LIT2000 INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
SYLLABUS
Spring 2021

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:

Dror Abend-David, Ph.D.
Office hours: TWR on Zoom, 6th Period
Email: dabend@ufl.edu

COURSE PRE-REQUISITE: ENC 1101

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This self-paced, asynchronous and entirely online course examines the unique and changing role literature has played in individuals’ lives and in society. It is centered on three deceptively simple questions: What is literature? Why do we write literature? And why do we read literature? It introduces students to a range of literary genres, from different countries and historical periods.

Among the primary aims of this course is to help students develop the critical skill of analysis and interpretation. Students will also learn how formal and stylistic elements as well as historical context shape the meaning and significance of literature. By becoming more skillful readers of literature and its contexts, students become better readers of the worlds that literature addresses, develop their ability to decipher meaning from language, and better understand their own interactions with science, technology, media, commerce, and politics.

OFFICE HOURS

Office hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6th Period (12:50 - 1:40 PM), via Zoom. Click on the "Zoom Conferences" link on the left panel to access the office hours link.

OVERVIEW OF ASSIGNMENTS FOR LIT 2000

20% = Several Canvas assignments per module
15% = Midterm
15% = Final Exam
10% = Quizzes
15% = Close Reading Assignment (750 words)
25% = Critical Analysis Paper (1,500 words)
100% = Total Points

GRADE DISTRIBUTION:

Summary of grading

1. Several Canvas assignments per module (20%) 

Method of assessment will be online Canvas discussion, assignment, or multimedia posts.

2. Midterm Exam (15%)
3. Final Exam (15%)

Method of assessment will be an online midterm and final exam (15% of the total grade). The exam will be comprised of short answer, multiple-choice, true or false, matching, identification, and short essay questions based on readings, lectures and classroom discussion.

4. Unit quizzes on e-learning on the Canvas website (10%)

Students are expected to read the assigned readings before watching the lectures. The weekly quiz is designed to test student reading comprehension. In the case of Canvas quizzes, students will have a 24-hour period within which to complete the unit quiz. The quizzes will be true or false, multiple choice, matching, short answer and short essay. These quizzes cannot be made up except in the case of an excused absence.

  5. Close Reading Assignment: 750 words (15%)

This assignment will test student skills in close reading. Students will be expected to analyze a text carefully and develop an argument regarding the whole of the text through a close reading. No outside sources may be used for this assignment. See Canvas for detailed instructions. Submit online.

  6. Critical Analysis Paper: 1,500 words (25%)

This assignment asks students to combine close reading skills with critical concepts or historical information introduced in one of the supplemental readings. The goal is for students to produce a strong conceptual argument supported by textual and contextual evidence. See Canvas for detailed instructions.

• CLASSROOM POLICIES:

• Makeup and Late Policy: Except in the case of certified illness or other UF accepted excuse (https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx), there will be no make-up option for missed exams, quizzes or late assignments. Where possible, make-ups should be arranged by email prior to the expected absence. In case of illness, student should contact instructor on his or her return to classes.
• If you have an excuse absence - Do not contact the instructor: Contact the office of the Dean of Students at umattter@ufl.edu. The office of the Dean of Students will alert your instructor (and your other instructors) for the relevant dates.

Grading Scale (& GPA equivalent):

A 100-93 (4.0)

A- 92-90 (3.67)

B+89-87 (3.33)

B 86-83 (3.0)

B- 82-80 (2.67)

C+ 79-77 (2.33)

C 76-73 (2.0)

C- 72-70 (1.67)

D+ 69-67(1.33)

D 63-66 (1.0)

D- 62-60 (0.67)

E 59- (0)

  Note: A grade of C− is not a qualifying grade for major, minor, Gen Ed, or College Basic distribution credit. For further information on UF's Grading Policy, see: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx

http://www.isis.ufl.edu/minusgrades.html

Academic Honesty: Students are required to be honest in their coursework, may not use notes during quizzes or exams, and must properly cite all sources that they have consulted for their projects. Any act of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Students, and may result in failure of the assignment in question and/or the course. For University of Florida’s honor code, see http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/honorcodes/honorcode.php

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation. Contact the Disability Resources Center (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/) for information about available resources for students with disabilities.

Counseling and Mental Health Resources: Students facing difficulties completing the course or who are in need of counseling or urgent help should call the on-campus Counseling and Wellness Center (352 392-1575; http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/).

