Course syllabus

ENGLISH 311/207: Creating Stories

Semester 2, 2017: Course Information

Lecture times:             Tuesdays 9am-10am; Thursdays 9am-10am

Lecture location:   303-G23 (Sci Maths & Physics, Room G23)         

Lecturer and convenor:       Prof. Brian Boyd (BB), Room 206 (Arts 1)-602, ext. 87480, b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz

Office hours: Tue 10-11, Thu 10-11, and by appointment

Tutorial times: please consult Student Services Online and double-check location on day of your first tutorial in the second week of class. There are different tutorial streams for 207 and 311.

Tutors:             

Severi Luoto (English 207), s.luoto@auckland.ac.nz

tutorial 1 Tue 11-12 205-215 (Arts 1, Rm 215)

tutorial 2 Tue 1-2 273-107 (Fale Office 107)

tutorial 3 Th 11-12 (114-G10 (Commerce A, Room G10)

Severi's office hour: Tue 2-3, Arts 1, Rm 616

Brian Boyd (English 311), b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz

tutorial 2 Fri 2-3 114-G01 (Commerce A, Room G01)

tutorial 3 Th 1-2 206-210 (Arts 1, Room 210)

Brian's office hours: Tue 10-11, Thu 10-11, and by appointment

 

Course Content

We explore why humans create stories, why we live surrounded by them, what difference they make to us, how we co-create them when we read or watch them, and how we can get more out of them. We aim to become better readers and analysts of stories, and to understand better what it is to be human, both through stories and in other ways, and why and how we learn, discover, question, and criticize.

 

We focus on some particularly creative stories from before Shakespeare to now.

 

We enjoy and examine a range of stories in different media

• drama
• “classic” and modern novels
• short story
• children’s story
• non-fiction prose
• comics and graphic novels
• fiction and documentary film

 

and from different eras

• from the sixteenth century to the 2010s—most closer to “now” than to “then”

 

and from different regions

• Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East.

 

We learn about narrative theory and analysis, about the origin of stories, about the telling, imagining, retelling, and adapting of stories, and about their effects on readers, writers, and others.

 

We consider how stories reflect and affect minds and societies, and vice versa, and how stories can try to challenge the limits or assumptions of storytelling.

 

We consider briefly

• how narrative plays a part in other fields (anthropology, biology, business, education, geology, history, law, medicine, politics, psychology)

 

• and how fictionality plays a part in human communication outside works we call fiction.

We consider narrative in terms of theory, criticism, and empirical research.

 

As well as reading a wide range of stories, we also have a special focus on two highly acclaimed storytellers, novelist Vladimir Nabokov and comics artist Art Spiegelman, who stretch the boundaries of stories in their own unique ways, but differently each time. 

Among the key resources is a Glossary, the first "page" (it's almost a book in itself) to come up under Pages on the bar at the left. Do use it all semester!

 

Learning Aims and Outcomes

 

Skills and capacities you will develop in English 207 /311 include:

• how to understand, enjoy, analyze, appreciate, compare and evaluate works of fiction of different kinds, levels and eras
• how to maximize your own creative input into realizing in your mind the stories you engage with
• how to understand and discuss the role of narrative, factual and fictional, in human life and thought, at different ages, in different periods, social roles and disciplines, and in your own life
• how to understand, assess, critique, extend and deploy key terms and arguments of narrative theory
• how to understand the role of narrative traditions, models and innovations
• how to understand human similarities and differences within and beyond narrative, within and beyond particular times, places, and cultures
• how to evaluate the possibilities and limitations of narrative
• how to evaluate the role of empirical research on narrative

Primary (required) Reading and Viewing:

Jane Austen,  Sense and Sensibility (1811)

Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)

Vladimir Nabokov, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (1941)

Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)

Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who! (1953)

William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (1601)

Art Spiegelman, The Complete Maus (1986, 1991)

Art Spiegelman, Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*! (2008) (essential parts on Canvas)

Films:

Tokyo Story (dir. Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)

Innocence of Memories (dir. Grant Gee, writer Orhan Pamuk, 2015)

 

Support (required) reading:

Copies of the works by Austen, Egan, Nabokov, Dr. Seuss, Shakespeare, and Spiegelman’s Maus can be obtained through the University Bookstore. Other required reading (such as a source of Twelfth Night) is available through Canvas.

