Syllabus and Schedule

Scholars Seminar:

Innocence and Experience

WARR 11A, Fall Quarter 2008

TuTh 11:00-12:20, EBU3 Rm. 1117

Instructor: Dr. Madeleine Picciotto

Office: EBU3, Room 1116

Office hours: MTuWTh 9:00-11:00 (and by appointment)

Phone: 858-534-1384

E-mail: mpicciotto@ucsd.edu

Webpage: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/madpicciotto/

Required texts

Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood

Herman Melville, Billy Budd (University of Chicago Press paperback edition, 2001)

WARR 11A Scholars Seminar Reader: Innocence and Experience, Fall 2008

(reader available through AS Soft Reserves in the Student Center)

Course description and objectives

The Warren College Scholars Seminar provides Honors Program students with a challenging introduction to university-level reading and writing while at the same time satisfying the college's two-quarter composition requirement for first-year students.

The course theme for 2008-2009 is "Innocence and Experience." We will begin the fall quarter by exploring various meanings and understandings of innocence, including its relationship to childhood and childlike qualities. We will go on to consider the movement from a state of innocence to one of experience. Is the loss of innocence inevitable? Is it something to be sought after, to be mourned – or both? Do those who have entered the realm of experience have a responsibility to protect those who have not? Throughout the WARR 11A-B sequence we will undertake an interdisciplinary exploration of innocence and experience, and our understanding will be enriched by the visits of guest speakers from across the UCSD campus.

We will explore a range of complex texts – including your own written work – as we proceed towards a strong command of academic argumentation. You'll be encouraged to develop the skills of interpretation, investigation, analysis, synthesis, and response as you engage with the course materials. One of your assignments will include a research component, and we will be working with personnel from the UCSD Libraries to become familiar with this campus's library resources.

Course policies and requirements

Attendance: Since class participation is the essence of this course, consistent and timely attendance is crucial. More than two unexcused absences or a pattern of tardiness may place you in academic jeopardy.

Student assistants: Our class will utilize the services of three undergraduate student assistants. In addition to stimulating the classroom conversation and facilitating small-group activities, these students will assist you in the development of your writing assignments. You are expected to pay careful attention to their comments and suggestions.

Peer review: Everything you write in this course is subject to peer review. You will occasionally be asked to share your work with your classmates.

UC paper requirement: Every student in a UC lower-division writing course is required to write a minimum of 8,000 words (approximately 30 pages); this includes rough drafts and revisions.

Paper format: All out-of class writing assignments, including drafts, must be stapled, typed, and double-spaced, on 8½" x 11" white paper. Use a non-decorative 12-point font and provide 1" margins around all sides of the page. Use a current MLA style guide for style, grammar, format, and citation questions.

Late papers: No late papers will be accepted unless you make special arrangements with the instructor. Late papers may be subject to grade penalties, at the discretion of the instructor.

Portfolios: All materials pertaining to your writing assignments for this course (from rough drafts to final revisions) should be placed in a folder which will ultimately serve as your final portfolio. At the end of the quarter you'll hand in the portfolio, and it will be used to evaluate your work for your final course grade. Your portfolios will be ready to return to you at the beginning of the next quarter.

Classroom environment: You're expected to respond respectfully to your classmates, discussion leaders, guest speakers, and instructor at all times. Please turn off your cell phones to avoid interruptions.

Academic Integrity: Students are responsible for producing their own original written work in this class. Representing someone else's work as your own will not be tolerated, as outlined in the UCSD Policy on Academic Integrity published in the UCSD General Catalog.

Evaluation Standards in Warren College Writing Courses

Warren College writing courses, including WARR 11A-B, are graded primarily on your writing performance; you will be evaluated on the quality, consistency, and carefulness of your work. You will receive letter grades on the final drafts of Essays 1, 2, and 3. In addition, effort and participation will be taken into account. You are expected to contribute constructively to class activities, to attend class regularly, and to complete all assigned course work on time.

Grades

● An "A" essay demonstrates excellent work. It has something to say and says it well. It develops its argument clearly and consistently, demonstrating a complex understanding of the assignment, and does so using varied sentence structure. It often rises above other essays with particular instances of creative or analytical sophistication. There may be only minor and/or occasional grammatical errors.

