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Courses & Syllabi I

English A-J

English

Kenyon Equivalent: ENGLISH 111Y-112Y: Introduction to Literature and Language 1 unit credit

(re-numbered: was English 101Y-102Y)

The KAP English course is designed to help students to develop skills in perceptive reading, critical thinking, and effective writing, through the study of significant literary texts representing a range of genres and chronological periods, and drawn from a variety of gender and cultural perspectives.

Reading List

Reading lists for the various sections of KAP English are organized around intensive study of most of the following genres, with selections drawn widely from the cultural and chronological expanse of Anglophone literatures. Individual instructors, inconsultation with their colleagues, will devise their own reading lists which will typically include selections from among the following representative texts and writers.

lyric poetry - selections from The Norton Anthology of Poetry

epic - The Odyssey or Beowulf

short story - selections from various anthologies and/or a collection such as Dubliners

novel - Jane Eyre, Mama Day, Heart of Darkness, Tracks, Things Fall Apart, Beloved, Invisible Man, 1984

drama - Shakespeare (Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest, As you Like It), Ibsen, Sophocles, Becket, Stoppard

autobiography and/or non-fiction - The Woman Warrior, Black Boy, Walden, "Politics and the English Language"

film - Apocalypse Now, Ran

Many instructors also like to introduce their students to truly contemporary literature by organizing occasional discussions around the most recent edition of The Kenyon Review.

Assessment

Evaluation is based primarily upon student achievement in the composition of 8-12 essays, most addressing the texts studies, and additional in-class writing and informal assignments. Student essays typically range from 3-5 typed pages. Essays should be evaluated for the relative freshness and sophistication of their insights into the texts in question; their success in developing a focused and well-substantiated argument; their ability to analyze textual evidence, utilizing (as appropriate) close-reading skills; their stylistic control and clarity; their grammatical and mechanical accuracy. As they prepare some of their essays, students will be asked to complete research using reference texts and scholarly sources. Characteristically, sections of the course will conclude with a final essay examination that is comprehensive in scope.

Classroom Activities

A major component of KAP English classes is the informed and specific discussion of the assigned literature. Discussion should engage as many students as possible each day, and should encourage independent thought, clear articulation of ideas, and close analysis of specific textual detail.

Programmatic Organization

Each fall, school instructors will send their Kenyon colleagues a syllabus for each KAP section, and these will be circulated among the group. Once a year, Kenyon faculty will visit each school colleague, to teach a class or to participate in an on-going discussion. Kenyon faculty will also organize occasional colloquia to bring together students from several KAP English classes for discussion of some common text. Additionally, KAP instructors will meet once each year to discuss assessment,student performance, and other pedagogical and programmatic concerns. Every other summer, KAP instructors will meet for a five-day development seminar which will focus on a collectively-designed syllabus addressing teaching methods and curricular and theoretical questions and encouraging active discussion of new or revisited works of literature.

2007 KAP English Essay Prize

This year's winner was Julia Jarrell at Hathaway Brown, where her teacher is Joon-Li Kim. This was the assignment:

Both Pride and Prejudice and The Piano can be seen as investigating the power of language. Language is often a tool for reinforcing the power of those already in power or for undermining the authority of the powerful. Explore the ways in which these texts comment on the power dynamics of language, not only through their characters but also through their narrative voices. Select the narratorial voice and one character’s voice from one text.

or

Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be, but is not limited to, a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Analyze how the country settings function in Pride and Prejudice and how The Piano plays with the parameters set by Pride and Prejudice.

* Do not merely summarize the plots.
* Make sure you are specific and focused.
* 4-5 typed pages, double spaced.

Julia Jarrell's Prize Essay

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