Children's Literature - English 218

"It's more like a corkscrew than a path."
lewis carroll

English 218 -- John Corbally -- jrcorbally@gmail.com, NEA 273b, (310) 233-4239

This course is dedicated to Doris Peters. Hello old friend.

English 218 is NOT a course in book selection. It's NOT a course in childhood development or teaching methods. It's also NOT a course in book reviewing (assigning "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" is not what this course is about).

It's a course in ideas.

As in all literature classes, we'll be looking at a number of works (in this case classic and contemporary works written for children from infancy through the teen years) to see what ideas about human nature and experience we can discover. Of course we will consider how the works fit into the special area of literature for children, but we will primarily analyze the works as adults to try to see the many layers of meaning (psychological, historical, etc) and the sophistication of techniques each has to offer.

This 3-unit course is fully transferrable to CSU.

NOTE: there is a prerequisite for this course. You must either have completed English 101 (or its equivalant) with a grade of "C" or higher For more information, please contact the counseling staff at LAHC.

The online version of English 218 involves the same readings, writings, exercises and information as the traditional English 218 course; only the delivery system has changed. For more information on the course and how it works, select one of the items below.

General Nature of the Course

This course functions very much like a correspondence course; the chief difference is the electronic environment and your relatively immediate access to your instructor (me). Also instead of students submitting work on paper, assignments are submitted, commented upon and returned via e-mail; lecture material, course deadlines, assignment information are available via the internet.

Lectures: There are a series of online Lectures on topics related to your reading and writing. Be sure to read the lecture material for each week listed because this should help you to understand what some of my expectations and special concerns are about your reading and writing.

Class Schedule: You will need to regularly keep track of assignment (reading and writing) due dates by referring to the Class Schedule. It is up to you to keep up with assignment deadlines. I strongly recommend that you bookmark the Class Schedule page.

Essays: Much of your grade is based on your written assignments. There are detailed instructions on how to produce and submit essays on the class Writing Assignments page. Be sure you read this carefully; if you submit a paper in the incorrect format, for example, it will not be accepted. Specific paper topic instructions can be reached through the links on the Class Schedule page or the Writing Assignments page.

Class Discussions: The rest of your grade will be based on class discussions of certain questions relating to the readings. Discussions will be conducted with the entire class on an ETUDES message board (more information is available on the Discussions page). Be sure to read over details on how to earn maximum points on discussions.

Student Learning Objectives

Student who complete this course successfully should, minimally, be able to

• Recognize distinctive features of the major writers, literary works, movements, trends and genres in Children's Literature.


• Employ critical thinking and college-level methods and terminology of literary analysis to the reading that demonstrates an understanding of these works in context, including, though not limited to historical, philosophical, social, political, religious, psychological, biographical, artistic backgrounds.


• Produce well-developed essays with standard MLA formatting and documentation that support premises about literary works by using logical observations supported by textual examples.

Student Responsibilities

Your responsibilities for this course are really the same as those of any student taking any course with the following addition: you have to keep reminding yourself what is required (assignment dates, rules, etc.) because you don't have an instructor in the front of a room reminding you every class.

• You will do all of the assignments. This means you need to look at the Course Schedule often to make sure when work (reading, writing, lectures, discussions) are due. Keep up with all lectures, readings, discussions, writing assignments.

• You will have all of the textbooks for this course. You need not buy them, but all assigned readings are required.

• You will seek all legitimate help with your course work. That means that when you have questions you will e-mail me immediately or come see me during my office hours on campus. You should also consider taking English 67 (the Writing Lab) if you need additional tutoring.

• You will not cheat. It's fine to get legitimate help; it's not all right to plagiarize. I am well aware that papers can be bought. I am also very savvy about finding those papers (both in print sources and on the internet). The English Department at LAHC has several resources (one is Plagiserve; there are several others) which allow us to track stolen or bought papers.

• You will not threaten or belittle (or flame) other students in class discussions. DO feel free to present opposing arguments on ANY subject, but do not personally attack others in the class.

• You will be bound by all other codes of student conduct listed in the college catalogue.

• Title IX (of the 1972 Education Amendments) protects students and staff alike from discrimination based on sex, including Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault, which are forms of Sexual Misconduct. Under Title IX, all people in the educational environment must be treated equitably, regardless of sex, sexual orientation or expression, and/or transgender identity. For more information: http://www.laccd.edu/Departments/DistrictResources/OfficeOfDiversity/TitleIX/Pages/default.aspx
  If you have experienced or learned of a possible violation of Title IX and/or would like to know about options, resources (including confidential services), the law, or District policy, please do not hesitate to contact a Title IX Coordinator.
  LAHC Campus Title IX Coordinators : Peggy Loewy Wellisch (310) 233-4321 loewywp@lahc.edu & Dawn Reid (310)233-4237 reidd@lahc.edu District Title IX Office: Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (213) 891-2315 TitleIX@email.laccd.edu

If you do not agree to all of the above requirements, do not take this course.

Textbooks

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
• Little Women, Lousia May Alcott
• Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
• The Giver, Lois Lowry
• Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse
• Nothing but the Truth, AVI
• Seedfolks, Paul Fleischman
• an additional work of fantasy (your choice) for Paper 2
• (recommended) Yell-Oh Girls!, Vickie Nam

NOTE: You do not have to buy these bookss; they are all widely available at local libraries, but they are all widely available in local and online bookstores as well. There are some additional short readings for the course. I've done my best to get good translations of some poetry, short stories, folk tales, fairy tales, fables, myths, etc. and put them online for you to read. You CAN find all of this material in other books, but I wanted to make this as convenient as possible. This online anthology is available here: Online Children's Literature Anthology.

You must actually read all items listed on the Class Schedule. You will be expected to include appropriate documented quotations from these works for the class Discussions.

Grading

Each assignment will receive a point score; letter grades are based on percentages (90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; etc.); for example, if a discussion is worth 20 points possible, and if you score a 16, then you have scored 80% which equals a B for that assignment.

At the end of the semester, your overall score will be converted into a percentage of the points possible for the entire course to determine your letter grade for the course.

Once posted grades will be available for view on Canvas.

For more information about what constitutes an "A" paper (or not), click here.

And for specific information on extra credit, revisions, essay requirements, visit the class Writing Assignments page; for more details on how to score high on class discussions, visit the class Discussion page.

John Corbally
Los Angeles Harbor College
(310) 233-4239
jrcorbally@gmail.com

copyright © John Corbally