English 495
Capstone Seminar in American Literature
Dr. Sean Meehan
Emerson’s School
Am I extravagant in believing that our people are more indebted to his teachings than to any other person who has spoken or written on his themes during the last twenty years, are more indebted than they know, becoming still more so?... His works are studies. And any youth of free senses and fresh affections shall be spared years of tedious toil, in which wisdom and fair learning are, for the most part, held at arm's length, planet's width, from his grasp, by graduating from this college.
Bronson Alcott (1865; 1882)
Course Overview:
As a capstone seminar, this course is an intensive study of a major American author, Ralph Waldo Emerson, his most significant work and thought, some of the biographical and cultural contexts for that work, and the significance that Emerson has in American literary and cultural history. My subtitle, “Emerson’s School,” suggests several things you can expect in this course: 1]Emerson’s position as a leading American writer and thinker—the influence he has on writers in his day and after. Is there an Emersonian school of writing? Can there be such a thing? Who are his pupils? 2]Emerson’s interest in education and the ideas (and problems) of schooling and learning. It is not the only theme we will pursue, but it is a central thread we will use to explore Emerson’s writing—his interest in how we encounter the world and America as learners, scholars, readers and his hopes for a more meaningful kind of education. This is a project I am working on currently (and started to research this summer at Harvard) and I invite you to explore it with me and offer your own insights. 3]Emerson’s ability to school us—in the vernacular, to take us to school: in the matter of how we experience our own reading and writing, our own work as American scholars. What can Emerson teach us about our own work as writers, readers, thinkers? This is a key to the capstone experience: you should leave knowing a good deal about Emerson as a scholar; but you should also know a good deal more about your own powers as a scholar.
Course Objectives:
Students successfully completing this seminar will:
Experience in depth the critical reading and writing process that culminates in literary scholarship.
Understand key cultural and critical issues that relate to Emerson and his place in American literary history.
Develop a substantial seminar paper that reflects their full engagement with their study of Emerson and their best work as an English major. Students will works towards submitting their work for an undergraduate research conference and/or publication in an appropriate journal.
Appreciate the complexity and creativity of Emerson’s work and thought.
Appreciate the complexity and creativity of their own thought and writing.
Regarding Department Outcomes for Majors/Minors, the capstone focuses on 2:
# 6: Understands the critical principles and vocabulary of prominent methods of reading and interpretation as well as the principles behind the construction of literary periods and genres.
#7: Uses a variety of information resources and technologies to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge in ethical and responsible ways.
Course Texts [available at bookstore]
Dillard, The Writing Life
Porte and Morris, eds. Emerson’s Prose and Poetry.
Silko, Ceremony.
Course Work:
1]A journal/reading log: in Emersonian fashion, you will keep a journal that you use to respond to reading, prepare thoughts for seminar discussion, and explore the process of developing ideas into writing.
2]Intensive and thoughtful reading of Emerson’s writing and related secondary resources.
3]Luminous links: These are semi-formal reading/writing assignments you will do for seminar discussion and in preparation for your final paper. The forum for these projects will be the Emerson web I am developing.
4]Seminar paper: A 7-10 page essay on an Emerson topic and text(s) of your choice. This essay will be published on the Emerson web. This essay should reflect your strongest work as an English major.
5]Final: Conference presentation to the department at Friday is Writing Day; final conference with me
Course Expectations and Policies:
Some crucial things you can expect from me as an educator and the leader of your experiences in the course.
Response: One of my roles is to assess your learning in the course so that I can help in that process. That means more than giving you a grade. It means giving you the response (employing a variety of methods of assessment, some with numbers, some without) that you will need to understand your own learning and thus perform in this course (and beyond it) more effectively and thoughtfully—the main objective of this and any course I teach. I understand that you may be more used to “grades” alone rather than this broader emphasis on response and qualitative assessment; feel free to talk with me whenever you feel you need a response that is more oriented toward a number.
Curiosity: I am a learner and love the process of learning; that is why I teach. This means that my curiosity for the subjects in this course and my desire to learn more about them will be part of the course and should encourage you, I would hope, to be equally curious and passionate about your learning. I will be a leader of the course but be prepared to have me follow your lead as well.
Flexibility: Since I am a learner and the course is therefore a work in progress, you should expect the course to evolve. We will follow a general syllabus with assignments given in advance; but be prepared for some changes to be made based on where we are going at a given time. You should always consult the course web page for updates. Regarding disabilities: If you have an identified disability which may impact your performance in this class, schedule an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss adaptations or accommodations which may be necessary to provide you with an equal opportunity for success in this course.
Some crucial things I will expect from you as a student (and fellow learner) in this course.
Participation: If you are going to participate more effectively and thoughtfully in your own learning (an objective of the course) you will need to participate on a daily basis. Class participation is a key component of the course and will be part of your overall grade. It involves keeping up in your journal writing, speaking and listening actively in class, being prepared for discussions. Since you can’t participate if you are absent, unexcused absences will affect your grade. An excused absence is one where you have spoken with me in advance about your need to miss class. Here is my attendance policy:
--After two absences (your free pass), each absence will count -10 from your final participation grade.
--A student who misses 50% of the classes by midterm (this includes classes missed before signed into the course) will automatically fail the course.
--Students may have the opportunity to add extra credit points to their participation grade. See me if interested or concerned about your absences.
Communication: Keep in touch with me about how things are going for you, difficulties you are having with your work, confusion, curiosity, excitement. Communicating how things are going is also a key part of participating thoughtfully in your own learning. My late work policy: As a rule, if you have not communicated with me in advance about turning in an assignment later than the due date, you will loose credit for that assignment. An assignment more than one week late will receive a 0.
Integrity: You can’t participate thoughtfully if you aren’t being fully honest with me, with your colleagues, and with yourself. Plagiarism is one form of dishonesty. In general, using the ideas and language of another without giving proper credit is plagiarism. Any student guilty of such plagiarism is subject to serious penalty for the assignment (failing) and for the course overall. We will talk about how to credit properly the use of another’s work as well as how to distinguish between collaboration and sharing (both of which are important in education) and plagiarism. For more on plagiarism and the policies of the College, consult the College Catalog and Student Handbook.
Progress: Throughout the course I will be looking for and assessing your progress as a way to help you make that progress. I will expect you to be striving for progress in all aspects of the course, willing and eager to do the work that progress requires.
Assessment:
I will use a variety of evaluation methods to assess your performance and determine your grade. These methods will be discussed in advance. The general scale I will use for determining final grades should be familiar to you (+ and – at each level may also be applied):
A/Excellent/90-100
B/Good/80-89
C/Average/70-79
D/Poor/60-69
F/Failing/below 60
What follows is an approximate guideline for how your progress and work in the course will count toward your final grade:
Participation: 15%
Reading logs: 25%
Luminous links (short writings) and presentations: 20%
Seminar Paper: 40%