Time Travel Narratives | OTIS

Syllabus

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ENGL 202/400 Time Travel Narratives

How to Succeed In This Course

To succeed in a distance learning (online) course, you need the following equipment and skills:

1. Internet Access: You must either own or have frequent access to a computer connected to the Internet. If you connect to the Internet with a modem, 56K is the minimum modem connection, but broadband is highly recommended.

2. Computer Knowledge: You must also know how to use your computer to save files, access those files on your computer, copy files, use word processing, cut and paste text, copy text, and send and receive email. I use Microsoft Word so your attachments must be in Microsoft Word. Be sure that all Microsoft Word attachments have the .doc extension on them. In addition you will need to familiarize yourself with this wiki site. Check out "How To Navigate".

3. Email: You will need your password and login for your Otis email account and O-Space. If you do not have one, please contact the Registrar’s office at (310) 665-6950. I will post the link ot this site and user access in O-Space as well.

4. Film viewing: You will need to purchase or rent the films (all should be available from Blockbuster, netflix.com, amazon.com, etc.) and watch them.

5. Writing Skills: Aside from the technical requirements, you must be able to read and write effectively. Using the Internet is a point and click experience, but the Internet and Internet courses are reading intensive experiences. You must also be a self-motivated person who can maintain a schedule that requires weekly activities just as in any course, although you can complete these activities any hour of the day or night during that weekly period.

Prerequisites

Completion of ENGL104 and ENGL106 with a grade of “C” or better. (Those students who wish to apply this to ENGL400 must have completed ENGL202.)

Some Thoughts About Distance Learning Courses

1. Online students gain experience and skills that will make them marketable in the 21st century.

2. Online learning is active. Students analyze and evaluate independently.

3. Online learning is flexible. Based on their preferences and needs, instructors and students can work on a course at 2 p.m. or 2 a.m., at home or at school.

4. Oftentimes more students participate online because they are less self-conscious and less subject to the time pressure that can inhibit classroom discussions. Instructors, in turn, get enhanced one-on-one contact with students.

5. Online learning requires more committment and focus of the part of the students.

Course Learning Outcomes

• Enhance your ability to understand, appreciate, and discuss works of literature film through extensive reading and active viewing.

• Analyze works of fiction and drama for plot structure, setting, characterization, theme, and narrative point of view.

• Develop an understanding of critical analysis of film through careful examination of cinematic narratives focusing on character development, dramatic structure, and performance.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the possibilities and problems involved in the interpretation and reiteration of literary ideas, scientific theories and film plot, focusing on the idea of time travel and how it has been reimagined in both text and film.

• Understand that film and literary texts are both forms of storytelling, reflecting and illuminating human experiences, motives, conflicts, and values, and employing symbolism, allegory, and myth.

• Define ethics and discuss the main ethical arguments surrounding the debate of time travel and its practice.

• Identify, describe and explain key ethical issues raised in the texts and films through analytical writing and critical short responses.

• Compare and contrast the various writer’s approaches in defining the social responsibility of a successful Time Traveler through written work.

• Define human sustainability and discuss how the multiple universe theory presented in readings questions the perceived “value” of human life.

Required Materials

Office Hours

O-Space

I will communicate with the class primarily through Otis email and this wiki site. O-Space will be used mostly for uploading articles that I will need you to read in addition to your texts. In addition, you can view your gardes on O-Space.

If the homework is changed or class altered, I will post it on O-Space including a notification by Otis email and on this wiki. Otis email cannot be forwarded to a personal email address.

General Course Requirements

Completion of all assignments on time. This class is fast paced ending in only 10 weeks. Should you get behind I will ask you to withdraw from the class so that you can take it when you can better benefit from it. What is getting behind in an online class? It means not doing any of the assignments in that week. Assignments are due every Tuesday by 3:00pm standard pacific time.

Attendance Policy. Since there is no actual attendance, attendance is counted by having completed the weekly assignments and regular participation on collaborative wiki projects. Failure to complete any assignments for two weeks constitutes an automatic failure. (This more brutal in the summer because it goes faster than the regular semester.)

Late Work Policy. Late work is not accepted. Assignments are due by Tuesday, 3:00 pm of the week specified. You should notify me ahead of time if you experience any technical problems (the Internet connection goes down, your computer crashes), and for this reason it is generally best not to wait until the very last moment.

Wordprocessing. All papers must be wordprocessed, spellchecked, double-spaced with one-inch margins. Always (and for all classes) place your name, class, and date in the upper right hand corner. In the event of a chaotic and/or catastrophic happening where I loose all work inexplicably, be sure to save all your papers on a disk or USB stick. When emailing your paper, it must be as a Word attachment. I will respond that I received it. If I do not, then I did not get it. I will return your paper with comments. After you submit your paper you may rewrite it once for a better grade.

Grading Scale

A	94-100	4.0
A-	90-93	3.7
B+	86-89	3.3
B	82-85	3.0
B-	78-81	2.7
C+	74-77	2.3
C	70-73	2.0
C-	67-69	1.7
D	60-66	1.0
F	0-59	0.0

Department Plagiarism Statement:

Be Warned - if you are caught plagiarizing on any text you post on this wiki site - you will be automatically denied user access and will receive an F for the assignment and F in participation. Plagiarizing in a paper results in an automatic F.

Plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common knowledge) material without acknowledging the source.

Plagiarism includes:

• Submitting someone else’s work in whole or part (including copying directly from a source without documentation)

• Having someone else write all or part of a paper

• Cutting and pasting from the internet without proper documentation

• Carelessly or inadequately citing

• Using the writing services of another person who quantitatively and qualitatively revises the paper significantly beyond the abilities of the student writer

Choosing not to know, is not an excuse: check out more information on Information Literacy.

Although family, friends, and outside editors are well meaning, they usually are not trained as tutors. An editor fixes the paper without the writer learning how to do it him/herself. Sometimes the editor changes so much of the paper that it is no longer the student writer’s work and thus plagiarized. A trained tutor helps the writer to learn how to revise the papers and eventually not need the tutor’s assistance.

A student who plagiarizes at minimum will fail the assignment; beyond that plagiarized papers and exams will result in a failure for the course. All students who plagiarize will be reported to the Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the violation will be filed in the department. Repeated or serious violations can result in not only failure for the class but referral to the Student Conduct Committee that has the option of dismissal or suspension from the college.

Proper citations in MLA style and a Works Cited Page must accompany all papers.

You can find this information online: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/newcatalog.aspx?isbn=0312452756&disc=English&course=Composition&detail=supplements

You can also find citation information through the Library website.

If you have to ask: "should I acknowledge where this information came from?" . . . then you probably should!

Tutoring

Otis provides an excellent online tutoring program free to all students. Tutors are happy to help you with a variety of tasks including reading comprehension, researching a topic, understanding an assignment, and of course, writing a paper or a homework assignment. However, they will not “fix” your papers for you, but will help you learn to fix them yourself. I strongly encourage you to make use of the tutorial services to correct weak papers and strengthen good ones.

Since summer tutoring is limited, please check with the Student Resource Center for the schedules of the tutors who can respond to papers.

Disability Accommodations

If you have a documented disability that may have some impact on your work for this or any class, please contact the Director of the Student Resource Center before you need any accommodations. All discussions will remain confidential. The director will verify your documentation (or tell you what you need) and send an official request for specific accommodations only to the professors of the classes you request.

No professor can give accommodations without an official written request from the SRC. No retroactive accommodations can be provided so please be sure to do this early in the semester. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss appropriate accommodations.