Important class notices will also appear on Canvas. You should make sure you have access to it and can receive notices posted on it in a timely way.

Primary reading

You should aim to get read each set work before the lectures on it. You will find it much easier to follow (and think independently about) the lecture discussion if you have your own sense of the book, and you’ll be able to discover the text’s surprises yourself (especially important in narrative) rather than through spoilers.

In fact, if you can read the novels ahead of the semester, so that you can reread them in the semester, you’ll get more out of the books and the course.

 

You can follow the order of texts and lectures as they appear on the lecture timetable below, or on Canvas.

 Secondary reading

In addition to the material covered in lectures, I have placed supplementary material on Canvas, and an additional bibliography. You do not need to read most of this material; but if you do choose to read beyond re-reading the set text (which should always be the first priority), these materials will simplify your search. There will also be short lists of recommended secondary material in case you wish to explore further.

 

Teaching Format

This course is taught via two lectures per week (weeks 1-12) and one tutorial per week for ten of the weeks in the course (weeks 2-12 inclusive with one week off set by your tutor).  Please note that there are no tutorials in Week 1. Tutors and lecturers are also available for consultation at their nominated office hours.

Lectures are recorded and available for review, but you are strongly urged to attend lectures rather than to rely on the recordings, which lack delivery in person and, as research and experience show, are poor substitutes for engaged and direct learning.

 

Expectations of Students

The Faculty of Arts has stated that ten hours work a week (including contact hours) is required in order for an average student to obtain an average pass in a course.  Students are expected to attend all lectures and tutorials, and to read texts in advance of the lectures and tutorials. Different works require different primary readings times, though a shorter work does not therefore require less attention. You should note the lengths of works assigned and the dates and outlines given below of due assignments and plan accordingly.

 

ENGLISH 207/311: Creating Stories: Schedule 2017: Timetable   Tue, Thu 9am 303-G23 (Sci Maths & Physics, Room G23)
Week	Week starts	Lecture	Topic		Tutorial	Coursework
1	July 24	1	Intro		none
		2	Horton Hears a Who!
2	July 31	3	Horton Hears a Who!		Horton Hears a Who!
		4	Sense and Sensibility
3	Aug 7	5	Sense and Sensibility		Sense and Sensibility	Portfolio 1: Aug 8, noon
		6	Sense and Sensibility
4	Aug 14	7	Twelfth Night		Twelfth Night
		8	Twelfth Night
5	Aug 21	9	Twelfth Night		review
		10	The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
6	Aug 28	11	The Real Life of Sebastian Knight		The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
		12	The Real Life of Sebastian Knight			Portfolio 2: Aug 31, noon
	Sep 4			M I D   S E M E S T E R   B R E A K   M I D   S E M E S T E R   B R E A K
	Sep 11
7	Sep 18	13	Lolita		Lolita
		14	Lolita
8	Sep 25	15	Lolita		Lolita / Maus
		16	Maus
9	Oct 2	17	Maus		Spiegelman
		18	Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!
10	Oct 9	19	review		no tutorial	Essay Due Thurs Oct 12 12 noon
		20	Film 1 Ozu
11	Oct 16	21	Film 2 Gee/Pamuk		Film
		22	A Visit from the Goon Squad			Portfolio 3: Oct 19, noon
12	Oct 23	23	A Visit from the Goon Squad		A Visit from the Goon Squad and Exam Prep
		24	Conclusion

 

Examination Date: November 9, 14:15-16:30

 

 

Support services

                  There are a range of support services available to you, from academic and learning to health and counseling to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex, and many other specific kinds of support. Especially important is Library and Learning support. There is an English subject librarian, Mark Hangartner, m.hangartner@auckland.ac.nz, who is happy to answer queries.

