Grace and the Grotesque
Course Guidelines

"People look at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart."
(1 Samuel 16:7B, NIV)

the basics / diversity / content & communication /course goals / texts / path 1 / path 2 / miscellany

THE BASICS

English 354: Grace and the Grotesque
thematic thread: "Grace and the Grotesque"
class location (F22): sec 01 (7-9 a.m.) in 2-205, sec 02 (9-11 a.m.) in 2-205, sec 03 (12-2 p.m.) in 192-242
e-mail: pmarchba@calpoly.edu
office: 805-756-2159 / building 47 (the "maze"), hallway 35, office A / available hours

DIVERSITY, ACCOMODATION, & ACCESSIBILITY

• This course will present an array of challenging ideas for discussion purposes, some of which you may instinctively applaud, and others which you might find repelling (thematically, stylistically, or ideologically). I encourage you to articulate your own sensibility and perspective--both in the classroom and through your written work--while respecting dissenting positions. I award the highest scores to those students who bolster their arguments with ample evidence, clarity, and solid reasoning--even if I disagree with their position.
• Recognizing that every student learns differently, I attempt to employ multiple teaching methodogies as I move through each course I teach. If you like something I do, let me know and it might just reappear before the quarter ends!
• Convinced that the classroom environment should enable instead of disabling each student learner, whatever their background and abilities, I have adopted various Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. If your own circumstances require additional consideration, please let me know.
• If you plan on completing a contract with the DRC for special accommodations in this course, you will need to tell me within the first week.

CONTENT & COMMUNICATION

The films and literature I teach run the gamut of human experience, from the ecstatic and joyful to the degrading and sordid.  Many visual and literary artists regularly exercise this kind of topical license, operating under the assumption that representing even the most difficult material can serve a beneficial purpose.  One individual might become sensitized to social problems they had hitherto ignored when they encounter such problems dramatized in art.  Another might find in a tale’s scenarios a few helpful analogues for painful things they have themselves experienced: the story, that is, might provide them a voice—useful words and strategies for expressing their own grief and suffering.

Others, however, might be re-traumatized by watching something that hits too close to home because they’re not ready to re-experience their pain, even through the medium of fictional art.  Or, they might fundamentally disagree with the creators’ representation of challenging subject matter—might be offended by the representation and quickly point to other, less harrowing portrayals of difficult subject matter.  They might even hold that the creator has no right to represent what they have fictionalized or framed because that creator’s own identity factors do not closely enough mirror the factors they have chosen to represent.

Though I'll include optional content warnings (don't follow the links if you don't want to know what happens!), I invite you to exercise your freedom during class to disagree with the perspective of others (incl. myself), to approach me during office hours or via email with concerns, and to just leave the classroom for a few minutes if you become upset or disturbed.  (If the latter happens, please do keep the lines of communication open, and let me know if a particular issue or representation bothers you: you needn’t explain why it bothered you unless you wish to do so.)

COURSE GOALS

• English dept. learning objectives
• to promote close reading and analysis
• to improve students' visual and linguistic literacy
• to explore Biblical ideas' impact on western culture
• to hone critical thinking, writing, and argumentation skills
• to deepen students' comfort with public speaking through class discussion
• to familiarize students with effective interdisciplinary approaches to research and argument
• to prompt ongoing reflection concerning fraught concepts as sin, grace, beauty, pleasure, and suffering
  
  

• The Bible (any translation, but you need a physical--not digital--copy in class. I will alternate between the ESV & NIV myself)
• O'Connor, Flannery. Collected Works. Library of America, 1998. ISBN: 978-0940450370
• Lewis, C. S. The Magician's Nephew. 1955. HarperCollins, 2002. ISBN: 978-0064471107
• James, P. D. Children of Men. 1992. Penguin Random House, 2006. ISBN: 978-0307275431
• McDonagh, John Michael. Calvary (2014). Rent or buy at Amazon Prime.
• Polley, Sarah. Women Talking (2022). Rent or buy at Amazon Prime.
• print out all PDFs linked from the Path 1 calendar, and bring to class (unless you have a tablet or laptop screen on which you can take notes)
• one additional film, to be assigned along with "Path 2" groups (see below). Please watch these legally, either by purchasing or renting a copy.
• eleven 15-question scantrons for pop quizzes
• two 100-question scantrons and two blue books (midterm & final exams)

