Christopher Lay's Discussion Section

Humanities Core Course 

University of California, Irvine

Winter Quarter 2012

 

Course Description

The Humanities Core Course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the humanities for freshmen that is designed to develop reading, writing, note-taking, research, and discussion skills. Students will be expected to challenge their abilities in argumentation, interpretation, and research, and be responsible members of a smaller intellectual community, their Core section. 

 

Course Information

Meeting Times..................................

Mondays & Wednesdays from 1:30 to 2:50PM

Meeting Location.............................

Humanities Hall, Room 108

Website.............................................

http://www.christopherlay.com/w12humcore.htm

Instructor...........................................

Christopher Lay, Ph.D

Contact..............................................

clay@uci.edu

Office Location.................................

Humanities Office Building 2 (HOB2), Room 204

Office Hours.....................................

Mondays from 3:00 to 5:00PM

 

Humanities Core Course Website:

https://eee.uci.edu/programs/humcore/Student/Winter2012/index.html

 

Texts

von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Faust I. New York: Bantam Books-Random House, 1985. ISBN: 978-0553213485.

von Kleist, Heinrich, "The Betrothal in Santo Domingo." The Marquise of O and Other Stories (Penguin Classics). New York: Penguin, 1978. ISBN: 9780140443592 [Paperback]

Douglass, Frederick, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself. 2nd ed. Ed. David W. Blight. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Paper Text, 188pgs. ISBN-13: 978-0-312-25737-8

Thomas, Brook, ed. "Plessy v. Ferguson": A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1997. The Bedford Series in History and Culture. ISBN: 0-312-13743-5

Kingston, Maxine Hong. China Men. New York: Vintage-Random House, 1989. ISBN: 0-679-72328-5

Humanities Core Course Reader:

Declaration of Independence (1776)

"Remember the Ladies" (letters from Abigail Adams to John Adams concerning the consideration of women in the formation of the new republic, 1771-76) from The Feminist Papers. From Adams to de Beauvoir, ed. Alice S. Rossi, New York:  Columbia UP, 1973:  7-15.

Toussaint L'Ouverture, Constitution of Saint-Domingue (1801)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton et al. The History of Woman Suffrage, selections with emphasis on the "Declaration of Sentiments" (July 19-20, 1848) from the Seneca Falls Convention on the rights of women, from The Feminist Papers. From Adams to de Beauvoir, ed. Alice S. Rossi, New York:  Columbia UP, 1973:  413-421.

Thomas, Brook. Introduction to "The Freedman's Case in Equity" and "In Plain Black and White."

Cable, George Washington. "The Freedman's Case in Equity." Century Illustrated Magazine. 29 (1885): 409-417. (See PDF)

Grady, Henry. "In Plain Black and White." Century Illustrated Magazine. 29 (1885): 909-917.

Thomas, Brook. "Mendez v. Westminster (1947)."

Brown v. Board of Education (1954). 347 U.S. 483.

Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer. Fourth Edition.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010.  ISBN 978-0-312-65031-5

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research, Third Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. [Paperback] ISBN-13: 978-0226065663

 

Enrollment

Requests to add or drop are processed by the Core Office (HIB 185), and please not that enrollment changes are not automatic.

 

Attendance

Discussion section attendance is mandatory. More than two absences will affect your grade. Excused absences will require documentation of a credible excuse (in most cases, health related).  To receive credit for attendance, you will also be expected to participate with appropriate comments, questions, and attentiveness.

 

Requirements

The writing grade is determined by performance on three essays (30%, 30% and 30%) and participation in several required research and writing exercises. Although the writing participation requirement numerically accounts for 10% of your writing grade, failure to participate is grounds for failure in this portion of the course. The writing participation grade will be determined by library assignments, participation in peer editing and the drafting process, your final portfolio of writing, and in-class writing activities and quizzes.

 

The lecture grade is determined by performance on the midterm examination (40%) and final examination (50%), and participation in several required argument and interpretation exercises. Although the lecture participation requirement numerically accounts for 10% of your lecture grade, failure to participate is grounds for failure in the course. The lecture participation grade will be determined by responses to weekly reading and discussion questions, substantive email correspondence, and in-class discussion and debate, and office hours participation. 

 

(The Humanities Core Course Director reserves the right to make changes in these evaluation criteria during the course of the quarter.)

 

Late Assignment Policy

If you have a credible excuse (e.g., doctor's note, jury summons, obituary notice, etc.) late take-home assignments will be accepted.  Without a credible excuse, late assignments will be given a third of a letter grade penalty for each day the assignment is late. 

 

Assignment Submission

Unless otherwise noted, all drafts, assignments, and final essays written outside of class must adhere to these standards: one-inch margins, double-spacing, and Times New Roman font, size 12.  Furthermore, wherever possible, assignments are to be turned in physically and electronically.  Electronic assignment submission should be in the form of an email attachment, and with the assignment cut and pasted into the body of the email.  Final drafts are to be turned in with previous drafts and peer editing comments. Save all work. You will be expected to turn in a complete writing portfolio at the end of the quarter.

 

Standard Written English

In keeping with the Standard Written English policy of this course, you will be expected to correct errors in mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling.  Corrections on final drafts will be an essential part of your portfolio grade. 

 

Plagiarism

"Plagiarism is a serious matter and will be handled by the appropriate authorities. Supervisors and instructors in this course regularly review suspect papers. Turning in any work which is not your own and not properly acknowledged as such will result in a recommendation for failure in the course and subject you to further action by the university. Please review the university policy on academic dishonesty and speak to me if you have questions.  Internet sources must also be properly acknowledged.  For more information about how to cite Internet sources, check the Mayfield electronic resources guide or the EasyWriter Handbook." (This text is boilerplate information made available to Humanities Core Course instructors.)

