THE HOUSE OF LIGHT
College Writing and Research
Eng. 108, Spring, 2000. Sec. 93 Chief Cartographer:
Sat. 9:00/11:45. SSC 215 Harrison Hartley
Required Texts: The St. Martin's Guide to Writing (5th Ed.),
Literature and the Writing Process (5th Ed.); the MWMSC
Freshman Composition Guide. Suggested: Writing From A to Z.
Goals/ Evaluations: Building on previous experience from Eng. 104, we will write four formal research essays using clear, standard prose. We will concentrate on logical analysis using both fiction and non-fiction as described in the MWSC Comp. Course Guide (p. 41 ff). We will write four papers out of class (marked OC on the due dates) for 60% of the grade, four extempore essays in class (marked IC) for 20%, and there will be analytical take-home assignments and tests (including a comprehensive final) for 20%. Criteria of evaluation include topical worthiness, clarity, logic, and structural precision. NB: You may rewrite any essay within appropriate time limits and the initial and final marks will be averaged, making excellent grades possible with work!
Policies: If you have any difficulty requiring adjustments, we will make them. Plagiarism (stealing work) can result in failure or expulsion; avoid it! Attendance is necessary; you've paid for this trip, why not take it? (The scenery can be grand!)
Office Hours: My office is always open at (816) 279-8100; call any time. I'm available after class or by appointment, and you can leave messages in the department. (You can e-mail me, but I check that on Saturday so it's faster to call.)
The Haida say this: One time, when the people lived in darkness, a man named Weget had no fear and liked to find things out. One day he bumped into what felt like a root hanging from above. He grabbed the root and climbed until it went into a hollow reed, and when he climbed out of that, he found himself in a bright place looking at a great black bird. That was Raven, the Creator, and Raven said, "Now you're here. You have found the House of Light. Go get The People and I'll show you how to live and what to do and not do." And that is how The People came to this world.
Eng 108/S 2000
1/22: Thirty-thousand years in three hours: a recap to rhetoric. Read Bronowski fro next time; prepare for a first trial essay.
1/29: "Yesterday upon the stair/ I met a man who wasn't there...." The subjective/objective problem and the aims of research (SMG chap's 21 and 22); the boundaries and modes of argument. Discuss: topics for OCI, due 2/22; read SMG chapters 19 and 6, in that order, for next time. IC1.
2/1: RQ. Discuss: logical fallacies and Dr. Popper's Test for Truth. Review IC1; hints on extempore work. Read SMG chap. 9 for next time.
2/12: We dance 'round in a ring and suppose,
But The Secret sits in the middle, and knows. (Frost)
OC1 due. Discuss: characteristics of assigned readings. Read SMG ch. 8.
2/19: "What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds." -Eric Hoffer Knowledge, Belief, and the problem of evaluation. (Are you what you do? Or what you TRY to do?) Discuss topics for OC2, due 3/4. Read SMG chap. 7 for next time; IC2 next time.
2/26: "Not Poor, Just Broke;" a reading from Dick Gregory. The problem of solving problems... Hester's "A" and all that. (Recur: An exercise in Logic and Non-logic.) IC2. OC2 due next time.
3/4: OC2 due. Moving Evaluations to Solutions. (OR: Why People Believe Weird Things.) Read SMG chap. 7 and essays provided.
3/11: The Problem With Solutions: If You Prick Them, Do They Bleed?
Consider topics for OC3, due 4/1. Read LWP chap's. 4,5,7,8 and as assigned.
3/25: A consideration: how does the general theory of relativity resemble a poem written by John Keats about a Greecian urn or a mask of Shango?
"All things are but as pasteboard masks..." (Or are they...?) Read short stories assigned; critical analysis due next time; OC3 also due.
4/1: OC3 due! Which story are you? (Of fiction and personal fictions.) IC3. Read LWP chap's. 6 and 9; assigned short works; Quiz next time w/IC3.
4/8: "A good book should be truer than if it really happened." -Hemingway
Quiz; Discuss topics from OC4, due by 5/6 at latest; read LWP assigned works.
4/15: The test for poetry: what does it do to the top of your head? Read LWP works assigned; others provided; critical commentaries due 4/29.
4/22: An advance to the rear: individual seminar appointments.
4/29: OC4 due ASAP; discussion of assigned works; recap and review.
5/5: Final Examination: So let it be written, so let it be done.
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