First Day Handout/Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus/First Day Handout

English 12: Folklore
Instructor: Michael Roesch
Important Suggestion: Print this syllabus and keep it handy!

Office Hours: You can send me e-mail: folklorecourse@sbcglobal.net; I tend to check my e-mail each day, so you should have a fairly quick reply to any question you might have.

The Course: The class is three units and can be applied to the AA, CSU, and UC. The Internet course was designed for students who, for whatever reason, cannot attend the COS campus on a regular basis. The course is an examination of folk wisdom, art and artifacts traditionally handed on by word of mouth or by custom and practice. In addition to reading about superstitions, proverbs, tall tales, and urban legends, students will have ample opportunity to explore their own family folklore and a few of the many local legends, i.e., Bigfoot and the Lemurians on Mt. Shasta. Students will also explore Native American myths, cowboy lore, fairy tales, jokes, folk songs, and folk games.

Course Objectives. Through knowledge about our rich and varied folklore, students will gain greater appreciation and understanding of our nation's character and literary expression. Upon completion of the course, students should have demonstrated knowledge in the following areas:
- be able to describe the components of oral, customary, and material folklore
- be able to recognize occupational, age, gender-differentiated, regional, and ethnic folk groups
- articulate a working definition of common folklore terminology
- apply the methods of folkloristics to the study of language, customs, and beliefs
- be able to collect, catalogue, and evaluate examples of folklore
- describe the transmission and revision of folklore
- recognize and be able to describe similarities and differences in legends, myths, and folktales
- analyze the factors involved in polygenesis and diffusion theory as they relate to myth
- understand and use basic folklore concepts and terms in papers and projects
- apply folklore principles to the research and presentation of a relevant course project

Where: The class will be held via the Internet.

Course advisory and ways to succeed: While there are no prerequisites, it is recommended that the student be eligible for English 1A. Students must have Internet access and be able to send and receive e-mail. Read the course "FAQs" section and Other Resources section, and look over my comments about surviving on-line education as soon as possible. Also, if you have a disability that might get in the way of your academic goals, please visit the The Disabled Student Programs and Services Office (DSP&S) web site--they are dedicated to meeting the needs of students with permanent or temporary disabilities. The DSP&S office provides such services as learning disability assessment, tutoring, note taking, readers & transcribers, testing accommodations, and enlargement of educational materials. If you think you might need DSP&S services this semester, or you simply wish to know more about such services, contact their office as soon as possible. Lastly, read about the COS Library's services for distance students: http://www.siskiyous.edu/library/distanceed.htm Then follow the directions to request a library card so that you can access the library's online databases, which includes periodicals, newspapers, electronic books and reference sources. Remember, you can always contact a reference librarian by e-mail or phone for assistance in using the databases or help with research assignments.

Text and/or material needed: J.H.Brunvand's The Study of American Folklore (fourth edition ISBN 0-393-97223-2). image of course text The text is required reading, and it can be purchased from the COS Bookstore--either at the Yreka (530 842-1245) or WeedCampus (530 938-5236). Please call the appropriate bookstore to check on hours and that the text is in stock before visiting. The text is published by WW Norton and Company, and the fourth edition can likely be ordered from Amazon.com , Barnes and Noble or other bookstore on or off the Internet.

If you do not already have the ability to play mp3 files on your computer, you might consider downloading one of the many free mp3 players, though most computers will already be able to play mp3 files just fine. In fact, you can try listening to my Folklore welcome message recorded as an mp3. Please note that audio files (even mp3 audio) are often large, and large files are best downloaded with a broadband connection. Anyway, once installed, any of the free players (or an Ipod) will allow students to listen to any audio files found on this web site--including my weekly assignment summary lectures. Although my short weekly audio summaries are structured to highlight important tasks, touch on key concepts, and appeal to the audio learner, listening to them is optional. All the information contained in my audio comments can also be easily obtained via comprehensive review of the Brunvand text and the weekly assignment page. There are also a number of links to optional YouTube and FolkStream videos, and while many students will find them both educational and interesting, students without a fast internet connection will either have to skip them or view them at the COS Computer Lab or on a friend's computer with a broadband connection.

You can obtain a COS Library card by either visiting the COS Library or filing out the online form. The card will allow you to access full-text periodicals via the Internet. Such periodicals can be of great use when researching topics and supporting claims.

