Since a great deal of reading is required for this course, you should be prepared to devote the time that is necessary to read, reflect and then write about what you have read.  The course may require up to 10 hours a week of reading, participating in bulletin board discussions, and working on your writing assignments.

I hope that you find sharing ideas and reactions to literature to be both an educational and pleasurable experience.

Being a successful student in the classroom or online requires many of the same skills.  Notice ideas in the chart below.  They may help you to organize.
 

A.	Read the Assignments.  I suggest that you set a certain number of pages or chapters to read each day.  The novels that I selected for the course have a strong plot line which makes them, I hope, enjoyable reading.  In addition, they are examples of fine writing.
B.	Know when work is due.  Familiarize yourself with the Schedule that is on this page.  Also, most of the information is in the Calendar.
C.	Participate.  You MUST participate in the Discussion Forum each week.  I will post "kickoff" questions on most Fridays that you should read and respond to during the next week.  Since the Forum is a DISCUSSION on the novels, you can react to each others responses after you respond to the initial question.
D.	Be disciplined and create a schedule that works for you.  I won't remind you, as in a traditional classroom setting, when something is due.  So READ THE CALENDAR and check the schedule.  Keep checking it to plan your reading.  If you can read ahead at times, that will give you some "breathing space" if something comes up in your life to interfere with an orderly plan.  Let's face it; things do come up!

 

There will be 4 discussion forum groupings concentrating on the literary themes of:

l.  The individual reacting to the Environment
2. The individual reacting to Social Conflict
3.  The individual reacting to Marital/Family Stress
4.  The individual reacting to Advances in Science and Technology

As you can probably see at once, the novels are complex and each novel may have elements of two, three or four of the themes above.  The groupings were chosen so that we might focus on a specific theme in a forum.  For more information on these specific literary themes, go to the Home Page and click on Literary Themes.

First Week--Introduce yourself to me and each other by telling us something about yourself.  This can be about your hobbies, personal interests, college major, concerns about the course, concerns about being a student online or whatever.  All research shows that students tend to stay in classes where they feel a "connection" to others in the class.  I know that this is hard to achieve online but certainly not impossible.  I WANT you to feel a part of THIS class and I WANT you to remain in the class and succeed.
 

You will need to select one novel from the list above, select an approach or thesis that you would like to write about in essay format and do some research to see what critics have had to say about that aspect of your novel.  You must use Modern Language Association (MLA) format.  Click on the Handouts icon for information on Research Papers and on MLA form.  I will conference with you about your topic choice.  It's usually a good idea to keep this assignment in the back of your mind for a time since you may get ideas for it from the discussion forums.