LIT2000/83410 Introduction to Literature

Bldg. 2/2002
TR 4:30-5:45pm
Chad Senesac, Adjunct Professor
National Council of Teachers of English
Modern Language Association
c.senesac.62921@unf.edu
Office Hours TR 5:45-6:45pm
Course Description
The basic study of literature is essential to general education. In LIT2000, we seek to follow the
universitys general education learning outcomes (https://www.unf.edu/coas/gened.htm) as well as the
common course policies of UNFs English department (http://www.unf.edu/coas/english/alc.html).
Furthermore, our purposeful reading will attempt to contextualize a selection of literary texts historically
as well as recognize intertextuality that exists between those texts. In order to meet the goals and
outcomes for LIT2000 we will explore the following questions:
1. What are a texts structural features?
2. What rhetorical devices and literary tropes appear in the text, and what repetitions and
patterns does the text exhibit?
3. What is meant by an argument which explains the significance, complications, and/or
implications of the text, and uses the elements of texts to support this argument? How do you
determine the degree to which you have developed such an argument? In other words, what
are the features of competent literary Discourse and its different criticisms?
4. What is meant by the following skills of critical writing, and how do you know if you have
successfully mastered these skills:
a. Summarize a text, clearly, accurately, concisely
b. Distinguish between a subject, overarching idea about the subject (that is, a thesis,
central idea, or conclusion) and a statement that summarizes the itinerary or
organization of the paper (its succession of topics); in other words, distinguish a
topic, a main idea about that topic, and the ideas supporting the main idea.
c. Develop a strong thesis statement
d. Develop strong topic sentences
e. Achieve sentence clarity
f. Write coherent paragraphs
5. What is meant by reflective judgment and how can you use reflective judgment to analyze the
difference between the following:
a. The world?
b. Mental perceptions of and ideas about the world?
c. Spoken representations?
d. Written representations?

Course Readings

The following texts are available in the UNF Bookstore. All other course readings will be available
through Blackboard. You will need to read, annotate, and bring printed copies of all reading to class on
the days posted later in the syllabus.
Bag of Bones by Stephen King
The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Literary Lost by Sarah Clark Stuart
Assignments

Weight

Word Count

Short Paper 1
Short Paper 2
Short Paper 3
Short Paper 4
Summary
Essay 1
Essay 2

6%
6%
6%
6%
15%
15%
21%

300
300
300
300
750
750
1200

Quizzes/Annotations/
Participation
Final Exam

15%
10% (includes in-class assessment and paragraph summary posted online)

Class
Participate every class with substantive discussion, a question, a concern, an interpretation of a specific
piece of text to which you call our attention. Your participation and discussion lays a foundation upon
which we can build our critical skills. In fact, discussing is talking/revising/editing an essay aloud and
together. I will try and focus our discussion on the pre and post assessment material as well as the
prompts for the short papers and essays, but student interest and insight usually leads to the best
discussions.
We will usually begin class with a quiz. I will ask you to volunteer quiz questions, and I will select
suitable questions. Your daily grade will be a combination of the quiz, annotations, and participation.
Respect the speaker and the audience regardless of the position the speaker takes.
Attendance
You may not make-up quiz and participation points when you are absent. This is the indirect cost of
missing class. You may be absent three (3) classes during the semester. No excuses needed.
The direct cost of missing classes comes with every absence above three (3) which will result in a three
(3) point drop in your final average per absence. Thus,
1st 3rd absence No deduction; missed quiz and participation credit
4th absence 3 points off final average; missed quiz and participation credit
5th absence 6 points off final average; missed quiz and participation credit
6th absence 9 points off final average; missed quiz and participation credit
7th absence Automatic failure of the course regardless of excuse.

