English 1.920: Writing About Literature: Orality and Literacy

Summer 2003 Monday-Thursday 4:00 P.M. - 5:45 P.M. 326 Bennett Hall

Instructor: Erika Lin
Email: elin@english.upenn.edu
Office: Bennett Hall, Room 215
Office Hours: by appointment
Mailbox: English Department, Main Office, 119 Bennett Hall
Course listserv: engl001-920-03b@lists.upenn.edu
Course home page: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~elin/eng1_su03.html

Last updated: 7/28/03

Course Description | Texts | Schedule | Requirements and Policies | Resources

Course Description

What is the relationship between spoken language and written language? How does the medium in which we communicate (printed book, email, phone, in-person conversation) affect what we say or write? How have attitudes towards writing and speaking changed through time? How do gender, race, and class affect how we write or speak? What is your own relationship to different modes of communication, and how does that affect your writing? This class will explore these and other related questions through a range of materials from different time periods. We will read not only what is usually considered "literature" (i.e. novels, plays, short fiction, and poetry) but also other textual forms such as film scripts, newspaper articles, advertisements, product packaging, and visual art. Class assignments will be geared towards investigating your own relationship to different modes of communication and will include frequent and intensive writing assignments in a variety of styles as well as oral exercises (e.g. interviews and presentations). Active class participation is a must. There will be no final exam.

Texts

Books

The following book is recommended. Please either buy it or be sure you can locate a copy of it in the library.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th Ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

Other Texts

Excerpt from Fielding, Helen. Bridget Jones's Diary. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Elbow, Peter. "Freewriting." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 46-55.
Excerpt from Freedman, Diane P., et al. The Intimate Critique: Autobiographical Literary Criticism. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1993.
Bolker, Joan. "Teaching Griselda to Write." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 168-73.
Elbow, Peter. "Options for Getting Feedback." The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz. Ed. Joan Bolker. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997. 117-28.
Elizabeth I, "Speech to the Troops at Tilbury" and "The Golden Speech"
Marcus, Leah S. "From Oral Delivery to Print in the Speeches of Elizabeth I." Print, Manuscipt, and Performance: The Changing Relations of the Media in Early Modern England. Ed. Arthur F. Marotti and Michael D. Bristol. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2000. 33-48.
Sinfield, Alan. "Shakespeare and Education." Political Shakespeare: Essays in Cultural Materialism. 2nd Ed. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1994. 158-81.
Lanham, Richard A. "The Official Style." Revising Prose. New York: Scribner, 1979.

Schedule

M 6/30 First Day of Class Introduction to the course Conferences #1	Tu 7/1 Unit 1: Theoretical Problems Dialogue and Diary in Bridget Jones's Diary Reading due: Bridget Jones's Diary, pp. 1-29 Conferences #1	W 7/2 Virtuality: The Physical Body and Electronic Media in Bridget Jones's Diary Reading due: Bridget Jones's Diary, pp. 30-74 Conferences #1	Th 7/3 No class
M 7/7 The Writing Process Reading due: Elbow, "Freewriting" Assignment #1 due	Tu 7/8 Thesis Statements Reading due: Sample Papers	W 7/9 Gender and Voice Reading due: Excerpt from The Intimate Critique; Bolker, "Teaching Griselda to Write"	Th 7/10 Thesis Workshop
M 7/14 Peer Review and Feedback Reading due: Elbow, "Getting Feedback" Paper #1 due	Tu 7/15 Unit 2: Historical Difference Oral, Manuscript, and Print in Elizabeth's Speeches Reading due: Queen Elizabeth's speeches and Leah Marcus article	W 7/16 Peer Review Workshop Reading due: Peer Review Papers	Th 7/17 Assignment #2 due Conferences #2
M 7/21 Evidence and Argument Reading due: Sample Papers Paper #2 due	Tu 7/22 Renaissance Drama: Print and Performance Reading due: Excerpts from Shakespeare's plays (modern editions and facsimiles of original editions)	W 7/23 Oral Presentations #1	Th 7/24 Assignment #3 due Conferences #3
M 7/28 Organization and Argument Reading due: Sample Papers Paper #3 due	Tu 7/29 Unit 3: The Politics of Media Class and the Classroom Reading due: Sinfield, "Shakespeare and Education"	W 7/30 Peer Review Workshop Reading due: Peer Review Papers	Th 7/31 Assignment #4 due Conferences #4
M 8/4 Style and Rhetoric Reading due: Lanham, "The Official Style"	Tu 8/5 Discourse and Propoganda Reading due: legal documents, newspaper articles, and editorials	W 8/6 Visual Images and Writing Reading due: advertisements and multi-media Oral Presentations #2	Th 8/7 Last Day of Class Revisions due

Requirements

Examine a number of advertisements, and analyze how different media intersect in them. You might think about how the layout or formatting affects how we understand the printed text within an advertisement, how visual images relate to sound, how spoken words relate to printed words, etc. These ads may take any form--TV, web, magazine, newspaper, billboards, etc.
Give a 5-6 minute presentation discussing the implications of one particular dynamic that you notice in all of your examples. Bring in your examples so that you can talk about them.
Be sure to let me know if you will need me to reserve particular AV equipment (e.g. a computer cart, a VCR, etc.)

