American Literature

English 2110 American Major Authors

Dr. Mark Holland

Office 408 Burleson

Cell phone: 423-276-3253

E-mail: hollandm@ etsu.edu

Texts:

Baym, Nina, et. al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vols. A and B. Norton.

Fern, Fanny. Ruth Hall. Penguin. ISBN 0140436405. (This text should be available from any online book seller, new or used)

Course Requirements:

You will write two papers for this course, the first two of about 750 hundred words, the second, due during finals week, of abut 1200 words. There will also be a midterm examination. Your semester grade will be based primarily on your written work and midterm examination, as follows.

Paper one ……………25%

Mid term exam………30%

Paper two…………….35%

Class participatio…….10%

On the papers: Papers are graded on four areas: content, organization, style and mechanics (grammar and usage). I urge you to use the tutoring services at the AAC when you are preparing a paper for this class. An otherwise competent paper can fail for grammatical errors alone, so be sure you proofread your final drafts carefully and seek help when you need it.

For the correct MLA style guidelines, go to owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01 and click on “research and citation.”

Late papers:

I will not accept any of the first paper if it is more than one week late. The mid-term exam and final paper must be handed in on time. All unexcused late papers are reduced one full letter grade. I ordinarily accept only medical excuses for late work.

Attendance: You are allowed two unexcused absences in this course. For each additional unexcused absence your semester grade will be reduced by one full letter grade. Additionally, I’m obliged to follow the English Department attendance policy, which states that any student who misses more than six classes in this course—for whatever reason—may not pass. Ordinarily I accept only medical excuses for absences. Family illness is not normally a valid excuse.

Please note that you will be counted absent if you are late to class or leave early without a written excuse. I expect also that each student will bring to class the relevant text for the day’s reading assignment. No electronic devices may be used in class, and that includes phones, lap tops and pads.

Honesty in Written Work:

In this course any research must be fully and correctly documented. Let me know if you’ve any question about how to do this. Failure to document your sources is plagiarism, a serious academic offense punishable under university regulations. The minimum penalty for academic dishonesty is failure of the course. I will also report any academic misconduct to the chair of the English department and to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for further consideration. If you are tempted to plagiarize to save work or time or because a paper is going to be late otherwise, see me first and I will help you.

Conferences: Please let me know—preferably in conference, in class or by e-mail—if you’ve any question about your work in the course. I firmly believe that there’s no such thing as a stupid question and that the only shame is in not asking for help when you need it.