Course Introduction, Objectives, Outcomes * Succeeding in an Online Course * Required Texts * Attendance * Submitting Work and Due Dates * Grading * Online Etiquette * Computer Access * Technical Problems * Questions?
We will investigate some of the most famous villains ever created—Grendel and his mother; Macbeth; Satan; Frankenstein’s Creature; Mr. Hyde; Dracula—focusing on the intersections between creation and destruction, inspiration and desolation, divinity and monstrosity.
A few key questions will shape our inquiries this term:
How do we decide that someone or something is a "monster"? What makes someone's actions "monstrous"?
How has divinity been conceptualized by different authors in the British tradition? To what can we attribute these concepts?
Why do monsters appear so frequently in literature? What do monsters represent for the culture that created them? What do monsters represent for us today?
Who created monsters: God or man? Are monsters figments of human imagination, a way we have of explaining to ourselves why terrible things happen, a way of understanding what is sometimes beyond understanding? Or are they a kind of punishment, our sins manifest?
Can monsters be controlled by gods? By God? By humans? Why or why not?
Are humans destined to battle monsters? Is it destiny or just coincidence when we encounter such beings?
Why do some literary monsters continue to haunt us, even centuries after their creation?
To answer these questions, we will read masterpieces from the multiple genres and subgenres: epic poetry, the novel, lyric verse, tragedy, drama, Gothic, science fiction, humor.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Identify key ideas, significant historical or cultural events, and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in selected works of British literature (Critical Thinking and Communication Skills);
Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the social, political, cultural, or religious context (Critical Thinking; Social Responsibility; Communication Skills)
Develop an understanding of literary culture and its relationship to social and historical contexts (Social Responsibility);
Write an analysis of a literary work that adheres to stated academic standards for source use, both primary and secondary sources (Communication Skills and Personal Responsibility).
Critical Thinking: To include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information.
Communication Skills: To include effective written, oral and visual communication
Social Responsibility: To include intercultural competency, civic knowledge and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national and global communities
Personal Responsibility: To include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.
Online courses demand much more individual responsibility on the part of the student than a face-to-face class. Successful distance learning students are clear on this point from the beginning.
Successful distance learning students recognize that:
Online classes are reading and writing intensive;
Online students are held to the same standards of academic integrity as face-to-face students;
Only detail-oriented, independent, and motivated self-starters excel in this environment.
Those who wish to succeed in the online course environment must:
Be people of integrity;
Take responsibility for themselves and their actions and/or inactions;
Establish and maintain exemplary study habits;
Manage their time and set schedules for themselves;
Refuse to procrastinate;
Complete course requirements in a timely manner;
Have strong reading comprehension skills;
Know when to find answers on their own and when to ask for help;
Connect with peers and professor through appropriate discussion forums, email, etc.;
Have regular access to a computer with a high-speed internet connection, either at home, in the WTAMU Marmaduke Internet Innovation Center, or a local public library.
If you do not possess these qualities, abilities, and tools, you should consider carefully whether distance learning is the right choice for you.
Required Texts: All book information will be available in WTClass.
Course materials available through WTClass
Reliable access to a computer with a high-speed internet connection, either at home, in the WTAMU HELC, or a local public library.
Access to computer with speakers
Access to audio/video recording via smartphone, desktop computer, tablet, etc.
Regular attendance is essential in all university courses; flawless attendance is expected.
Obviously, attendance is measured differently in an online course than in a face-to-face class.
With the exceptions of Module 14 and the Final Exam, Modules will open on Wednesday mornings at 7:00 a.m. and close on Tuesday of the following week at 11:55 p.m. See Schedule in the toolbar at the top of the page for all specific lesson open/close dates.
Watch the video for an explanation of how and why modules run this way.
You are expected to login to the course
every Wednesday for the new module assignments and details;
on any date an assignment is due, provided the assignment has not be submitted in advance of the deadline.
You are expected to check WT email
daily during the business week (Monday-Friday);
on weekends as needed.
Failure to login to the course each Wednesday and other times during the week as necessitated by course assignments will affect the final course grade significantly.
I will post changes and updates to Course Announcements on WTClass, and I will have the announcements sent to you WT email.
Because this is a fully online course, you can complete your work from anywhere you have a reliable internet connection and access to WTClass Canvas, the university’s online learning system. To be successful in this course, you’ll also need to be comfortable using WTClass features.
👉 A cell phone is not enough. You will need regular access to a computer with high-speed internet—whether at home, at the WTAMU Marmaduke Internet Innovation Center (formerly the HELC), or at a local public library.
Technology troubles have become the modern equivalent of “The dog ate my homework.” While I understand that things happen—power outages, internet glitches, files mysteriously disappearing—these issues will not excuse missed, late, or incomplete work. Plan ahead and protect your work by saving copies and submitting assignments well before deadlines.
