ENGL 5444: Childhood in Literature, History, and Culture


University of Minnesota Duluth
Spring 2010, TTH 12:00-1:50, H 480
Dr. Carolyn Sigler

Office: H413, 726-8640
Spring Office Hours: TTH 10:00-11:00 a.m. and by appointment
Professor Sigler's Homepage
Course Reading Schedule
Course Handouts

CLASS TEXTS
The following texts may be purchased at the UMD Bookstore. Please purchase only the editions indicated below so that you will have the correct pagination for the exams and essays (and for following discussion in class).

Required

Recommended

COURSE PURPOSES
ENGL 5444 will consider the phenomenon of the child in western culture as an historical, aesthetic and social construct from the eighteenth century to the present. Children are subjects both of anxiety and love; they act as a focus for entertainment and consumption; they are the locus of extensive legislation and monitoring by the state as well as adults in general; they are the recipients of the culture's care and attention as well as of its neglect. We will discuss a range of literary, visual, historical, and theoretical texts from the eighteenth century to the present, which may include literary works for and about children, child-rearing texts, critical theory, art, advertising, and film, as we try to come to terms with the child as object and subject, and attempt to understand the child's relation to ourselves as adults and members of society.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

REQUIREMENTS
All requirements must be completed to earn a passing grade in this course.
*Essay (20% of grade)
*Midterm Examination (15%) 
*Final Examination (20%)
*Short Writings and Quizzes (20%)
*Oral Presentation (10%)
*Informed Class Participation (15%)

READING
This course will proceed primarily by discussion; your presence and regular, informed participation are crucial to your success in the class and the success of the class itself as a shared scholarly endeavor. You will be expected to read carefully and think critically about the class materials, and to read assignments before their scheduled discussion dates. To receive credit for participation you must bring the text(s) being discussed to class. I also encourage you to take reading notes on each text, and to mark passages we discuss in class. Please be sure to turn off all electronic devices, including cell phones and laptops, before class begins.

WRITING PROJECTS
Formal writing (done outside of class) must use MLA format, be word-processed, free from mechanical errors, double-spaced, and printed in "best quality" using a standard 12-point font and 1-inch margins. You must keep a copy of any work you hand in, and retain graded work until the end of the semester. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date, and must be turned in on time to receive full credit. Work should always be turned in directly to the professor. Papers left in the professor’s box, or dropped off by students who do not remain in class, will be considered late, and it is the student's responsibility to ensure that any work not directly submitted has actually reached the professor. Assignments may not be submitted via e-mail.

Short Analysis: Analyze a children's artifact: Choose a game, toy, article of clothing, or other non-literary artifact for children and analyze (in 2-3 pages) the representation of childhood that it explicitly or implicitly conveys, imitates, or relies on. You will be asked to bring your artifact to share with the class, so be sure to choose something that will allow you to do so. Due 25 February 2010.

Research Essay: Specific instructions for the essay projects will be distributed in class and via the class Web site. Your research essay project will be 12-15 pages in length (15-20 for graduate students), and must use at least 7 different sources (only 3 of which can be electronic). Your research essay should be centered on one of the assigned texts for the class, and must be based on original ideas and research. Please consult with me early and often as you work on your assignment. Also, you are welcome to consult the writing tutors at the Tutoring Center (40 CCtr). A proposal and annotated bibliography for your project is due on 9 March 2010; the completed essay is due on 4 May 2010. Please consult with me early and often as you work on your assignment.  I will be happy to read and comment on drafts as you go along.  Ask your classmates for their help, too, as you work through your project. You are also welcome to consult the writing tutors at the Tutoring Center (40 CCtr).

Examinations
The midterm and final examinations (open book) will consist of identification questions as well as essays of analysis and synthesis. You will be given a number of short identification questions, as well as several brief excerpts from the required readings on our syllabus. You will be asked to answer all of the identification questions and to explicate your choice of the excerpts. In explicating the passages, you will interpret them in depth and detail. Give your sense of what each excerpt means and why it is important. Point out specific themes, images, character traits, stylistic features, etc. that convey your sense of the meaning. Also, place each excerpt in the context of the work from which it is taken. How does it fit into your interpretation of the entire work? How does it function in the text as a whole?

For each exam, you will also write an essay of synthesis in which you will compare and contrast two or more of our authors as they relate to one particular common topic: e.g., their vision of childhood, use of physical setting for thematic purposes, perspectives on children's culture, distinctive uses of genre, relationship with their readers, etc. You will have a choice of several topics for this comparison/contrast; you will select one to write on.

Daily Writings and Quizzes
To help record attendance, to prepare for class discussions and to demonstrate how carefully you are reading the assigned works, you will spend a few minutes each class period writing about the day's assignment. Each brief exercise (e.g., a paragraph of reaction to the day's reading or a quiz) will be graded on a five- to ten-point scale. Quizzes and in-class writings cannot be made up if missed; however, to allow for an emergency when you might have to miss class, you may skip one writing exercise without penalty or, if you do them all, your lowest score will be dropped from your average for the semester. Quizzes turned in by students who do not remain in class will not receive credit.

