Course Meeting Times
Sessions: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Course Description
Great works of fiction often take us to far-off places; they sometimes conduct us on journeys toward a deeper understanding of what’s right next door. We’ll read, discuss, and interpret a range of short and short-ish works: The reading list will be chosen from among such texts as Gilgamesh, Homer’s Odyssey (excerpts), Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (excerpts), Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Saleh’s Season of Migration to the North, Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, John Cheever’s “The Swimmer,” Coetzee’s The Life and Times of Michael K, Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle,” Toni Morrison’s Jazz, H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Beckett’s How It Is, Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Forster’s A Passage to India. As a CI-H subject. As such, this subject will involve substantial work in argumentive writing, revision, and oral presentation.
Student Work
As a CI-H class, 21L.003 requires substantial practice in analytical writing and speaking.
- 3 essays totaling at least 5000 words for the semester.
- A substantial revision of either of your first two essays. You will meet with me outside of class to plan your revision; when submitted it must be accompanied by a one-page statement reflecting on what you found necessary to change and what improvements you attempted to make.
- Two oral reports. The first will be on a topic relevant to one of our readings, and your function will be to inform your fellow students about it clearly and concisely (you will have 5 minutes). For the second, given during the final weeks of term, you will give a brief report on a contemporary story of your choice (in any medium) organized around the idea of a journey and compare and contrast it with at least three of the works covered in the class.
Class Rules
- Your attendance in this class is mandatory. You are allowed a maximum of two unexcused absences. Beyond that, you will fail the class.
- Class begins at five minutes past the hour. You are expected to come to class on time having done the appropriate reading for each day and with the appropriate text(s). I may charge you an unexcused absence if you frequently arrive late or without your book. I will give unannounced quizzes on the readings at my discretion.
Grading
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Written Work (Quizzes, Essays, Revisions) | 75% |
| Oral Report, Class Participation, Preparedness, Overall Good Citizenship | 25% |
Writing and Communications Center
The WCC at MIT (Writing and Communication Center) offers free one-on-one professional advice from communication experts (MIT lecturers who all have advanced degrees and who are all are published writers). The WCC works with MIT undergraduate students, graduate students and post-docs.
The WCC helps you strategize about all types of academic, creative, job-related, and professional writing as well as about all aspects of oral presentations (including practicing your presentations & designing slides). No matter what department or discipline you are in, we help you think your way more deeply into your topic, help you see new implications in your data, research and ideas. The WCC also helps with all English as Second Language issues, from writing and grammar to pronunciation and conversation practice, from understanding genre conventions to analyzing what particular journals require.
On the Use of External Sources
You should have no need to consult any outside sources when you write your essays for this class. The essays are opportunities for you to solidify and demonstrate your grasp of the material we have covered in class. You will draw upon our class discussions, your notes, your imagination and memory.
Literature Faculty Policy on Plagiarism
The Literature Section has formulated this statement and policy for all plagiarism cases: Plagiarism—the use of another’s intellectual work without acknowledgement—is a serious offense. It is the policy of the Literature Faculty that students who plagiarize will receive an F in the subject, and that the instructor will forward the case to the Committee on Discipline. Full acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted and in all oral presentations, including images or texts in other media and for materials collected online. All ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else’s work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student’s own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult the style guides available in the Writing and Communication Center, review their plagiarism policy, and review MIT’s online Academic Integrity Handbook.