Short Writing Assignments

The short writing assignments in this course are geared towards introducing you to a range of genres and styles of writing. Because they will not follow the traditional rules of critical writing, these assignments will be graded on thoroughness and effort. They will be short (2-5 pages) and often creative in nature. You must do all of these assignments in order to receive a grade for this course!

Assignment #1

This assignment will train you to pay close attention to very specific linguistic structures. We talked in class about the effects of some of these characteristics. By asking you to reproduce those structures in your own writing, this assignment will not only give you a better understanding of how the text operates from the perspective of literary criticism, it will also teach you to be versatile and precise in the styles you use in your own writing. As a side benefit, this assignment will also introduce you to the library.

Locate the published diary of a real person.
In approximately 3 pages (double-spaced, 12-point font), rewrite an excerpt from that diary in the style of Bridget Jones's Diary.
Xerox your excerpt and attach it to the assignment when you turn it in.

Assignment #2

Write a speech lasting 5-7 minutes about a particular childhood experience you had involving reading, writing, or speaking. Make sure that the written version of the speech uses linguistic structures that will be easy for your classmates to understand when presented orally. Read your speech out loud to make sure it is the right length, and turn in the written version in double-spaced, 12-point font.

Assignment #3

The goal of this assignment is to make you more aware of the different linguistic structures in oral and written communication.

Interview someone for approximately 10 minutes about his or her feelings about writing, and tape record the entire interview.
Transcribe the interview word for word, including pauses, sentence fragments, nonverbal sounds, etc. Do not edit! Transcribe exactly what the person actually said, not what he or she "meant to say."
Write 1 page (double-spaced, 12-point font) about the specific linguistic structures used in your interview and how they are similar to or different from the linguistic structures often found in written communication. Be as detailed and specific as possible.
Turn in both the transcription and your 1-page assessment.

Assignment #4

This assignment will train you to mimic a particular genre (letters to editors) while asking you to pay close attention to (1) the ways in which laws are written and how their use of language might affect our lives and (2) the ways in which descriptions of those laws in the popular media construct how people see and relate to them.

Locate a newspaper article published within the last 3 months dealing with a bill in Congress or a court case. LEXIS/NEXIS, a database accessible through the Penn library homepage, contains newspaper articles, legal documents, and many other things.
Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper about the article and the legal issue. I leave the content up to you, but you might comment on the way the article represents the issue, on the ramifications of the bill or court case, on the way the language of the bill or case constructs what's at stake, etc. Your letter should be at least 1.5 pages long (double-spaced, 12-point font) and should follow the generic conventions of a letter to the editor.
Xerox the newspaper article or send me the link to a web version of it.
Turn in two copies of your assignment and a stamped envelope addressed to the newspaper editor. I will grade one copy and drop the other copy in the mail for you. (Be sure you believe what you're saying--a well-written letter on an issue of current importance might very well get published!)

Critical Essays

The papers in this course are meant to train you in writing traditional literary critical essays. They will range in length from 2-8 pages and will be focused on what are known as "close readings." You may revise these papers, and your final grade for each one will be the average of your initial grade and the grade on your revision. You must write all of these papers in order to receive a grade for this course!

Paper #1

The goal of this exercise is to train you in close reading techniques without the "baggage" that comes with writing a paper. Don't add any sort of introduction or conclusion, and don't add topic sentences or concluding sentences to your paragraphs. Don't worry about transitions. All those sorts of "paper-writing things" are just icing on the cake. Your underlying analysis must be solid for the cake to have any substance, and that's what I want you to work on. Above all, do not add any "filler" to pad out your writing. I want your writing to be filled with analytical nuggets. (This should be a dense and chewy cake!) If you run out of things to say, it means you need to think harder and more deeply about the text.

Jot down your observations about the use of language in Bridget Jones's Diary, and link each observation with a specific quote from the text.
Explicate each quote.
Group your analysis into three or, if necessary, four sections.
Write a thesis statement for each of those sections.
Turn in the following for each section: (a.) a thesis statement; (b.) a list of four analytical points. Each analytical point should integrate a quote and your analysis of it. Each section should be approximately 1 to 1.5 pages long (double-spaced, 12-point font).
Make five copies--one for me, one for yourself, and three copies for each of the other members of your peer review group.

Paper #2

The goal of this paper is to integrate the skills you learned in Paper #1 by taking the theses for individual sections and trying to combine them into one overarching thesis for the entire paper.

Find a published speech, originally in English, of no more than 3 single-spaced pages (approx. 1500 words). If you find a longer speech you'd like to work on, that's fine--just excerpt the relevant passages.
Write a literary critical essay on the speech. Your paper should be 4-6 pages long (or approximately 1200 to 1800 words).
Follow the steps you used for Paper #1 to generate sections, then work on coming up with an overarching thesis to the whole paper. You should add a brief introduction, conclusion, and a few transitions, but I will be looking primarily for thesis, argument, evidence, and organization, so don't worry too much about them.
Xerox the speech and attach it to your paper.
Make five copies--one for me, one for yourself, and three copies for each of the other members of your peer review group.

