Class Time: M 9:00–12:00 (MCS 501/28)

Required Texts (Both The Overstory and The Pillowman are spoiler sensitive so avoid reading reviews or plot synopses of these beforehand for your best experience and enjoyment.)

• Course packet (download )
  
• Richard Powers, The Overstory (W. W. Norton, 2018)
  
• Martin McDonagh, The Pillowman (Faber, 2003; available for purchase from khun On at 09 2621 0992; her shop is in front of the Faculty of Science Library, 2nd floor, Tab Building; hours: M–F 8–5)

Syllabus

Detailed Schedule

Requirements and Expectations

• Reading Responses: Aside from occasional writing of other kinds, reading responses are useful exercises that attempt to explain, discuss or comment on a question that you pose about the reading. No more than one page double-spaced is expected per response but it should be well thought out. See samples. You may write as many as you wish and the best three responses will count toward your final grade.
  

• Attendance and Participation: Discussion of the texts will be a big part of this class and students are encouraged to express their opinions, share observations and ask questions. Come prepared to discuss the reading material.

• There will be four quizzes (on unseen texts), a midterm test, a final exam, a final presentation, and a 3–5-page final paper.

• Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3^rd ed. U of Chicago P, 2008. (Law  Q180.55.M4 B66c 2008)

• Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2^nd ed.  New York: W. W. Norton, 2011. Print.

• Undergraduate Guide for Studying Literature (How well do you understand what you have read?, keeping a reading journal, critical terms for discussing literature, guidelines for writing essays, what the grade on your essay means, what to do with your marked essay, marking symbols and abbreviations; also has downloadable pdf file)

• Analyzing Literature, Writing Support Services, University of Calgary
  

• Literary Resources on the Net

• What Is Plagiarism? (friendly explanation of plagiarism with examples from Georgetown University; make sure you read the entire article; you  will be severely penalized for plagiarism in this course)

• The UVic Writer's Guide (well-organized, easy to follow guide with examples)

• The OWL at Purdue (Online Writing Lab, includes the writing process, grammar and mechanics, literary analysis and criticism, writing about poetry)

• How to Evaluate the Information Sources You Find

• Basic Steps in Writing a Literature Paper

• Citation Styles Handbook: MLA

• MLA Style FAQ

• Paper Guidelines 1 and 2

• Literary Criticism: Principles

• Model Criticism (some essays by F. R. Leavis; a couple of obsolete links)

• English Help

• Key to Correction Marks

• British Library: Online Gallery
• London Theatre Guide
• Playbill
• Reading Room ("Conversations about Great Books"; blog)

• Hay Festival

• Littoral (online journal of the Key West Literary Seminar)

• Drama Glossary (see also Drama Glossary, Terms for Discussing Drama, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Glossary of Basic Literary Terms)

• The Web Concordances and Workbooks

• Poets on Poets (audio clips of poets reading the work of other poets, sometimes with commentary)

• Lannan Audio Archives

• JSTOR
• Project MUSE
• Academic Search Complete
• Art Full Text
• Oxford Journals Online
• Cambridge Journals Online