ENG 246: Introduction to Children’s Literature

Winter 2017

For this course you will be required to write three brief papers outside of class, of a minimum 600 words in length. Minimum paper lengths are so extremely short in this class that anyone desiring a high grade would be advised to write a somewhat longer one. Any paper shorter than the minimum assigned will receive an F as an incomplete assignment. This course is a college-level introduction to literature in which the student will learn to think and react to literature in a meaningful manner. Students will be able to distinguish between literary genres.

Download Course Materials; Course Meeting Times. Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session. Class Description. This is a HASS–CI class. Like other communications-intensive classes in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, it allows students to produce 20 pages (5000 words) of polished writing with careful attention to revision. OFFICIAL COURSE OUTLINE AND OBJECTIVES Course Description: This class introduces the student to the literary genres of fiction, poetry, and drama. It emphasizes literature as a reflection of culture and focuses on developing students' abilities to respond to and interpret literary texts.

• Section Number: 70

• Instructor Name: Nabilah Khachab

• Instructor Email: nkhachab@hfcc.edu

• Meeting Days/Times: T/TH 6:00PM-7:20PM

• Classroom: Liberal Arts Building, Room K-216

Required Books:

• M. Barrie, Peter Pan

• Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

• Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

• K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

• Sherman Alexie, The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

• Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

• Theodore Geisel [Dr. Seuss], The Cat in the Hat

• Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

Recommended:

• Carrie Hintz and Eric L. Tribunella, Reading Children’s Literature: A Critical Introduction

• Writing Essays about Literature by Katherine O. Acheson

In addition to the texts listed above, there will be other required readings available to you through hyperlinks on our day-to-day schedule. They must be read and brought to class.

Catalog Description:

ENG 246 introduces students to the forms, themes, history, and uses of literature written for children ages three to twelve. Students learn to evaluate and select literature critically and understand its use in preschool, elementary, and middle school classrooms. Genres to be studied include traditional fiction/folktales, contemporary realistic fiction, picture books, fantasy/science fiction, historical fiction, biography, nonfiction, and poetry/verse.

Prerequisites:

A grade of C or better in ENG 132.

Brief Course Objectives:

In addition to the objectives implied in the course description above, this course is intended to develop in students an appreciation for the literary qualities and educational value of children’s literature; to teach students to identify literary elements such as plot, theme, symbol, and point of view; to acquaint students with 1) the history and development of children’s literature, and 2) the key issues in the field today, including a concern for race, class, gender, and ethnicity; and to acquaint students with the various reference tools available for locating 1) children’s books on a specific topic, and 2) review articles on specific titles.

Major Core Course Objectives:

Students will be able to accomplish the following:

1) Formulate an interpretive thesis (as opposed to one which merely reports something factual about a literary text).

2) Compose an essay which either a) analyzes a literary text, focusing on literary elements such as theme, character, setting, point of view, plot, imagery, metaphor, symbolism, etc., or b) comments on the habitual themes and / or techniques of a given writer as evidenced in that writer’s works (as opposed to an essay which primarily reports factual information about the writer’s biography), or c) analyzes more than one literary text by comparing and contrasting works by more than one children’s writer.

3) Employ one or more appropriate rhetorical modes (comparison/contrast, cause/effect, definition, classification, etc.) in developing a written literary analysis.

4) Identify most of the following key literary terms that are essential to an introductorylevel understanding of children’s literature: picture book, chapter book, realistic fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, verse, nursery rhyme, folktale, fable, myth, and didacticism.

5) Estimate the reading level of a given text by considering the appropriateness of the content and the complexity of the language.

6) Evaluate a few of the key ways in which children’s writers have attempted to balance the need to educate and the need to entertain.

7) Explain the crucial importance and /or distinctive achievement of some of the following key children’s writers: the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter, Kenneth Grahame, C. S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, Raold Dahl, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, Maurice Sendak, Mildred Taylor, and J. K. Rowling.

8) Identify and analyze principal works and passages reflecting some of the following pivotal themes: peer group, family relations, personal loss (through death, divorce, etc.), and social difference (race, class, gender, and disability).

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9) Explain the ways in which a children’s book may be censored and / or explain some of the common arguments for and against the censorship of children’s books.

10) Locate relevant criticism on children’s authors in print and electronic form in a library collection.

Course Requirements:

10% Attendance/Participation/Preparedness

30% Reading Responses

30% Mid-term Exam

30% Group Digital Project

Total: 100%

Grading Scale:

A 94-100%

A- 90-93%

B+ 87-89%

B 84-86%

B- 80-83%

C+ 77-79%

C 74-76%

C- 70-73%

D+ 67-69%

D 64-66% .

D- 60-63%

F 59% or less

Grading Policies

Each assignment will be distributed with written instruction.

Format for assignments: All assignments must be word-processed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point type, with one-inch margins, submitted electronically through email. Please use MLA format for citation and documentation.

Drafts: on “workshop” days, as noted in the day-to-day schedule, students must submit their drafts electronically through email prior to coming to class.

