Eng 323 Literature & Computers

Spring 2006 MW 2:00-3:20

Dr. Cynthia Jenéy

Office: Eder Hall (SS/C) 222K

Email: jeney@missouriwestern.edu Phone: 271-4447

Hours: MW 12:30-2:00; T-Th 3:30-4:30 (and by appointment)

Texts:

1. Browner, Pulsford, Sears. Literature and the Internet: A Guide for Students, Teachers, and Scholars.

NY: Garland.

2. Lee, Tanith. Biting the Sun. NY: Bantam.

3. Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. NY: New Folger Library, Pocket Books.

4. Various handouts/reserve/online readings (supplied by instructor)

Required Materials

1. A working, steady campus email account to which you know the exact address.

2. Zip disk or USB storage device (aka “lipstick drive,” “thumb drive,” “flash drive”)

Recommended:

o MLA style handbook or writing handbook that includes MLA guidelines for research papers.

Course Description and Assignments:

This course will examine the relationship between computers and literary studies. The course covers topics such as digital media, hypertext/hypermedia as genre, technology theory, cyber literature, computerized research, programs and programming, and virtual reality. Prerequisite: ENG 108 or 112, and ENG 210 or 220

(LAS Computer Literacy).

Assignment due dates are firm. This will avoid lag, confusion, and delays in evaluation of student progress.

Assignments are based upon research and scholarship in contemporary literary studies. Some of this work involves

• using computers to perform analyses of literature;
• employing the internet as a networking space for scholars to collaborate and engage in dialectic;
• exploring hypertext as an alternative medium for creating analytical and critical texts.
• combining images, sound, and even video to enhance primary and secondary texts.
• critical reading of belletristic texts that address issues concerning the role of computer technologies in human societies and cultures.
• creating and experiencing virtual/textual worlds; defining and redefining “cyberspace.”
• creating and experiencing hypertext (“ergodic”) literature, textual gaming spaces, digital multimedia, and “cyberpunk” texts.
• building interactive online resources for literary scholars.
• new things that are probably being invented and developed while we’re talking about the latest new things.

Grading Plan:

20% PowerPoint Presentation + group project (Hypertext Fiction)

20% Linguistic Analysis (short corpus analysis, using search/concordance applications)

20% Hyper-linked Explication

20% Literary Paper (Issues / themes technology in literature 5-7pp. + bibliography)

20% Web Board Participation and In-Class Participation

100% Total Course Grade

Needless to say, we will not have time to fully explore every intersection of literature and computers, but our aim is to become fluent in the language, purposes, and implementation of computer and internet technologies in the field of Language and Literature Studies.

Attendance:

More than 4 absences (equivalent to 2 weeks for M-W class) will result in a failing grade for the course. It is your responsibility to keep track of your attendance. Since a great deal of the work for this class is done during class time, and cannot be “made up” later, it is a very good idea to attend all class meetings.

Contact a classmate to get notes and assignments if you miss a class meeting, and make sure you consult the class schedule (attached).

Email:

Email is a wonderful thing. It does not, however, replace class attendance. Email messages asking “What did I miss?” make your professors’ lives harder, and show a lack of consideration for their time and workload. Email your instructor when

• you don’t understand the assignment, or want to clarify some point from class reading or discussion;
• you want to make an appointment to meet out of class;
• you have drafted a written assignment and would like some feedback early in the process;
• your Mom has been kidnapped by terrorist spies, and you must leave the country to rescue her.

Another note about email: Electronic communications among students and instructors shall remain mature, polite, and appropriate to the context of the class and the college setting. “Flaming” or harassing instructors or classmates in electronic mail or other forums will not be tolerated. Issues and concerns of a sensitive nature should be dealt with person-to-person, not in email. Be courteous. Be thoughtful. Be excellent.

