Tiffin

University, School of Arts and Sciences

Spring 2013

Spirituality, Consciousness, and Literature

ENG290h01 Spring 2013
Course Description
Spirituality, Consciousness, and Literature will focus on significant texts in the history of both western and nonwestern literature and philosophy that address how the human mind understands itself in relationship to a larger, spiritual world. Texts will reflect a variety of perspectives, genres, and traditions. Because this course fills requirements for ENG142, this course will also teach research writing.

This semester we will be reading literature and philosophy that explores the human mind
This course will explore a variety of philosophical and religious traditions from antiquity to the twentyfirst century that consider how the human mind understands itself in relationship to the possibility of a spiritual, immaterial world. Philosophy will be represented by the writings of Plato and Nietzsche; theology in Augustine and Origen; sacred texts will be represented by the early chapters of Genesis; poetry by John Milton, William Blake and Emily Dickinson; drama by William Shakespeare; the novel by Jonathan Carroll, and short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri and Flannery OConnor. This selection will support your study of literature by presenting a range of authors, genres, and periods from around the world. Readings in Peter Barrys Beginning Theory are intended to present interpretive apparatus from a variety of theoretical schools that have been informed by and that respond to some of the literature that you will be reading in this class. Your Writing Matters text is an important writing resource intended to help you develop research writing skills.

James Rovira
Office MTh, 1:305:30 Hours

W 10:0012:00

Class MTh, 11:0012:45 hours Class Library L1 Location About M.Phil. Drew U 2004 Ph.D. Drew U 2008 Contact rovirajtiffin@gmail.com 4194483586 Bridgewater House 5

To study literature is to study some of the most complex uses of the English language. It will improve your communication, listening, reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.

Tiffin University School of Arts and Sciences

Spring 2012

Participation in this course implies agreement with all policies as stated in the course syllabus. Applicable policies are not limited to those explicitly stated in the course syllabus but also include verbal instruction given privately, given in class, and universitywide policies. Required Texts: Writing Matters Beginning Theory Bones of the Moon, Jonathan Carroll Midsummers Nigh Dream, Shakespeare Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche Students must purchase the assigned texts for this class as notes, introductory material, and criticism unavailable online will be assigned from these texts. All final drafts of writing assignments are to be uploaded to turnitin.com. The instructor will grade them using the Grademark function in turnitin.com. Once the writing assignment has been graded, students can view instructor comments by opening the assignment and clicking the Grademark button in the upper left hand corner of the page. Instructor comments will appear both in the right sidebar and in little blue bubbles on the paper. The blue bubbles will reveal instructor comments when the mouse cursor is placed over them. Please do not just view final grades on turnitin.com. Read all instructor comments and correct errors on your next assignment. Errors that are repeated from assignment to assignment will cost more points each time they are repeated.

Course Policies

Academic Honesty Policy

This course will follow the academic honesty policy as stated in the most recent edition of the student handbook. The following course specific policies will also be enforced: Any student found plagiarizing on any paper over the course of the semester to any extent may be awarded a grade of XF for the class. This policy may be applied retroactively to any papers found to be plagiarized after a final grade has been issued. Please note, however, that the instructor distinguishes between citation and/or documentation errors and blatant plagiarism, the final determination of which rests with the instructor alone. Improper citations will result in a lower grade, but not necessarily a grade of XF.

Documentation
All papers in this course shall be formatted and documented following MLA style as described in the MLA Handbook 7th edition. See the Writing Matters text for MLA style. All papers shall be set up according to the MLA Handbook following the examplde provided by the sample paper in Writing Matters: Times New Roman, 12 pt. font double spaced from top to bottom without interruption or extra line spaces and with 1 margins all around. Proper setup of assigned papers counts toward the mechanical half of paper grades described below. 2

Following correct documentation style gives you invaluable practice in reading and following complex written instructions and in paying attention to detail. It is a sign of professionalism in written presentations.

