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Lit 365, Spring 2023 Office: 413 Cullimore Hall Hours: Wed. 2:30-3:30 & by appointment Mail: Humanities Dep't, NJIT, Newark, NJ 07102 |
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COURSE
DESCRIPTION
This course examines forms of journalism, focusing ultimately on literary journalism and other literary forms such as creative nonfiction, with respect to their relationship with either fact or truth, or both (especially considering literary nonfiction's vital role in a politically free society). Aside from brief written assignments, and oral reports, required work in the course will consist of reading journalistic / literary-journalistic and like nonfiction texts of various kinds.
Prerequisites: ENG 102 with a grade of C or higher, and one History and Humanities GER 200 level course with a grade of C or higher.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course
Books:
Kovach, Bill, and
Tom Rosenstiel. The Elements of
Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect.
Writing and Documentation Guides (explanations, examples, etc.)
Abbreviations
for Marking Papers
See also:
Guidelines for a Successful Oral
Presentation (see also
SUGGESTED
PROTOCOL FOR TEAM ORAL REPORTS toward the bottom of page):
http://go.owu.edu/~dapeople/ggpresnt.html
http://www.auburn.edu/~burnsma/oralpres.html
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~riceowl/oral_presentations.htm
http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/skills/oral.htm
• Oral/Visual Reports as part of a group.
• Weekly Canvas postings (two original comments of 100 to 150 words, another 50 to 100-word response to someone else’s post in the week).
• A midterm and final exam (this exam is required for course credit).
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Failure to sit for the final exam will result in all written assignments and the midterm exam being disqualified.
Weekly Canvas posts should be single-spaced
but otherwise must also be spell-checked and to the best of one's
ability grammar-checked, and must be in standard English and adhere
to standard formal writing protocols.
As regards all writing submitted in this course, please keep the following in mind. If on occasion use is made of the ideas or words of someone else in one's writing, then the source(s) of those ideas and/or words must be cited; that is, when appropriate, papers must be fully documented in MLA format (you must cite sources--using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical documentation, which include specific page numbers keyed to particular passages in your text, and complete bibliographical information). WRITTEN TEXTS NOT MEETING ALL OF THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE READ AND WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT.
N.B. Academic Integrity is the cornerstone of higher
education and is central to the ideals of this course and the
university. Cheating is strictly prohibited and devalues
the degree that you are working on. As a member of the NJIT
community, it is your responsibility to protect your
educational investment by knowing and following the academic code of
integrity whose policy can be found at: http://www5.njit.edu/policies/sites/policies/files/academic-integrity-code.pdf.
Please note that it is my professional obligation and
responsibility to report any academic misconduct to the Dean of
Students Office. Any student found in violation of the code
by cheating, plagiarizing or using any online software
inappropriately will result in disciplinary action. This may include
a failing grade of F, and/or suspension or dismissal from the
university. If you have any questions about the code of Academic
Integrity, please contact the Dean of Students Office at dos@njit.edu.
All written work is be submitted to the instructor via Canvas, in Word or a compatible program; no written work is to be submitted in PDF.
N.B.: Failure to participate in class discussions (especially online) at a minimally acceptable level will result in disqualification and so must inevitably spell failure in the course. In order to pass this course a student must be consistently active in weekly class work starting from the beginning of the course term. Furthermore, only three unexcused absences will be allowed; more than these can mean automatic course failure.
COURSE GRADE
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Final Examination MIdterm Examination Class Participation online (initial, originating posts - graded weekly) Class Participation online (responses to classmates' posts) Follow-up Questions or Comments Portfolio of Eight Best Posts online Group Reports Extra credit project |
30% 10% 20% (10% if late) 10% (5% if late) 5% 5% 20% 10 points (extra credit) |
Week 1: Introduction to the course.
Week 2a: Kovach and Rosenstiel,
Elements of Journalism pp. 1-19,
22-26, 47-61, 65-68.
Week 2b: Kovach and Rosenstiel,
Elements of Journalism
pp. 97-116, 169-92, 213-39.
Week 3a: Kerrane and Yagoda, “Preface" and “Introduction" to The Art of Fact; "Introduction" to Let Us Now Praise Famous Men; Naselli, "Truth in Memoir" (1986); Minkowitz, "How I Broke, and Botched, the Brandon Teena Story" (2018).
Week 3b: Hersey,
Hiroshima excerpt (1946).
Week 4a: Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son”(1955).
Week 5a: Breslin, “It’s an Honor” and "A Death in Emergency Room One" (1963).
Week 6a: Thompson, Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang excerpt (1965).
Week 6b: "The 'Hashbury' Is the Capital of the Hippies" (1967).
Week 7a: Herr, “Kesanh” (1969).
Week 7b: Midterm Exam.
Week 8a: Gornick, "To Begin With" (1977), through p. 12.
Week 8b:
Week 9b: Shah, "Kinship, Cousins, & Khichidi" (2004).
Week 10a: Gawande, “Letting Go” (2010). Diaz, “The Money” (2011).
Week 11a:
Week 11b: Alexander, “The Trayvon Generation” (2020).
Week 13b: Muller, "The Desert Was His Home" (2021).
Week 14a: Jasenoff, "Our Obsession with Ancestry Has Some Twisted Roots" (2022)
Week 14b: Taylor, "Prophets" (2022).
Week 15: Course review.
Introduction
Spokesperson for group (preferably Speaker #1 or #4) puts up first viewgraph (topic of report) and defines:
A. Topic of the group report
B. Introduces self and other members of the team (both first and last
names)--Viewgraph #2
C. Explains briefly how the topic has been broken down and what aspect
of the topic each speaker will address.
D. Introduces Speaker #1.
Speaker #1:
A. Thanks spokesperson
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #2
Speaker #2:
A. Thanks Speaker #1
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #3
Speaker #3:
A. Thanks Speaker #2
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #4
Speaker #4:
A. Thanks Speaker #3
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Asks for Questions (or reintroduces Spokesperson)
Question and Answer Period:
A. Spokesperson asks if there are questions
B. Recognizes questioner and directs question to appropriate member of
team
C. Allows any other member of team to comment
D. After last question, thanks audience.
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