Tentative Syllabus WSC002 “Parameters of the Mind”

(Why “tentative,” you might ask. If there are any interesting news, magazine, or
journal articles which are relevant and become available during this semester,
they may preempt some of the planned assignments.)

Feb. 2: Handouts and introduction to the course and to one another

4: In class writing and grammar assessment. Assign “The Story of

Grandmother” by Paul Delarue, “The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich” by
Jacob and William Grimm, and “Riding the Red” by Nalo Hopkinson
for Feb. 9th. (Unless indicated otherwise, all readings are available on
your Blackboard Documents site.)

Feb. 9: Write in class journal responses to the stories and discuss.

Also be prepared to discuss in some detail your own memories of

childhood stories and books, as well as how they affected you. Assign
“Introduction to Fairy Tales” hand-out for 11th. (**Important: before
the 23rd, interview a parent AND a grandparent [or similar aged
person] about a.their memories of fairy tales and/or childhood
stories, b.who shared the stories with them, c.under what
circumstances, and d. why they remembered these particular stories.
Be prepared to submit 4-6 page paper discussing your findings on the
23rd. You will also be expected to discuss these results with the class.)

11: Respond to a carefully chosen paragraph of the FT reading in

journal during class, discuss its style of writing, and why it particularly
interested you. Assign Bettelheim essays for 16th and also bring FT
article back to class to compare and contrast articles, regarding style
and audience.

16: Discuss Bettelheim essays in your journals during class and be

prepared to discuss your responses afterwards. Assign Disney articles
for the 18th.

18: Write in-class journal response to Disney’s effect (if any) on

your life. Discuss and compare/contrast articles in class.(**FIRST SET
OF TYPED JOURNAL ARTICLES AND ONE EXPANDED ESSAY DUE ON
THE 25TH. Send to me at profbengels@gmail.com.)

23: FAMILY INTERVIEWS ARE DUE. Specifics to be announced. Be

prepared to present (rehearsed) findings in class for about 3 minutes.

25: Hand in journals plus expanded essay and watch Disney’s THE
PRINCESS AND THE FROG. Be prepared to write a comprehensive,
cited paper due March 4th, analyzing the movie in terms of all the
articles we’ve read to date.

March 2: Continue discussing Disney essays, comparing/contrasting.

Discuss recurring student errors.

4: Email me your Disney paper (profbengels@gmail.com).

Discuss research paper and PE. Assign parapsychology readings for the
9th(Broughton and Ehrenwald)

9: in class journal response. Discuss readings. Assign additional

articles for the 11th. (**ASSIGN HENRY JAMES’S “THE TURN OF THE
SCREW” for March 25th.)

16: ZOOM library session to begin work on your papers, due APRIL
13th.
25: See movie version of “THE TURN OF THE SCREW” (called THE
INNOCENTS. Find it on your Documents site. Take notes so that you’ll
be able to compare it with the written version.

March 30-Apr 6:: Discuss and write about Henry James’s novella,
beginning with a QUIZ on the 30th Assign last 2 parapsychology articles
for the 8th (Lett and Campbell).

8: Discuss articles, their style, audience, argumentative format.

13: Research papers due and must be presented orally in class.

Discuss your subjects, what problems you had doing your research,
and how you solved those problems (if any). Assign Matheson and
Merril readings for 15-22nd

15-22: Write in class journal responses to readings and then

discuss. Assign Delany, Cramer, and Gunn articles TBA for 27th.
***Second set of journals due on 29th.

20: NO CLASSES!

27: Discuss articles, styles, audiences. What did you learn? Assign
Clarke readings for 29th.

29: Discuss readings. Journals due. Email them to me. Assign

Bradbury and TBA for May 4-6th

May 4-6: Discuss readings . Assign chapters 2 and 5 in ELEMENTS OF

STYLE for 11th.

11: Discuss points made in Elements of Style followed by

discussion of recurring student errors. Final summing up.
 ****PLEASE NOTE: DURING FINALS WEEK THE CLASS WILL BE
TAKING THE ACTUAL PE ONLINE

TEXTS: In an effort to help you save money, I have chosen many of

the articles from online sources. I do ask that you purchase (or get
online) The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Fiction by Henry
James*, and any edition of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style.

B WSC002 syllabus Spring 2021