Sec.1816, ROLFS 105 T 2-3, TR 3  Instructor: Ron Broglio rbroglio@nwe.ufl.edu  Office: Turl 4012A Office Hours: TR 2nd  Mailbox: Turl 4012

This particular section of ENL 2022 has been designed to examine three major shifts in thought that have changed the world from 1750 to the present.  Each shift affects not only science and industry but also culture and ideology.  Writers have utilized these problems in thought to create exploratory possibilities in fiction.  The relationship between science, philosophy, art, and literature allows us to think differently, to imagine outside the confines of the ideologies that separate the thinkable from the unthinkable. We will use revolutions in thinking, paradigm shifts, as tools for reading literature, and literature as a means of understanding and imagining shifts in thought.

This course will be taught in the N.W.E. (or Networked Writing Environment). The N.W.E. will allow us to experiment with "new" approaches to learning--online discussions, e-mail, using and creating electronic texts and virtual spaces--that should make this English class different from any you have had before. We will use the electronic tools in conjunction with the more traditional tools of the composition class (books, paper, pen) to explore the textual world in which we are situated. Be prepared to be excited, overwhelmed, at times frustrated, but most of all, be prepared to learn.

One of the main goals of this course is improving your understanding and appreciation of British literature from 1750 to the present, while also helping you develop a process for creating, organizing, and effectively communicating your interpretation of literature and your own ideas through writing.

1) Through reading assignments and classroom discussions, you will construct a critical methodology for thinking about texts and textuality, learning in the process to read closely and critically.  You will use the theory texts as tools to read the literary texts.

2) In assignments, we will ask you to broaden ideas explored in class in a coherent, organized, and creative way, and to use the theoretical texts we will read as an interpretive tool. Additionally, each assignment will have a creative component which will allow you to go beyond writing about literature. You will also be developing your own writing as literature.  You will receive help through project preparations and class discussions.

3) You will learn how to revise your papers, rethinking arguments and polishing techniques. Essential elements of writing are proper form and grammar.  Many students say they hate grammar, and from a teacher's point of view, it's not much fun to teach either (imagine a college math professor forced to teach multiplication tables).  On the other hand, grammar mistakes are usually taken by people (professors, bosses, job interviewers, etc.) to indicate sloppiness or a lack of education.  In a professional setting, people will expect you to communicate in proper English.  If you don't, they might decide you are either uneducated or that you don't care, in which case they won't listen to your ideas no matter how creative they are.  Using poor grammar in an academic paper is analogous to turning in a drawing with crooked lines for architecture class because you were too lazy to use a ruler.

Schedule (subject to changes)

Time & Space

Mind & Will

Man & Machine
 

Texts: (required and available at Goerings' Book Store 1310 W. University Ave.)
1) Machio Kaku, Hyperspace (Oxford UP 1994)
2) Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams (Waren Books 1993)
3) Jeanette Winterson, The Passion (Grove Press 1987)
4) Fredrick Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals
5) Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness
6) Class Packet

Grading: (90-100%=A; 87-89%=B+; 80-86%=B; 77-79%=C+; 70-76%=C; etc.)
1) Three Projects -- 20% each
2) Project Preparations -- 5% each
3) Group presentation -- 8%
4) Quizzes -- 7%
5) Participation -- 5%

Rules:

After three unexcused absences, the grade will be dropped. A few absences due to illness or family crisis will be excused if documented to the instructor's satisfaction. University sponsored events are excused if accompanied by documentation from the appropriate authority. Overall grade will be lowered due to excessive tardiness.

All assignments must be done and submitted at the beginning of class on the day assigned and in the assigned format.

Keep drafts and backup copy of all assignments handed in.

All work must be completed for a grade since the work assigned fulfills the Gordon Rule, which stipulates that students are to write a minimum of 6,000 words that receive feedback, are graded, and give experience in various types of writing important in the disciplines, workplace, and civic arena.

Unless otherwise indicated by the instructor in connection with class group work, all work must be individual. Evidence of collusion (working with another student or tutor not connected with the class) or plagiarism (use of another's ideas, data, and/or statements without acknowledgment or with only minimal acknowledgment) will lead to the procedures set up by the university for academic dishonesty.

Each student is expected to show adequate respect for diversity of opinions expressed in this course. Conversely, any conduct that disrupts the learning process may lead to disciplinary action.

Complaints about separate assignments are to be discussed with the instructor, not with the department. Complaints about the final grade should be discussed with the instructor in at least one conference soon after the next term begins. If the conference on the final grade does not resolve the problem in a valid, college-level manner, the complaint can be expressed on a form in
the English office, 4008 Turl; the form must be accompanied with copies of every assignment and the instructor's directions. The form and accompanying course material will be given to the Director of Writing Programs for further action. The review committee may decide the grade should remain as is or be raised or lowered; its decision is final. The material submitted for the
complaint is to remain on file in the English Department.