English 180 seeks to encourage life-long reading through appreciation of literary language and form.  The course will emphasize examination and comparison of literary genres, structure and form in fiction and poetry, and New Critical analysis (point of view, plot, setting, characterization, diction, imagery, metaphor and symbol, theme, etc.). In particular, the course will place sensation writing of nineteenth-century Britain and America in the context of pertinent historical and cultural settings, while examining categorical assumptions about “popular” and “serious” literary treatments.

Objectives:

• develop analytical and critical thinking skills in order to draw insights from literary texts and to foster a desire for life-long reading.

• hone the above skills, so you can write college-level arguments characterized by unity, organization, and support; appropriate word choice and diction; and standard usage, spelling, and mechanics

• understand and use the vocabulary and conventions of literary analysis

• understand the development of sensational writing as a genre over the course of the nineteenth century

• understand the ways that history and culture influenced sensational writing and the ways that sensational writing influenced history and culture

ATTENDANCE

Your participation in this course is essential, and as a result, so is attendance.  You are allowed to miss four class periods without penalty.  Each subsequent absence after four will result in W or WF in the class.  Your three absences are to be used for the inevitable doctor’s visits, illnesses, sports events, court appointments, and funerals that may come up during the term. Extraordinary circumstances will be dealt with on a one-to-one basis. If you plan to be absent, tell me beforehand, so you can submit work ahead of time.  I do not accept late work.