Online Course Evaluation: Students are expected to provide professional and respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via GatorEvals. Guidance on how to give feedback in a professional and respectful manner is available at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/students/. Students will be notified when the evaluation period opens, and can complete evaluations through the email they receive from GatorEvals, in their Canvas course menu under GatorEvals, or via https://ufl.bluera.com/ufl/. Summaries of course evaluation results are available to students at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/public-results/.

CLASS READING SCHEDULE

Students should note that the schedule is a guideline and may change.

Holidays and Vacations (assignments will not be open on these days):

             January 18 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

             February 25 - Recharge Day

             March 15 - Conference

             March 24  - Recharge Day

             March 25-26 - Passover

         

UNIT   I – WHAT IS LITERATURE?

January 11 - January 15 (assignments close January 17): MODULE 1 INTRODUCTION: The Borders of Literature

Reading:

• King, “I have a dream” speech Text and audio: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
• “Introduction: What is literature?,” Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (1983), 1-15

January 18 - January 22 (assignments close January 24): MODULE 2 Drama

Reading:

• Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

January 25 - January 29 (assignments close January 31): MODULE 3 Epic

Reading:

• Homer, The Odyssey (Emily Wilson, also available as an audiobook)

February 1 - February 5 (assignments close February 7):  MODULE 4-5 A pandemic historical novel

Reading/listening:

• Daniel Defoe, A Plague Year

February 8 - February 12 (assignments close February 14): MODULE 6 Poetry

Reading:

• Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”

Close Reading Assignment: 750 words due on February 14 at 11:59pm (opens on February 8 at 12:01 AM). 

February 15 - February 19 (assignments close February 21): MODULE 7 Short Stories

Reading:

• Flannery O’Connor, read the short story: “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
• Franz Kafka, read the short story: “The Penal Colony”

February 22 - February 26 (assignments close February 28): MODULE 8

• Online Midterm Examination

Midterm Exam Due on February 28 at 11:59 PM (opens on February 22 at 12:01 AM)

UNIT   II –      WHY DO WE WRITE?

March 1 - March 5 (assignments close March 7): MODULE 9-10 Self-Expression/Self-Construction:

Reading:

• Camara Laye, The Dark Child

March 8 - March 12 (assignments close March 14): MODULE 11 Shaping Citizens: Moral Instruction

Reading:

• Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio

UNIT   III        WHY DO WE READ?

March 15 - March 19 (assignments close March 21): MODULE 12 Moving Beyond the Self

Reading:

Poems:

• Marianne Moore, “The Pangolin” (click here) (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-pangolin/)
• Elizabeth Bishop, “The Fish” (click here) (http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/fish-2)
• “Roosters” (click here) (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177905)
• “Pink Dog” (click here) (http://www.poetryatlas.com/poetry/poem/2261/pink-dog.html)

Sacred literature

• Song of Songs (click here) http://www.devotions.net/bible/22songofsolomon.htm
• The Lord’s Prayer (click here) http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+6
• Al-Fatiha "The Opening" (Qur'an 1), Al-Ikhlas "Purity of Faith" (Qur'an 112), Daybreak "Al-Falaq" (Qur'an 113)
  ( See: http://quran.com )
• Selections from the Dhammapada

Critical Analysis Paper: 1,500 words; due on March 21 at 11:59pm (opens on Match 15 at 12:01 AM)

March 22 - March 26 (assignments close March 28): MODULE 13, Finding New Selves

 Reading:

• Jennine Capó Crucet, How to Leave Hialeah: "Low Tide"; "How to leave Hialeah"; "Men who punched me in the face"

March 29 - April 2 (assignments close April 4): MODULE 14 New Ways of Seeing

Reading:

• Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis

April 5 - April 9 (assignments close April 11): MODULE 15, New Ways of Seeing and conclusion: Where to now?

