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English 105D Literature and Composition
Suzanne Keen Payne Hall 32A
TuTh AB (class starts at 8:30 a.m., with one exception, for a film screening)
Washington Hall 4                                                 

Reading The Golden Compass : the materials of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials .

With a film of The Golden Compass out just last year, the controversy about Philip Pullman's award-winning trilogy His Dark Materials has heated up.   Though some Christian readers have taken offense at the author's critique of an oppressive instititutional Church, the Magesterium, the author asserts that he meant his work to update Milton, as a “ Paradise Lost for teenagers.”   Few contemporary authors have so vividly depicted human souls, Pullman's daemons . Other sources of His Dark Materials include the poetry of Blake, Dante, and Shelley. A careful reading of Pullman will be accompanied by study of his major literary and scientific sources, and engagement with the critical controversy, including Pullman's criticism of the Narnia novels as sexist and racist works. Watch the film trailer at goldencompassmovie.com.

Required books:

John Milton, Paradise Lost . Edited by Philip Pullman (Oxford, ISBN: 978-0192806192). You can find this inexpensively through used booksellers on the internet.
Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials, 1 volume edition. (Knopf, ISBN: 978-0-375-84722-6). Please do not use different editions.
Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference .  I refer to this text by section and topic when you have grammar, punctuation, or style errors. I expect you to have it. It is shelved separately in the Bookstore. Buy a copy there. It is ok to buy an earlier edition, or a used copy from an internet bookseller, but make sure you have this book and not one of Hacker's other products.

Recommended text:

Charles Lipson, Cite Right .   A handy guide to citation that should cover most of your college classes in the future.

Writing exercises to accompany Hacker's A Writer's Reference http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/writersref6e/Player/Pages/Main.aspx
Q&A with Philip Pullman.
Bible stories in Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost Study Guide
Links related to Philip Pullman.

Required writing and other components of evaluation:

  5% Diagnostic essay, on a passage from Paradise Lost . 500 words.
10% Essay #1, on a narrative. 1000 words—close reading.
10% Essay #2, on Milton or Pullman. 1000 words—motif-tracing.
5% Essay #3, on passages from two works. 1000 words—comparison and contrast
25% Essay #4, on passages from two works. 1500 words (revised and expanded after peer review)
30%  Essay #5, multi-source essay. 2000 words—writing and argument that employs external sources: research, parenthetical citations and works cited in MLA style (in Hacker).
15%   Class participation and faithful attendance, peer review, writing process materials.

Please complete the reading listed for the class day. There will be quizzes if discussion lags.

Class starts at 8:30.  There's no bell at this time.  Arrive promptly.

Th 9/4     Milton's sonnets. Handout.

F 9/5     Diagnostic essay , 500 words, on a poem (or passage) by Milton

Due in Prof. Keen's office door box, Payne 32A, by 2:30 pm.

Tu 9/9     Paradise Lost , Book 1

Introduction of successful arguments.

Th 9/11       Paradise Lost , Book 2

                    Arguments, motives, evaluating uses of evidence. Strong thesis statements: ingredients of the thesis paragraph               

Tu 9/16     Paradise Lost , Book 3

Essay #1 (1000 word on a narrative, close reading) due in class.

                    Arguments and roadmapping a close reading.

Th 9/18     Golden Compass , 3-96

Road maps and transitions; intro to motif-tracing

Tu 9/23     Paradise Lost , Book 4

                    Writing about characters; practice motif tracing.

Th 9/25     Golden Compass , 97-183

                    Non-repetitive conclusions.

                    Essay #2 due by 2:30 p.m. on Prof. Keen's office door box. (1000 words on Milton or Pullman—motif tracing)

Tu 9/30       Paradise Lost , Book 5

                    Writing about Plots (Greimas)

Th 10/2     Golden Compass , 184-296

                    MLA Style               

Tu 10/7     Paradise Lost , Book 6

                    Essay #3 due in class (2 copies). (1000 words, comparison and contrast.)

                    Workshop—peer reviewing. Comparison/Contrast theses.

Th 10/9     no class: Reading Days    

Tu 10/14     Paradise Lost , Book 7

                    Reader-based and writer-based prose in the disciplines; styles, conventions, and models in other disciplines.

