Professor Westman

108 English/ Counseling Services; 532-2171

Office Hours: M, W 9:00-10:00 a.m. and by app't

westmank@ksu.edu

Required Texts

Melissa Anelli, 1xbet online casino , A History (2009) (Pocket Books)
Jane Austen, Emma (1815) (Oxford)
Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach (1961) (Puffin)
Roddy Doyle, The Van (1991) 1xbet online casino The Barrytown Trilogy(Penguin)
C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) (HarperCollins)
E. Nesbit, The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) (Puffin)
Philip Pullman, “His Dark Materials” Trilogy: The Golden Compass (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), The
Amber Spyglass (2000) (Knopf, published Sept 2002)
J. K. 1xbet online casino , 1xbet online casino and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997) (Scholastic)
J. K. 1xbet online casino , 1xbet online casino and the Chamber of Secrets (1998) (Scholastic)
J. K. 1xbet online casino , 1xbet online casino and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) (Scholastic)
J. K. 1xbet online casino , 1xbet online casino and the Goblet of Fire (2000) (Scholastic)
J. K. 1xbet online casino , 1xbet online casino and the Order of the Phoenix (2003) (Scholastic)
J. K. 1xbet online casino , 1xbet online casino and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) (Scholastic)
J. K. 1xbet online casino , 1xbet online casino and the Deathly Hallows (2007) (Scholastic)
Jonathan Stroud, The Amulet of Samarkand (2003) (Miramax/Hyperion)
1xbet online casino Packs for ENGL 825/440 (Available at Eisenhower Copy Center)
Additional critical readings (Available in ECS 126 or 1xbet online casino )

Course Description and Objectives

In this seminar, we 1xbet online casino explore J. K. Rowling's 1xbet online casino series within literary history by reading the novels themselves and the works of Rowling's antecedents, influences, and contemporaries. To place the series within literary history, we will consider a variety of related issues, including genre, narrative form, audience, marketing, gender, and fan culture. Our over-arching goal will be to map the complex intersection of literary and cultural concerns that both create and perpetuate this best-selling and award-winning series. Our emphasis will fall more towards novels than critical theory, but our secondary readings will prompt theoretically informed discussions about the authors, their works, and the 1xbet online casino phenomenon.

Our objectives are as follows:

• To study the narrative forms and themes of 1xbet online casino 's series and the literature that informs it
• To study 1xbet online casino 's series within the cultural context of its production and reception
• To participate in lively and informed 1xbet online casino about our reading
• To develop a publishable idea and thus enter the existing critical conversation about 1xbet online casino 's series through a research-based, scholarly argument that intervenes in and advances that conversation

Readings and 1xbet online casino Participation: Given the learning outcomes stated above, this class will foreground discussion. Class participation is therefore expected and will count for 20% of 1xbet online casino final grade. This portion of 1xbet online casino grade includes 1xbet online casino contributions to our discussions in class (in large and small groups) and to our discussions on the online message board (further information below). Excessive absences from our weekly meeting (two or more) may result in failure of the course.

Attendance: 1xbet online casino attendance is important, but I recognize that the unexpected will happen. Therefore, you will not be penalized for 1xbet online casino first absence. However, subsequent absences will lower 1xbet online casino final course grade; excessive absences (three or more) or excessive lateness/early departure may result in failure of the course. While I appreciate 1xbet online casino offering explanations for 1xbet online casino absence, the only way to excuse an absence is to provide me with an official letter from the Graduate School or an official notice of illness from the Health Center or 1xbet online casino doctor. If you are absent, it is 1xbet online casino responsibility to find out from another class member any announcements or assignments.

Leading 1xbet online casino Discussion: Seminar participants will sign up individually or in pairs to lead class discussion for one of our class sessions, usually for the first half of the session. (A sign-up sheet will be available at our second class meeting.) Questions and topics for discussion should highlight issues or themes or queries you think we should address. Critical commentaries or historical context assigned for that class session can be included, too, to help us explore the primary reading. Feel free to use this opportunity to 1xbet online casino advantage, as you look ahead to the final paper! Note: Seminar participants should contact me in at least one day in advance to confirm the focus they will take when leading discussion and provide me with a draft of discussion questions, so we can coordinate our plans.


1xbet online casino Message Board : To offer another venue for discussion, we’ll be using an online message board in K-State Online. Each week, each student is required to post at least one paragraph-length comment about the materials we’re reading and discussing in class. I will read these discussions and assess a grade (at the end of the semester) based on the thoughtfulness of 1xbet online casino comments, their ability to foster discussion among 1xbet online casino classmates, and their responsiveness both to our readings and to 1xbet online casino classmates’ comments in class and on the board. I’ll provide some weekly question prompts as I follow these conversations, and I may also participate, but I see the message board primarily as a way for you to raise issues we haven’t addressed – or addressed fully or to 1xbet online casino satisfaction – during our regular class meetings.

