Philip Nel > Courses > English 440: Harry Potter's Library (Spring 2006)

Required Texts | Prerequisites | Objectives | Grading | Requirements | Bulletin Board | Schedule of Assignments | Recommended Resources

 

Required Texts:

Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach (Puffin).

C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (HarperCollins).

E. Nesbit, The Phoenix and the Carpet (Puffin).

Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass (Knopf).

Philip Pullman, The Subtle Knife (Knopf).

Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass (Knopf).

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Scholastic).

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Scholastic).

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Scholastic).

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Scholastic).

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Scholastic).

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Scholastic).

Class Pack for English 440. Available at Eisenhower Copy Center, 1/09/06.

Prerequisites for taking English 440 are at least one of the following: English 125 (Honors English 2) or English 200 (Expository Writing 2). Also, please finish reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets before the first day of class.

 

Objectives:

        This class will examine the Harry Potter phenomenon by reading the novels themselves and the works of Rowling's antecedents, influences and contemporaries. We will approach these works from a variety of critical perspectives, and we will also consult selected secondary sources. In this class, education will not be a passive experience: I expect discussion, debate, and exchanges of ideas. This requires that you not only be present but that you be an active presence. So, during the course, you will:

become familiar with and to appreciate the Harry Potter series within the context of British children's literature and its historical and formal conventions
develop and apply critical skills for reading, thinking, and writing about literature
what a literary text conveys (its themes, its view of the world)
how a literary text conveys that knowledge (its aesthetic form, its selection/omission of detail)
use relevant cultural and historical information when interpreting literature

Grading:		Points	Due
	Quizzes	100 (total for all quizzes)	In class, day reading is due.
	Class Participation &	200	Daily.
	Electronic Bulletin Board		Weekly.
	Midterm Exam	200	In class, 24 February.
	Paper	200	At the beginning of class, 21 April.
	Final Exam	300	In class, 4:10 - 6:00 p.m., 12 May.
	Total	1000

 

Requirements: Paper | Quizzes | Class Participation and Attendance | Computing | Assignments

 

        Paper:

        The paper must: be typed (preferably word-processed) and double-spaced; include a title, your name, and the date; and have numbered pages that are stapled or paper-clipped together. Late papers will be penalized one grade (e.g., B+ to C+) for each day late.

        Sources: Use the MLA method for documenting sources. And don't plagiarize. When you turn in a paper, you pledge that you have faithfully abided by the guidelines for documenting sources -- most grammar handbooks provide guidelines for documentation. Always remember: you must cite the sources of any ideas that are not your own. If you quote, paraphrase, or use another's ideas, you must give credit to the person whose ideas you are using. If you have any questions, please ask. If you plagiarize, you will automatically fail this course. For more information on Kansas State University's Honor System, please visit <www.ksu.edu/honor>.

 

        Quizzes:

        Approximately 12 times during the semester, there'll be a quiz. Sometimes the quiz will be announced, and sometimes it won't. But it will always address the reading for that day. Because everyone can have a bad day, I'll drop the lowest quiz grade.

 

        Class Participation and Attendance:

        Read everything, and come to class prepared to talk about what you have read. On the first day of class discussion for each assignment, you must have finished the reading and be ready to discuss it. By "the reading," I mean all of the text assigned for that day. This class will be based on discussion, so class participation is expected, and will count for 20% of your final grade. Discussion will take place both in class, and out of it, via the Electronic Bulletin Board (explained below). I reserve the right to assign homework or in-class writing projects that are not listed on the syllabus.

        Class attendance is required. Since the class meets three times a week, you are granted three absences, but more than three will lower your final grade by one grade increment for each absence (e.g., B+ would become B). I appreciate your offering explanations for absences; however, the only way to excuse an absence is to provide me with an official letter from the dean. You cannot earn credit for work missed in class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to discover what went on that day. "I didn't know because I wasn't in class" is never an acceptable excuse.

 

        Computing -- the Internet, the Electronic Bulletin Board, and Email:

        The Internet: For your reference, a hyperlinked version of this syllabus is on-line. Go to <www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/> and click on "Courses." I have linked authors' names to relevant webpages, listed web and library resources, and I plan to provide a link to the paper assignment.

        Electronic Bulletin Board: Post comments to the bulletin board once a week. An average posting should run about one or two paragraphs in length. In other words, your postings do not need to be long, but they must be substantive -- long enough to convey clearly the problem you are taking up and your point of view, connecting your comment to others' comments, as appropriate. I will monitor these discussions and assess a grade (at the end of the semester) based on the thoughtfulness of your comments, their ability to foster discussion among your classmates, and their responsiveness to both our readings and to your classmates' comments in class and on the bulletin board.

        How to use the bulletin board:

First, click on English 440. If you receive a message like "Authorization Failed. Retry?" then click on "Retry."
A window will pop up, asking for your username. Type engl440 -- be sure to use all lower-case letters. Next, type in the password that I gave you in class.
To see all the messages posted to date starting with the newest ones first, click on "Preferences" and set the options to "12 months" and "Mixed Threaded, Reversed." Click on the "View Messages Index" button. You should be able to see all the messages posted to the threaded bulletin board. (If a grey box pops up with the title "Security Information," just click "OK.")
To post, choose to reply to a message or to post a new message. You will have to enter your name, your email address, and the subject of the message. You can preview your message before sending it; then, click "Post Message."

 

        Email: My email address is philnel@ksu.edu. If you need help establishing an email account and learning to use email, please visit the Office of Telecommunications at 109 East Stadium or <www.telecom.ksu.edu/> to find out what you have to do. Although I do not require you to use email, I encourage you to use email as a way of touching base with me. You can write me with questions, send a thesis statement or outline for an essay, make an appointment to meet me in person, or anything else that could be handled with a quick exchange of messages. I tend to check email several times a day, but please keep in mind that I am not on-line at all times. You can access email at the various computer labs around campus: 21 Nichols Hall, 22-25 Seaton Hall, 1-1A Dickens Hall, and 325 Justin Hall and in some residence halls (visit <http://rescomp.ksu.edu/info.htm> for more details about resident hall labs).

 

Schedule of Assignments

Subject to Change

[W] = Web. [CP] = Class Pack. [R] = On Reserve (at Hale Library).

Note: "through" means "to the end of" (not "up to"). Page numbers refer to the editions assigned.