Late work: students must contact me at least 12 hours in advance if work cannot be submitted by the due date. Work that is turned in late without prior notification will be penalized one letter grade for each day that it is late; I will not accept papers after 2 late days.

Other Course Policies

HFCC Policy on Attendance and Participation: Henry Ford Community College requires students to actively participate in their learning with regular and sustained interaction. Since student success depends on active engagement, students who have NOT attended an entire class session by the College’s Never Attended deadline will not be permitted into the class even if they are already enrolled in the class. Online students will be considered as “Never Attended” if they have not logged on or if they have only logged on without actively engaging in academically-related activities. All of the above students will be assigned a “Never Attended” grade on their record.

My Attendance Policy: Class attendance is required, and attendance will be taken at each class session. Arriving more than 15 minutes late will count as an absence. Please keep in mind that repeatedly attending class late or leaving early is distracting both to myself and to other students, and will result in a significant reduction of the course grade. Attendance, preparedness, and active participation count as 10% percent of the final grade. Students will receive four unpenalized, free absences. Each absence after the fourth will drop the class participation component of your final grade by 2% at the end of the semester. Students will fail the course after six absences. Regardless of the reason for an absence, students are responsible for any material missed, or any assignments due, during class. There are no make-up opportunities for in-class assignments.

Technology: Students should ensure that cell phones won’t sound during class time. It’s okay to make a mistake but it’s not okay to repeatedly and purposefully allow the class to be disrupted. I reserve the right to ask any student to leave if their use of electronic devices becomes a distraction either to me or to any other student.

I encourage students to bring laptops to class and students may search out information relevant to class during class. However, browsing unrelated material to the class, as well as other media use (texting, chatting, etc.) is unacceptable and will negatively affect your participation score and as a result, your class grade will suffer.

I WILL call you out in class for irrelevant use of technology.

Respect Policy: Perhaps the best thing about attending Henry Ford College here in Dearborn is the diversity you experience on campus and in the classroom. With diversity comes differing opinions, capacities, personalities, perspectives, and lifestyles. Intolerance or disrespect in our classroom of any kind or degree will not be tolerated. Mutual respect for every human being with whom we are each fortunate enough to interact in the course of this semester, in every situation, is mandatory in this class.

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Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is the act of copying work from books, articles, and websites without citing and documenting the source. Plagiarism includes copying language, texts, and visuals without citation (e.g., cutting and pasting from websites). Plagiarism also includes submitting papers (or sections of papers) that were written by another person, including another student, or downloaded from the Internet. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. It may result in an F for the assignment or an F for the course. Instructors are required to report all cases of plagiarism to the English Department. Information on plagiarism procedures is available in the Department.

Here is the official language on plagiarism and academic integrity from the English Division:

Among other things, academic dishonesty includes plagiarism. Although not the sole form of misconduct of which a student may be guilty, this is probably the most common academic offense that can occur in an English course. Essentially, plagiarism is the act of using another author’s words or ideas without properly crediting him/her. Plagiarism can include, but is not limited to, the following fraudulent acts:

· Failing to supply quotation marks for words – sometimes even a single word – copied exactly as seen in the original from published materials or internet sources, including blogs

· Using the structure and/or substance of another’s text without providing credit

· Employing passages directly from sources without citation while only rearranging word order, altering grammar or revising a few words

· Omitting the sources or parenthetical documentation for words or ideas or including a Works Cited page without appropriate parenthetical documentation

· Falsifying citations, such as inventing or misrepresenting sources

· Submitting a paper written or revised by another

Students who plagiarize may fail the course and be reported to the Registrar’s Office so that the college can take disciplinary action. A student who fails a class for academic dishonesty may no longer attend the class. Students can view HFCC’s complete and unabridged policy on Academic Integrity by visiting the following web address: http://www.hfcc.edu/current_students/student_policies.asp – 1

Important dates to remember this semester:

January 14: Last day to add a class, drop a class with 100% refund, and/or perform a No Record drop

• March 5-11: Spring Break

• March 23: Last day to withdraw from 15-week classes

• May 1: Final Exams begin

• May 7, after 6:00 p.m: Grades available

Also helpful: The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University. This is an excellent writing resource on a number of helpful topics, from issues of content and style to citation help. http://owl.english.purdue.edu

Schedule of Assignments and Readings

I reserve the right to amend our current schedule of assignments and readings as necessary by adding, substituting, or removing readings, assignments, and other course materials.

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Reading Responses:

Students are required to submit response entries for our novels this semester. You will contribute to class discussion with your responses.

Why?

• think about our readings in more depth

• practice close-reading skills

• practice developing your analytical skills

• practice developing your academic voice

• prepare for class discussion

• brainstorm ideas for your final project

• draw connections across readings

• discuss your concerns and/or interest in certain quotes/passages

Guidelines:

• Each response entry should be a minimum of 500 words long.

• Responses must directly quote primary texts.

• Responses will be graded on clarity, originality, focus and depth.

• You will submit a hardcopy of each response at the start of class. You will also email me your response before class. Specific due dates are listed in our day-to-day schedule.

• Get creative!