● A "B" essay demonstrates good work. It establishes a clear claim and pursues it consistently, demonstrating a good understanding of the assignment. There may be some mechanical difficulties, but not so many as to impair the clear development of the main argument. While a "B" essay is in many ways successful, it lacks the originality and/or sophistication of an "A" essay.

● A "C" essay demonstrates adequate work. It establishes an adequate grasp of the assignment and argues a central claim. The argument may rely on unsupported generalizations or insufficiently developed ideas. It may also contain grammatical errors.

● That work which deserves a grade of less than "C" will be characterized by some of the following problems: it fails to demonstrate an adequate understanding of the assignment; it fails to articulate an adequate argument; it contains significant grammatical problems.

The following questions are among those that will be considered when papers are evaluated and graded:

1. Does the paper respond appropriately to the various components of the assignment?

2. Does the paper make a coherent argument?

3. Is there a clear and plausible claim being made? Is it stated and contextualized effectively?

4. Is there sufficient and relevant evidence to ground the claim?

5. Does the paper effectively select and utilize material from the course readings or other materials for support and validation? Does it summarize, paraphrase, and quote effectively?

6. Does the paper use all relevant details both to support the claim and to provide a context for the case being made? Does it ignore material that should be taken into account?

7. Does the paper work through the complexities of the material, as opposed to oversimplifying or overgeneralizing?

8. Is the paper well organized and tightly unified?

9. Is material from outside sources cited using appropriate MLA documentation style?

10. Are there problems with style, syntax, grammar, or mechanics that interfere with the meaning?

Course Schedule and Assignment Due Dates

(date indicated is the date an assignment must be completed)

WEEK 0: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CHILDHOOD

Sept. 25 – Reading: Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood

WEEK 1: INNOCENCE FOUND, INNOCENCE LOST

Sept. 30 – Reading: Aries, "From Immodesty to Innocence"; Heywood, "Changing Conceptions of Childhood"; Rousseau, selections from Emile; Wordsworth, "Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower"

Oct. 2 – Reading: Book of Genesis, Ch. 2-3; Milton, selections from Paradise Lost / Writing: Essay 1

WEEK 2: THE FATE OF THE INNOCENT

Oct. 7 – Reading: Billy Budd, Part I

Oct. 9 – Reading: Billy Budd, Part II

WEEK 3: FANTASY AND REALITY

Oct. 13 – Writing: Essay 2A to be submitted electronically to SAs by 5:00 p.m.

Oct. 14 – Reading: Bettelheim, "Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament"; Grimm, "Hansel and Gretel" (1812 and 1857 versions); Andersen, "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Oct. 16 – Guest speaker: Stephen Potts, Department of Literature

WEEK 4: REASON AND DEVELOPMENT

Oct. 21 – Reading: Locke, excerpts from Some Thoughts Concerning Education / Writing: Essay 2B

Oct. 23 – Guest speaker: Gail Heyman, Department of Psychology / Reading: Heyman, "Children's Critical Thinking When Learning from Others"

WEEK 5: OBEDIENCE AND INNOCENCE

Oct. 28 – Reading: Skolnick, "The Child as Cultural Symbol"; Greven, "Breaking Wills"; Wayland, "A Case of Conviction"

Oct. 30 – Writing: Essay 3A

WEEK 6: ESCAPE FROM CHILDHOOD

Nov. 3 – Writing: Essay 3B to be submitted electronically to SAs by 5:00 p.m.

Nov. 4 – Reading: Holt, excerpts from Escape from Childhood

Nov. 6 – Conferences: Individual meetings with SAs

WEEK 7: EXPLORING ISSUES – CHILD'S PLAY

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day Holiday

Nov. 13 – Reading: Henig, "Taking Play Seriously" / Writing: Essay 3C

WEEK 8: BRANCHING OUT

Nov. 18 – Guest speaker: Duffy Tweedy, University Library (meet at CLICS classroom in Galbraith Hall)

Nov. 20 – Writing: Essay 4A

WEEK 9: BRANCHING OUT

Nov. 25 – Writing: Essay 4B (to SAs)

Nov. 27 – Thanksgiving Holiday

WEEK 10: THE END OF INNOCENCE

Dec. 2 – Reading: Blake, "Holy Thursday"; Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown"

Dec. 4 – Essay 4C and complete course portfolios due