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 “finished” writing (which the College defines as writing that has been submitted in drafts and revised in response to feedback from readers). 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 sharing notes on specific chapters over Google docs. Due dates and chapter assignments for our first novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, are available on Moodle, along with more details about this assignment. 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.
2 essays (1700 wds/ea): Explore further an issue, idea or question discovered in your annotated passage paper. Drafts will be due on March 2 (essay 1) and April 27 (essay 2). I will provide feedback on drafts.
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 in Skillman Library’s collection (including Special Collections). This is a group project that includes a WIP discussion in week 7 and a poster presentation during the final week of the semester.
Rather than put grades on individual writing assignments, at midterm and again at the end of the term, I will ask you to compile a portfolio of your written work. 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 in which you reflect on your learning to date.