• Friday: Does Great Literature Make Us Better? Gregory Currie. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/does-great-literature-make-us-better/?_r=0

April 12 - April 16 (assignments close April 18): MODULE 16, The Final Exam

Final Exam due on April 18 at 11:59PM (opens April 12 at 12:01 AM)     

 

 

Books and readings required for this course in the order and module they appear:

1a. King, “I have a dream” (youtube.com)
1b. Terry Eagleton, “Introduction: What is literature?” (under "Files" in Canvas)
2. Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (purchase text or better watch full performance)
3. Wilson's translation of Homer, The Odyssey (audible.com)
4.-5. Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year (audible.com)
6. Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” (online or purchase)
7a. Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (purchase, online, youtube.com)
7b. Franz Kafka, “The Penal Colony” (audible.com, iBooks, Amazon)
8. Midterm Exam
9.-10. Camara Laye, The Dark Child (also called The African Child) (purchase)
11. Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio (purchase)
12a. Marianne Moore, “The Pangolin” (click here) (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-pangolin/
12b. Elizabeth Bishop, “The Fish” (click here) (http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/fish-2)
12c. Song of Songs (click here) http://www.devotions.net/bible/22songofsolomon.htm
12d. The Lord’s Prayer (click here) http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+6
12e. Al-Fatiha "The Opening" (Qur'an 1), Al-Ikhlas "Purity of Faith" (Qur'an 112), Daybreak "Al-Falaq" (Qur'an 113) (under "Files" in Canvas)
( See: http://quran.com )
12f. Selections from the Dhammapada (under "Files" in Canvas)
13. Jennine Capó Crucet, How to Leave Hialeah
14. Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis (volume 1 only)

General Rubric: This will be used for all writing and presentation assignments.

*modified from UC Davis composition rubric

 

	A: 90 – 100	B: 80 – 90	C: 70 – 80	D: 60 – 70	E: < 60
Ideas (40pts)	Excels in responding to the assignment. Demonstrates sophisticated thinking. Central ideas are clearly communicated and complexity of ideas are presented. Understands and critically evaluates and cites sources. (36-40)	A solid paper, mostly responding to the assignment. Clear statement of ideas, but may have some minor issues or incomplete discussions. Shows careful reading of sources, but perhaps not as sophisticated of use of sources. (32-36)	Paper responds to the assignment but weakly. There is a central idea, but it is not sufficiently described and communicated. Often very general thoughts presented. (28-32)	Does not present a clear idea or respond full/appropriately to the assignment. Central idea is vague. (24-28)	Does not respond to the assignment. Lacks central idea. (0-24)
Organization and Coherence (30pts)	Logically structured paper for its purpose. Paper guides the reader through a progression of ideas. (27-30)	Shows a logical progression of ideas and uses fairly sophisticated transitional devices. Some logical links are absent or faulty. Each paragraph matches the central idea of the paper. (24-27)	Lists ideas or includes central ideas, but not in an organized structure. Uses transitions simply and sequentially. On their own, each paragraph responds to the central idea, but it isn’t synthetically structure. Some lack of coherence in sentences. (21-24)	Random organization with no real structured coherence. Paragraphs lack structure and not all sections relate directly to central idea. (18-21)	No organization lacks coherence. (0-18)
Support (10pts)	Uses evidence appropriately and effectively. (9-10)	Begins to offer reasons to support paper’s key points and often using a variety of evidence/sources. Makes connections between ideas and evidence, but doesn’t fully use evidence effectively. (8-9)	Uses generalization or opinions to support its points. Uses examples, but they aren’t directly connected or relevant. Personal experience and assumptions are common. (7-8)	Clichés and overgeneralizations are relied upon with little reference to resources or evidence. Personal narrative dominates informed narrative. (6-7)	Uses irrelevant details or lacks supporting evidence. (0-6)
Style (10pts)	Chooses words with precision and uses specificity. Sentences are clearly structured and carefully focused, not rambling. (9-10)	Uses words accurately and effectively but not necessarily with precision. Sentences are clear, structured, and focused, though some may be awkward or incomplete. (8-9)	Uses vague and general words. May use some inappropriate language. Sentences are structured correctly, but perhaps unfocused, repetitive or confusing. (7-8)	Vague, abstract, and personal in content. Several awkward sentences. Sentence structure is simple and doesn’t facilitate understanding. (6-7)	Awkward sentences throughout. Misuse of words. Inappropriate language. (0-6)
Mechanics (10pts)	Entirely free of spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. (9-10)	Contains a small amount of errors that challenge the reader, but don’t interfere with understanding. (8-9)	Several mechanical errors that interfere with meaning, but don’t impede overall understanding. (7-8)	Many mechanical errors that challenge meaning. Hard to understand connections. (6-7)	Many mechanical errors making it impossible to understand. (0-6)