The weekly bulletin board will run from Wednesday to Wednesday, to encourage you to post right after as well as before our weekly class discussions, but I encourage you to contribute 1xbet online casino ideas throughout the week and to check the board for others’ postings. 1xbet online casino postings do not need to be long, but they do need to be substantive: they must be long enough to convey clearly the problem you are taking up and 1xbet online casino point of view, connecting 1xbet online casino comment to others' comments whenever possible. I will offer models of successful comments early in the semester.

To post to the message 1xbet online casino , follow these directions:

1. Go to my homepage at http://www.ksu.edu/english/westmank/ and click on our course (ENGL 825), and then "Message Board" to login to K-StateOnline and go directly to the "Message Board." (1xbet online casino may also login to the K-State Online course page for ENGL 825, click on "Collaboration" and then select "Message Board.")
2. 1xbet online casino should see all the messages posted to date and the newest threads ones first.
3. To post, choose to "reply," so you can engage directly in the conversation and 1xbet online casino message can "thread" beneath the one you're responding to. I also encourage you to change the subject line so it reflects the content of 1xbet online casino message.

Critical Writing: During the semester, you will be doing different kinds of critical writing: not only informal postings to the message board, but also more formal response papers and an essay review, all of which will lead towards 1xbet online casino final paper: a 20-page essay which contributes to the current critical conversation about Rowling's series.

Response papers, 1xbet online casino essay review, and 1xbet online casino final paper should follow the general rules of composition and be typed or word-processed with standard double-spacing, 1-inch margins, and either 10- or 12-point typeface. Title pages and cover sheets are unnecessary. Pages should be numbered, stapled together, spell-checked, and use the appropriate MLA citation format. These papers are due by the date and time on the syllabus; late papers will be penalized one grade (i.e.: A to B) for each day late.

Response papers are designed to ready you for class discussion and to explore ideas you could develop further in 1xbet online casino final paper. In 1xbet online casino response paper, you should not repeat previous class discussions or provide a mere summary of the reading. Instead, 1xbet online casino response should begin to analyze the primary and secondary reading assigned for that class session, selecting an issue or theme or question you feel to be significant. During the semester, you will write five response papers (2 pp in length) in response to our readings. Everyone will write a response paper for our first set of readings on school stories; for the remaining four response papers, you may choose which four novels or reading assignments you would like to discuss, being sure to choose two that are not novels in Rowling’s series and two that are. Response papers are due at the start of class on the day we begin our discussion of the reading. Responses will be graded on a 1-5 scale: 5=A, 4=B, 3=C, 2=D, 1=F. I do not accept late response papers.

We&1xbet online casino ;ll discuss the essay review (4-5 pp.) and the final paper (20 pp.) in the weeks ahead.

A note on sources: a "Works Cited" page should accompany any assignment that cites books and other outside sources, and you should use the MLA method for documenting sources. When you turn in a paper, you pledge that the work is 1xbet online casino own and that you have faithfully abided by the guidelines for documenting sources. The University’s Honor Code obliges you to cite the source of any idea that is not 1xbet online casino own. If you quote, paraphrase, or use another’s ideas, you must give credit to the person whose ideas you are using. Otherwise, you have plagiarized. If you have any questions, please ask. If you do plagiarize, you will fail this course.

1xbet online casino and video resources: Along with some required online reading, I will refer 1xbet online casino to additional resources available online or on video to complement our readings and discussions. Links within the online "Schedule of Classes" will take 1xbet online casino to related online resources. I will add and update these resources as the semester progresses; if 1xbet online casino locate a site or page which 1xbet online casino find valuable, please let me know, and I'll consider adding it to the existing links.

Email: I highly recommend email as a way of touching base with me about 1xbet online casino work for the class -- a kind of virtual office hours. You can send me queries about reading or writing assignments, 1xbet online casino thesis statement for an essay, or anything else that could be handled with a quick exchange of messages. I check my email throughout the day, but please remember that I am not perpetually online.

Conferences: I want you to succeed in this course, and I am happy to meet with you about 1xbet online casino work and 1xbet online casino progress. I encourage you to see me before exams or papers are due, or if you have questions about material we discuss in class. Please feel free to stop by during office hours (M, W 9:00-10:00 a.m.), or contact me by phone or email to arrange a more convenient time to meet.

Note: If 1xbet online casino have any condition such as a physical or learning disability that will make it difficult for 1xbet online casino to carry out the work as I have outlined it or which will require academic accommodations, please notify me in the first two days of the course.

Grading: The response papers (20%), the essay review (10%), and class participation (20%) will count for half of 1xbet online casino grade. The final writing project – a 20-page essay (50%) – completes the requirements.