 

ENGLISH 207/311 ASSESSMENT INFORMATION:

Assessment in this class has the following components:

1 x Portfolio (207: 3 submissions of 500 words; 311: 3 submissions of 666 words): 25%

1 x Essay (207: 1500 words; 311: 2000 words, 25%)

1 x Two-hour exam (2 hrs = 50%)

 

In section A of the exam you must write at least once on at least one of the two authors given most concentrated attention in class, Nabokov and Spiegelman. 

 

The Portfolio will consist of three 500 word entries, 1500 words in all (for 207), or three 666 word entries, 2000 words in all (for 311, due Aug 8, Aug 31, Oct 19, noon), to showcase how you have engaged with narrative, and especially with fiction, on your own terms, through your own curiosity, and in varied ways, during the length of the course. The more range you show, along different axes, the better: you would be likely to do well with a mixture of reflections

• on works on the course, and
• on other literary or narrative works in your studies and outside, and
• on aspects of narrative theory (a term, a principle, an argument, an approach), including close reading and wider perspectives.

The more depth, too, within the space limits allowed, the better; plot summaries or lists of works (with perhaps your personal ratings) will not suffice. Each of the three entries must be submitted through turnitin.com on the dates indicated.

You may in a later entry reflect back on some aspect of an earlier entry or entries. The entries should not be as formal as essays, nor as informal as a private diary or journal; they may be personal but should also be informed and shaped for outside readers. They may include images, which will not be included in the word count.

I (BB) and your tutor will explain in more detail what is expected in the Portfolio.

 

CRITICAL ESSAY (1500 words, 207; 2000 words, 311; due 12 noon, Thursday Oct 12): 25%

Write a 1500-word essay (207) or 2000-word essay (311) which addresses one of the given topics on a primary text studied on the course.

• Remember: if you write on a single text in this essay, you cannot write on it again in the exam. If you choose the comparative essay, you may write about ONE of the texts in the exam.
• Assessment of this assignment will consider:

                  - Innovation and creativity (thinking for yourself);

                  - Argument supported by textual evidence (close reading skills), and taking into account any evidence that might count against your argument;

                  - Effective writing in developing your argument (writing skills);

                  - Presentation, including proper referencing of sources.

• If you are not confident about your essay-writing skills or you feel you need extra support, book a place as soon as possible in a Learning Services workshop on “Essay Writing” at https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/booking/. 

 

Essays must be submitted electronically to turnitin.com. This can be done through Canvas.

 Exam (50%; date TBA):

The exam will offer a series of questions covering the material of the course. You will be required to answer TWO questions in two hours. In Section A you will write three short essays, each based on passages from all the texts or in the case of film or of the non-Maus Spiegelman texts, all the kinds of texts in the course. In Section B there will be a question on a single text of your choice to show your understanding of a narrative term used in the course . .

Notes on the exam:   You must not write in the exam on the text you addressed in your essay, if you answered on only one text; if you chose the comparative question, you may write on one of these texts but not both in the exam.

NOTE: IT IS A REQUIREMENT THAT YOU SIT THE EXAM FOR THIS COURSE. For information on Aegrotats and compassionate consideration visit the University Examination website:

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/current-students/cs-academic-information/cs-examination-information.html

POLICY ON LATE WORK: IMPORTANT

The English policy on extensions and late work should be noted:

LATE WORK SUBMITTED WITHOUT AN EXTENSION WILL NOT BE MARKED

 

English requires the timely submission of all coursework.

 

If you are unable to hand in an assignment by the due date, you must put your case for an extension directly to your tutor or the lecturer (Brian Boyd). If an extension is granted, you must attach to your submitted essay a formal approval document such as an email from the tutor or convenor addressed to you and giving the extension, or otherwise provide clear evidence of an extension granted. Extensions are available for compelling reasons, such as illness, or other unforeseen emergencies or emergent circumstances, and a Doctor’s certificate (or equivalent for other circumstances) may be required as evidence. Wherever possible, an extension should be requested in advance of the due date for the assignment, unless there is a genuine cause preventing this, in which case the extension should be sought as soon as is practicable after the due date.