Paper #3

By asking you to compare two different versions of a given text rather than doing a close reading of just one, this paper will allow you to apply the skills you learned in Papers #1 and #2 while forcing you to increase the level of complexity in your argument.

Find a text that has been modified by a modern editor. Locate both an original version of the text and a modern edition of it. (Queen Elizabeth's speeches and Shakespeare's plays are two examples, but you may also select a different text from another time period.)
Write a literary critical essay of approximately 4-6 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font.
Xerox the relevant passages and turn them in with your paper.
Make five copies--one for me, one for yourself, and three copies for each of the other members of your peer review group.

Individual Conferences

I'll be scheduling several individual meetings with each of you this semester. Each meeting will last approximately 15 minutes and will give us a chance to talk one-on-one about your assignments, any questions you have, etc. I encourage you to jot down questions or issues you would like to discuss prior to each conference and bring your list with you, so that I can make sure to address whatever is most important to you. I also encourage you to meet with me outside of these times--just make an appointment with me by email or in class.

Policies

Grading

25% Critical Essays
25% Short Writing Assignments
20% Peer Review Workshops
15% Oral Presentations
15% Class Participation and Preparation

Any penalty for attendance problems will be deducted from this total.

Attendance

Attendance is very, very, very, very important! This is a discussion-based class, so without you there is no class. You may miss two class meetings without penalty, but you must attend all other class meetings unless you have obtained my permission in advance or can document a medical or family crisis after the event. Attendance is also required at each of the individual conferences scheduled with me, which may be scheduled outside of regular class times. Students with 1 unexcused absence will be graded a third of a grade lower for the course (for example, a B+ gets lowered to a B); students with 2 unexcused absences will be graded two-thirds of a grade lower for the course (a B+ becomes a B-); students with 3 unexcused absences will be graded a full grade lower for the course (a B+ becomes a C+); students with more than 3 unexcused absences will fail the course. Frequent tardiness will also affect your grade, so be here and be on time.

Late Assignments

All assignments must be turned in on time. If you have a medical or other emergency, talk to me as soon as possible about it, and we can discuss alternative arrangements. Otherwise, though, no extensions will be granted!

Collaborative Writing/Plagiarism

I encourage you to work with one another to become better writers and better thinkers by sharing your ideas and giving feedback on each other's work. However, the work you submit to this class is expected to be your own. When you want to refer to someone else's ideas (even the ideas of someone else in this class), you must properly acknowledge your sources. Sometimes this involves providing appropriate citations in the body of your writing and additional bibliographic information at the end. Other times it involves using footnotes correctly. If you have questions about how to cite a source properly, consult a style manual or ask me. If you submit work that has been copied without attribution from some published or unpublished source, or that has been prepared by someone other than you, or that in any other way misrepresents somebody else's work as your own, you will face severe discipline by the University! Work that is your own work but has been submitted to more than one class for credit is also considered plagiarism unless you have obtained the permission of all course instructors involved prior to handing in the work. For more detailed information, see the College of Arts and Sciences' pages on academic integrity at http://www.college.upenn.edu/rules/academic_integrity.html.

Resources

The Oxford English Dictionary Online (OED) (http://dictionary.oed.com/) : the standard dictionary for literary scholarship which also gives examples about how a word's usage has changed over time. Use this for your papers.

Chadwyck-Healey Literature Online (LION) (http://lion.chadwyck.com/): a searchable, full-text database of over 250,000 works in English and American Literature, including nearly all early modern English drama, all Renaissance editions of Shakepeare and later adaptations, much early modern poetry, and some early modern prose fiction.

The Writing Center (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/writing/services/center.html): all kinds of writing help and advice provided by grad students from various departments, located on the 4th floor of Bennett Hall. Make an appointment by calling 898-8525.

Peer Writing Advisors (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/writing/services/advisors.html) : peer advising online at http://www.english.upenn.edu/~writhelp/ or in-person at the dorms and at Writers House.

Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide (http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/): fast, online advice about style (grammar and mechanics) from former Penn English grad student Jack Lynch.

Writing Program Home Page (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/writing/): general guide to writing resources at Penn.

Tutoring and Learning Resources: Help with all kinds of study skills from time management to reading a lot very quickly. Call 57-EXCEL (573- 9235) for an appointment, email them at tutoring@pobox.upenn.edu, or drop by their office at Suite 110, Harnwell College House/High Rise East (3820 Locust Walk).

Counseling and Psychological Services: Confidential and free individual counseling, support, workshops (on such topics as stress management, eating issues, test anxiety, and relationship issues), and walk-in crisis counseling--all to help you develop greater understanding about yourself and others and to enhance your personal well-being and academic performance. Call 898 - 7021 or stop by their office 133 South 36th Street (near Sansom), 2nd Floor Mellon Building, between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday - Friday.