Course Overview: Happiness
Everyone wants to be happy, or at least we all think we do. But, what is happiness? Why do advertisements, pharmaceutical companies, doctors, parents, and friends all think they know the big answer? In “Happiness,” Dead Prez writes, “we can’t escape from the realness/happiness is all in the mind.” Following this notion that “happiness is all in the mind,” this course will begin by exploring and interrogating recent work in the recent field of psychology often referred to as “happiness studies,” beginning with Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness. The course will include a wide variety of texts, with an emphasis placed on looking at scientific studies and newspaper articles alongside literature (both contemporary and canonical).
English 2150 continues the work of English 2100, asking you to write sound academic arguments. I will assume you have the basic skills acquired in English 2100: the ability to read a variety of articles and essays, identify their key points, and subject them to logical analysis; the ability to understand writing as a process requiring the outlining of ideas, multiple drafting, peer review, and revision of complete essays; the ability to write a cogent thesis and develop an argument in unified and coherent paragraphs; and the ability to observe sentence boundaries, use correct punctuation, and incorporate a variety of sentence structures. In exploring different types of literature—from nonfiction to fiction to poetry and plays—you will learn how to look for intriguing questions in a text, pull together evidence and analyze its implications, make sound and interesting claims based on your evidence, develop convincing arguments, and structure coherent essays with clear theses. Be prepared to write frequently, engage in class discussions of assigned readings, respond to student work, share your own writing with peer editors, and participate in small group work and presentations.
Learning Goals
- Reading: Ability to read a variety of texts (with a focus on literature), identify their key points, and subject them to logical and interpretative analysis.
- Process: Ability to understand writing as a process requiring the outlining of ideas, multiple drafting, and revision of complete essays.
- Mechanics, usage, and style: Ability to create an original and cogent thesis and to develop an imaginative argument in unified and coherent paragraphs.
- Argument: Ability to observe sentence boundaries, to use correct punctuation, to use a variety of sentence structures, and ultimately to observe the conventions of standard English grammar and usage.
- Understanding: Ability to recognize different genres of writing and to comprehend and use appropriate vocabulary in interpreting what one has read by paying close attention to language and style.
- Research and Plagiarism: Ability to identify, analyze, and synthesize multiple sources as support for written arguments and to understand what constitutes plagiarism and why that is unacceptable in the research process.
- Audience: Ability to imagine the needs of one’s reader when writing in different rhetorical modes and social contexts and to take audience and occasion into account when writing.
Required Texts (available in the Baruch College Bookstore)
Gilbert, Daniel. Stumbling on Happiness. New York: Vintage Books, 2006.
Gwynn, R.S. Literature: A Pocket Anthology. 4th Edition. New York: Penguin Academics, 2009.
Fowler & Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook. Custom Edition for Baruch College. New York: Pearson Education Inc, 2007.
*Additional handouts to be provided by me.
Course Requirements:
- Two 3-5 page papers on readings to be assigned by me.
- One 5-7 page paper on readings to be assigned by me.
- One digital essay or story on readings to be assigned by me. This will take the form of a short video, podcast, or other multimedia presentation.
- Each paper is to be typed and double-spaced, and done in multiple drafts. For some papers, drafts will be discussed in class. Each paper will present an argument, have a strong thesis, and use correct internal documentation. The due dates for each of your papers will be stipulated on each of your assignment sheets when you receive them.
- Response Papers: Each week you will receive a short response paper assignment that relates to the readings for the week. These papers are to be typed and will either be submitted in class or posted on our class blog.
- Additional Writing: in-class writing exercises, participation in a wiki, responses to your own work, peer evaluations and group work. The shorter informal writing
assignments (as well as the response papers and blog conversations) are intended to help you develop ideas and theses that will later assist you in writing your formal essays. - Active participation in all class activities, including the class blog.
- Regular attendance and preparation for class.
Attendance Policy
Because this class will follow a sequential series of assignments that build upon one another, and because we will be establishing a class community of writers, readers, and critics, regular and lively attendance is essential. Any absences will affect your final grade.
Departmental policy states that after four absences a student is to be dropped from the class roster. If you do need to miss a class, please let me know in advance.
I also do not tolerate lateness. If you are more than ten minutes late for a class, you will receive half an absence (two latenesses is equal to one absence). Sleeping in class will also count as an absence.
Notes on Preparation for Class
All reading and writing assignments are to be completed on time. Be sure to get the phone numbers/ email addresses of at least two of your classmates; then; if you must be absent, you can call or email someone and get the assignment. You may also, of course, email me. For the next session you are responsible for all work and must always come to class prepared.
All reading assignments must be BROUGHT TO CLASS, as they will be referred to for discussion.
You are expected to be active participants in all class discussions and activities.
Cell phones must be turned off when you enter the classroom.
Rewriting Papers:
If you get a paper back and are unsatisfied with the grade you received, you may always revise it; anytime a graded paper is revised, the highest grade is the one that counts and all others are dropped. You have two weeks after receiving a paper back to revise and resubmit it. When you resubmit a paper for grading, you must hand in the rewritten paper as well as all originals that I have already graded; when rereading your work, I must be able to see what you have done and how it is now different from your previous draft.
You cannot hand in papers, suddenly revised, at the end of the semester.
Your papers will be evaluated on the basis of competence in:
ü Organization
ü Development and support of ideas
ü Mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation, citation of sources)
ü Understanding and application texts discussed in class
Evaluation & Grading Policy:
Two 3-5 page papers (30%)
One 5-7 page paper (25%)
Digital Essay or Story (10%)
Response Papers/Blog Posts (20%)
Participation and Preparation for class (15%)
(includes attendance, quizzes, and in-class writing and activities)
SCHEDULE OF READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS
Unless otherwise noted, reading selections are from Literature: A Pocket Anthology.
