English 4W Critical Reading and WritingNaïveté, Knowing, and the Uncanny in English LiteratureInstructor: Lilly LuEmail: [email protected] Class Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 2-3:50Location: Haines A78Office Hours: Humanities A97, Mondays and Wednesdays 4-5 p.m.Mailbox: Humanities 149 (above the name tag that says “Lu”)Course Description:English 4W will introduce you to the protocols of literary analysis and scholarship, and train youto become confident critical readers, writers, and researchers. In this course, we will examine texts from across literary genres and historical periods, and learn to analyze these in tandem withdeveloping close reading skills. Through our discussions, we will learn how to collaborate in a community of scholars, interpret the usage of literary devices, as well as develop our own criticalinquiries about the texts’ value systems and ideas. To read literature critically is to not only pay attention to the what of the plot, but to also close read how and why the text structures and communicates its story in a certain way to produce meaning. In addition to this type of analysis, you will learn to bring your ideas into conversation with the ideas of others, peer scholars, and senior literary scholars alike. Throughout the quarter, we will scaffold the various stages of the writing process to prepare you to write clear and effective analytical essays in the field of English literature, and to be able to articulate your own process of developing and innovating upon ideas. The writing process is always in progress, and I look forward to seeing each of you grow as writers who are aware of the development of your own arguments and the choices you make to strategically and effectively support your arguments.Elements of the uncanny, the eerie, and the monstrous have been crucial to stories for centuries, having roots in fairytales in which young women unveil some dark secret about their husbands, their own families, or the new place in which they live, thus revealing the systems that govern their sociopolitical world. The definition of the uncanny is elusive and slippery, but this complexity might be productive for the purposes of the class. In addition to your personal interests, we can critically interrogate and analyze some of the following questions this quarter: How do these texts define monstrosity? How do these texts render the uncanny? How do these definitions change over time? Where does the sense of horror come from? In these stories, who has knowledge and who has naiveté? Are knowledge and naiveté always opposites, and are they gendered? Are they racialized? Are there different forms of knowledge? What systems of logic, commentary, and language do these texts create?Required Texts:These four texts have been ordered to the UCLA Bookstore.Macbeth by William Shakespeare (Folger edition), ISBN: 978-0743477109 (also available for PDF download on Folgerdigitaltexts.org) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818 edition), ISBN: 978-0-393-92793-1Monstress Vol. 1: The Awakening by Marjorie Liu, ISBN: 978-1632157096Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, ISBN: 978-0807083697Other assigned texts will be available as scanned PDFs on the CCLE site, or online if indicated. Assignments and GradingEssay 1 (5-6 pages) –15%Essay 2 (5-6 pages) –20%Final Paper or Creative Project/Reflection (8-10 pages) –25%In-class Presentation –10% Smaller Assignments/Drafts –10% Participation –20% Participation Attendance is a crucial part of participation. Participation can take many forms, including any of the following:- Asking a question, clarifying or additive.- Adding your thoughts to something that has been said.- Respectfully disagreeing with something that has been said. - Introducing an alternative perspective.- Providing textual evidence for an idea.- Drawing our attention to a strange or interesting passage.- Posting onto the CCLE forum before class to generate discussion during class.Please be professional and respectful so that we may create a welcoming scholarly environment.Note: If you think any of this will be a challenge for you, please speak to me during the first week. We can come up with strategies to help you feel comfortable together.If you need to miss section due to illness or another valid reason, please email me in advance. More than two unexcused absences will negatively impact your participation score – you cannot participate if you are not present. If you have to miss class, it is your responsibility to contact your classmates and find out what was covered. CommunicationPlease remember that I am here to help you improve your writing and critical thinking skills. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you feel like you’re struggling. I highly encourage you to drop in to my office hours or contact me via email to make an appointment.Email Policy Allow 24 hours for me to respond to you via email during the week and 48 hours over the weekend. Please keep in mind that I won’t respond to emails about papers in the 48 hours before or after they are due. This is not to punish last-minute questions, but to encourage you to start thinking about and working on your papers early. TechnologyThe use of cell phones and computers (and any other technological gadgets) is not allowed in class, unless you require a specific accommodation. Failing to abide by these policies will result in a decreased participation grade.Academic HonestyAll work that you produce for this course must be 1) entirely comprised of your own writing and ideas, and 2) original to this class. If you include other people’s ideas, quoted or paraphrased, you must give credit and properly cite the source. If you have questions, please feel free to ask me, or visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab (listed below) for guidelines. Please note that I am required to present all suspected cases of plagiarism; UCLA policies are very strict about this: http://www.deanofstudents.ucla.edu/integrity.html RecordingNo listening or recording devices will be allowed in this class and Education Code 78907 prohibits using recording devices without the prior consent of the instructor and/or TA.Class Contacts Name EmailPresentation:Every student is required to open one class by giving a brief 10 minute close-reading of a piece of the work assigned for that day. As a presenter, you are being asked to set the thematic tone forthat day’s discussion and to open it up. Presentations should focus on a literary