5 Important Notes on this policy:

• If something has genuinely gone wrong in your life, please do not hesitate to seek help from the appropriate university support service, but also let your tutor or convenor know and judge whether or not your circumstances merit an extension, including after the due date where necessary. If you don’t get in touch, there’s nothing we can do to help.
• Co-incidence of deadlines for assignments does not constitute grounds for extension. You are expected to plan your time across a semester. If you know you have several assignments due in the one week, you are expected to plan your work timetable accordingly. If you have planned, however, and something unexpected or unpredictable occurs, you should consult your tutor.
• Computer and printer meltdowns (unless the university is without computer access on the due date) do not constitute grounds for extensions in this course. It is your responsibility to back up your work and to have it printed out well in advance of the deadline.
• Electronic submission of your essay to a tutor does not count as having met the deadline for this course, except in specific emergencies or under notified circumstances discussed beforehand. The hard copy of your essay must be marked as received by the hand-in office in Arts One by the due date.
• The worst possible strategy is to submit work late without obtaining an extension. No marks can be awarded for unexcused late work. It is always better to submit whatever you have by the deadline, even if it is unfinished or of poor quality, than to submit nothing at all. A failing grade (except in cases of plagiarism) will still generate some non-zero marks, and these can be the difference between a pass and fail grade at the end of the semester.
• Again: if you have missed a deadline and wish to make a case for a retrospective extension for late work based on particular circumstances, you must consult your tutor or the convenor as soon as possible.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 Some tips for effective time management at University:

 Always have a diary or wall planner or a working electronic calendar.

• At the start of the semester enter all the due dates for assignments in all your courses.
• Working with your course documents, enter which texts need to be read by when, and how long each text is.
• Consider how many hours you need to read each text and diarise for when that reading will be done. 
• View the assignment due dates in relation to one another, and then itemize (with a time estimate) each piece of work that needs to be done in order for you to meet your deadlines. Do this also for other classes and note any bottlenecks.
• Estimate how much time you will need to read the relevant texts, to undertake secondary reading, to plan your assignment and to write the assignment; then, count backwards, so that you know which assignment needs to be started when, in order to ensure that all deadlines are met. Remember, an assignment may not be due until week 10, but depending on what else you have due, you might need to have completed that particular assignment well in advance of the due date in order to meet other deadlines in the same week. No one will object if you hand in a completed assignment a day or two early!

 

Requirements for the presentation of coursework

• Written work must be submitted with the appropriate signed cover sheet (you will be able to generate these yourself from Canvas).
• Essays must be referenced in accordance with the English Essay Writing Guide (pp. 36-44), also available on Canvas.

Turnitin

Your portfolio entries and essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com (Links to an external site.), the electronic plagiarism detection database used by the University, within two days of the due date. 

Marks will not be released until essays have been submitted to turnitin.com.

This can be done through Canvas when you submit your essay online.

Some tips for learning from lectures:

Lectures are an active listening space. If you try to transcribe every word said, you are probably going to end up with unfinished sentences and not much sense of what is actually being said. Even if you are a typing whiz, you won’t end up understanding the gist of an argument merely by transcribing it.

One of the learning aims of lectures is to develop and hone your listening skills. Pay attention to what is being said, learn to identify key ideas, and actively process material in the lecture space. It’s very hard to develop these skills if you are focused solely on writing everything down.

I recommend the following to get the best out of lectures:  Listen Actively. You’ll get more out of lectures if you privilege listening over writing, and you’ll ensure you’re engaging with the lecture if you make yourself summarise key points succinctly as they are completed. This takes practice, but give it a go!

I recommend trying NOT to take copious notes. Note-taking in lectures is best when you listen for and develop connections between ideas rather than wholesale transcription. Since lectures are recorded and available on Canvas after the session, you might even consider simply listening to and following the argument, then making specific notes from the recording later. The WORST POSSIBLE use of the lecture recordings is as a regular failsafe excuse allowing you to miss or skip lectures.

