English 710: Dr. Seuss

       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. A note on the criticism: While I do hope you learn from the critical articles, you do need to agree with each critic. Since I am among those critics, I should tell you that I don't agree with all that I've published. So, do not be shy about critiquing my work. To offer a critique, marshall contrary evidence — that evidence will certainly come from the text under discussion, but may also derive from other contextual (biographical, historical, cultural, theoretical, etc.) information.

Requirements: Paper | Response Papers | Class Participation and Attendance | Leading Class Discussion | Sighting Seuss | Technology | Message Board | Assignments

       Paper: The paper must be typed (word-processed) and double-spaced; include a title, your name, the date; and have numbered pages that are stapled 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. 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. 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 questions, please ask. If you plagiarize, you will automatically fail this course. For more information on Kansas State University's Honor System, please visit <http://www.k-state.edu/honor/>.

        Response Papers: You will also write three response papers (2 pp. in length) in response to our readings. Response papers are designed to ready you for class discussion and to explore ideas you could develop further in your longer paper. They are due the day indicated on the syllabus and must address the reading for that day. In your response paper, you should not repeat previous class discussions or provide a mere summary of the reading. Instead, your response should begin to analyze the reading assigned for that class session, selecting an issue or theme or question you feel to be significant. I recommend that you select a word, phrase, image, two-page spread (if a picture book or comic), or short quotation from the reading to initiate your response. That selection can be from the criticism or from a literary text; you might even apply the criticism to the literary text. Responses will be graded on a 30-point scale: 30-27=A, 26-24=B, 23-21=C, 20-18=D, <17=F. I do not accept late response papers.

• Due Dates for Response Papers

        Class Participation and Attendance: Read everything, and come to class prepared to talk about what you have read. On the first day of discussion for each assignment, you must have finished the reading and be ready to discuss it. "The reading" is all the text assigned for that day. We make sense of literature by discussing it. For this reason, class participation will count for 20% of your final grade. Discussion will take place both in class and out of it, via the Message 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 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.

       If you have medical reason for doing so, you may (if you provide documentation to me at the start of the term) use a portable computer for taking notes in class -- but that's all you may use it for. If you lack such a reason, then you must put your laptop away during class. Similarly, out of common courtesy, you may not text-message during class. And turn off your cell phone.

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        Leading Class Discussion:

       Students will sign up in pairs to initiate discussion for one of our class sessions. Questions for class discussion (4-5 in number) should highlight issues or themes or queries you think we should address in our class discussion of the reading assigned for that day. After conferring about and drafting the questions, groups leading discussion should email me their questions by 7 p.m. the night before; I will confirm receipt and offer any suggestions for the order or focus of the questions.

• Dates for Leading Class Discussion

      

       Sighting Seuss:

        During the semester, keep an eye out for Dr. Seuss. Any time you notice Seuss -- or one of his characters -- referenced in popular culture, make a note of it, including full bibliographic information. If you can, please keep a copy of the item in question. For some examples of such items, see the items reproduced in the "Sighting Seuss" section of this blog post, and in the "Legacy and Influence" section of the Class Pack. For some examples of citations, see the bibliography for Chapter 6 of Dr. Seuss: American Icon, pp. 282-84. I would also prefer if you did not duplicate something mentioned in Dr. Seuss: American Icon. To get a sense of what your analysis might look like, please read Chapter 6 of Dr. Seuss: American Icon. You're not required to read the book mentioned at the end of this sentence, but if this sort of cultural analysis interests you, then check out Gilbert Rodman's Elvis After Elvis: The Posthumous Career of a Living Legend (1996).

        Where will you find these references? Some sources may include television programs, movies, popular music, magazine articles, blogs, comic strips, email, poems, political cartoons (it is an election year), and advertisments (but not for Dr. Seuss books). You're looking for references and allusions to Dr. Seuss in popular culture -- moments in which people invoke Seuss, parody Seuss, identify with Seuss, borrow from Seuss, or otherwise appropriate Seuss. So, for example, please exclude any advertising created by an entity licensed by Dr. Seuss Enterprises. You're interested in what Seuss means to other people.

        On April 2, 2012, you will turn in the following:

1. A close-reading of one of the items you've found. In other words, interpret this cultural artifact. For what purpose does it invoke Seuss? How does the creator of this object view Seuss? How do you know? Length: Your interpretation should be at least a couple of paragraphs in length. Think of this as being a roughly 2-page paper.
2. A bibliography of all of the items you've found. I would like each person to find at least a half dozen, but there's no upper limit here.
3. If possible, turn in the item that you have interpreted. If it's not possible, then it's not possible.

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        Technology:

       This syllabus is on-line, available through the "Courses" section of my homepage: <http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/>. I have linked authors' names to relevant webpages, listed resources, and provided links to the paper assignments.

        Message Board: Post comments to the message board once a week (or more frequently, if you wish). An average posting should run 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 asses 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 in comments on the message board. Though extra postings to the message board will not automatically replace participation in class discussions, regular contributions above and beyond your weekly posting can improve your class participation grade.

       Access the message board via K-State On-Line.

1. Log in to our class on K-State On-Line.
2. At left, choose the "Message Board."

       Email: My email address is philnel@ksu.edu. Please use the subject line. Due to the increased volume of spam, messages without clear subject lines will be deleated unread. You can write with questions, send a thesis statement or outline for an essay, make an appointment to meet me in my office, or do anything else that could be handled with a quick exchange of messages. I check email several times daily, but I am not on-line at all times.

Schedule of Assignments

Subject to change.

[C] = Shown in Class. [CP] = Class Pack. [F #] = Fensch's Of Sneetches..., + page #s. [KSOL] = K-State OnLine [R] = On Reserve (at Hale Library). [W] = Web. [YFS] = Your Favorite Seuss.

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

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