Tardy
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I will afford all students a five minute grace period at the beginning of class and will mark you tardy at
4:35pm. Three (3) tardies equals one (1) full absence. If you are late more than thirty minutes (5:00pm),
I will charge you with one (1) full absence. You may not make up a quiz if weve already taken it.
Paper and Essay Submission and Format
You must submit each written assignment within the first five minutes of class. If you are tardy, then your
writing assignment is tardy and will be penalized one (1) full letter grade. Papers one day late will be
penalized one (1) letter grade; papers two days late will be penalized two (2) letter grades. After that, the
paper will count as a ZERO.
You may have one (1) Free Pass for the semester. To use your Free Pass, contact me at least twentyfour hours prior to the due date of a written assignment and ask to use your free pass. You can then
submit that assignment at most 1 class session late without penalty.
The essays in the course must adhere to the Modern Language Association (MLA) protocol for scholarly
writing in the discourse of literary studies.
The one exception to the format will be the short papers. These assignments should have the header
information on the back of the page. In other words, begin the first line of your writing on the first line of
the page and write from the top of the page to the bottom of the page. You will then write all the MLA
required information on the back of the front page.
All papers must be submitted as paper hard copy. No flash drives, CDs, emailed attachments
All written assignments will be assessed with all or a select combination of UNF Self-Talk Rubrics
available through Blackboard or at http://www.unf.edu/uploadedFiles/aa/coas/english/Rubrics2.pdf
Class Cancelation (if necessary)
I am requesting now that everyone stays at least the first twenty minutes of class in the extremely rare
event of my own tardiness. If I cancel class, I will notify you either through Blackboard or a
representative from the English Department. If you have not heard otherwise, you must assume that class
is taking place.
Violation of Academic Integrity: Cheating, Fabrication, Multiple Submissions, and
Plagiarism
The University of North Floridas Academic Integrity Code expects all members of the academic
community to respect the principle of academic freedom and to behave with academic integrity
(http://www.unf.edu/student-affairs/student-handbook.html). It is the students responsibility to read and
understand this policy.
Violations of the Academic Integrity include among others:
Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials in any
academic exercise.
Fabrication: Intentional alteration of invention of any information, including
citations, in an academic exercise.
Multiple submissions: submitting substantial portions of the same academic work
(including oral reports) more than once without authorization.
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Plagiarism: Intentionally presenting someone elses language, ideas, or other

original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source. This
definition applies to texts published in print or on-line, to manuscripts, and to the
work of other student writers.
[See http://www.unf.edu/student-affairs/student-handbook.html for the complete
listing of academic integrity violations.]
Students who have violated academic integrity will receive an F on the specific assignment and may
receive an F for the course. The instructor will inform the Chair of the English Department of violations
of academic integrity.
I do not differentiate between degrees of plagiarism or intentional/unintentional instances of plagiarism. If
the plagiarized text consists of a few words rather than a few sentences, the penalty is the same.
Grading Scale
A, 100-94; A-, 93-90; B+, 89-87; B, 86-84; B-, 83-80; C+, 79-77; C, 76-74; C-, 73-70; D+, 69-67; D, 6664; D-, 63-60; F, 59 or below
Course Schedule
This schedule is tentative (subject to change). In order to better achieve our learning goals in this course,
I may cancel or add readings. I will announce any changes in class and on Blackboard. If any day below
does not have a specific reading, I will post it through Blackboard.
8/23 T Read and review syllabus; course pre-assessment (Part 1)
8/25 R Berenice by Edgar Allan Poe; One paragraph summary due electronically to LIT2000 Multi
site.
8/30 T The Short, Happy Life of Francis McComber by Ernest Hemingway
9/1 R The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; Paper 1 due
9/6 T Hamlet, Act 1-2
9/8 R Hamlet Act 3
9/13 T Hamlet Act 4-5
9/15 R Paper 2 due.
9/20 T Poetry
9/22 R Poetry
9/27 T Selections from Literary Lost
9/29 R Selections from Literary Lost
10/4 T Paper 3 due; The Sign of Four, Ch.1-2
10/6 R The Sign of Four, Ch.3-6
10/11 T The Sign of Four, Ch.7-12
10/13 R Chapter 1 of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
10/18 T Jane Eyre excerpt by Charlotte Bronte
10/20 R Paper 4 due
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10/25 T Poetry
10/27 R Poetry
11/1 T Bag of Bones
11/2 R Bag of Bones; Summary due
11/8 T Bag of Bones
11/10 R Bag of Bones
11/15 T Bag of Bones
11/17 R Bag of Bones; Essay 1 due
11/22 T Selections from Literary Lost
11/29 T Selections from Literary Lost
12/1 R Selections from Literary Lost
12/6 T Essay 2 due; Course Evaluations
12/8 R Post-Assessment
Final Disclaimer
I reserve the right to change any content of this course description and syllabus.