Read selections for the day they appear on the syllabus; always bring your book to class.
Week One
Monday, February 1
– Introduction, Review of Syllabus
– Readings to Discuss: “Happiness” by Raymond Carver (handout); “Happiness” by Amy Lowell (handout); “Happiness” by Dead Prez (handout)
– Writing Diagnostic
Wednesday, February 3
– Readings to Discuss: Selections from Aristotle’s Ethics (handout)
– Writing Due: Entry for Class Lexicon (semester-long dictionary)
All entries will be posted on our class wiki. You must select one word or phrase that you are not familiar with, but interests you, and write a paragraph defining it. Do not do any research, this paragraph should reflect a definition or understanding you came to through your reading experience. We will continue to update and edit these definitions through out the entire semester.
Week Two
Monday, February 8
– Readings to Discuss: Gilbert, “Foreword” (pages xiii-xvii); Gilbert, Part One (pages 3-27)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 1 (1-2 pages typed, to be handed in)
Wednesday, February 10
– Readings to Discuss: Selections from Plato’s Republic and Symposium (handout); continue with Gilbert (pages 3-27)
– Writing Due: Entry for Class Lexicon (semester-long dictionary)
Week Three
Monday, February 15 NO CLASS—President’s Day
Wednesday, February 17
– Readings to Discuss: Gilbert, Part Two (pages 31-79)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 2
Thursday, February 18 (classes follow a Monday schedule)
– Film: Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Week Four
Monday, February 22
– Readings to Discuss: Selections from Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents (handout)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 3 (1-2 pages typed, to be handed in)
Wednesday, February 24
– Readings to Discuss: Recent New York Times articles (handout)
– Writing Due: ROUGH DRAFT, Paper #1 Due (3-5 pages typed, bring 3 COPIES to class)
– Peer Review/In-class Writing Workshop
Week Five
Monday, March 1
– INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES
(Please bring your most recent draft of Paper #1)
Wednesday, March 3
– Readings to Discuss: Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” (pages 71-73)
– Writing Due: FINAL DRAFT, Paper #1 Due (3-5 pages typed)
Week Six
Monday, March 8
– Readings to Discuss: Gilbert, Part Five (pages 165-211)
– Writing Due: Entry for Class Lexicon (semester-long dictionary)
Wednesday, March 10
– Readings to Discuss: Carver, “Cathedral” (pages 265-278)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 4
Week Seven
Monday, March 15
– Readings to Discuss: Achebe, “Dead Men’s Path” (pages 235-238); Atwood, “Happy Endings” (pages 295-299)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 5
Wednesday, March 17
– Readings to Discuss: Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants” (handout)
– Writing Due: Entry for Class Lexicon (semester-long dictionary)
Week Eight
Monday, March 22
– Readings to Discuss: Walker, “Everyday Use” (pages 313-322)
– Writing Due: ROUGH DRAFT, Paper #2 Due (3-5 pages typed, bring 3 COPIES to class)
Wednesday, March 24
– Readings to Discuss: Orozco, “Orientation” (pages 390-396)
– Film: Office Space (1999)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 6
Week Nine
Monday, March 29 NO CLASS—SPRING BREAK!
Wednesday, March 31 NO CLASS—SPRING BREAK!
Week Ten
Monday, April 5 NO CLASS—SPRING BREAK!
Wednesday, April 7
– Readings to Discuss: Brown, “Forgiveness” (handout)
– Writing Due: FINAL DRAFT, Paper #2 Due (3-5 pages typed)
Week Eleven
Monday, April 12
– Readings to Discuss: Antigone (lines 1-314, pages 829-839)
Wednesday, April 14
– Readings to Discuss: Antigone (lines 315-655, pages 840-850)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 7 (1-2 pages typed, to be handed in)
Week Twelve
Monday, April 19
– Readings to Discuss: Antigone (lines 656-1035, pages 850-862)
– Writing Due: Entry for Class Lexicon (semester-long dictionary)
Wednesday, April 21
– Readings to Discuss: Antigone (lines 1036-1471, pages 862-876)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 8
Week Thirteen
Monday, April 26
– Readings to Discuss: Pope, “Ode on Solitude” (page 491); Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (page 502); Keats, “When I Have Fears” (page 525); Dickinson, “Tell All the Truth, But Tell It Slant” (pages 558-559)
– Writing Due: Response Paper 9
Wednesday, April 28
– Readings to Discuss: Whitman, “Song of Myself, 6” (pages 551-552); Whitman, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” (page 553); Frost, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” (page 586)
– Writing Due: ROUGH DRAFT, Paper #3 Due (5-7 pages typed, bring 3 COPIES to class)
– Peer Review/In-class Writing Workshop
Week Fourteen
Monday, May 3
– INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES
(Please bring your most recent draft of Paper #3 & an idea for your digital essay)
Wednesday, May 5
– Readings to Discuss: Stevens, “The Snow Man” (page 589); Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow” (pages 595-596); Hughes, “The Weary Blues” (pages 625-626); Ginsberg, “A Supermarket in California” (pages 675-676)
Week Fifteen
Monday, May 10
– Readings to Discuss: Alvarez, “Bilingual Sestina” (pages 778-780); Waldman, “Makeup on Empty Space” (handout)
– Writing Due: FINAL DRAFT PAPER #3 (5-7 pages typed)
Wednesday, May 12
– Presentations of Digital Projects
Week Sixteen
Monday, May 17
– Readings to Discuss: Individual Choice.
LAST CLASS/ Grades
Good Luck!