Summer 2011 Courses: 3000-Level

May 3-Week Summer "M" (May 9, 2011 - May 28, 2011)

ENG 3223.01M: Shakespeare: The Early Plays

Instructor: Mark Bayer
Class Time: MTWRF 12:00 - 2:50 p.m.
Class Location: MH 3.03.14

Course Description
This course will offer a survey of comedies, histories, and tragedies that Shakespeare wrote until approximately 1600. We will pay special attention to the content and form of these texts but also to the original conditions under which they were performed as well as their social, economic, and political contexts, the networks of patronage, readership, and often collaborative authorship that led to their production, as well as their function in today’s literary and cultural marketplace.  Though sometimes regarded as less mature than some of the later plays, this group of plays offers an unparalleled opportunity to trace the development of the burgeoning playwright. 

Requirements
Two examinations, one short paper, and a series of short quizes on the plays

Texts

  1. Stephen Greenblatt et. al, Eds.  The Norton Shakespeare.

ENG 3613.01M: African American Fiction

Instructor: Kinitra Brooks
Class Time: MTWRF 12:00 - 2:50 p.m.
Class Location: MH 3.03.06

Course Description
This class will examine African American fiction in a myriad of formats including novels, comic books, short stories and film. We will examine the central themes that arose in African American fiction in the latter 20th and early 21st centuries.  We will also examine major theoretical ideas that influenced the creative texts.

Class Requirements

  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Presentation
  • Final Exam
  • Paper
  • Response Paper

Course Texts

Novels:

  1. Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
  2. Dawn, Octavia Butler

Short Stories:

  1. Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, Randall Kenan
  2. Skin Folk, Nalo Hopkinson

Film:

  1. She’s Gotta Have It, dir. Spike Lee
  2. Eve’s Bayou, dir. Kasi Lemmons

Comics:

  1. Astonishing X-Men: Storm, Eric Jerome Dickey
  2. Black Panther Vol. 1: Who is the Black Panther?, Reginald Hudlin
  3. Black Panther: Civil War, Reginald Hudlin
  4. Black Panther: Back to Africa, Reginald Hudlin

Theory:

  1. Redefining Black Film, Mark A. Reid
  2. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, Scott McCloud

 

First 5-Week Summer "F" (May 31, 2011 - July 7, 2011)

ENG 3303.01F: Theory and Practice of Composition

Instructor: Sue Hum
Class Time: MTWRF 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Class Location: MB 1.206

Course Description
ENG 3303 examines current composition and rhetorical theories, the history of rhetoric, and the importance of style. The course focuses on becoming proficient in reading and writing in academic contexts.  A secondary focus involves the knowledge and background necessary to teach writing.  Fulfills an upper division course requirement for English majors/minors and is required for certification in English.

Texts

  1. Lindemann, Erika, and Daniel Anderson, ed. A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers.  4th ed. Oxford UP, 2001.  ISBN: 978-0195130454
  2. Holcomb, Chris and Jimmie Killingsworth.  Performing Prose: The Study and Practice of Style in Composition. Southern Illinois UP, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-8093-2953-3

 

Grade distribution

  • 4 Essays: 60%
  • WebChats: 20%
  • Exercises, Quizzes & Peer Workshops: 20%

ENG 3313.01F: Advanced Composition

Instructor: Sue Hum
Class Time: MTWRF 12:45 - 2:15 p.m.
Class Location: MB 1.206

Course Description
ENG 3313 examines the principles and procedures of informational, expository, and persuasive prose in academic settings.  As Aristotle explains, rhetoric is the "power of discovering the possible means of persuasion in reference to any subject matter" (Rhetoric I ii 1355a). Drawing on readings about popular culture in the United States, we explore contemporary persuasive writing conventions and experiment with new literacy habits that both adopt and may challenge academic writing conventions.  This course examines the art of writing, and through that examination, offers ways of expanding our writing repertoire and our literacy horizons. 

ENG 3313 three goals: first, the study of ways with words in schools; second, the influence of our beliefs and cultural habits on our practices of writing; and third, the collaboration with peers and through revision strategies to improve our writing skills. 

Not only do we work towards coherence, liveliness, persuasiveness, and originality, we also engage in extensive writing practice, including the writing of arguments.  Writing, like athletic ability, can only be improved through extended daily practice.  As Erasmus reminds us, "The desire to write grows with writing."  So, we'll write frequently and a great deal.  We'll write-to-learn and learn-to-write simultaneously.  We’ll work with each other closely to improve and stretch our writing skills.  Using the writer's workshop, we'll share our writing ideas and get regular constructive criticism from each other.  We’ll also try new strategies, because it is through risk-taking (and failure) that our writing skill improves.

