ENG 341 is a writing-intensive course. That means you can expect to write often and to have regular opportunities for revision in response to feedback from your classmates and me. It also means that by the end of the semester you will have produced a minimum of 20 pages (about 5,000 words) of polished writing (i.e., writing that has been extensively revised). Here are the kinds of writing assignments you can expect:
Informal writing: For the purposes of generating and/or reflecting on class discussion and/or assigned reading. Some of the informal assignments will ask you to post on the class blog. You are also welcome–indeed encouraged–to post on the blog about anything relevant to the course and, of course, to comment on one another’s posts.
Reading notes: Whenever we begin a new novel, I will ask each of you to be responsible for taking notes on specific chapters. Those notes will then be shared with the rest of the class using Google Docs. Due dates and chapter assignments for our first novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, are available on Moodle. Due dates and chapters for the rest of the novels will be assigned as we go.
5 Annotated passage discussions (250-300 wds/ea, typed): Choose one passage that we have NOT discussed in class, but that you believe furthers our discussion in some way. Retype the passage, and annotate it. Then write a couple paragraphs reflecting on your annotations and your sense of how the passage adds to our discussion-in-progress. Due at the beginning of the second class on each novel. Be prepared to discuss your annotations in class.
3 essays (1350 wds/ea, not including the retyped passage): Explore further an issue, idea or question discovered in your annotated passage paper. Drafts will be due on Feb 16 (essay 1), March 23 (essay 2), and April 27 (essay 3). I will meet with you individually to discuss your draft. Revisions will be due the week after we meet.
Periodical project: An examination of discussions and/or images related to any aspect of novels, novel reading, novel writing, books, authorship, and/or literacy issues in general in a 19th-century British or American periodical. This project includes a work-in-progress presentation (due March 6), and a poster presentation and short reflective essay (1250) wds (due May 3). You will work with a partner on the WIP and poster presentations. You will write the reflective essay on your own.
Rather than put grades on individual writing assignments, for each writing project (3 essays and the periodical project) I will ask you to compile a portfolio of your written work on that project. The contents of each portfolio will be explained in more detail as those deadlines approach, but in general, each will include some informal writing, some revised writing, and a cover letter.