PATH 1: In-Class Discussion and Exams [Path 1 (110 pts) + Path 2 (120 pts) = 230 pts total]

• participation & class discussion (30 pts, 3 grades of 10 pts each, awarded at the end of weeks three, seven, and ten); students most commonly earn 8-8.5 pts. Consistently:
  • contribute thoughtful, organized reflections to class discussion and group activities
  • demonstrate intimate familiarity with assigned readings, readings you bring to class
  • arrive on time, and infrequently depart during class
  • successfully avoid using cell phones during class
  • stay abreast of course updates (via the website and email)
  • report, via email, any errors (broken links, typos, etc.) found on the course website
• reading quizzes (20 pts, 2 pts each): eleven randomly scheduled quizzes will be given composed of five questions each. Always bring a small scantron sheet to class in case we have a quiz. Study questions (i.e. "points for reflection") linked from the Path 1 calendar will often inspire quiz questions. Receiving 2 pts on a quiz requires correctly answering three of five questions. Quizzes can cover both the current day's materials and those from the previous class period. Missed quizzes cannot be made up. The lowest quiz grade, perhaps a missed quiz, will be dropped at the end of the quarter.
• attendance mandatory: attendance is valuable. Absences negatively impact not only yourself, but those who could benefit from your unique perspective. You have one free absence. Your second absence will cut 2 pts (of 230 pts) from your final grade, your third absence will cut 6 more pts (of 230) from your final grade, your fourth absence will cut 10 more pts from your final grade, etc. In other words, 3 absences will remove 8 pts from your final grade, etc. Please note that excused absences require a doctor's note for severe illness, along with contact information for the physician.
• closed-book exams: please note your responsibility for all assigned material, video lectures, and online "points for reflection" (study questions) linked from the Path 1 calendar--whether we have time to discuss each of them in class or not.
  • midterm exam (30 pts): a timed, cumulative, closed-book exam composed of one 400-500 word essay (60 min., blue book) followed by an objective exam (20 min., scantron). Date: Thurs, Oct. 19.
  • final exam (30 pts): timed, cumulative, closed-book exam composed of one 500-600 word essay (60-75 min., blue book) followed by an objective exam (20-30 min., scantron). Dates:
    • sec 01 (class: 7-9 a.m./ TR) / final: Tues., Dec. 12, 7:10-10:00 a.m.
      
    • sec 02 (class: 9-11 a.m. / TR) / final: Tues., Dec. 12, 10:10 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
    • sec 03 (class: 12-2 p.m. / TR) / final: Tues., Dec. 12, 1:10-4:00 p.m.
    • FINAL EXAM OPTIONAL if you accomplish all of the following:
      • earn at least a 90% on the midterm
      • maintain a 90% average for participation
      • have a 93% average at the end of the quarter (before final)
      • miss class no more than once

PATH 2: Outside Research and Writing [Path 1 (100 pts) + Path 2 (120 pts) = 220 pts total]

