Instructor: K. Michael
Email: kmichael@baruch.cuny.edu
Office: 7-290N
Office Hours: Tues. 12.30-1.30, by appointment
Hero, Myth and Society: Course Description
In this class, we will ask questions about our personal and shared heroes and myths. What are heroes and what do they “do” for us as individuals and for society in general? Through an investigation of a variety of genres including comic strips, essays, philosophy, and film we will think about how our own behavior on the one hand and society’s values on the other are shaped, influenced and oriented by whom we think of as heroes and the myths in which those heroes are embedded. Conversely, we will also think about what psychological need heroes might fill for us on an individual level. Students will be asked to bring these abstract considerations to bear on their own ideas in assignments designed to develop critical and argumentative writing skills. We will work on identifying and creating well-crafted sentences, coherent paragraphs, and original theses.
Some questions we will address include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Some people say that heroes are born and not made, that heroism is a matter of fate, but if heroes are made, who – or what – “makes” them?
- Will a heroic person always behave as a hero?
- How should we consider someone who surprises everyone with his or her heroism? What about the person who is expected to behave In a particular way? Is the heroic act quite separate from the person who performs it?
- Can heroes really be heroes if only a certain group In a society call them heroes?
- Can people who are noble and admirable In one aspect of their lives, but contemptible or immoral in other areas still be called heroes?
- What Is the role of the media on the making of heroes?
Learning Goals:
Fundamentally, this is a writing course, and we will be working to develop and sharpen your command of written academic prose. After completing ENG2100T, students should be able to:
- identify the key ideas and techniques used in a variety of articles, essays, and literary works, and subject these works to logical analysis;
- undertake writing as a process requiring the outlining of ideas, multiple drafting, and revision of complete essays;
- create an original and cogent thesis and develop an imaginative argument in unified and coherent paragraphs;
- observe sentence boundaries, punctuate correctly, vary sentence structures, and employ the conventions of standard English grammar and usage;
- engage with different genres of writing, including the short story, the essay, speeches, and interviews, and comprehend and use appropriate vocabulary in interpreting the material by paying close attention to language and style;
- identify, analyze, and synthesize multiple sources as support for written arguments;
- gauge the value of different strategies for argumentation, including the use of counter-arguments;
- produce researched essays that incorporate sources and that effectively evaluate multiple (and even conflicting) points of view;
- avoid plagiarism and understand why it is unacceptable, at the same time learning how to appropriately document your research and ideas;
- imagine the needs of one’s reader when writing in different rhetorical modes and social contexts and take audience and occasion into account when writing.
Required Texts:
Aaron, Jane E. The Little, Brown Essential Handbook. Longman, 2010.
Lee & Ditko, Spider-Man ISBN: 0871359022
Siegel & Shuster, Superman ISBN: 1401207642
All other texts will be available on Blackboard.
Course Requirements:
Four Papers, collectively comprising 75% of final grade:
Paper 1: 10%
Outline & Paper 2: 15%
Annotated Bibliography, Outline & Paper 3: 50%
Bi-Weekly Blog Post: 10%
Each student is required to make a blog post every other week on the assigned reading. On the weeks when a student is not making a blog post of their own, they are required to comment on another student’s post. This will provide a forum for students to engage each other in discussion outside of the formal class structure and will be used to jump-start in-class discussion.
Class Participation: 10%
This grade includes attendance, punctuality, involvement in class discussions, performance in in-class activities/ writing assignments/ quizzes and general preparedness. You must bring the text under discussion with you to class. Furthermore, active participation is essential for success in this class. Engaged discussion is an integral part of the critical reading/writing process. Prepared attendance without participation will earn a participation grade of 75%; occasional participation will earn a grade in the 80’s; and only daily participation will earn an A for that part of the grade.
Conference Participation: 5%
After the first week of class, the last half hour of class will be devoted to small conferences with me and one other class-mate. In these conferences we will discuss your personal goals in the class and can work on an upcoming piece of writing or any particular aspect of the writing process with which you are struggling.
Draft Workshop Participation: 5%
Each student will workshop one of their drafts together with the class. Prior to each draft workshop, four students will distribute, by email, a draft of an upcoming paper to the rest of the class. The other students in the class will read each draft and prepare written comments beforehand which we will discuss together in class. Students should bring 2 copies of their comments with them to class: 1 for the author and 1 for me. Students need not write comments on their own papers.
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Attendance:
Regular attendance is essential for success in this class. More than 2 unexcused absences will adversely affect your grade. Students who miss more than 4 classes will be dropped and/or receive a failing grade. Excused absences require documentation of an illness or family emergency, observance of a religious holiday, and attendance at scheduled college sports competitions. The sports exception applies only to matches and games, practice and preparation are not covered. You will be asked to withdraw if your excused + unexcused absences exceed 5.
Regular lateness is also unacceptable and 3 late arrivals will count as 1 unexcused absence.
Turn off and put away cell phones.
Written Work:
Work is due at the beginning of class on the day it is due. The four major papers must be submitted both in hard copy at the beginning of class and as an email attachment to [email protected]. Late papers will be marked down one-third of a grade for each day they are late and papers more than 1 week late will not be accepted.
If an emergency occurs and you cannot submit a paper on time, contact me before the due date for the assignment.
Cheating and Plagiarism
Please familiarize yourself with Baruch College’s policy on academic honesty. If I suspect you have cheated or plagiarized, the assignment will receive a failing grade. On the second offense, you will fail the course and I am required by College policy to submit a report of suspected academic dishonesty to the Office of the Dean of Students which will become part of your permanent file. Remember that plagiarism is very obvious to spot.
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