Significan World Writers: Course Guidelines

Significant World Writers
Course Guidelines

"I am interested in making up a good case for distortion, as I am coming
to believe it is the only way to make people see" (Habit 79).
Flannery O'Connor, letter to Ben Griffith (4 May '55)

the basics / course goals/ materials / assignments / miscellany

THE BASICS

English 459.01: Significant World Writers (Conrad & O'Connor)
location: TR, 2-4 p.m. / building 2, room 204.
instructor: Dr. Paul Marchbanks
email: pmarchba@calpoly.edu
office: 805-756-2159 / building 47 (the "maze"), hallway 35, office A / available hours

Course Overview

Perhaps, in an age of mashups and mismatched socks, one needs little more than alliterating surnames to rationalize the pairing of authors separated by half a century and an expansive ocean. Just in case, Flannery O’Connor provides additional justification each time she cites Joseph Conrad as a favorite author or quotes him in seminal essays like “The Nature and Aim of Fiction” or “Novelist and Believer.” Close comparison of the two authors’ early and mature works reveals a surprising correspondence of theme and style in fictions set in very different geographical and cultural environments. O’Connor’s similarly severe vision of human nature complements and extends Conrad’s own dark perspective, engaging and transforming many of the same problems he identifies in his own work, including racial bigotry, intellectist prejudice, spiritual myopia, and pervasive self-deception. This course will encourage students to participate in the ideological and stylistic conversation generated by positioning these two authors’ oeuvres alongside one another, prompting them to find new synergies and divergences of their own.

COURSE GOALS

to promote close reading and analysis
to deepen comfort with discussion and debate
to augment student recognition of tone and voice
to examine O'Connor's and Conrad's ideological and stylistic modes of experimentation
to destabilize any totalizing/essentializing readings of O'Connor's or Conrad's life and works
to identify both thematic consistency and stylistic variation across--and between--both authors' oeuvres

MATERIALS

Required Texts (purchase these editions only: your daily participation grade will thank you)

Conrad, Joseph. Tales of Unrest. 1898. New York: CreateSpace, 2014. ISBN: 9781500338534
Conrad, Joseph. Almayer’s Folly. 1895. Dover Thrift, 2003. ISBN: 9780486426778
Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim. 1900. Norton Critical, 1996. ISBN: 9780393963359
Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Agent. 1907. Oxford’s Classics, 2008. ISBN: 9780199536351
O'Connor, Flannery. Collected Works. New York: Library of America, 1998. ISBN: 9780940450370

Supplementary Texts

O’Connor, Flannery. The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor. 1979. Ed. Sally Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988. ISBN: 9780374521042
O’Connor, Flannery. Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1970. ISBN: 9780374508043
Conrad, Joseph. Nostromo. 1904. New York: Oxford. ISBN: 9780199555918

ASSIGNMENTS & ASSESSMENTS

class performance (51%, 17 daily grades of 3% each). Daily performance grades will be determined by quiz grades and participation. These performance grades will take the place of traditional exams, measuring students' familiarity with the assigned texts every step along the way. To prepare to succeed, read closely, refer to the points for reflection as you go, and fill your books with marginalia.
- quizzes: each quiz (either ten short questions or an essay) will be worth up to two points. These quizzes will measure how closely you read, so do not wait till exhausted to crack your book, and definitely do not rely on SparksNotes or other sites that summarize the plot. Objective quizzes will contain ten questions which you will answer in 5-7 minutes, whereas any essay quizzes will allow 15-20 minutes to construct a detailed, well-supported response to a prompt. Quizzes may draw from the current day's readings, as well as the previous day's readings and discussion.
- participation: on a day governed by class discussion (there will be many), students will actively demonstrate their knowledge of assigned texts by the quality and frequency of their contributions:
  - half a point may be earned by students who show up for class with appropriate texts in hand, stay for the entire class session, and participates minimally.
  - one point may be earned by a student who also shares 1-3 appropriate, specific observations during class, and/or who actively engages in any small group exercises assigned that day.
  - one and a half points may be earned by a student who also points other students to specific passages--accompanied by appropriate page numbers--as s/he elaborates thoughtful observations. It also helps to respond directly to another student's ideas.
  - two points may be earned by students who also synthesize the material in intelligent ways and/or make creative, non-intuitive observations.
- I will assign participation grades immediately after class ends, then grade quizzes the next day. A student who performs well on a particular quiz and also contributes greatly to class discussion will max out at 3.2 points on a given day, though I will make a note if a student theoretically earned more points than this. A few such notations can help curve your final grade by up to one or two points. (note: accumulating .2 points on each of fifteen class sessions could replace an entire, missed day of class.)
short essay response (10%): each student will read one of the short stories by Flannery O'Connor not on the syllabus and generate a 500-600 word essay response to one of the prompts provided for that story. Due as a docx document on Sat., Jan. 22 at midnight (via email).
the tailored tenth (10%): on Tuesday, Mar. 1, students will present select facets of a Conrad novel assigned to their group. The only real parameters here are that your presentation last between 10-15 min. (no more, no less), and that you creatively render some element of your group's assigned novel. You have free reign as concerns focus (topic, theme, character, scene, etc.) and mode of presentation (acted scene, slideshow, visual art, video game, music, etc.) Just make it fun, memorable, and compelling! Grades for this assignment will range between B- and A+. Everyone in your group will receive the same score.
term paper conference (5%): students will construct a detailed outline, send this to Dr. M as a single Word doc file, and attend a one-hour paper conference with Dr. M and two other members of their class to discuss these materials. Conferences will take place Sun., 3-6 thru Fri., 3-11. Students who do not complete this requirement cannot turn in their term paper.
term paper (24%): the complete, 13-15 page term paper will be sent directly to Dr. M as an email attachement on Saturday, Mar. 19 at 9 p.m.

MISCELLANY

Grading

A = 94-100 A- = 90-93	A (18-20 on 20-pt scale, 5.4-6.0 on 6-pt scale): creative, topically focused, tightly structured, supported with the most convincing evidence, and virtually error-free	C+ = 77-79 C = 73-76 C- = 70-72	C (14-15.9 on 20-pt scale, 4.2-4.79 on 6-pt scale): a relatively focused essay with clear sense of progression from one idea to the next; argument bolstered by some supporting evidence; distracting number of grammatical errors
B+ = 87-89 B = 83-86 B- = 80-82	B (16-17.9 on 20-pt scale, 4.8-5.39 on 6-pt scale): topically focused, tightly structured, supported with solid evidence, and containing just a few stylistic or grammatical bumps	D = 65-69	D (13-13.9 on 20-pt scale, 3.9-4.19 on 6-pt scale): topic clear but ineffectively argued; evidence provided tangentially relates to argument; loose sense of structure; profound difficulties w/ grammar
		F = 0-64	F (0-12.9 on 20-pt scale, 0-3.89 on 6-pt scale): little evidence of effort, or contains plagiarism

Contact
Take advantage of my frequent availability throughout the week. 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 9 p.m.) at 593-0192.

Writing Lab Center
Experienced writers at the University Writing & Rhetoric Center 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.

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. Any paper containing borrowed but undocumented thoughts or words will receive a failing grade, 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.

a city that has been manipulated and shaped and colored brightly
Moscow I (1916)
Wassily Kandinsky

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu