Welcome to English 180:  Introduction to Literature.  As you may or may not know, this course has been introduced several years ago in an effort to open up the fun of literature to more than just English majors.  The idea behind English 180 is that we can get a mess of you reading a mess of books, and teach you a bit about what you're reading, and what reading can be, in the process.

Each semester this course will be different, depending on the teacher and that teacher's interest.  This semester you're going to have the opportunity to read in a genre which, though it's not solely American, has managed to embody one very American icon in it:  the private detective.  We're going to start with the earliest tales of "ratiocination"  -- or deductive thinking -- and move through to a couple of the most recent ones.   From Poe to Auster, we're going to see what it takes to solve the crime, get the bad guy, and, sometimes, make a buck in the process.  Whether are narrators are pithy speakers, punchy men of action, or simply paunchy low-lifes, we're going to explore how they come together to reflect American experience over the past century or so.

Read.  It's pretty much that simple in this class.  Since this is an "Introduction to Literature" class, that means that you've got to read the literature to be introduced to it.  If you don't like to read, you ought to get out now; we're going to cover a lot of ground in here.  That said, the novels we're reading here are plot-driven, which means that they ought to be page-turners.  The likelihood is that once you've started them and get sucked in, you're not going to want to stop them.  Thus, make time during your day -- and weekends -- to read. 

To keep you honest and to make sure that you're reading well -- getting the plot, understanding some themes and literary devices, understanding what choices an author makes and why -- I'm going to give lots of reading comprehension quizzes in here.  Sometimes these will be over plot or character details; sometimes they'll include terms we've introduced from class.  Always, they'll be ways to make sure that you're reading and, more importantly, that you're comprehending what you're reading.  If you keep up, you'll be fine.  If you don't, you're going to be in trouble. 

There will be one essay for this class.  There will also be two hourly exams, plus a final.  For the tests, you can expect some identifications (I give the passage; you give the book, author, and, probably, speaker), some questions on background facts, some literary terms to be explained or exemplified, some essay questions to be answered. 

The Mellinger Learning Center

The Mellinger Writing Center is available for all students: strong as well as inexperienced writers can benefit from suggestions and help from others. Even professional writers get feedback from colleagues, friends, and editors. Our writing fellows provide confidential help with any stage of the writing process: generating ideas; organizing paragraphs; writing introductions, conclusions, or transitions; or developing an analysis or topic.

Plagiarism

This is really simple:  if you copy someone else's direct words or exact ideas -- intentionally or not -- without giving them credit you fail the class.  Universities and colleges are built upon the notion that ideas matter; if you plagiarize someone else's ideas, you're denying that fundamental tenet.  Thus there will be zero tolerance for plagiarism in here.  (Please see also "Academic Dishonesty" in the college's  catalog and the relevantsection  of Hacker's Bedford Handbook.)