Behind a Mask: Fakes, Frauds, and Fictions of Identity in Nineteenth-Century America
Todd 411 * T-Th 2:50-4:05 p.m.

Dr. Donna Campbell
Avery 357 • 335-4831
campbelld@wsu.edu
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/index.html
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30-2
Alternate Wednesdays 12:30-2 (Sept. 7, 21; Oct. 5, 19; Nov. 2, 16)
You can also schedule meetings by appointment. I'm available in my office much of the day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and alternate Wednesdays.
Virtual office hours: Contact me by email to set up a time for IM, Skype, or Google voice chat.

Printable version of this syllabus.

About the Course

The United States has always been a place, or has considered itself to be a place, in which people are free to reinvent themselves. For those who move to another territory or city and assume a new name, become outlaws or are escaping from a criminal past, or disguise themselves to pass as belonging to a race, social class, or gender not their own, identity is a fluid concept, not a fixed one. This course explores the diverse themes, social contexts, and intellectual backgrounds of the American novel from its beginnings in romantic tradition through the realist and naturalist movements of the late nineteenth century.  We’ll investigate the novels in terms of their formal properties as well as through social contexts and issues of race, class, and gender, but a larger question we’ll address involves American identity: how does this collection of works, which includes examples of cross-racial and cross-gender disguises,outlaws, artists, idealists, monomaniacs, prostitutes, and murderers, constitute a picture of nineteenth-century America? What concepts of individualism, equality, and justice do these authors portray, and to what extent does the reality of life in the U.S. meet the patriotic rhetoric about its ideas of freedom?

Course site: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/index.html. Syllabus: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/sched368f11.htm. Course blog: http://english368fall2011.blogspot.com We will use a few features of Angel, http://lms.wsu.edu, but the materials are largely available on the course site.

Required Texts

Important: You need to bring your book with you to class each day. Having your book in class is a vital part of class participation: you'll be asked to read passages aloud, give page citations, and so forth. Reading the book online and then coming to class is not sufficient, and your class participation grade will be lower as a result. Because the introductions to these books often contain "spoilers," you need not read them until after you have finished the book.

Schedule of Assignments. This is a tentative guide to the assignments; it may change as the course progresses. Most assignments are designed to have more reading over the weekend than between Tuesday's and Thursday's class. You should read each day's assignment carefully and come to class prepared to discuss it.

Requirements and Assignments

Attendance and Class Participation.  Attendance is expected, as is class participation; both are essential parts of the course. You have four free absences; a fifth absence means that you may fail the course.

Class participation is important, and you should come to class prepared to discuss each day's reading. Since the syllabus is online, as are the readings not in your textbooks, you should have no trouble in reading the next day's assignments even if you're absent on the previous day. If you have questions about the day's reading, don't hesitate to ask; chances are good that someone else had the same question.

Because we will be reading and analyzing passages from the readings during the class period, bringing your book with you is an essential part of class participation and will count in your class participation grade. As mentioned above, reading the assignment online and then coming to class is not sufficient.

Formal Papers. Students in this class will write two formal papers, a short (5-7 pages, or about 1250-1800 words) analytical interpretation of one of the novels, and a longer analytical paper (8-10 pages, or 2000-2500 words) or project that will require some research. A list of paper topics will be handed out well before the papers are due.

Format. Papers must be neatly typed and carefully proofread. Citations should follow MLA style as outlined in the MLA Handbook, Bedford Handbook, or other such guides. See more formatting guidelines at this link: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/format.htm.

Electronic Version. Paper versions of papers (hard copies) are due at the beginning of class on the deadline date. If you prefer, you can upload it to Angel (http://lms.wsu.edu) by 9 p.m. on the deadline date. Either a paper version or an electronic version is acceptable; paper versions will receive handwritten comments, and electronic versions will receive typed comments in the margins. Electronic versions will be returned through Angel in .pdf format.

If you upload your paper, name your file as follows: LastnameFirstinitial_Papernumber. Example: If Joan Smith turns in her first paper, the file would be called SmithJ_368_Paper1.doc.

I will use abbreviations as references to grammatical principles on your corrected papers. The abbreviations and accompanying explanations are available on the "Key to Comments" document here: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/keyto.htm.

Late Papers and Extensions. Late papers are penalized at the rate of one letter grade (10 points) per class day late; a paper that would have received a "B" on Tuesday will receive a "C" if handed in on Thursday.

• If you do not turn in a paper, you will receive a 0 for that portion of your grade. Papers received after four class days will receive 50 points but will not be formally graded.
• You have one 48-hour extension in this class. This extension means that your paper will be due on the next class day, which could be more than 48 hours, without penalty.You must request the extension ahead of time, and you should save it for a true emergency, since no other extensions will be granted for illness, funerals, weddings, or any other reason.