In the rare event of an WTAMU server outage that prevents access to coursework, the Office of Information Technology will notify us all, and I will make adjustments accordingly.
This is not a self-paced course. We follow a schedule with firm deadlines (all in Central Standard Time) for assignments, discussions, quizzes, and other activities. While you have flexibility in choosing the time of day you work, you must meet all due dates.
👉 If you’re looking for a course where you can submit work whenever you like, this course is not the right fit.
All assignments are due by the closing date and time listed for each module, unless I tell you otherwise.
Think of the due date as the last possible date, not the to-do date.
The earlier you start and complete your work, the more time we have to resolve any unexpected problems together. If you wait until the last minute, you risk missing out on both my help and the chance to submit on time.
👉 Late work without prior arrangement will lose one letter grade (10 points) per business day—not per class day. For example, if an assignment due Tuesday is turned in Thursday, it will lose 20 points for lateness.
Some assignments (those that don’t involve group work or discussion forums) may be eligible for an extension if you contact me before the due date. If you reach out after the due date, an extension may not be possible. Please communicate with me early and often if life circumstances are affecting your ability to stay on track.
For missed exams or serious issues, students must provide appropriate documentation within five business days or a grade of zero will be recorded.
If you experience an illness or family emergency, you’ll need to submit documentation through the Office of Student Affairs . You can access their Absence Notification Form here:
All make-up work and extensions are granted at my discretion.
WTClass is equipped to grade objective questions only (true/false, multiple choice, etc.). Because this is a literature course, we have a number of written answers that cannot be assessed automatically. Thus, any short answer/essay questions in any assignment (Comprehension Check, Practice Quiz, Exam, Discussion Forum, Commonplace Journal) will not be graded by the system. I will grade them manually once the assignment deadline has passed, and your final grade for the assignment will be updated/posted in the Gradebook.
This process can be confusing initially with the Comprehension Checks, for it will appear as if your grade has posted. WTClass will post the number of points you earn in the Comprehension Check based on any objective question items, and then that score will be updated once I have graded your written answers.
Under normal circumstances, grades and feedback will be returned to you within ten (10) business days following the lesson close date.
Rubrics will be used to assess certain assignments. Students are encouraged to review the grading rubrics prior to beginning the assignment and to ask any questions about grading criteria.
Comprehension Checks 10%
Discussion Forums 15%
Commonplace Journal (entries 10%; reflective essay 10%) 20%
Practice Quizzes 10%
Exams 30%
Final Exam 15%
Securing reliable, up-to-date, working computer equipment is the student’s responsibility. This responsibility includes access to a computer with secure broadband internet connection, data storage and retrieval, and state-of-the-art security.
The following are mandatory for participation in this course:
Computer (desktop or laptop) with webcam
Mozilla Firefox and/or Google Chrome
Microsoft Word
PDF reader
Reliable internet connection
With your student @buffs.wtamu.edu email address, you have access to Microsoft Office 365 which gives access to OneDrive, Office Online, as well as the ability to download the latest version of Microsoft Office 2016 for free; visit http://students.wtamu.edu/office.html to access and install.
Working knowledge of your computer hardware and software applications, including:
Getting online
Using an Internet browser
Downloading, saving, opening, and printing material found online
Conducting Internet searches
Opening and viewing videos
Internet searches using common browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge)
Writing and editing with a word processor
Composing WT email and attaching documents
Working knowledge of WTClass and ability to navigate within course materials
Posting to a discussion forum
Attaching photos, videos, documents to emails and discussion board posts
Submitting to a drop box or assignment
Take online examinations
Learning new computer skills
Ideally, you should have your own personal computer equipment for an online course. In the case of emergencies, however, computer stations are available for student use at the Marmaduke Internet Innovation Center (bottom floor of Cornette Library; formerly known as the HELC) and at local public libraries.
With your student @buffs.wtamu.edu email address, you have access to OneDrive and 1TB of online cloud storage. This gives you the ability to upload and save documents to OneDrive that you are then able to access from anywhere you have an internet connection. Please visit http://students.wtamu.edu/office.html to setup your access.
Please: save early, save often, and in multiple formats: e.g. save materials on your hard drive plus some kind of external storage, be it cloud, flash drive, or email to yourself.
At West Texas A&M University (WTAMU), we believe that all students should have equal technology opportunities in the classroom. The following technologies may appear in this WTAMU course:
Canvas
Softchalk
Turnitin
Microsoft Products
Vimeo
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Reader
Mozilla Firefox
Google Chrome
YouTube
Respondus
Techsmith Products
Films on Demand
Statements of accessibility, voluntary product accessibility template (VPAT) documents, and/or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are available here: https://wtclass.wtamu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/template/accessibility-statements.html#lms
Your first step should be, of course, to consult the Syllabus , Course Calendar, and Weekly Lesson. Almost 99% of questions can be answered in those documents.
If, however, you have searched diligently, and you cannot find an answer to your question, please drop me an email.