Fall Syllabus/Policies

First Year Seminar
The Art of the Crime
CC101, Sections: 05, 21
Jordan Hall 303
T/TH 9:35-10:50, 11-12:15

Robert Stapleton
rstaplet@butler.edu
office: JH212
hours: M/T/W: 1-2

Course Description
Stories are traditionally designed to embrace the heroic qualities of the protagonist. In this classical archetype, an everyperson undergoes a journey that transforms their character into one who will later benefit humanity. While we may find the narrative of good triumphing over evil emotionally fulfilling, it is ultimately a two-dimensional fantasy. The human condition is more often a dynamic struggle, and sometimes good people do bad things. In this course, we will examine the role of criminal activity in literature and storytelling. We will discuss the moral nature of characters and ask at what point, if any, they sacrifice redemption. We will consider the roles of law and religion in determining a collective morality. And we will seek the place where violence resides in our hearts and minds. Semester two will look at crime noir and true crime.

Required Texts
The Stranger, Albert Camus
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
The Grand Inquisitor, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Medea and Other Plays, Euripides
Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
SF Writer/4th Ed., Ruszkiewicz, Seward and Hairston

Liberal Arts Objective
Our initial objective is to interrogate the boundaries of redemption for characters engaged in criminal activity. In doing so, we will inspect the framework of religious, ethical, and legal values that define those boundaries. More importantly, though, this investigation will begin to shed light on the root system for the values and ethics we carry into the world everyday. A Liberal Arts education seeks to have students locate themselves in society as independent thinkers and responsible citizens. Training our collective focus on compromised individual behaviors against dominant value systems will beg clarity and meaning for each of us as enlightened writers, scholars, and humans.

Writing Assignments
You will be doing a considerable amount of writing, both formal and informal. We will write four to five formal essays and analyses in response to the course texts and ideas, including a research essay. You will also complete informal writing assignments and responses to the reading. All papers should be typed and double-spaced, MLA format.

Reading Assignments
You will be prepared to discuss all readings on their discussion day. Besides the assigned texts, there will be various handouts. Please keep in mind that there are only two possible methods of assessment: written and oral. I maintain that we all read and discuss aloud. But quizzes will be proffered if the discussion falters.

Attendance
The seminar is rooted in the notion that you, as members of the intellectual community, will be present and participating. This is not a lecture course. I will be eliciting oral and written responses from you always. As such, Participation is 20% of your grade: 10% determined for the first half of the course and 10% for the second half. Accumulating four absences will result in your grade being docked 5%, and each subsequent absence will cost your final grade an additional 1%.

Late Assignments
Quizzes, in-class assignments, homework, and informal writings will not be accepted late. Formal essays will be accepted late for a window of only one week, and for each day said paper is late, it will lose 10% of its original grade. For clarification, a paper is late if it is not submitted in class when I collect the assignment.

Grading
Attendance and Participation: 20%
Quizzes/Assignments: 20%
Presentation: 10%
3 Essays @ 10 each: 30%
Research Paper: 20%

Requests for Academic Accommodations
It is the policy of Butler University to make reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. Written notification from Student Disability Services is required. If you are eligible to receive an accommodation and would like to request it for this course, please discuss it with me and allow one week advance notice. Otherwise, it is not guaranteed that the accommodation can be received on a timely basis. If you have questions about Student Disability Services, you may wish to contact Michele Atterson, Jordan Hall 136, ext. 9308.

Plagiarism
One important task of EN102 is for you to master integrating source material correctly and ethically into your own writing. You will have the opportunity to practice summarizing, paraphrasing, and directly quoting sources and then integrating the material into your own essays. The task will be for you to differentiate your original ideas from these sources. Recording source material as though it is your original idea constitutes plagiarism—whether intentional or not. All first-year seminar students will take the "Plagiarism Tutorial" on the Library's website as well as completing the "Plagiarism Quiz" on Blackboard. An essay plagiarized in part or in full will receive an F and may place a student in jeopardy of course expulsion. Repeated incidents of Academic Dishonesty could result in a student’s suspension from the University. Students should also refer to the Butler University Student Handbook (available online @ https://bumail.butler.edu/owa/redir.aspx?URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.butler.edu Student Life tab) for a full discussion of student rights and responsibilities regarding “Academic Integrity.”