FALL 2012 ENGLISH: 5340 “Literature for Youth,” Thursdays 6-8:50p.m., Hudspeth 200 Dr. James B. Carter………jbcarter2@utep.edu…x6243…336-909-3307 Office Hours (HUD 117): TBA__________________________ and by appointment Catalogue description: “The study of literature written for young people.” 3credit hours, graduate-level. Broader description: This course will mine the intersections of adolescence, secondary education, and literary analysis through the intense study of and reflection on works of scholarly merit in the domains of the humanities and the social sciences and will provide literary texts through which various lenses, critical approaches, and concepts from that literature may be applied or explored. This section of the course focuses on the graphic novel as primary literary text. Required texts: Core textbook: Adolescents at School (Sadowski) Graphic Novels: American Born Chinese (Yang); Any Empire (Powell); Anya’s Ghost (Brosgol); The Arrival (Tan); Black Hole (Burns); Blankets (Thompson); Blue Beetle: Boundaries (Sturges); Epileptic (David B.); Fun Home (Bechdel); Girl from HOPPERS (Hernandez); Stuck Rubber Baby (Cruse); Habibi (Thompson); Hereville (Deutsch); Incognegro (Johnson); La Perdida (Abel); Level Up (Yang); Persepolis (Satrapi); Refresh, Refresh (Novgorodoff); Skim (Tamaki); Stitches (Small); White Tiger: A Hero’s Compulsion (Marvel); Wonderstruck (Selznick); Young Allies (McKeever); Yummy (Neri); Zahra’s Paradise (Khalil & Amir); The 99 (one issue of the series, purchased online). *Other readings will be assigned. I may provide you with these via email or other delivery systems, or you may be asked to access them on your own if the reading is readily available through the campus library. Objectives: Students will mine the intersections of adolescence, secondary education, and literary analysis through the intense study of and reflection on works of scholarly merit in the domains of the humanities and the social sciences. Students will examine literary texts with an aim toward connecting them to various lenses, critical approaches, and concepts from that scholarship. Students will engage in extensive reading, writing, reflecting, and research to assist in meeting the above objectives. Students will create scholarship and research to indicate their growing knowledge of the stated intersections and objectives. Students will build community and constructivist knowledge in the pursuit of the above objectives. Course Policies/Requirements: Regularly check your assigned UTEP e-mail for important messages. Attend class in a punctual and consistent manner. More than 2 absences will result in failing the course. Repeated tardiness will result in failing the course. I have final authority over assessing the tardy penalty to your grade. Make use of class technologies as requested: http://forums.delphiforums.com/matminers Complete all readings and assignment in your own words to avoid plagiarism. (See http://academics.utep.edu/Portals/1559/plagiarism%20statements.pdf). By staying enrolled in class, you agree that I can take any measure necessary to verify that your work is your own and is original to this class. Read and share reactions to ideas about assigned texts, handouts, and class activities in a timely manner. Absolutely no food, gum, sunflower seeds or anything else non-liquid that can be sucked, chewed, licked or swallowed. Drinks are acceptable so long as they do not cause noise or disruption. So, make sure your water bottles do not make strange jet plane noises every time you sip. Violating this policy will result in me asking you to remove the offending item. If you choose not to do so, you should assume you will not be counted present for that day’s class (see attendance policy). Please do not come to class smelling of cigarette or cigar smoke. Smelling of smoked meats is completely acceptable, even encouraged, but please refer to the above policy regarding food.  Regarding the two directly above: We all have a right to be comfortable in class. This includes me. I am especially sound-, light-, chemical-, and smell-sensitive, and I become more so as the day wears on. Seriously, one whiff of a Marlboro and my mood can completely change and my health can be immediately affected. I have no control over this condition, and I need you to understand and respect my policies. Inform me with any proper paperwork/notification of any disabilities defined by the university. I will make reasonable accommodations for those with university-documented disabilities. (See http://sa.utep.edu/dsso/ ). Do not expect to turn in late work, and turn it in to me in the format specified. *Quality matters! Time spent does not automatically equal quality of finished result! I’m the experienced, properly credentialed, and final judge of quality. If you can’t accept that going in, my class is not for you. Grading and Rubrics: Posting & Discussion…………………...20% Annotated Bibliography………………...30% Term Paper………………………….…..50% *Unless otherwise notified, assume that I am using the general 10-point grading scale. Posting and Discussion: I've created an online community called "Literature for Youth Fall 2012." There, you will make several postings online each week regarding the readings we will be discussing. We'll be doing a lot of required/graded work for class in this space. Please register to join this forum, and use the name you go by, last initial, and a number of your choosing as your profile name (ex. CarlaM915). Register here: http://forums.delphiforums.com/matminers Each week you will be assigned one of three roles: Initiator, Responder, or Extender. Initiators will post in a manner that facilitates discussion. Responders should build off of what Initiators say. Extenders should find ways to cover new ground or keep the conversation going. A great initiation will reference the reading directly, make an evocative claim, refer to quotes and page numbers, and be a minimum of a rough equivalent of a half-page of text. It may also reference outside materials such as reviews or other resources associated with the post. It will be posted by deadline. Initiations must be made earlier than responses and extensions so others will have the opportunity to respond and extend. A great response will acknowledge a post or posts from the initiators and offer support, critique, or opposing viewpoints and will be a minimum of a quarter-page of text. It may also reference outside materials and will be posted by deadline. A great extension considers all