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ENG
Majors
| Courses
& Skills Assessment
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Ethical Issues
WHAT
SHOULD ENGLISH MAJORS KNOW?
By
the time of their graduation all majors
in English language and literature should understand how literary
scholars conduct research and how they then communicate the results
of their work to colleagues. One way of describing this process is “information
literacy” – i.e., the ability to conceptualize what literary
information is needed combined with the skills necessary to locate,
evaluate, and use this information effectively and ethically. (please
refer to the final section of this page).
Writing
Intensive Classes
Students
who have taken writing intensive classes should already have learned
at least the following skills:
-
To identify the kind of information -- biographical, historical, literary
-- they need, and to know where to find it. In other words, they should
be familiar with various electronic resources, particularly the MLA
Bibliography, and some reference books. They should also be aware
that web search engines are often inadequate for scholarly research.
- To
be able to evaluate the reliability of a source. Who wrote it? When?
Who published it?
- To
know how and when to acknowledge and cite their sources in MLA format.
Beginning
English majors
Students
should build upon and expand these skills:
- They
must learn to back up what they say by citing both their primary source
and reliable secondary sources.
- They
must learn to use basic reference sources like the following:
| Source |
Call
Number in Neilson |
| Oxford
English Dictionary |
ref
PE 1625 .O87 1987 |
| Dictionary
of Literary Biography |
ref
PN 451 .D53 |
| Johns
Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism |
ref
PN 81 .J55 2005 |
| New
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics |
ref
PN 1021 .N39 1993 |
| Oxford
Companion to English Literature |
ref
PR 19 .O94 2000 |
| Oxford
Companion to American Literature |
ref
PS 21 .H3 1995 |
| Oxford
Companion to African American Literature |
ref
PS 153 .N5 O96 1997 |
-
They should also be familiar with literary manuals like Chris Baldick's
The
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (ref PN 41 .C67 2001).
Paul Fussell's book
Poetic Meter and Poetic Form (PE 1050 .F78 1979) give much more
detailed and sensitive attention to the significance of the poetic
forms poets choose.
- They
should know how to locate and use standard databases like the following:
- They
should be prepared to alter search terms to find materials when their
first try is unsuccessful.
Seminars
Advanced
students should be able to:
- Document
their sources consistently, in correct MLA format.
- Use
conflicting interpretations as part of a nuanced and substantive argument
of their own.
- Identify
important articles that have been part of ongoing discussions of a
text or group of texts.
IN WHICH CLASSES SHOULD STUDENTS LEARN THESE SKILLS, AND HOW WILL THEY
BE ASSESSED?
Some
English courses at the 100 and 200 levels entail literary research,
often including visits to the library and meetings with Reference Librarians.
All 300-level seminars require research, making use of the sources and
skills outlined above.
ETHICAL
ISSUES
Using
someone else's words, ideas, or arguments without acknowledgment is
plagiarism. This is a serious violation of the College's
Honor Code. Students should learn to distinguish between "received
knowledge" and original work, between ideas that have often been
repeated and ideas that are new. They must always identify and acknowledge
their sources for everything except "received knowledge,"
such as dates and facts found in many encyclopedias and dictionaries.
May
5, 2006
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