• path 2 groups: each student will belong to a "Path 2" group of three classmates assigned to a particular topic which will interlink one poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one poem by Robert Browning, one short story by Flannery O'Connor, five paintings by Salvador Dalí, and a Path 2 film. I have also provided five thematically relevant Bible passages for each group, though these should be considered suggestive, not prescriptive.
• short story response (20 pts): Students will respond to one of the study questions attached to their assigned short story through one short, compact essay of 500-600 words (no more, no less). Details here. Essays will be emailed as Word documents to Dr. M by 11:59 p.m. on Thurs., Oct. 12. Late essays will lose two points per day.
• Impassioned Pleas (40 pts, 10 each): students will post a handful of 75-100 word responses as "Comments" to videos housed at Digging in the Dirt. Be sure to subscribe so that you're aware when new, required videos drop during the quarter. These entries will help me get to know a bit about you and your writing style, and provide opportunities to express yourself in your own voice! Impassioned Pleas should:
  • address at least two points made by Dr. M in the video
  • back up your claims with specific detail
  • evoke feeling in your reader: write with passion!
  • capture your unique perspective. (These are the only writing assignment that invite you to use first-person pronouns.)
  • be carefully edited
• Required Impassioned Pleas (10 pts each)
  • Plea #1 / One of Two Options: either A Defense of In-Class Teaching or A Mask by Any Other Name. DUE at 11 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 23
  • Plea #2 / Speak Your Truth: DUE at 11 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 30. Watch a few videos at Digging in the Dirt and respond to one of your choice. You don't need to know the films, novels, poems, or paintings I bring up in a given video to write a great response to it: I usually spend more time discussing the ideas related to a story than the story itself--and you should too! These videos cover a wide gamut of topics, and can be easily search by watchlist: Romance 101, Apocalypse and Dystopia, Film History, Disability & Film, Lectures on Film, Lars von Trier and His Cinematic Antecedents
  • Plea #3 / Dr. M's intro. to a Path 1 film, either Calvary (2014), or Women Talking (2022). DUE: anytime before we discuss the film together in class.
  • Plea #4 / A Life Is Layered Post: entry 3, 4, or 5. Subscribe so that you know immediately when these new videos drop.
• Optional Impassioned Pleas: Replace A Grade
  • Dr. M's intro. to the other Path 1 film
  • An Additional Life Is Layered Post
• 60-min. term paper outline workshop (20 pts): students will construct a 1-2 page, single-spaced outline of their argument which identifies a working thesis statement, each of their main points, and supporting claims and evidence. (Do not write part of the essay itself until after the workshop.) Outlines will be sent to Dr. M and those students in your group prior to the joint paper conference. Roughly 15 minutes will be allocated to discussion of each student's paper outline, during which time students will demonstrate their familiarity with not only their own argument but their Path 2 group's assigned works. Go here to find an available slot (look for the gray cells), and email me your preferred time. Be sure to show up on time. Students who do not complete this workshop cannot turn in their term paper. Workshops will occur Sun., Nov. 6 thru Thurs., Nov. 10.
• peer editing of term paper (10 pts): students will bring two paper copies of their completed term paper to class on Thurs., Nov. 16 for peer editing. Students must be bodily in class with a completed paper, and provide substantive feedback on their peers' drafts, to earn credit.
• term paper (30 pts): an argument which primarily engages film and paintings assigned to each group. Completed and polished, 5-7 pages (not including additional Works Cited page), due by noon on Sat., Dec. 2. Send Word document directly to Dr. M via email. Late papers will lose two points per day.
• To pass the GWR, you must:
  • have earned 90 units before the current quarter begins
  • earn at least a 74% in the course (not a C-), whether or not you're taking the class credit/no credit
  • receive at least a 74% on the final term paper
• Extra Credit: you can earn up to 5 pts of extra credit by attending one of two non-Path 2 films facilitated by Dr. M at the SLO Public Library this fall. Be on time, and participate in the discussion which follows the film. (I also recommend attending the Path 1 film screenings if you're available: they're free, and you'll learn some extra about the film before any discussion or quizzes happen in class!)
  • Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006), 1h 58m / Fri., Oct. 27, 6 p.m.
  • John Huston's Wise Blood (1979) / Nov. 10, 6 p.m.

MISCELLANY

Grading

Contact
Take advantage of my office hours. Go here to find an open slot, then email me to reserve that time for an office visit. The fastest way to contact me if you have a quick question is via email. You can also reach me in my office at 805-756-2159, or in the evening (before 10 p.m.) at 593-0192.

Writing Lab Center
Experienced writers at the University Writing & Learning Center (in Kennedy Library, Room 11C) offer free assistance with writing assignments for any course. Using this service will improve even the best writer’s output. Visit their website to schedule an appointment in advance of your desired date, or simply drop by between 10a.m. and 8 p.m. MTWRF (reduced hrs on weekend). Here's a video that helps elaborate the sign-up process. If writing remains a challenge for you, you might consider enrolling in ENGL 150, a one-credit writing support course.

Plagiarism and the Honor Code
I encourage you to improve your writing with the help of peers, instructors, and myself. Remember, however, that all work you submit must be your own. (I will occasionally vet student work to verify authorship.) Any paper containing borrowed but undocumented thoughts or words will receive a failing grade (this includes material created by generative A.I.), and I am obligated to report all instances of plagiarism to the Vice President of Student Affairs. Let me know if you have further questions concerning this important issue.

Pietà from The Apocalypse of St. John (1960)
made using nail gun technique
Salvador Dalí

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu