Syllabus Checklist Snapshot
1 ENGL 1302 2B1 INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION Instructor: Joshua Cobb Email: jscobb@lit.edu Office Phone: 409-245-9596 Office Location: T5, Room 102 Office Hours: Monday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. CREDIT 3 Semester Credit Hours (3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab) MODE OF INSTRUCTION Online PREREQUISITE/CO-REQUISITE: TSI Complete in Reading and Writing. COURSE DESCRIPTION Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting, revising, and editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to 1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative research processes. 2. Develop ideas and synthesize primary and secondary sources within focused academic arguments, including one or more research-based essays. 3. Analyze, interpret, and evaluate a variety of texts for the ethical and logical uses of evidence. 4. Write in a style that clearly communicates meaning, builds credibility, and inspires belief or action. 5. Apply the conventions of style manuals for specific academic disciplines, APA, CMS, MLA, or other style manuals. Core Objectives 1. Critical Thinking Skills: To include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information. 2. Communication Skills: To include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication.
2 3. Personal Responsibility: To include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS An electronic device with access to the Internet. Your instructor will provide supplemental required reading resources via Blackboard. ENGAGEMENT POLICY This is an online course. Students are not required to attend any online class. However, students are expected to check Blackboard and their LIT e-mail daily. Students who do not engage with the class daily will fall behind. DROP POLICY If you wish to drop a course, you are responsible for initiating and completing the drop process by the specified drop date as listed on the Academic Calendar. If you stop coming to class and fail to drop the course, you will earn an “F” in the course. STUDENT EXPECTED TIME REQUIREMENT For every hour in class (or unit of credit), students should expect to spend at least two to three hours per week studying and completing assignments. For a 3-credit-hour class, students should prepare to allocate approximately six to nine hours per week outside of class in a 16-week session OR approximately twelve to eighteen hours in an 8-Module session. Online/Hybrid students should expect to spend at least as much time in this course as in the traditional, face-to-face class. COURSE OUTLINE: • Introduction o Academic Dishonesty • Fiction o MLA Refresher o Critical Approaches to Literature o Plot o Point of View o Characters o MLA Works Cited o Setting o Tone and Style o Theme o College Essay Structure • Poetry o Peer Review o Poetic Pattern o Poetic Meter o Steps of Poetry Analysis
3 o Stanza o Rhyme o Poetic Devices • Research o Annotated Bibliography o The University Library o Finding Good Sources • Drama o Analyzing a Play o The Parts of a Play o Greek Tragedy o Shakespearean Theatre o The Modern Play COURSE CALENDAR Subject to change at your instructor’s discretion For dual-credit students whose school districts might operate on a different calendar, remember that the LIT academic calendar supersedes all those, and all LIT students are expected to complete assignments during the LIT term. DATE TOPIC READINGS ASSIGNMENTS (Due last day of week) Week One: 8/25/2025-8/31/2025 Classroom Orientation Lecture ENGL 1302 Introduction Academic Dishonesty Presentation “That It Will Never Come Again” by Emily Dickinson • Orientation Quiz • Academic Dishonesty Quiz • Class Reading Contract Week Two: 9/01/2025-9/07/2025 The Art of Fiction Lecture Critical Approaches to Literature Lecture MLA Refresher Lecture Works Cited Page Lecture In-Text Citations Lecture How to Structure a College Essay Lecture “The Lady, or the Tiger?” by Frank Stockton • Short Story Journal 1 • MLA Template • Works Cited Page Assignment • Midterm Prewriting • MLA In-Text Citations Assignment
4 Week Three: 9/08/2025-9/14/2025 Plot Lecture Point of View Lecture Characters Lecture Setting Lecture Tone and Style Lecture Read either: “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker Or “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver • Short Story Journal 2 • Midterm Outline Week Four: 9/15/2025-9/21/2025 Read either: “The Storm” by Kate Chopin Or “To Build a Fire” by Jack London • Short Story Journal 3 Week Five: 9/22/2025-9/28/2025 Symbols Lecture Theme Lecture Read either: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Or “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson • Short Story Journal 4 • Midterm Rough Draft Due Week Six: 9/29/2025-10/05/2025 The Art of Poetry Lecture Peer Review Lecture Read either: “To a Locomotive in Winter” by Walt Whitman Or “Speech to the Young. Speech to the Progress-Toward” by Gwendolyn Brooks Or “Dog Haiku” by Anonymous • Poetry Journal 1 • Midterm Peer Review Week Seven: 10/06/2025-10/12/2025 The Pleasure of Poetic Pattern Lecture Poetic Meter Lecture Steps of Poetry Analysis Lecture Read either: “The winter evening settles down” by Eliot Or “The Fish” by Bishop Or “Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” by Shakespeare Or • Poetry Journal 2 • Midterm Final Draft
5 “Metaphors” by Plath Week Eight: 10/13/2025-10/19/2025 Stanza Lecture Rhyme Lecture The Research Essay Lecture Read either: “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks Or “Break, Break, Break” by Alfred Lord Tennyson Or “Dream Boogie” by Langston Hughes • Poetry Journal 3 • Research Topic Discussion Board Week Nine: 10/20/2025-10/26/2025 Poetic Devices Part One Lecture The Annotated Bibliography Lecture Read either: “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats Or “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath Or “Cinderella” by Anne Sexton • Poetry Journal 4 • Literary Criticism Research Essay Prewriting Assignment Week Ten: 10/27/2025-11/02/2025 Poetic Devices Part Two Lecture Works Cited and In-Text Citations Refresher • Annotated Bibliography • Works Cited and In-Text Citations Refresher Assignment Week Eleven: 11/03/2025-11/09/2025 The University Library Presentation Lecture Finding Good Sources Lecture • Literary Criticism Research Essay Outline Week Twelve: 11/10/2025-11/16/2025 Analyzing a Play Lecture The Parts of a Play with Trifles Lecture Read or watch “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell • Drama Journal 1 • Literary Criticism Research Essay Rough Draft Week Thirteen: 11/17/2025-11/23/2025 Greek Tragedy Lecture Read or watch Oedipus the King • Drama Journal 2 • Literary Criticism Research Essay Peer Review
6 Week Fourteen: 11/24/2025-11/30/2025 Shakespearean Theatre Lecture Read or watch Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare • Drama Journal 3 Week Fifteen: 12/01/2025-12/03/2025 The Modern Play Lecture The Literary World Lecture Read or watch A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Or Read or watch Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett • Drama Journal 4 • Literary Criticism Research Essay Final Draft Finals Week: 12/04/2025-12/10/2025 TBA TBA • Final Exam tentatively due Dec. 7 COURSE EVALUATION Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria: • Participation 10% • Daily Work Assignments 40% • Mid-Term Exam 15% • Research Paper--Common Assignment 20% • Final Exam 15% • Total 100% GRADING SCALE 90-100: A 80-89: B 70-79: C 60-69: D 0-59: F All numeric grades will be rounded to the nearest whole number. LIT does not use +/- grading scales. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Students found to be committing academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, or collusion) may receive disciplinary action. Students need to familiarize themselves with the institution’s Academic Dishonesty Policy available in the Student Catalog & Handbook at http://catalog.lit.edu/content.php?catoid=3&navoid=80#academic-dishonesty. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The latest technical requirements, including hardware, compatible browsers, operating systems, etc. can be online at https://lit.edu/online-learning/online-learning-minimum-
7 computer-requirements. A functional broadband internet connection, such as DSL, cable, or WiFi is necessary to maximize the use of online technology and resources. DISABILITIES STATEMENT The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are federal anti-discrimination statutes that provide comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. LIT provides reasonable accommodations as defined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, to students with a diagnosed disability. The Special Populations Office is located in the Eagles’ Nest Room 129 and helps foster a supportive and inclusive educational environment by maintaining partnerships with faculty and staff, as well as promoting awareness among all members of the Lamar Institute of Technology community. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Special Populations Coordinator at (409)-951-5708 or email specialpopulations@lit.edu. You may also visit the online resource at Special Populations - Lamar Institute of Technology (lit.edu). STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT STATEMENT It is the responsibility of all registered Lamar Institute of Technology students to access, read, understand and abide by all published policies, regulations, and procedures listed in the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook. The LIT Catalog and Student Handbook may be accessed at www.lit.edu. Please note that the online version of the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook supersedes all other versions of the same document. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STATEMENT Lamar Institute of Technology (LIT) recognizes the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, have changed the landscape of many career disciplines and will impact many students in and out of the classroom. To prepare students for their selected careers, LIT desires to guide students in the ethical use of these technologies and incorporate AI into classroom instruction and assignments appropriately. Appropriate use of these technologies is at the discretion of the instructor. Students are reminded that all submitted work must be their own original work unless otherwise specified. Students should contact their instructor with any questions as to the acceptable use of AI/ChatGPT in their courses STARFISH LIT utilizes an early alert system called Starfish. Throughout the semester, you may receive emails from Starfish regarding your course grades, attendance, or academic performance. Faculty members record student attendance, raise flags and kudos to express concern or give praise, and you can make an appointment with faculty and staff all through the Starfish home page. You can also login to Blackboard or MyLIT and click on the Starfish link to view academic alerts and detailed information. It is the responsibility of the student to pay attention to these emails and information in Starfish and consider taking the recommended actions. Starfish is used to help you be a successful student at LIT.
8 ADDITIONAL COURSE POLICIES/INFORMATION Due dates are subject to change. I do not allow students to retake/redo assignments. Communication: I will respond to e-mails within 24 hours during the week and within 48 hours over the weekend. Typically, I will only respond to e-mails during my office hours. Grading: I try to return assignments within one week of the due date. This is a target, not a promise, and in a writing-intensive course such as this, sometimes grading takes longer. If you have any questions or concerns about the pace of grading, please contact your instructor directly. Special Populations: If a student requires accommodations while on LIT campus, they must contact Jarmarcus Corks in the Special Populations office in Student Services. If a dual credit student has accommodations through their school’s special populations office, they must still contact LIT’s Special Populations office at specialpopulations@lit.edu. Electronics Policy: Students cannot use electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, AirPods, or any other distracting devices in the classroom, unless at my discretion. If a student needs an electronic device for accommodations in class, they should contact the Special Populations office at LIT. Unless I allow students to use their devices, devices will stay in backpacks, not pockets, until the end of class. Plagiarism/Cheating: Academic Dishonesty is a crime that Lamar Institute of Technology and I take seriously. Most colleges expel cheating students. Examples of academic dishonesty include but are not limited to: • Directly copying a source into an essay without citing the original source. • Paraphrasing a source without citing the original source. • Paying someone to complete an assignment, having a friend or family member complete an assignment, or using Artificial Intelligence to write a paper. If a paper has a student’s name on it, I expect to see that student’s work. • Making minor changes to an original source while still retaining up to 75% of the structure of the sentence. • Taking a quiz or test with another student, giving the answers to a quiz or test to another student, or Googling the answers to the quiz or test. My quizzes are not open-book quizzes. Students are only allowed the notes they have taken over an assignment during a quiz.
9 How to Know If Something Is Not Plagiarism: Generally, plagiarism only covers things that are not general knowledge. If a student makes the claim that the sky is blue, then they do not have to cite where they got that information because it is something that 90% of the world already knows. However, if a student describes why the sky is blue, they must cite their source since that is not common knowledge. How to Avoid Plagiarism: First, students should practice good paraphrasing and rewrite sentences in their own words. Part of the course will be discussions, assignments, and videos over good paraphrasing. Also, when students turn in their assignments, they should get a visible score from SafeAssign. SafeAssign is not perfect, and I have found plagiarism in papers with as low as a 10% score. If SafeAssign flags a paper as plagiarized, a student should rewrite and resubmit the paper until the percentage 25% or less. Late Work: If a student turns in their work late, they will get a zero. Once an assignment is turned in late, it cannot be redone or resubmitted. It is important that students not get behind in a class. Typically, if a student gets in the habit of turning in all assignments within the first three weeks, they can build that habit for the rest of the class. Make-Up Work: I can make accommodations on deadlines for extenuating circumstances (family emergencies, sickness, mental health, chronic health issues, etc.) However, communication is necessary in these circumstances. I need to know at least three days before a deadline if a student cannot complete an assignment on time. The new deadline will be three days after original deadline. If a student asks for more time on an assignment the day before or the day it is due, I will not respond to their e-mail. Absolutely no late work will be accepted after the last day of class. Diversity and Inclusion: LIT wishes to create a safe and understanding environment for students of all genders, ethnicities, religions, sexualities, and backgrounds. Literature in particular is a landscape full of authors with various personalities and cultures. I personally embrace diversity of thought and opinions. In class discussions, I want to be sure that everyone has the chance to voice their thoughts on a matter without unnecessary judgment. However, slurs or jokes pointed at minority groups are unacceptable, even if the student is a member of that group. I expect all students to treat each other and themselves with respect in my classroom. Students will read works that are challenging and controversial in this class. Please ensure classroom conversation remains civil. COVID-19 Requirements: LIT no longer requires masks in the classroom. However, you are still allowed to wear a mask if it makes you feel comfortable. If you receive a positive COVID test, please do not come to class. Instead, send me an e-mail/phone call/text, and I will do what I can to ensure you have access to daily lectures and assignments.