About Class Blog

This is a course blog for students in Kristin Scott’s Fall, 2008 Reading and Writing about Texts class in the Department of English at George Mason University. Students respond critically to specific readings and assignments, but others (outside the class and/or college) are also invited to comment, as long as the commentary is related to the class concerns or topics being addressed (otherwise, comment will be deleted). For more information about this course or the blog, please email me.

Students: please read the course description and blog requirements below. Afterwards, you MUST register with WordPress (if you haven’t already), log in, and post a comment that indicates that you understand what is required of you (in terms of regular blogging). If you have any questions, please post those, as well.

Course Description: This course will introduce you to the fundamentals of interpreting literature by exploring a wide-range of genres, from fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and cyberliterature. This section of English 201 will focus specifically on the body in literature. We will interrogate and scrutinize texts closely, paying careful attention to the ways in which the human body has been a central object of discussion in literature. We will also identify, discuss, and write about the literary devices authors use to explore issues around the body, such as voice, tone, plot, symbolism, and setting. Additionally, this course will also occasionally incorporate some secondary readings in order to help us more critically engage some of these texts and/or the literary devices being used. Particular attention will be paid to bodily malleability and how various representations and tropes of the body in pain, pleasure, illness, and transformation simultaneously inform and reflect various social, racial, political, technological, sexual, and other cultural issues and contexts.

Purpose of Class Blog:
Our class will use this online blog as an extension of our in-class learning community. By posting comments and ideas online, we can jump-start the analytical work of our class. Discussion on this site will help you start thinking critically about our readings; class discussions will then allow us to further deepen our understanding of specific passages, themes, (con)textual issues, and the use of literary devices in the classroom. This course blog also enables a public format for student questions and working through problems: if one has difficulty with a particular text or assignment, the whole class can benefit from the ensuing discussion. Therefore, I strongly urge you all to use this blog collaboratively – ask questions and engage in online discussions.

Blog Requirements:

Each Monday (by the end of that day’s class), your reading assignment and possible discussion questions for the following week will be posted. Be sure, however, to check the blog before each class, to make sure no changes have been made to the reading schedule for that week and that you are aware of any additional announcements or required assignments (beyond the blog responses). Although you will all receive a syllabus on the first day of class, I sometimes change readings or assignment dates, so if there is ever a conflict between the syllabus and the class blog, the BLOG WILL BE THE MOST UPDATED AND OFFICIAL SCHEDULE.

Every student must post a comment at least ONCE A WEEK (responses to weekly readings must be posted no later than 7 a.m. the following Monday). So, for example, the first Response Assignment post will go online by 8:30 a.m. on Monday, August 25th (with the week’s readings and questions); you must post a blog response to those readings/questions by the following Monday, September 1st (no later than 7 a.m.) in order to receive credit for that assignment.

Your posted commentary should be either in direct response to one of my questions, in response to a particularly provocative passage or issue that surfaces within the reading, or in response to another student’s comment. Furthermore, you must always directly and critically engage the text and provide passages or moments that reflect your thoughts. For example, if you comment on how a particular character’s actions seem to be motivated by the physical pain he experiences, be sure to provide a few examples, to substantiate your point.

The questions I post on the blog, underneath each assigned set of readings, are meant to help guide you into a conversation about the text, whether in writing or for in-class discussion, but when posting a blog response, I also encourage you to write about whatever most takes your attention and/or issues or problems you face while reading.

Because the internet and/or our servers sometimes fail us, I strongly encourage you to write out your response first in a Word document and then cut and paste your response online. This way, if you hit the send button and you are not connected or an error occurs, you will not lose the work you just did. In those rare instances in which you are not able to post online, for whatever reason, I will then expect your response on paper as soon as you arrive to class that morning. Also, in the event of an absence, please try to still post a response (on time), so you at least receive credit for that assignment.

These posts will cumulatively make up a considerable part of your overall grade; thus, missing more than a few will hugely impact your final grade. Response assignment grades will be based primarily on how well you follow the prompt/s, how well you engage with other students and overall online class discussion, and your demonstrated understanding of or engagement with the readings. Emphasis will be placed on quality of writing (over quantity) and one’s ability to contextualize readings (making responses relevant to the broader concepts being studied).