ENGLISH 129A
Dr.
Lisa Gerrard Mailbox:
271 Kinsey
Office:
252 Kinsey Phone:
(310) 825-2286
Office
Hrs.: TR 1:00-2:00 & by app't. E-mail:
gerrard@humnet.ucla.edu
Web
address: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/people/gerrard/
Texts/Equipment
David Hwang, M. Butterfly (Plume)
Kate Chopin, “The Story
of an Hour” (on computer)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (Plume)
Emily Brontë, Wuthering
Heights, ed. Peterson
(Bedford) **this edition only**
Lisa Gerrard, Writing
about Literature: Rhetoric for English 129A (APS)
Kelley Griffith, Writing Essays about
Literature (Harcourt
Brace)
1 high density, super, or zip disk
Bruin Online account
Class Website:
http://ecampus.humnet.ucla.edu/classes/engcomp129a-lec1-00s/
Description
English 129A is a course in the conventions
of literary analysis and writing. In interpreting the literary works, we will
consider both the language, themes, and structure of the texts themselves and
some of the major theoretical approaches contemporary critics have brought to
bear on these texts. The essay assignments will allow you to practice
strategies of interpretation as well as to extend your fluency as a writer. In
addition to practicing the structural and linguistic conventions of academic
discourse, you will work at expanding your stylistic range.
You will be using a computer for all the
writing and much of the discussion you do in class and for some out-of-class
assignments. You do not need previous computer experience to take this course,
but you will need access to a computer and the Internet outside of class. If
you don’t have your own computer and modem, you will need to use the
CLICC labs in Powell or the walk-in labs in 87 or 88 Kinsey. The Macintoshes in
our classroom will read Windows or DOS-formatted disks and will save documents
in Windows or DOS format.
This is a hands-on course, a series of
workshops rather than lectures. You will be working together as a community of
literary critics and writers, so always bring your books, disks, and
papers-in-progress with you.
Regular attendance is important to your success in the course and will figure
in your final grade. You cannot make up a missed class.
Requirements
• 6 drafts, minimum
• short writing assignments
• oral reports
• participation in planning and
peer editing groups
• participation in on-line
discussions
Grading
Paper #1: 30%
Paper #2: 30%
Paper #3: 30%
Work grade: 10% (attending all classes,
on time and prepared; timely completion of all assignments, including oral
reports, peer editing, e-mail discussion, and short written work)
A Note on Paper
Format
All
drafts must be typed, double-spaced and submitted in hardcopy. Please do
not send me drafts through e-mail. You may use whatever margin size and font
you wish, as long as I can read the paper without a magnifying glass and have
room to write comments. The indicated length for each paper assumes a 12-point
typeface, an average sized font (e.g., Palatino), and 1-inch margins all
around; if your format is noticeably different from that (e.g., a 14-point
typeface or a tiny font), your paper will be correspondingly longer or shorter.
SCHEDULE
Week
1
T
4/4 Class: Introduction
Home: M.
Butterfly; oral report,
questions
Th 4/6 Class: M.
Butterfly; approaches to
Paper 1; oral reports
Home: M.
Butterfly short writing
assignment (structure); Griffith, 57-78 (analyzing drama); "Breaking the
Butterfly: The Politics of David Henry Hwang"
Week
2
T
4/11 Class: M.
Butterfly ; Prewriting
Stacks, topic/thesis
Home: Paper 1,
draft 1; Gerrard, 1, 5; Griffith, 209-210 (citation form), 244-252 (rules of
usage for literary papers); bring 4 copies of Paper 1 to class T 4/18
Th 4/13 Open
Week
3
T
4/18 Class: Paper
1, draft 1 due; discuss
Paper 1, revising techniques
Home: Gerrard,
6-12 (development), 13-14 (organizing), 48-50 (collaboration); edit group's
drafts
Th 4/20 Class: Discuss
Paper 1, revising techniques; edit groups
Home: Gerrard
21-27 (revising for conciseness)
Week
4
T 4/25 Class: Stylistic
revision (conciseness)
Home: “The
Story of an Hour”; short writing assignment; Griffith, 139-140
(reader-response criticism), 27-54 (analyzing fiction)
Th 4/27 Class: Paper
1, draft 2 due; “The Story of an Hour”
Home: Beloved, 3-158; oral reports
Week
5
T
5/2 Class: Beloved, 3-158
Home: Beloved, 158-275; Gerrard 30-32 (voice), 34-35
(style)
Th 5/4 Class: Beloved, 158-275; voice and style
Home: Paper 2,
draft 1; bring 4 copies of Paper 2 to class T
5/9
Week
6
T
5/9 Class: Paper
2, draft 1 due; revision
Home: Edit
group’s papers; Gerrard, 33-34 (punctuation and style)
Th 5/11 Class: Edit
groups; punctuation and style
Home: Gerrard
43-44 (imitation; parallel structure)
Week
7
T
5/16 Class: Revision;
parallel structure
Home: Paper 2,
draft 2; Wuthering Heights,
Chapters 1-17; oral reports
Th 5/18 Class: Paper
2, draft 2 due; Wuthering
Heights, Chapters 1-17;
sign up for critical approach
Home: Wuthering
Heights, Chapters 18-34
Week
8
T
5/23 Class: Wuthering
Heights, Chapters 18-34
Home: “A
Critical History of Wuthering Heights,” assigned critical essay, oral report
Th 5/25 Open
Week
9
T 5/30 Class: Critical
approaches to Wuthering Heights
Home: Paper 3,
draft 1; bring 4 copies of Paper 3 to class, Th 6/1
Th 6/1 Class: Paper
3, draft 1 due; revision
Home: Edit
group's drafts; Gerrard 44 (cumulative sentence)
Week
10
T
6/6 Class: Edit
groups; stylistic revision
Home: Gerrard 45
(periodic sentence)
Th 6/8 Class: Review;
stylistic revision
Home: Paper 3,
draft 2
Finals Week
M 6/12 Paper
3, draft 2 due in my mailbox, 271 Kinsey