Th 10/16        Subtle Knife , 301-83

                    Essay #4 (revision and expansion, 1500 words, comparison and contrast)

                    due in class. Turn in your old graded draft and your peer review sheet,

                    done by your partner, as well as your polished revision.

Tu 10/21     Paradise Lost , Book 8

                    Research: Library resources (visit Leyburn Library)

Th 10/23    Subtle Knife , 384-459

            Formulating research questions.

Tu 10/28     Paradise Lost , Book 9

Th 10/30     Subtle Knife , 460-539

                    Research: Electronic resources (subscriptions)

Tu 11/4     Paradise Lost , Book 10

                    Evaluating web resources (Paul Barron PowerPoint)

Th 11/6     Come at 8 am for screening of film Golden Compass (Prof. Keen at Trustee Meeting)

                    Read Amber Spyglass, 547-657. Shelley's "England in 1819."

Tu 11/11     Paradise Lost , Book 11

                    Workshop with Yolanda Merrill on research methods

Th 11/13     Amber Spyglass , 751-835

                    Workshop: Topic paragraph and bibliography due in class . I will give these

                    back to you by the end of class.

Tu 11/18      Paradise Lost , Book 12

Th 11/20     Amber Spyglass , 751-835

            Essay #5 (2000 words including secondary sources) due in class

Thanksgiving Break

Tu 12/2        Amber Spyglass , 836-929  

Th 12/4         evaluations and course conclusion

no final examination

The Fine Print

Peer Reviewing: Peer reviewing will be evaluated. Bring two copies of your essay to the peer review session. Drafts for peer review must be full drafts.

Reading: Complete your reading long enough before class to have a chance to think about what you've read and to respond to any study questions.

Participation: your active engagement in the class requires your presence, your preparedness, and your willingness to speak up.  The quality of your participation will be evaluated and will contribute significantly to your course grade. Attendance matters.  Court dates, sporting events, or any matters other than illness or family tragedy do not count as legitimate excuses for missing class. Students who do not attend the class faithfully cannot expect to pass the course.

Paper specifications: A PAPER is a printed or typed document. Discs, attachments, and email pastes are not acceptable . All assignments must be completed and turned in on time. A computer problem is not a legitimate excuse. If I agree to accept a late paper, it will be penalized at the rate of a grade a day: an A paper turned in two days late would receive a grade of C. No exceptions without an infirmary excuse or a letter from the Dean .

Appearance of papers. A normal double-spaced typed page has between 300 and 350 words on it. Keep this is mind when you choose a font. Do not use a tiny font. Times 12 is a normal font; Times 10 is too small. Use your word-processor to count the number of words in your paper ; or count a page by hand if you are unsure about the length. Do not use a really worn out printer cartridge or a weirdly colored ink. Format should conform to MLA style as explained by Diana Hacker, except when otherwise instructed.

Style. The essays in this course have Works Cited pages and parenthetical citation. (MLA style).

Staple the pages of your papers. I do not make a habit of bringing a stapler with me to class.

Number the pages of your papers.  Find out how to make your word processor create a header or a footer. An essay missing page numbers will be penalized for this failure to adhere to proper college style.

Keep a hard copy of every paper. Don't trust your disc, jump drive, W&L server, your hard drive, or neighbor's hard drive as a back-up.  If I should misplace a paper, I will expect you to provide an additional copy immediately, upon request.

Pledge your work.

A warning about the internet.   Do not use the internet to prepare for class or to get ideas for papers, unless otherwise instructed by me.

Plagiarism.   In addition to being an Honor Violation, plagiarism earns a grade of zero.  If I detect a plagiarized paper, with ideas, words, or phrases borrowed from an unacknowledged source, I will give you a zero on the assignment.  Then I will turn the evidence over to the EC.

Incompletes.   Forget about it.  I don't grant them.

Curricular Objective: English 105 fulfills Foundation Requirement FW.

Purpose of the Foundation Requirement (FDR FW):

Students will receive extensive practice in critical reading and writing; will be introduced to conventions governing appropriateness and persuasiveness in writing; learn the conventions of standard English; learn to choose words more precisely, to write clearer sentences and more effective paragraphs, to argue a workable thesis, to use an effective voice, and to integrate the work of others into their own work properly; and, overall, learn to increase precision, fluency, and confidence with written language.