Tiffin University School of Arts and Sciences

Spring 2012

Attendance and Grading Policies

There are no excused absences except for competition sports travel as per NCAA regulations. Absences for family illnesses, births, deaths, weddings, etc., and the students own illnesses are not excused absences. Students who miss more than three classes except for competition travel will receive an automatic grade of F in the class. All students are required to submit all written work by the due date and time, to demonstrate comprehension of the material in their written work, to argue a thesis original to the student in every paper, unless summary is explicitly assigned, to follow MLA style. No late work will be accepted under any circumstances, including competition sports travel, unless the student makes arrangements in advance to which the instructor has agreed either in writing or by email. Late papers will otherwise be issued a grade of 0. Grading There will be 100 pt. quizzes given in class on each weeks reading. Quizzes cannot be made up unless you make arrangements in advance. I will agree to one makeup date. If you do not meet that date, you will not be able to make up the quiz. Quizzes will cover factual information about the assigned reading, being very similar in content to your midterm and final (see below). You must take notes on your reading in order to pass the quizzes. Students must complete an initial twopage paper, a three to five page paper, a research project proposal, an annotated bibliography, and a 1012 page research paper. Due dates are on course schedule below. All papers shall be focused on the assigned readings, 3

shall be about any one or more of the literary works found in the assigned texts but none external to it (though supported by secondary sources, see below), shall argue a thesis original to the student about the literature, and shall support that thesis with evidence quoted from the literary texts and from peerreviewed, scholarly sources properly documented following MLA style. Class discussion will serve the purpose of helping students develop ideas about the literature. See also the handout Writing a Literary Thesis on eCollege. Students are also required to incorporate at least six critical sources into their writing. These critical sources may come from the assigned texts, from the MLA International Bibliography on Ohiolink, from Tiffin Universitys library, or from peerreviewed articles obtained by Interlibrary Loan. Students are not allowed to use any works on the publicly available internet without advanced written permission from the instructor.

Tiffin University School of Arts and Sciences

Spring 2012

Continued from previous page

Each individual paper will be graded on the following basis: 50% grammar, spelling, MLA formatting. 50% clarity, style, organization, content, and fulfillment of the requirements of the assignment. Points will be deducted from the final grade of any paper for being short of length requirements in and page increments as determined by the instructor adding up to 100 points per page. Students should not pad their papers with unnecessary words, phrases, or ideas if they are coming up short. They should add more detail, more support, more examples, and/or further explanation. Papers using internet or text message abbreviations will receive an automatic grade of F. My computer crashed is not an excuse for not submitting a paper to turnitin.com by the due date. Students are responsible for backing up all work either onto a memory stick, onto the school network drive, or onto a file storage system such as Google docs or Dropbox (preferably at least two of the above). Students who have their work backed up will be able to continue their work on a public computer on campus should their personal computer crash. Students who do not back up their work are responsible for failing to do so. The midterm and final exams will be worth 500 pts each. The final exam will cover only material studied since the midterm exam. Each exam will consist of 50100 multiple choice questions asking factual questions about the following topics: Associating authors with their works. Birth and death dates of authors and composition dates of works. Genre and other literary features of works. Relevant biographical and historical details associated with the works. Quotation or speaker identification: please note that being able to identify a quotation or the speaker associated with quoted text does not mean that students are expected to memorize assigned reading, only that they have read it, comprehended it, and understood its major themes and major characters well enough to identify them within a multiple choice question. Questions on the midterm and final will be drawn from class discussion and from assigned reading. All papers must be submitted to the appropriate folder on turnitin.com on the due date (by the start of class the day that the final draft is due) for a grade to be issued. Students will also have to sign a contract indicating which paper option they have chosen. No papers will receive a grade without this signed contract.

Services
Tutoring Students who would like additional help with their papers may take advantage of tutoring services offered by TUs Student Success Center. The Student Success Center is located in Friedley Hall and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Fridays. Students who wish to work with a tutor are encouraged to call extension 3324 to make an appointment. Please be advised that tutors will not write or fix papers, nor will they guarantee particular grades. Their function is to review and discuss writing with students and to make suggestions for improvement. Student Conduct TU is a professional university; its students are preparing for professional careers. They are therefore expected to dress appropriately and behave professionally. Students must turn off cell phones and pagers at the beginning of every class. Students must not spend class time writing letters, doing homework, using computers for activities not related to class, chewing tobacco, and/or talking privately with others. Such conduct is highly disrespectful and will not be tolerated.

