ENGL 360K 01-01 Gender and Literature; Or
“Consuming the Body”
MTWTHF 9:50 a.m.-12:00 p.m. HEAV 101
Professor Blackmon
HEAV 302B
Tel: 49-43742
Office hrs: TR 8:30-9:30 a.m. and by appointment
Email: sblackmon@cla.purdue.edu
Web: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/blackmon/engl36004
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Subtitled "Consuming the Body” this course is an introduction to
feminist approaches to the study of texts including (but not limited to),
novels, satire, film, and theory. This class examines how gender intersects
with sex, class, sexuality, and technology in shaping authorship, reading, and
representation. Texts for this course will include William Gibson's Pattern
Recognition, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, David Levithan’s
Boy Meets Boy, and one film. While I have subtitled this course consuming the
body, we will not be discussing cannibalism, but we will be looking at consumption and gender as it relates to
the physical bodies that we are reading about. There will be two weekly
response assignments, daily online reading journals, and one final paper.
We will be reading and discussing the Levithan text (online) with Dr. Janet Alsup’s
ENGL 396K (ENGL 596K): Studies in Young Adult Literature course. This
discussion will take place (primarily) online and promises to be fruitful in
terms of looking at how issues of gender and sexuality can be handled and
discussed not only in the university but in secondary schools as well.
REQUIRED TEXTS (Available at Von’s Books)
• Course Pack (Will be available at CopyMat in Chauncey Hill Mall)
• Pattern Recognition
by William Gibson
• Pride and Prejudice (Norton
Critical Edition) by Jane Austen
• Boy Meets Boy by David
Levithan
COURSE EXPECTATIONS/PARTICIPATION
In order to accomplish the course goals, you must come to each class prepared.
This means coming to class on time, as well as completing your readings and
outside assignments. Active and informed participation in class discussions and
collaborative work is also crucial. In terms of writing assignments, you will
be required to complete three 2-3 page reading response/reaction assignments
(three at 10 points each), a reading journal (20 points), and one in-depth
analytical paper of 5-7 pages (30 points). Regular quizzes will be given to
test the preparedness of the class as a whole, these quizzes will be used to
take class attendance (these points may not be made up) and will be calculated
under the heading of discussion (20 points).
|
Assignment |
Number |
Point Allocation |
Total points per category |
|
Response Assignments |
2 |
10 |
20 |
|
Reading Journal |
1 |
30 |
30 |
|
Final Essay |
1 |
30 |
30 |
|
Discussion |
1 |
20 |
20 |
|
Course Total: |
|
|
100 points |
GRADING SCALE
Your points will be translated into percentages; your final grade will be
calculated according to the following percentage scale:
100-90 A
89-80 B
79-70 C
69-60 D
59-below F
Although such instances are rare, I reserve the right to reward students who
have shown dramatic progress with higher grades than the scale suggests.
Note about Incompletes: The mark of
‘I’ is inappropriate if, in the instructor’s judgment, it
will be necessary for the student regularly to attend subsequent sessions of
the class. I will give an Incomplete only in cases of extreme emergency.
JOURNALS
It is expected that you will read carefully and
critically, take notes, jot down questions, and bring all required materials to
class each day. Your journal entries will be a place for your observations and
growth as an analytical reader and writer. Summaries of the novels and/or
essays do not constitute acceptable journal entries. Your daily entries should
be approximately 250 words. You should also read and respond to at least 1-2
other entries (using the comment function) and give their posts the amount of
attention and respect that you would like for them to give to you. Feel free to
use your entries to discuss the subject at hand, draw connections to other
things you have seen and read (both online and off), rage against an idea, or
respond to someone else’s entry.
CLASS PARTICIPATION & ASSIGNMENTS
This is one of the most important components to the
success of the course. All reading and outside assignments are to be completed
prior to class. This means reading carefully and critically, bringing materials
to class, and coming prepared to engage with the ideas and your class. Class
investigations are participatory assignments that may include critical and
active discussions as well as in-class collaborative work.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is welcomed, expected, and mandatory. To best utilize our time, come
to class on time. You are considered absent if 1) you are more than 15 minutes
late and/or 2) you are unprepared for class. There will be regular in-class
work to record your attendance and preparation for class. You may miss two
sessions without penalty. For every class after the first two, I will lower
your final grade by five percent. After two absences you must attend a
conference with me to discuss whether you should continue in this course. Five
absences constitute automatic failure of the course.
WRITING DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS
You are expected to submit assignments by the deadlines listed. All written
work is due at the beginning of class unless otherwise noted. In order to be
considered for a grade, all assignments are to be complete, of the minimum word
count, and must conform to MLA documentation and format (word-processed, 12
point legible font, double-spacing, with one inch margins). No out of class
papers will be accepted if they are handwritten and all assignments must be
accompanied by your computer diskette. Late assignments will only be accepted
with the specific, prior agreement of the instructor. No exceptions!!!
CONFERENCES & CONTACT
I am open to discussing matters pertaining to the course, readings, and your
writing; please feel free to contact me via email or phone as well as in
person. I hope you will also take advantage of my office hours and email.
PLAGIARISM
Cheating: All written work submitted for a grade in this course must be the
product of your own composition. Ideas generated due to reading and group
discussion may provide the inspiration for your work, but should not be the
sole ideas represented. With collaborative projects, of course, ideas should be
representative of the group’s work.
Plagiarism is the act of presenting as your own work another individual’s
ideas, words, data, or research material. The concept applies equally to
written, spoken, or electronic texts, published or unpublished. All ideas and
quotations that you borrow from any source must be acknowledged: at a minimum,
you should give the name of your author, the title of the text cited, and the
page number(s) of the citation. The only exceptions to this requirement would
involve what is familiar and commonly held (e.g. the fact that the earth is
round). You should know that penalties for plagiarism are severe and can entail
suspension from the University. Students are responsible for reading and
understanding the University policy on Cheating and Plagiarism set forth in
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
Insults, slurs, or attacks of any kind will not be allowed in my class. Any
student who engages in this type of behavior in the classroom will be
permanently removed from the class. In other words, forced to
drop the course, in addition to other possible punishment given by
As we will be discussing subjects that will be controversial, to some students,
all remarks made in class must be based solely on fact. Personal opinion and
theological beliefs should not be brought into class discussions unless they
are specifically requested. Please be advised that we will be reading about,
discussing, and writing about issues of class, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
if you have personal or theological beliefs that may hinder your discussion
and/or participation please let me know ASAP so that we can discuss your
options.
THE WRITING LAB
The Writing Lab (Heavilon 226) is a superb resource.
The staff is willing to help no matter what stage you're at in your paper, from
brainstorming to putting on the final touches. Since writing a good paper
entails having other people looking at it and giving you feedback, visits to
the Writing Lab are highly recommended.