Also, the Etudes-ng courseware program used for all COS online courses requires a fairly new Internet browser, and you might need to change your browser cache settings. If you have a problem viewing pages, using the discussion board or using the chat feature, please check that your computer is set up according to the guidelines listed on the opening page of the Etudes portal: http://etudes-ng.fhda.edu/portal

Support Hour Requirement : The support hour provides COS students, including online students, with access to professional assistance, supplemental instruction and remediation opportunities to help improve student success. Supervised support, via the COS Critical Skills Center, is offered for reading, writing, information technology, computer competency, and other skills outside of mastering folklore specific content. The Folklore course requires you to complete a variety of tasks related to this course that will necessitate the services available through the support hour, and you may utilize these services in person or by email or phone. For example, you might discover that you need to confer with a Writing Lab staff person about rusty punctuation skills, or you realize that you need a Computer Lab staff person to help you prepare a PowerPoint course project. The support hour allows you to drop by the COS Critical Skills Lab, obtain a computer account, and get the one-on-one help you need. During the semester, you will complete the support hours listed for our class by working on some or all of the tasks below:
--discuss any past, present or future writing assignment with Writing Lab staff
--work on basic computer competencies (saving files, attaching files, finding files, using a discussion board…)
--learn to use MS Word, Excel, or Access to present work or complete homework
--learn to incorporate web-based project into course assignments
--learn to design, add graphics, and make presentations using PowerPoint
--obtain email account for course communications
--learn to attach files to email for collaborative projects
--learn the basics of citing sources, paraphrasing, and avoiding plagiarism
--learn how to do a basic web search in support of course research
--explore online databases of full-text articles via our Library
--learn to use a scanner to incorporate images into course project or homework
--use SkillsBank software to review basic reading and writing skills

Grades: You will be able to access your current grades/scores online. Grades will be determined by your scores on the following work:

"Homefun" sheets

The primary purpose of the weekly homefun sheet is to aid you in learning the specific folklore material that I believe is most relevant or necessary (they are also great study guides for the quizzes and final exam). A good student example of the "Legends" Homefun is on-line. You will only be required to complete and submit for grading

two

weekly homefun assignments. You must do the homefun on Proverbs, but you will have a choice between doing your second graded homefun sheet on Fairy tales or Humor. Two 50 point sheets = 100 points.

Collection sheets: The collection sheets offer you an opportunity to collect, record, analyze, and share folklore. You are required to complete two 50-point sheets= 100 points (a good student example can be viewed on-line). Instead of doing the 2nd collection sheet, students can do an optional community service project. As such a project takes a bit of planning, please review the optional community service learning project guidelines ASAP.

Discussion Board: The "Discussion and Private Messages" area allows the instructor to create forum topics (Weekly Topic Question, Student Profile, Student Lounge, etc.) where students can post their responses and view the responses from other students. The Discussion board allows us to exchange ideas, images, files, share folklore, and create a stronger sense of belonging to a specific college class. Subsequently, you will be required to join me in posting opinions, creations, and questions. You will generally be required to respond to my weekly topic question, read the weekly responses of other students, and respond to at least one other student comment (Students making a comprehensive reply--showing insight and without writing errors-- to my weekly question and the comment of at least one other student, can earn up to 5 points each week. Failing to completely answer the weekly topic question or posting a reply with errors in wording, spelling or terminology will result in less points). I expect all students to visit the Folklore Discussion Board at least 3 times during the week, not just the night before discussion work is due, and they should take the time to make thoughtful responses to any question posed to them. Further, as the semester progresses you will be required to post a copy of some of your work to the appropriate areas of the discussion board so that other students can view and comment on your work. For example, you will post a copy of your collection sheets, a copy of the abstract about your course project paper or web page project, and a copy of two of your creative works (either a tall tale you wrote, a cowboy poem you have composed, or an etiological narrative you have written. Each of these assignments will be covered later, and there will be an example of each type of assignment as well.

Course Project: = 100 points (good examples of Course Projects turned in by students are on-line). The Course Project assignment allows the student to do a creative, in-depth exploration of some aspect of folklore. Students are encouraged to collaborate, work on something that is personally relevant, and be creative. On the other hand, student Course Projects are expected to show critical thinking and be well organized. The specific topic and approach (web page, written paper, slideshow, PowerPoint, video...) must be pre-approved by the instructor. Please read the guidelines very carefully.

