Texts
Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Hays, Mary. Memoirs of Emma Courtney. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey. New York: Penguin, 2002.
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. New York: Penguin, 2003.
Requirements
Students are required to attend all class sessions and to participate. I do not evaluate class participation in terms of how many brilliant things you say in the course of the semester, but I require you to have read the texts thoroughly and to come to class prepared to talk about them. In addition, every student will be required to deliver at least one presentation on an assigned work during the semester. These presentations, between 15-20 minutes in length, should be conceived as exercises in literary interpretation through close analysis, and should ideally help to stimulate a discussion through arguments and questions. Finally, there will be two essays, one 5-6 pages and the other 8-10 pages in length.
MIT Literature Department Statement on Plagiarism
Plagiarism–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. 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.
MIT’s academic honesty policy can be found at the following link: http://policies-procedures.mit.edu/academic-misconduct-and-dishonesty/
