12) in class today. (Tuesday's in-class writing assignment is available here.) |
| 10/25 | Study Dante's Inferno through Canto XII
(12). (Today's in-class writing assignment is available here.) |
|
WEEK 8
|
We are beginning work on Dante's Inferno. |
| 10/20 | Prepare to work
with Cantos 1-5 in class (discussion/classwork). Here's the
handout we used in class: "Questions
for Analyzing Cantos 1-5" |
| 10/18 | Paper #1 is due on Tuesday, 10/18.
Study the first 8 Cantos of the Inferno
this week. |
|
WEEK 7
|
This is a short week because of Fall Break. You shoud be drafting your essay and reading the Inferno. Remember the writing workshop is on 10/13, and the goal is for you to finish reading the Inferno by Tuesday 10/18 when you hand in your final draft of Paper #1. |
| 10/11 and
10/13 |
No class on
10/11 (Fall Break). Writing workshop on 10/13: bring a complete
draft of your essay to class for peer review. |
| 10/4 and 10/6 |
See the
conference schedule if you forgot your time. I'll post it shortly
and you can find it from here.
Read ahead into Dante's Inferno
while you are away from
class. Try to finish the book by 10/18, when you hand in Paper
#1. Check the Notebook section for links to web sites that might
assist your reading. |
|
WEEK 6
|
No class this week. I am holding individual conferences this week to discuss topic development for Paper #1. |
| 9/29 |
Read "Leaf by
Niggle"
by J.R.R. Tolkien in Fantastic Worlds
(Optional: Read "On Fairy Stories"
by J.R.R. Tolkien, available online).
|
| 9/27 |
Read "Axolotl"
by Julio Cortazar in Fantastic Worlds
(p. 424).
|
|
WEEK 5
|
We're studying
two short stories: "Axolotl" by Julio Cortazar and "Leaf by Niggle" by
J.R.R. Tolkien. |
| 9/22 |
Continued work
on the Ovid tales.
|
| 9/20 |
Read the notes
on Ovid in the NOTES section of this website: Reading
Ovid's Tales; and From
Myth to Literature: Approaching Ovid's Tales.
|
|
WEEK 4
|
We're
continuing work on analyzing Mythic Tales. We're studying the
"The Eye of the Giant" and the Ovid tales: The Myth of Acteon, The Myth
of Narcissus, and The Myth of Philomela. |
| 9/15 |
Continue to
study "Genesis"
(p. 41) and "Blackfoot Genesis" (p. 47); write an analysis of the
similarities and differences between the two stories and bring that to
class.
|
| 9/13 |
Read the
Introduction (pp. 3-39) in Fantastic
Worlds; also reread "Genesis"
(p. 41) and "Blackfoot Genesis" (p. 47); read "The Eye of the Giant"
(p. 53)
|
|
WEEK 3
|
We're
continuing work on analyzing Mythic Tales. |
| 9/8 | Today in class
students completed an informal writing assignment (10 points). If
you missed class, you can access that assignment here. |
|
9/6
|
Writing
Assignment: Informal.
Discuss your own ideas about the function, purpose, or use of
imagination in light of the readings we've discussed in class.
You can refer to the readings or pursue your own ideas independent of
the readings. Then disucss what role imagination plays in your
own life (positive? negative? both?) Assigned in class; due on 9/8.
Reading Assignment: "Genesis" (p. 41) and "Blackfoot Genesis" (p. 47). |
|
WEEK 2
|
In Fantastic Worlds, read "Genesis"
(p. 41) and "Blackfoot Genesis" (p. 47)."
|
|
9/2
|
Writing
Assignment: Write a 1-2
page response to one of the readings that least engaged your
interest. Be creative. Explore why you felt disinterested
and what might have made you more interested. Raise questions or
offer a critique. (DID
NOT ASSIGN IN CLASS; if you worked on this, you can submit it for extra
credit.)
|
|
8/30
|
Writing
Assignment: Informal 1-2 pgs. The readings explore several aspects
of the imagination. Which one grabs your attention the most? What
role does imagination play in your own life? What's your
relationship to your imagination? How do you use it in your
everyday life? What do you avoid? What do you pursue? (DID NOT
ASSIGN IN CLASS; if you worked on this, you can submit it for extra
credit.)
|
|
WEEK 1
|
Carefully read
the syllabus as well as the handout: "Imagination Poems." You'll
be asked to respond to the readings in class and in writing.
|