A note on laptops:  There is now considerable evidence from educational studies that the use of laptops and other devices for verbatim note-taking is noticeably worse in outcomes than the older practice of hand-written notes. This is for two main reasons: first, wireless-connected laptop users tend to be easily distracted by email, pop-ups, tweets, and so on. Second, and more importantly, long-passage verbatim copying, while it generates more material, is less discriminating about what is important and less engaged in actively working through argument. Transcription typing is NOT active listening. We recommend longhand notes. If you simply must work on a laptop, turn notifications off to reduce distraction! (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/ (Links to an external site.))

Remember also: I prefer to be interrupted by a question, even when I’m in full flight, and to explain a point again than to wrongly assume the point has been grasped. If you don’t follow, chances are the rest don’t either! So ask.

Also: I will always be happy to answer questions or clarify anything at the end of a lecture – just come on down and ask!

Last – as a matter of courtesy to others in the room, please make sure to turn all devices to silent during lecture. Both lecturers and your neighbours really hate the noise of cellphones and computer activity while they are trying to concentrate. Don’t Do It!

Important and Useful Information

Plagiarism

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence.  The work that you submit for grading must be your own work, reflecting your learning.  Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced.  This requirement also applies to sources on the internet.  A student’s assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

For further information see:

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/teaching-learning/academic-integrity/tl-about-academic-integrity.html

 

Complaint procedure

In the first instance, you or your class representative should take any concerns you have with the course delivery or assessment to the lecturer or tutor or convenor concerned. You may also approach the Student Advocacy Network at any time for assistance. In the event that the matter is not resolved satisfactorily at an informal level, students or the class representative should approach the Head of English with a formal statement of the complaint.

For more detailed information, see the University guidelines regarding Student Learning and Grievance procedures at:

http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/teaching-learning/policies-procedures

AUSA also offers advice on grievance and harassment issues. See the AUSA website’s ‘Need Help?’ section for further information.

Canvas

YOU MUST HAVE CANVAS ACCESS FOR THIS CLASS

The responsibility for receiving CANVAS announcements lies with you. 

Canvas will send messages to your university email account. Remember, email is an official source of communication between the University and students. 

The University will not accept the excuse that you did not receive messages. You are required to check your university email account regularly. If you use a non-University account, check both regularly, or set the University one to forward.

Computers are available for your use in the Kate Edger Information Commons.

 

Copyright Warning Notice

Copyright material is protected by copyright and has been copied by and solely for the educational purposes of the University under licence for use in course readers, tutorials, lectures and on Canvas. You may not sell, alter or further reproduce or distribute any part of this material to any other person. Where provided to you in electronic format, you may only print from it for your own private study and research. Failure to comply with the terms of this warning may expose you to legal action for copyright infringement and/or disciplinary action by the University.

Internet Sources

The Internet is no substitute for Library research. The Library collection (e-books, e-journals as well as hard copy items) is carefully chosen and filtered whereas the Internet is not subject to quality control and frequently contains erroneous material.  Stick to websites recommended in lectures.  Remember:  Use the Library. You are a researcher when you are at University.

 

Additional Resources

Library and Learning Services offers workshops on all aspects of essay writing and exams. Check out their workshops (search under “essay”) as soon as possible. https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/booking/

 

ELE – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ENRICHMENT

If you have difficulty with your English, with writing essays, understanding lectures, doing presentations or any other aspect of English, then the English Language Enrichment Centre (ELE) – located on level 1 of the Kate Edgar Information Commons - is the place for you. Have a look at their website for further information.

http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/ele/

 

Please contact Brian Boyd (b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz) with any additional queries about the course. Welcome and good luck.

Advice on pre-reading

You will enjoy the course more and learn more if you read the whole work before the first lecture on it. Good literary reading means rereading. Good writers write to be reread, to yield even more on rereadings than on a first reading.