Course Objectives

  • Gaining factual knowledge (terminology, classifications, methods, trends)
  • Developing specific skills, competencies, and points of view needed by professionals in the field
  • most closely related to this course
  • Developing skill in expressing oneself orally or in writing
  • Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view

Course Texts

  1. George, Diana, John Trimbur.  Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing.  7th ed. Pearson, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-0205688074

Grading Criteria
4 Essays: 60%
6 WebCT E-Chats: 20%
Quizzes, In-Class Group Work, & Workshop Participation: 20%

ENG 3423.01F / 6043.01F: Creative Writing (Seminar in Spain)

Instructor: Norma Cantú
Class Time: June 10 - July 1 in Toledo, Spain
Class Location: Universidad de Castilla La Mancha (UCLM), Toledo, Spain

Course Description
Creative Writing—Creative Non-Fiction
Designed as an intensive writing class the course includes readings, field trips, journaling, workshops, and a final public reading at UCLM in Toledo.

Course Texts
Our main textbook is by Philip Gerard, Carolyn Forche, and the Associated Writing Programs, Writing Creative Nonfiction: Instruction and Insights from Teachers of the Associated Writing Programs. While we will rely on readings found in this text. We will also read a selection of essays and chapters from books outside of the textbook. Several essays and web sites such as  CreativeNonfiction.org will also be required reading.

Course Assignments for Grades
Participants will write:

  • ENG 6043 students: A long 20-25 page essay due July 8, 2011.
  • ENG 4953 students: A 10-12 page essay due July 8, 2011
  • One interview (1000 words) due June 30
  • 3 short informal personal essays (1-2 pages) as assigned
  • Keep a  daily journal

Participants will present:

  • Formal oral reading of a short piece
  • Brief reactions to peer writings in workshop.
  • Focused discussions and group work.

 

Second 5-Week Summer "S" (July 8, 2011 - August 15, 2011

English 3233.01S: Shakespeare: The Later Plays
 July 08, 2011–August 15, 2011
Monday–Thursday 6:00-7:55pm
Main Building 1.104

 

Instructor: Dr. Bernadette Andrea
 Office:  MB 2.470
 Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 3:30-5:00, and by appointment.
 Email:  bernadette.andrea@utsa.edu

Course Description:  This course focuses on the plays Shakespeare composed during the early seventeenth century, roughly the last decade of his career.  As a well-seasoned playwright, he grappled with the challenges of tragedy and the pleasures of romance.  He also returned to his early interest in British history, both ancient and contemporary.  As a cluster, these plays evoke death and desire, pity and fear, wonder and relief.  In other words, a good read!  And, since we will watch modern film versions of these plays, they also offer a compelling visual experience.

    Alongside this rich array of Shakespeare’s late plays we will look at a series of court entertainments by Ben Jonson, his rival and grudging admirer.  These entertainments, known as “masques,” included women as performers and arguably as co-producers.  They treat themes of racial and ethnic difference, class conflict, and gender tensions in ways that compare and contrast with Shakespeare’s concerns.  They are highly allusive, and also allow us to explore more deeply the classical basis of Renaissance culture.  Reading Shakespeare’s plays with Jonson’s masques thus gives us a more complex, and more accurate, view of the performance culture during the most celebrated era for the English stage.

Required Texts: 

Jonson, Ben.

Masques of Difference: Four Court Masques by Ben Jonson

Manchester University Press

2007

978-0719057540

Shakespeare, William.

The Norton Shakespeare: Vol. II, The Later Plays

Norton

2nd ed., 2008

ISBN 978-0-393-93145-7

 

Assignment Sequence: You will be evaluated in this class on a series of in-class writing assignments (distributed and completed in class; based on the required readings for the day); a mid-term exam (involving short answer, identification, and essay responses; based on the material covered up to the mid-term exam); a final exam (involving short answer, identification, and essay responses; based on the material covered from the mid-term to the final exam); and a final paper written in several stages that build on each other (1-2 page abstract, 4-5 page mid-term paper, 8-10 page final paper).  I will provide additional details on all assignments in class. 

 

ENG 3333.01S: Intro to the Structure of English

Instructor: Amanda Williams
Class Time: MTWRF 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Class Location: MB 0.222

Course Description
This course is an intensive examination of the structure of English, focusing on morphology and syntax.  The course offers a brief history of grammar, different approaches to grammar, and an examination of the types of grammar.  Although not pedagogical, this course is geared especially toward providing background in the language and in linguistics for prospective teachers of English, English as a Second Language, and language arts.

Course Objectives
Students are expected to demonstrate fully an understanding of the structure of the English language, including basic knowledge of morphology and syntax.  Additionally, students are expected to recognize regional and social variation and understand their roles in society, as well as the dynamic nature of the English language.

Course Texts

  1. Kolln, Martha, and Robert Funk.  (2008). Understanding English Grammar.  8th ed. ISBN:  9780205626908

Course Assignments for Grades

  • 3 tests (90%) and homework/quizzes (10%)
  • Homework assignments to include diagraming exercises, parts of speech exercises, OED assignment, and others.

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