Tiffin University School of Arts and Sciences

Spring 2012

Course Schedule
January 14: Course introduction, avoiding plagiarism. January 17: Writing Matters Tabs 1, 2, 6: Writing Responsibly, Writing Matters, and MLA Style January 21: Barry ch. 2, Structuralism Last day to add a class January 25: Plato: selections from the Republic and the Seventh Letter (see eCollege for handouts) January 28: Plato: selections from the Symposium and Gen. 13 (see eCollege for handouts) January 31: St. Augustine: selections from The Confessions (see eCollege for handouts) February 4: Origen: selections from On First Principles (see eCollege for handout) February 7: Barry ch. 8, Marxist approaches to criticism February 11: Shakespeare, Midsummers Night Dream Acts IIII First draft of twopage paper due: synthesize at least two texts read so far to answer the question, How might different interpretive approaches to written texts reflect different states of human consciousness? Print paper and bring to class for peer review. February 14: Shakespeare, Midsummers Night Dream Acts IVV Final draft of twopage paper uploaded to turnitin.com February 18: Barry ch. 6, Feminism February 21: Milton: Paradise Lost, Bk. IV (see eCollege for handout) February 25: Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk IX (see eCollege for handout) February 28: Barry ch. 5, Psychoanalytic approaches criticism March 4: Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience 5 and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (see links). March 7: Midterm. F, March 8: No class, Spring Break. March 11: No class, Spring Break March 14: No class, Spring Break March 18: First draft of 35 page paper due for peer review. Argue a thesis of your choice about the assigned reading using any theoretical approach studied so far. March 21: Selections from Emily Dickinsons poems (see eCollege for handout) Final draft of 35 page paper submitted to turnitin.com. March 22: Last day to withdraw without a failing grade March 25: Writing Matters, Tab 5. Research paper proposal due 250 word description of your project and its approach with an outline. Nietzsche, Genealogy, Preface and First Essay March 28: Nietzsche, Second Essay and pp. 167198 April 1: Barry ch. 12, Narratology April 4: No class. Annotated Bibliography due, submit to turnitin.com. At least six sources. April 8: Flannery OConnor, Revelation and A Good Man is Hard to Find April 11: Selections from Lahiri April 15: Selections from Lahiri April 18: Bones of the Moon, Part 1 (pp. 140). First draft of 10 to 12page research paper due in class for peer review. April 22: Bones of the Moon, Part 2 (pp. 43134) April 25: Bones of the Moon, Part 3 (pp. 137222). Final draft of research paper to turnitin.com April 29: Final Exam, 10:3012:30 May 4: Commencement

Tiffin University School of Arts and Sciences

Spring 2012

Writing Rubric
Grade of A: Excellent
The A paper is a highly sophisticated paper that supports an original thesis with a complex argument that skillfully and correctly integrates substantial outside research. The A paper demonstrates not only substantial understanding of primary and secondary reading but the ability to advance knowledge with its insight into the material. It has few or no grammatical or punctuation errors no more than three or four for every five pages of writing and maintains a highly academic tone that correctly and effectively employs fieldspecific language.

Grade of B: Above Average

The B paper fulfills all requirements of the assignment. It meets or exceeds research requirements effectively, demonstrating comprehension of all sources. It properly documents its sources with no more than two or three citation errors. It is almost free of grammatical or punctuation errors, having no more than one or two errors per page, but while highly competent, the B paper lacks the insight and linguistic competence characterizing the A essay. Invest in this class. In doing so, you will invest in yourself in your knowledge of the world, of people, of language, of history, of art, and of imagination.

requirements of the assigned documentation style; intext citations are clearly keyed to the references, bibliography, or works cited page. It demonstrates basic reading comprehension of both primary and secondary sources. It may have some minor punctuation, capitalization, grammatical, or spelling errors or some use of informal language but is generally appropriate and correct. Grade of D: Below Average The D paper is deficient in one or more of the following areas: structure/organization, research, reading comprehension, documentation, word choice, grammar, or punctuation, capitalization, or spelling. The grade of D indicates belowaverage achievement in organizing ideas, expressing ideas, understanding sources, writing correctly, or following documentation style. Most D papers contain serious errors in usage and fail to present a central thesis or to develop it adequately. These essay standards summarize the Writing Intensive Class rubric created by Dr. Jim Rovira and Dr. Sherry Truffin in the Summer of 2011. The rubric itself is on eCollege and integrated into turnitin.com and will be used to score your papers.

Grade of C: Average The average collegelevel paper will receive a grade of C. This paper is written well enough to be easy to follow, but could benefit from some restructuring or additional paragraphs. It meets minimum assignment requirements for research and other elements and integrates sources correctly following the most basic

Grade Scale
A A B+ B B C+ C C D+ D D F 93100 9092 8789 8386 8082 7779 7376 7072 6769 6366 6062 59 or below