• Exams cannot be made up without a doctor's note.
• If you want to complete a weblog AND a report, you have the option not to take the final exam.
• The midterm is not optional.

Quizzes. Unannounced quizzes over the reading will be given frequently in this class. The quizzes test your specific knowledge of the reading assignment for that day and sometimes ask about information from a previous day's class discussion or lecture. For example, you might be asked the name of a character, the meaning of a term discussed in the previous class, the character associated with a particular quotation, or the results of a specific action that occurs in a scene. Their purpose is to reinforce your close reading of the material by asking you about significant points in the book.

• Quizzes are usually composed of 10 multiple-choice questions, although some quizzes will ask you to write a few sentences in response to a question. If you've done the reading and have paid attention in class, you should easily be able to get a 10/10 on them.
• Quizzes cannot be made up, even if you are absent because of illness, but the lowest quiz grade will be dropped.
• Quizzes are usually given in the first 10 minutes of class; if you come in late and the quiz is in progress, you will not be able to take the quiz.
• An optional quiz will be given as a universal "make-up" quiz at the end of the semester.
• Students who have their books will be able to look up material for the bonus questions on quizzes.

In-class writing and short assignments. Short, typed responses to the reading may be assigned from time to time, as will short pieces of in-class writing.

Précis. One of the out-of-class assignments will be to write a précis of a journal article. You can find the précis assignment at http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/precis.htm.

Reports and Blogs. Students in this class will either present a brief oral report to the class or keep an online journal (weblog) of their reading this semester. Both options will should involve about the same amount of work, but with the blog option, you'll be spreading the work out over the entire semester. Those who choose both to present a report and to keep a weblog will not have to take the final exam.

You'll sign up for a report or a weblog in class. See the Reports and Blogs pages for more details.
To make the schedule updatable and available to all, it will be posted on our course site, as will the list of blogs.
Because the point of the weblog is to share your thoughts with others in the class, our main class site will contain a link with your name as part of the requirement. If you have any privacy concerns (under FERPA) about having people know that you are in this class or do not want your name posted anywhere on our class site, you should choose the Reports option instead. You'll also need to write to me (on paper) requesting that your name be omitted from the Reports page.

Policies

Plagiarism Policy. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's words or ideas. This definition includes not only deliberately handing in someone else's work as your own but failing to cite your sources, including Web pages and Internet sources.

• For a first offense, any paper plagiarized in whole or in part will receive an "F" (0 points), and the incident must be reported to the WSU Office of Student Conduct.  You will NOT be allowed to rewrite the plagiarized paper for a better grade.
• Penalties for a second offense can range from failing the course to suspension from the university.

WSU Statement on Academic Integrity. As an institution of higher education, Washington State University is committed to principles of truth and academic honesty. All members of the University community share the responsibility for maintaining and supporting these principles. When a student enrolls in Washington State University, the student assumes an obligation to pursue academic endeavors in a manner consistent with the standards of academic integrity adopted by the University. To maintain the academic integrity of the community, the University cannot tolerate acts of academic dishonesty including any forms of cheating, plagiarism, or fabrication. Washington State University reserves the right and the power to discipline or to exclude students who engage in academic dishonesty.

Electronics Policy. Recent studies have shown that people remember material better when they take notes by hand rather than on the computer, since typing on the computer tends to produce a transcription rather than the kind of selective note-taking that leads to understanding. Also, students participate more actively when they are not using a laptop, which benefits their class participation grade, and there are fewer distractions in the classroom without laptops. The following policies thus apply in this class:

• No cell phones or texting. Those using cell phones or texting will be counted as absent for the day.
• No laptops (iPads, netbooks, etc.) except on laptop days unless you have a reason that you've cleared with me ahead of time. If you must have a laptop open, the wireless should be turned off except on laptop days.
• If you're using a network-capable device (iPad, Nook, etc.) to access the texts in this class, it must be turned to Airplane mode or have the wireless turned off during class. Your copy of the text should be downloaded to your device prior to class, because you will not be able to access it online during class.
• You are still responsible for reading all the material, including assigned essays that are often available only in the print copy of the book, and you will still be tested on the assigned material even if it is not available electronically. Obtaining these materials from other class members is your responsibility, since they will not be made available online or on reserve..

WSU Policy on Students with Disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a disability and may need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please visit the Access Center. All accommodations MUST be approved through the Access Center (Washington Building, Room 217). Please stop by or call 509-335-3417 to make an appointment with an Access Advisor.

Safety Policy. Read the WSU Safety Policy (http://oem.wsu.edu/Emergencies) and Safety Plan (http://safetyplan.wsu.edu/).

General Grading Criteria: List available at http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/grading.html.

Because of FERPA and privacy issues, no grades will be discussed or transmitted by e-mail or instant messaging.