AML 3311 Course Policy Sheet



AML 3311-01 00076 9:05-9:55 M/W/F WMS 317
Instructor: Dr. William Nesbitt
Office: 229 WMS
Office Phone: 644-****
Office hrs: 10:00-11:00 and 4:00-5:00 M/W
E-mail: wcn5418@mailer.fsu.edu
webpage: www.oocities.org/wcnesbitt

Course Description: In this course, we will read various works of literature that have been described at various times as "major." Some of these pieces were widely read when they first published, and some gained notice and were recovered only when critical tastes and political climates changed. All of the texts, however, have had wide and lasting appeal and changed the course of American literature and so we may call them major. This does not mean that we have to like them equally, or even at all. One goal of this course will be to decide for ourselves what we think of them. Do they hold up? Why were they written the way they were? How did they affect the way Americans think and write? Are they dated? Why did they hold appeal for their original reader? What cultural work did they perform at they time they were first published and what cultural work do they perform now? Why are they major? Are they major? How do we define major and important? How do these texts comment on, reinforce, clash with, or interact with one another? What does each work add to or adjust our concept(s) of "American" and "America?"

Required Texts:
The Norton Anthology of America Literature, Ed. Nina Baym. Shorter sixth edition.

Requirements of the Course:
According to university policy, absences in excess of two class weeks constitute grounds for failure in this course. The only absences that are automatically excused are for participation in university sanctioned events (i.e., you are a member of the FSU baseball team or you play in the FSU band). For such instances, I need signed documentation on FSU letterhead explaining the situation prior to the event. You should only miss class due to death or other dire personal circumstances.

Evaluation:
Midterm 50%
Final 50%
The midterm may have multiple choice, true or false, idenitifcation of passages by author and/or title, and/or short answer questions. The test will have twenty to fifty questions. The same is true of the final, except that there will be an essay section in which I will give you three to five questions, you will pick one and write on it. The essay section of the final will compose 40% of the total points for the final. Most of the test material will come from the primary text and class discussion. A smaller portion may come from the introductions. Although I am not formally assigning the author biographies in our text, you should read them for your own edification. The final will not be cumulative.
Twice during the semester you may turn in a research paper (3-5 pages in length plus a works cited page) that adheres to MLA format , uses 3-5 secondary critical sources, and concerns one of the texts from our syllabus. Each paper will concern a different text. Use only critical books, interview, or articles (i.e. nothing from, for example, Yahoo that is of questionable origin, reliability, or scholarly standards). If you turn in research paper one, this will count 25% and the midterm will count 25%. If you turn in research paper two, this will count 25% and the final will count 25%. Paper one can only work in tandem with the midterm and paper two only works in tandem with the final. You won't know the grade of paper one before you take the midterm or the grade for paper two before you take the final. If, for example, you make an A on the midterm, and a C on paper one, you cannot choose to reweight the percentages; the same is true for the final. You cannot take the midterm, see how you perform, and then backtrack and turn in paper one. You can write one, two, or zero research papers. This option allows you to customize the course to some extent and to take maximize your individual strengths.
Thus, there are several other possible grading scenarios:
Paper one 25%
Midterm 25%
Final 50%

Midterm 50%
Paper two 25%
Final 25%

Paper one 25%
Midterm 25%
Paper two 25%
Final 25%

In addition to the typed paper, I will need xeroxes of all articles, book sections/chapters, and/or, if you are using various pages throughout the book, copies of all pages you quote and/or paraphrase from with the quoted/paraphrased passages underlined or highlighted. Please place all of these materials together in a folder. I must have everything to consider that paper as on time. Late papers lose one letter grade per weekday (excluding holidays).
If you elect to write a/two paper(s), I assume that you feel confident about what you are doing. In other words, I assume at this point that you know how to write a research paper about literature and will not devote any time to discussing this in class, though I will provide a link with some general, though not exhaustive, tips. Additionally I am available to talk with you and answer your specific questions during office hours. E-mail, however, does not provide a sufficient medium for me to look over any papers. I can, with sufficient time, answer basic questions about direction and thesis statements via e-mail. Do not overlook the Writing Center as an additional avenue for assistance.

Reading/Writing Center: The Reading/Writing Center offers one-on-one help for students with their writing, Make an appointment by calling ahead (644-6495) or stopping in (WMS 222C).

The standard format for all typed work will be Times New Roman 12pt. double spaced with once-inch margins surrounding the paper.

Plagiarism is grounds for suspension from the university as well as for failure in this course. It will not be tolerated. Any instance of plagiarism must be reported to the Director of First-Year Writing and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Plagiarism is a counterproductive, non-writing behavior that is unacceptable in a course intended to aid the growth of individual writers. Plagiarism is included among the violations defined in the Academic Honor Code, section b), paragraph 2, as follows: "Regarding academic assignments, violations of the Academic Honor Code shall include representing another's work or any part thereof, be it published or unpublished, as one's own."

Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should in the first week of class 1) register and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and 2) bring a letter to me from SDRC indicating the need for academic accommodations.

return to the main page