that has been said at the time of posting and moves the conversation forward while also seeking to offer new directions. It may reference outside materials and will be posted by deadline. Less than excellent posts fall short in one or more of these areas. Posts that are not made by deadline will not be awarded a passing score. Posts that are not made will be scored a zero. Begin each of your Posts with the label of Initiator, Response, or Extension. Annotated Bibliography and Term Paper: You will choose a topic that completes the phrase “Adolescence and ***.” Examples include but are not limited to gender, sexuality, bullying, the African American experience, Latina culture, immigration, religion, violence, health, mental health, body image, mentoring, masculinity, social justice. Once your topic has been approved, you will begin your research and craft a 30-source -minimum annotated bibliography in APA format. Your annotated bibliography should summarize, assess, and reflect upon each source. (see http://www.owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/ ). Try to keep the annotations between 5-8 sentences each. A maximum of 10 sources can be Young Adult-centric literary texts that address your topic. The majority of your sources should be scholarly articles, books, book chapters, encyclopedia/handbook entries, etc. Preference peer-reviewed materials. State the peer-review status at the end of each entry. You will turn in your annotated bibliography twice during the semester, once near the midterm and once with your term paper. You will use information gleaned from your annotated bibliography to craft a term paper. Your paper will use APA citation style and may be one of the following: A thorough examination of your topic (that might be used as the start of a practicum or thesis project, or part of a literature review). A proposal of a possible research study to be undertaken at a later time. A write-up of a research study/action research conducted during the course. A well-informed rationale for a unit plan, complete with lesson examples and associated artifacts. For option 1, you can frame your paper accordingly: Introduction to Topic and Explanation of Your Interest in Topic; Hypotheses Regarding What You Think You Might Learn; Literature Review; Reflections and Ramifications (in which you revisit previous sections and hypotheses). For option 2, frame your paper accordingly: Introduction to the Topic and Your Interest in It; Posing and Explaining the Importance of Your Research Question; Literature Review; Proposed Study; Connections & Ramifications Made Among Previous Sections. For option 3, frame your paper accordingly: Executive Summary/Abstract of Topic, Research Questions, Study, and Conclusions; Introduction to Topic and Question; Literature Review; Methods; Results; Conclusions and Ramifications. For option 4, frame your paper accordingly: Introduction to Topic; Why the Topic is Important; Why X-graders will Find it Relevant; How the Topic Meets or Expands Current Curricula; Literature Review; Lesson plans and related artifacts. For each option, turn in your annotated bibliography as the equivalent of a “Works Consulted” page. Papers should be written in 12 point Times New Roman with 1 inch margins all around. They should cite using APA style and can be double-spaced. They should be between 15-20 pages in length (plus bibliography, not including it in that length), but I do not grade down for work that exceeds minimum lengths. A sample of resources to help you get started: The ALAN Review; Adolescent & Family Health; Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal; English Education; English Journal; Encyclopedia of Adolescence (Brown & Prinstein); Encyclopedia of Adolescence (Levesque); Essentials of Young Adult Literature; Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts; Handbook of Research in New Literacies; Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and Visual Arts; Handbook of Reading Research; Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension; Handbook of Research on Children’s and Young Adult Literature; International Handbook on Literacy and Technology; Journal of Adolescence; Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy; Journal of Adolescent Research; Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology; Journal of Research on Adolescence; Journal of Adolescent Health; Journal of Youth and Adolescence; Language Arts; Literature for Today’s Young Adults; Reading Research Quarterly; Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations, and Perspectives for the Classroom Teacher; Voices from the Middle; Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation; Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century. Tentative Timeline: 8/30 – Introduction to course. Sadowksi through Ch.1; PowerPoints on YA Lit, etc. 9/6 – Youth and The Middle East: Zahra’s Paradise; Persepolis; “Literature from the Middle East: Making a Living Connection” article; Article from Webb; Articles from Gillian or Tensuan. 9/13 – Youth and The Middle East: Habibi; The 99 (http://www.the99.org) 9/20 – Racial Identity & Immigration: Sadowski Ch.2; Yummy; Incognegro; Stuck Rubber Baby; Caron article; Richards article. 9/27 – Racial Identity & Immigration: Sadowski Chs. 3-4; The Arrival; Anya’s Ghost; American Born Chinese; Boatright article; Carter & Gomes article; Martinez-Roldan article; Gardner article; Hathaway article. 10/4 – “Latinidad” and Chicano/a Identity: Girl from HOPPERS; Blue Beetle: Boundaries; “Authentic Latinas/os and Queer Characters in Mainstream and Alternative Comics” article; Young Allies; White Tiger (Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 1 trade paperback may be substituted for one of the three super-hero books); Risner article. 10/11 – Gender: Sadowksi Ch.5; La Perdida; Hamilton article; Hereville; Partial annotated bibliographies due. 10/18 – Gender: Sadowski Ch. 6; Any Empire; Level Up; Refresh, Refresh. 10/25 – Sexuality and Faith: Sadowski Ch. 7, Skim; Fun Home; Chute article plus one more of your choosing. 11/1 – Sexuality and Faith: Sadowski Ch. 10, Blankets – articles on Blankets? 11/8 – “Disability”: Sadowski Ch. 9, Stitches, Black Hole 11/15 – “Disability”: Wonderstruck; Epileptic; Chute article; Squier article. 11/29 – Sadowski Chs. 11-end 12/6 – Papers and completed Annotated Bibliographies due. Exams: 12/10-12/14 *note to self: UTEP now has access to underground comics database will all of Comics Journal in it!!