Phone:

The telephone is a wonderful thing. It does not, however, replace class attendance. Phone messages asking “What did I miss?” make your professors’ lives harder, and show a lack of consideration for their time and workload. Call your instructor when

• you don’t understand the assignment, or want to clarify some point from class reading or discussion;
• you want to make an appointment to meet out of class;
• you have drafted something that you aren’t sure about, and would like some feedback early in the process;
• your situation seriously threatens your grade and you don’t know what to do.

Disabilities: Any student in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of abilities should contact the MWSC Special Needs Office as soon as possible so that we can discuss alternative ways to satisfy class requirements:

Location: Eder Hall (SS/C Building), Room 202

Office Hours: 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday

Phone: (816) 271-4330

Electronic Forum: Each student will be required to post various written assignments to the class electronic forum. Posts to the forum will be full-length drafts, peer critiques, summaries, analytical questions, and commentaries, based upon the reading and writing assignments in the class. All members of the class will have posting and reading access to the forum.

You must have a stable email account established in order to satisfy this writing requirement for the course. I strongly urge you to use your MWSU email account for this forum. Do not shift around with Yahoo and Hotmail account subscriptions, as this will confuse the moderator, and possibly cause her to delete your membership. As moderator, I will do my best to insure that you do not receive advertising or other unwanted messages in your account. Expect the usual glitches and snafu’s when first getting subscribed to the electronic discussion group. I tend to use different technologies as time goes by, and as internet services evolve. I will try to make it as painless and easy as possible for you, but there is a certain amount of meticulous attention required at the outset, in order to get the forum up and running efficiently for us all.

Tentative Class Schedule: Eng 323 Literature & Computers

Subject to change as needed to meet the needs of the course

JANUARY
W	18	Introduction; syllabus, course policies.
M	23	LAI Ch. 1 & 2; Intro WebBoard
W	25	LAI Ch. 1 & 2; Assign brief linked web critique
M	30	LAI Ch. 3 & 6; topics and critical elements of web site critique
FEBRUARY
W	1	LAI Ch. 3 & 6 –Post final version of your web site critique to WebBoard; in-class response/workshop; Assign Hypertext Explication
M	6	Poetry Explication Workshop; BRING LITERATURE ANTHOLOGY TO CLASS WITH YOU, FOR FOOTNOTE “SHOW & TELL”; Handouts; Silva Rhetoricae: terms, figures
W	8	Poetry Explication; Literary Theory (Burke example; others); Handouts; Silva Rhetoricae: terms, figures
M	13	Hypertext Explication Frames site —Workshop
W	15	Hypertext Explication Frames site —Workshop
M	20	PRESIDENTS DAY—NO CLASS MEETING
W	22	Hypertext Explication Frames site —Workshop
M	27	Hypertext Explication Frames site Due. Intro Hypertext Fiction & Assign PowerPoint/Report project
MARCH
W	1	Hypertext Fiction; Lecture & Discussion; In-Class workshops (Links workshop—WebBoard)
M	6	Hypertext Fiction: In-Class workshops (Links workshop—WebBoard)
W	8	Hypertext Fiction—In-Class Workshop
M	13	SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS MEETING
W	15	SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS MEETING
M	20	PowerPoint presentations
W	22	PowerPoint presentations
M	27	PowerPoint presentations; Report Due, Hypertext Fiction
W	29	Handouts (Hartwell, Ryan); Lee, Tanith. Don’t Bite the Sun; Assign Literary Paper
APRIL
M	3	Lee, Tanith. Don’t Bite the Sun
W	5	Lee, Tanith. Don’t Bite the Sun
M	10	Lee, Tanith. Don’t Bite the Sun
W	12	Lee, Tanith. Don’t Bite the Sun
M	17	Literary Paper Due: Don’t Bite the Sun LAI Ch. 9; Intro: Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing; Excerpts from Branagh film; Drama analysis. Assign short paper (linguistic / corpus analysis).
W	19	Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing
M	24	Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing
W	26	Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing
MAY
M	1	Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing
W	3	FINAL PAPER DUE 2:00 - 3:50 p.m.