 

Internet Information

Please review the Internet use policies for the Humanities Core Course in the Guide.  This quarter it will also be important to be familiar with the "References" section of the main web page (http://eee.uci.edu/programs/humcore/Student).  In addition, as part of a program-wide effort to discourage plagiarism, you also may be asked to turn in electronic copy of your essay to http://www.TurnItIn.com (as a pasted file).

 

Schedule of Readings and Assignments

 

 

Week One

Goethe's Faust

Monday, January 9th

Read: Johann von Goethe's Faust I, lines 1-2336

Turn In: In-Class Diagnostic

Lecture Notes

Wednesday, January 11th

Read:  Johann von Goethe's Faust I, lines 2337-4614

Read:  Writer's Handbook: Analyzing Drama (Walsh)

Turn In: Pre-Writing Grid Four

Lecture Notes

Week Two

Goethe's Faust

Monday, January 16th

MLK Day

Wednesday, January 18th

Read: Johann von Goethe's Faust I (re-read)

Read: Writer's Handbook: Working with Secondary Sources (Mitchell)

Lecture Notes

Friday, January 20th

Turn In: Ideas Draft Essay Four

Week Three

Goethe's Faust & Kleist's "The Betrothal in Santo Domingo"

Monday, January 23rd

Read: Johann von Goethe's Faust I (re-read)

Turn In: Working Draft Essay Four

Lecture Notes

Wednesday, January 25th

Read: Heinrich von Kleist's "The Betrothal in Santo Domingo"

Lecture Notes

Friday, January 27th

Turn In: Peer Editing Essay Four

Week Four

Kleist's "The Betrothal in Santo Domingo," & The Declaration of Independence

Monday, January 30th

Read: Heinrich von Kleist's "The Betrothal in Santo Domingo"

Lecture Notes

Tuesday, January 31st

Turn In: Essay Four

Wednesday, February 1st

Read: Declaration of Independence (1776) (in HCC Reader) 

Read: Writer's Handbook: Rhetorical Analysis (Jarratt)

Lecture Notes

Week Five

The Adams and L'Ouverture

Monday, February 6th

Read: "Remember the Ladies" (letters from Abigail Adams to John Adams concerning the consideration of women in the formation of the new republic, 1771-76) (in HCC Reader)

Read: Toussaint L'Ouverture's Constitution, Saint-Domingue, 1801 (in HCC Reader)

Lecture Notes

Wednesday, February 8th

Read: Selections from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, et al, The History of Woman Suffrage with emphasis on the "Declaration of Sentiments" (July 19-20, 1948) from the Seneca Fall Convention on the rights of women (in HCC Reader)

Turn In: In-Class Midterm

Lecture Notes

Week Six

Frederick Douglass

Monday, February 13th

Read: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave By Himself

Lecture Notes

Tuesday, February 14th

Turn In: Ideas Draft Essay Five

Wednesday, February 15th

Read: Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave By Himself & his "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" (speech delivered in Rochester, NY, 1852) (in HCC Reader)

Read: Writer's Handbook: Integrating Quotations (Sheley)

Lecture Notes

Friday, February 17th

Turn In: Working Draft Essay Five

Week Seven

Frederick Douglass

Monday, February 20th

President's Day

Wednesday, February 22nd

Read: Frederick Douglass' "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" (speech delivered in Rochester, NY, 1852) (in HCC Reader)

Lecture Notes

Friday, February 24th

Turn In: Peer Editing Essay Five

Week Eight

Education Equality

Monday, February 27th

Read: Brook Thomas, ed., Plessy v. Ferguson: a Brief History with Documents, pp. vii-viii and 1-29

Read: George Washington Cable's "The Freedman's Case in Equity" (in HCC Reader)

Read: Henry Grady's "In Plain Black and White" (in HCC Reader)

Lecture Notes

Tuesday, February 28th

Turn In: Essay Five

Wednesday, February 29th

Read: Brook Thomas, ed., Plessy v. Ferguson: a Brief History with Documents, pp. 30-60

Read: Booker T. Washington, Atlanta Exposition Address, pp. 119-124

Read:  W.E.B. DuBois Strivings of the Negro People, 1897, pp. 140-149

Read: Writer's Handbook: Grammatical Coordination + Subordination

Lecture Notes

Week Nine

Education Equality, and Kingston's China Men

Monday, March 5th

Read: Brook Thomas, ed., Plessy v. Ferguson: a Brief History with Documents, pp. 169-176

Read: Brown v. Board of Education (in HCC Reader)

Read: Brook Thomas' Mendez v. Westminster (in HCC Reader)

Read:  Writer's Handbook: Counterargument (Connell)

Read:  The Craft of Research: Research, Researchers, and Readers, pp. 3-27

Lecture Notes

Wednesday, March 7th

Read: Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men, Title page-81 & 152-59

 Lecture Notes

Thursday, March 8th

Turn In: Ideas Draft Essay Six

Week Ten

Kingston's China Men

Monday, March 12th

Read: Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men, pp. 82-151; 160-220 

Read: Writer's Handbook: Genre (Arndt)

Turn In: Working Draft Essay Six

Lecture Notes

Wednesday, March 14th

Read: Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men, pp. 221-308

Lecture Notes

Friday, March 16th

Turn In: Peer Editing Essay Six

Week Eleven

Finals Week

Wednesday, March 21st

Final Exam from 1:30 to 3:30PM

Friday, March 23rd

Turn In: Essay Six