Late Assignments
All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date, and must be turned in on time to receive full credit. Papers left in the professor's box, or dropped off by students who do not remain in class, will be considered late.  Late papers will be accepted up to five days after the due date, but a letter grade will be taken off for every day they are late.  I cannot accept work electronically (i.e. turned in via e-mail).

I will not grant extensions on papers unless merited by prior arrangement between us and documented proof of your inability to complete the assignment on time due to truly exceptional circumstances (scheduled school activity, death in the immediate family, truly severe illness, etc.). If some emergency occurs, you must contact me BEFORE the class in which the paper is due.  Last minute computer and printer problems do not count as an emergency. Please back up your work and plan accordingly.

Academic Integrity
Be extremely careful to acknowledge the sources that have influenced your work. Should you incorporate the ideas, general phrasing, or exact words of any other source without properly crediting the author(s), you are guilty of plagiarism. The penalty for plagiarism in this course is severe: you will fail the course and UMD’s Academic Integrity officer, will be notified of the reason for your failure. See also the Student Academic Integrity Policy in the UMD Catalogue.

E-MAIL
As of August 2001, university-assigned student e-mail accounts (your d.umn.edu account) are the University's official means of communication. You are responsible for regularly checking your account, as most class updates and announcements will be made via e-mail. E-mail is also the best and surest means to contact me (9am-4pm weekdays). When emailing me, please consider it a formal communication: include the appropriate salutation, your name and the name of the class you are in, and your question. Remember, however, that long conversations over e-mail are not fruitful because of the limitations of technology. If you have an extended question or dilemma, or need to discuss something with me, please visit me during office hours or schedule an appointment.

COURSE WEB SITE
Copies of the class syllabus, course handouts and several short readings will be available to download through Handouts Page of the ENGL 5444 Web site. The course Web site also provides information about a number of online resources to help you with research, writing, and revision. These include links to children’s literary history, culture and author sites, research and style guides, and online dictionaries and writing tools.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
This class will procede largely via large- and small-group discussion, and participation in these will count as 15% of your final grade for the class. All students will be expected to participate throughout class discussions (i.e. several times per class period); your presence and active, informed participation are therefore essential to your success in the class and the success of the class itself as a shared scholarly endeavor. Please come to class prepared to engage with the texts, your colleagues, and me by reading the assigned works by the first date they are listed on the schedule and having questions and ideas to contribute throughout our discussion. Be sure to turn off all electronic devices, including cell phones, before class begins.

You are required to attend all class meetings. If you do not attend class, you will miss important discussions and announcements, and will probably fall behind in the class readings. More than two absences will affect your final grade in the course, and more than four absences may constitute grounds for failure. Students who arrive more than a few minutes late for class, or who do not remain for the full class period, will be considered absent. Also remember that late arrivals or early departures will cause you to miss announcements, quizzes and/or important class material—and will also detract from your attendance/participation grade for the class. If you do have to miss a class, or arrive late, it is your responsibility to obtain class materials, assignments and information from myself and/or class colleagues. Please keep me posted regarding unavoidable absences by a brief note, by message on my voice-mail (726-8640), or (preferably) by e-mail.

STUDENT CONDUCT
Students are expected to know and abide by UMD’s Student Academic Integrity Policy. Suspected violations will be reported to UMD’s Academic Integrity officer, and may constitute grounds for failing an assignment or the course. Any classroom behavior that substantially or repeatedly disrupts either the professor's ability to teach or student learning is prohibited. This includes any activity not related to the class, including inappropriate use of technology in the classroom (i.e. ringing cell phones, text-messaging or e-mailing, or surfing the internet). All electronic devices (phones, laptops, ipods, etc.) must be turned off during class, and food should not be consumed in class.

 HOW TO LEARN FROM AND DO WELL IN THIS COURSE

CRITERIA FOR GRADES
A = excellent written work (essay, examinations): superb content and effective expression; perfect score on most daily writing exercises; informed, active participation in class discussions (no more than 2 absences); outstanding contributions.
B = superior written work—exceeds average, but room for improvement; 80-89% average on daily written exercises; informed, active participation in most class discussions (no more than 3 absences); significant contributions.
C = written work that meets average (i.e., high) standards for UMD students, but some problems with content and/or expression; 70-79% average on daily writing exercises; informed, active participation in class discussions (no more than 4 absences).
D = significant problems with any or all course components (writing projects, examinations, daily writing exercises, participation in class discussions).
F = performance that does not meet minimum standards for students at a major state university.
I = incompletes are given only in the following very limited circumstances: a student must contact the professor and specifically request an Incomplete; no more than one or two weeks of class, or one or two assignments can have been missed; a student must already be in good standing; s/he must have a documented family or medical emergency; s/he must arrange a schedule with the professor for making up the missed work that is acceptable for both professor and student.

Click here for the Spring 2010 Reading and Assignment Schedule