Quizzes: Short (about 10-12 question) online quizzes will be given every week or so. The true or false, as well as multiple choice questions, will be based on the weekly reading assignment. There will also be a 30 question quiz about mid-term and a 50 question quiz at the end of the course. Thus, during the semester you will have aproximately 15 quizzes totaling about 200 questions and equaling about 100 points. As the quizzes are offered on-line, you are on the "honor system." Students are expected to take each quiz unaided (though you may refer to your text), and anyone discovered cheating will receive an "F" for the quiz in question. After all students have taken a quiz, usually the day after quiz is due, you will be able to view your quiz results via the "Gradebook" link.

Final exam: = 50 points (Although the final will be a "take-home," the essay questions will be designed to measure your knowledge of folklore. Students that keep up with the reading assignments in the Brunvand text, spend time visiting the linked folklore sites, and utilize the "Homefun" sheets as a study aid should do quite well on the final exam).

(Minor changes and additions to the above assignments may have to be made during the semester. Final grades will be based on the following formula: 90% or better = A; 80% = B; 70% = C; 60% = D; 50% = F).

Assignments/Withdrawal/incomplete: All assignments, including all quizzes, must be completed by due dates. You should look over the weekly assignment schedules and mark down the due dates below in a study calendar. Note that all quizzes must be done by the end of the week in which they are offered (late quizzes will not be counted).

First Homefun Sheet on Proverbs submitted in "Assignments" area by end of week 3
First Collection Sheet submitted in "Assignments" area and a copy posted to Collection Sheet forum in Discussion area by end of week 5
First Creative Work (cowboy/cowgirl poem or creation story) submitted in "Assignments" area and a copy posted to the Creative Work forum by end of week 6
Second Collection Sheet or Optional Community Service Learning Project submitted in "Assignments" area and a copy posted to the appropriate forum by end of week 9.
Second Homefun Sheet on either Fairy Tales or Humor submitted in "Assignments" area by end of week 11
Second Creative work (either cowboy/cowgirl poem, creation story or tall tall) submitted in "Assignments" area and a copy posted to Creative Work forum by end of week 12
Abstract submitted in "Assignments" area and a copy posted to the Abstract forum by end of week 14
Submit Course Project by end of week 16 (depending of format of project--video, web site, paper--students might have to send the project via snail mail or drop it off at COS in my mail box rather than submitting the project in the "Assignments" area.
Final Exam submitted to the "Assignments" area by 12/19

Students withdrawing from the class before September 16th will not be penalized. Students dropping between September 16 and November 27 will receive a "W" on their transcript. Students dropping after November 27th will receive a letter grade. An "I" (Incomplete grade) will only be given if academic work is incomplete due to unforeseeable emergency.

General Course Policies and Content Warning:

Cheating or plagiarizing will result in grade of "F" for work in question. I often submit major writing assignments to a global search engine or Turnitin.com in order to ensure that all sources used are credited. If you have any questions about plagiarism and how to avoid it, visit the COS Writing Lab links on plagiarism.
No late work will be accepted. If you do have an emergency, contact me before the assignment is due to discuss your options. I have found that most students can avoid deadline problems by clearly writing down due dates in a course calendar, establishing regularly scheduled hours each week to complete course tasks, and by visiting the folklore site often during the week.
No early work will be accepted. Collection Sheets, Quizzes, as well as all other work, must be turned in or posted during the week they are due. This policy will help all of us to "be on the same page," and it will make the course grading manageable for the instructor.
Student are expected to visit all sites linked from the weekly pages, explore each site, and consider how the site topic relates to folklore. Be aware that not all sites are equal in value, and some sites linked to might be down. If you can't access a site after 24 hours, please e-mail me about the problem and I will look into it.
Students must be willing to spend the necessary time needed to succeed in this course. The lengthy readings, announcements, numerous links, and many writing assignments will demand that the average student spend about 9 hours each week on the course. If you have any concerns or problems, do not hesitate to contact me.
All student writing is expected to be at the college level. You must do a spell check and ensure that all of your course writing is relatively free of gross grammar and punctuation problems.
The course content might be offensive to some people. During the semester you may well be asked to collect, read, and critically analyze material that some people may consider offensive. Although most material is quite harmless, crude jokes, sexually explicit creation stories, and sexist/racist language are quite likely to be encountered in a folklore course. If you are unable to handle such material, you should seriously consider taking a different course.