English 207Q: Studies in Poetry , Freshman Inquiry Section                                                   

Fall 2006

Web syllabus: http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/m/morillo/public/207Q06.html

Dr. Morillo's Office is Tompkins 270;     email = morillo@unity.ncsu.edu   homepage=http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/m/morillo/public/index.htm
Office Hours=  M 2-4:30; W 2-4:30; F 2-4, and by appointment

1. understand and engage in the human experience through the interpretation of literature
   
2. become aware of the act of interpretation itself as a critical form of knowing in the study of literature; and
3. make scholarly arguments about literature using reasons and ways of supporting those reasons that are appropriate to the field of study.

What can reading poetry teach us about the relationship between creativity and critical thinking? Between writing and living? What is a poem? What is a good poem? Have those answers changed?

Course Objectives
By studying how poets see, think, and write about the world, you will be learning how to improve your own critical critical thinking, reading, speaking and writing skills.  As an Inquiry class, this special freshmen-only section will emphasize the kinds of open-ended, challenging questions requiring significant independent effort, imaginative spirit, and active participation on you part.  In keeping with the Freshman Inquiry ideals, you will learn to move from learning facts to making critically reasoned judgments and evaluations backed with appropriate evidence. The majority of the written work will be papers, some analytic and argumentative, others creative. There will be a midterm and comprehensive final.

At the end of the course students should be able to:

• interpret a poem with increasingly precise language and appropriate textual or contextual evidence
  
• express the results of that interpretation in well-structured essay that is an argument about a significant and warranted thesis
  
• criticize and revise their own writing based on clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, and logic of the ideas
  
• use appropriate dictionaries and other reference resources
  
• be aware of the provisional nature of all interpretive claims, especially their own
  
•  evaluate someone else's literary interpretation
  
• apply to poetic interpretation the fundamentals of prosody, including rhyme, meter, and metaphor

• paper one, critical: 2-3 pages interpret a poem 10%, graded pass/fail
• paper two, critical 2-3 pages, interpret a sonnet 10% graded
  
• paper three, creative 1-2 pages, write a sonnet 5% graded
• paper four,  critical 2-3 pages, critiqe of a peer's sonnet 10% graded
  
• paper five, critical,  3-5 pages evaluate a poem 10% graded**you will turn in a draft of this pass/fail and then submit the revised version with your final exam, and it will be graded.
• paper six, creative, 1-3 page, write a poem 5% graded **you will turn in a draft of this pass/fail and then submit the revised version with your final exam, and it will be graded.

How I Figure Your Grades
Percentages for each required graded category are figured via a percentage of a 12-pt. scale in which an A+ =12 and
an F=0 points. For example, a B+ on paper 1 would net you 9 x .10 or .9 points.  Or, a C on participation nets you 5 x .10 or .5, an A on the final nets you 12 x .15 or 1.8 points.
I then add up the percentage points for each required category to determine your grade from 0 to 12.  For example, an 8.2 final score = B for the class.

Participation includes your grades on periodic quizzes, and coming to class prepared, having done the readings and being able to talk and write about them intelligently.

You must complete all the required work to pass the class. No opting out of assigned work.  I will grade plus/minus.

Attendance: You are allowed 3 absences. If you are absent, unexcused, more than 3 times over the course of the semester, your absences will count progressively against your final grade, as a significant part --10%--of your final grade. Every 2 absences beyond the allowed 3 loses you a half letter grade. Anyone who misses the first two classes can be immediately dropped from the class. For the definition of an unexcused absence, see http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/pols_regs/REG205.00.4.php

Plagiarism: Anyone convicted will receive an F for the paper, or the course at my discretion. And yes, I have caught people in the past--in this course, in fact.

Late Papers: Papers received ONE class session late will be accepted but docked a full grade. No late papers accepted after one class session late.

Disabilities: Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus
            Box 7509, 515-7653. http://www.ncsu.edu/dss/

Academic Integrity Assumption
Universities are unique communities committed to creating and transmitting knowledge. They depend on freedom - individuals' freedom to explore ideas and to explore and further their own capabilities. Those freedoms depend on the good will and responsible behavior of all the members of the community, who must treat each other with tolerance and respect. They must allow each other to develop the full range of their capabilities and take full advantage of the institution's resources.

Required Print Texts--available now in the NCSU bookstore.

1.   Kelly, Joseph., ed. The Seagull Reader: Poems
       New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.    $19.20
     All readings from this Norton Anthology are indicated by page numbers in parentheses, after poem's title.

2.   Lennard, John. The Poetry Handbook: A Guide to Reading Poetry for Pleasure and Practical Criticism.
          2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996.    $18.95

 Required Online Texts
1.    How to Use the Oxford English Dictionary Online (Morillo)

2.   Guide to Prosody (Morillo)

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