COMM 387: Literature and Journalism
Benedictine University at Springfield
Spring Semester 2011
None of the worst French novels from which careful parents try to protect their children can be as bad as what is daily bought and laid upon the breakfast table of every educated family in England, and its effect must be most pernicious to the public morals of the country. -- Queen Victoria (1859)
Communications 387 meets from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday (TR) in Dawson 220 (third-floor computer lab) on the Benedictine campus in Springfield. Instructor is Pete Ellertsen, 2125 South Lincoln, Springfield IL 62704, email: eellertsen@ben.edu. Conferences TBA by appointment. Home: 2125 South Lincoln, Springfield, IL 62704. tel. 793-2587.
I. COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Title: The Literature of Journalism
Course Number: COMM 387
Credits: 3.00
Description
Traces the development of the literary genre in journalism from the 18th century essays of Defoe, Steele and Addison to the "new journalism" of Wolfe and Capote.
II. TEXTBOOKS
You have two: (1) Kevin Kerrane and Ben Yagoda , "The Art of Fact"; and (2) Carl Hiaasen, "Lucky You." All written work will follow the conventions of "The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual," so if you don't already have one, consider COMM 397 as an opportunity to purchase one for all your very own. Also required are the readings on the World Wide Web linked below in the Tentative Calendar and our class Web log, The Mackerel Wrapper at . You should be thoroughly familiar with the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Statement of Journalistic Principles of the Project for Excellence in Journalism (linked to the online version of this syllabus on my blog The Mackerel Wrapper. We will watch "His Girl Friday" (1940), starring Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant.
III. MISSION STATEMENT
Benedictine University is dedicated to the education of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. As an academic community committed to liberal arts and professional education distinguished and guided by our Roman Catholic tradition and Benedictine heritage, we prepare our students for a lifetime as active, informed and responsible citizens and leaders in the world community.
IV. GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
A. Common Learning Objectives
Benedictine University is committed to assist all students in the acquisition of knowledge and cultivation of skills in six major areas. Graduates of the university's degree programs will develop:
1. Disciplinary Knowledge:
a. Acquire, understand and synthesize discipline-based knowledge
b. Apply disciplinary methodologies in their qualitative and quantitative dimensions
c. Understand the content and interrelationships of specific areas of study
d. Communicate effectively within and across the disciplines
2. Communication Skills:
a. Express oneself clearly and concisely in multiple forms
b. Appreciate and develop creative expression
3. Problem-Solving Skills:
a. Reason and communicate informed judgments
b. Identify and solve problems, independently and cooperatively
c. Understand the nature of and evaluate evidence
4. Social Responsibility:
a. Confront and resolve ethical issues and contribute to the work of peace and social justice
b. Exhibit stewardship of self and environment
c. Develop good citizenship
5. Global Perspectives:
a. Benefit from diversity of opinion, abilities, and culture
b. Recognize the importance of the interdependence of cultures and nations
c. Communicate effectively within and across cultural boundaries
6. Self-Direction and Personal Growth:
a. Develop a sense of intellectual curiosity and a desire for lifelong learning
b. Strive for a life lived in balance
c. Develop leadership potential
d. Foster spiritual growth
B. Course Goals/Objectives/Outcomes
COMM 387 was designed with the above Common Learning Objectives in mind. Thus, upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to demonstrate mastery of the following objectives and student learning outcomes:
Goals. Students will understand the historical development of professional journalism in England and the United States; appraise journalistic principles and craftsmanship in authors who made the transition from journalism to literature; assess the professional attitudes, values and craft agenda of professional journalists writing today; and reflect on how these attitudes, values and principles can inform their own professional writing.
Student Learning Objectives and Outcomes. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
• Trace the development of journalism in the English-speaking world, from 18th-century magazines to the "new journalism" of the 1970s and mass-market media writing of the 20th and 21st centuries
• Formulate a set of journalistic values, including such principles as accuracy, objectivity, readablity, and the exposure of wrongdoing in powerful institutions; and to compare these values with commonly accepted benchmarks of literary merit
• Reflect on how the values, principles, practices and lessons learned from the daily work product of journalists through history can help in the formation of their own values, principles and writing style
V. TEACHING METHODS/DELIVERY SYSTEM
The classroom is a writing and discourse community. This course is a combination of lecture, in-class discussion, and posting to the class blog and students' individual blogs, individual conferences, and formal evaluations. Regular, brief quizzes will be administered to ensure that readings have been completed; these quizzes may take place on paper or in discussion Q&A. This class is very interactive. In order to complete the course successfully, students must come to class and must be prepared to discuss the reading assignments and to do the in-class work.
VI. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
A. Attendance is required during all class sessions. Quizzes and other in-class work that are missed for any reason may not be made up. If the final exam is missed for any reason, it may not be made up. If the absence occurs on the date an assignment is due, the late penalty for assignments (outlined below) still applies.
B. Reading Assignments. Please see the Tentative Calendar below.
C. Written Assignments. (1) Both the midterm and final exam will be take-home essay examinations. (2) Students will create a web Log (blog) and post weekly 750- to 1,000-word journals analyzing selected reading assignments to the blog. Assignments for these analyses will be posted a week ahead of time; typically they will require students to research the writers on the Internet or in print sources. (3) Students also will be assigned to post discussion of readings to the blog during class. Many of these assignments will not be announced, and they ordinarily cannot be made up.
Assignments are due on the date indicated on the assignment sheet.
Benedictine University at Springfield Student Academic Honesty Policy
The search for truth and the dissemination of knowledge are the central missions of a university. Benedictine University at Springfield pursues these missions in an environment guided by our Roman Catholic tradition and our Benedictine heritage. Integrity and honesty are therefore expected of all University students. Actions such as cheating, plagiarism, collusion, fabrication, forgery, falsification, destruction, multiple submission, solicitation, and misrepresentation are violations of these expectations and constitute unacceptable behavior in the University community.
Student’s Responsibility
Though there is no formal honor code at Benedictine University at Springfield, students are expected to exhibit academic honesty at all times. