Timothy L Pagaard: Advanced composition, English 124

English 124
Advanced composition

English 135-138
Newspaper production

English 221 & 222
British literature I & II

English 231 & 232
American literature I & II

Class policies

"What luck for rulers that men do not think."

--Adolf Hitler

Fall 2009

go to Syllabus | Materials

Course overview

In English 124 you'll build upon the writing and thinking skills you developed in earlier writing courses. Further, in this course you'll develop your critical powers in the context of literature; you'll learn to analyze writing critically.

Perhaps you already have taken an introduction-to-literature course. There you were no doubt exposed to the full range of literary genres, including the short story, the novel, drama, and poetry. Our focus in 124 will be somewhat narrower. Here we'll look closely at two of these, the short story and the novel. We'll narrow our focus even further, analyzing the work of a single author in each genre, Flannery O'Connor and Ernest Hemingway respectively, two of the most prominent figures in twentieth-century American literature.

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Syllabus

Schedule

Submission of assignments

Journal questions

Blackboard

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Materials

I strongly recommend that you print the following materials ahead of time and bring them to class. Class sessions when you will need such documents are marked W in the Schedule section of the Syllabus.

What is literature?

Anatomy of an essay about literature

MLA format

Evaluation/response form

Introduction to critical thinking

Adventures in critical thinking

(a real-life narrative)

Sample critical-thinking test

Please complete the sample test--open book--and bring it to the test-review session in class. The sample test will not be graded.

Sample critical-thinking test: answers

These are provided to resolve any difficulties you might experience while completing the sample test, preparing for the review session.

Assignment #1 go to sample student essays

Analysis of any O'Connor story not in the syllabus

Assignment #2 go to sample student essays

Global analysis of a single characteristic of O'Connor's writing

Library research

Evaluating Web sources

Using sources

Specialized critical approaches to literature

Bibliography of Criticism about Flannery O'Connor & Her Work

"Hills Like White Elephants"

Assignment #3 go to sample student essays

Comparison/contrast of any O'Connor story with any Hemingway short story

Assignment #4 go to sample student essays

Character analysis of any major character in The Sun Also Rises (except Jake Barnes): Robert Cohn, Brett Ashley, Michael Campbell, Bill Gorton, or Pedro Romero

The dangers of Spanish bullfighting

The Spanish announcer summarizes the results of six bullfights, highlighting their salient moments in the mode of a sportscaster. Of the six in this particular festival, four bulls received ovations for their outstanding performance--which means that the bullfighters were unable to dominate them. The last bullfight is the one in which Israel Lancho is gored so badly. (Thanks to Alicia Muñoz for the translation.)

Cornada

Also see Hable con ella (Talk to Her)
a film by Pedro Almodóvar

Assignment #5 go to sample student essays

What does Jake Barnes learn in The Sun Also Rises?

Timothy L Pagaard: Advanced composition, English 124

English 124 Advanced composition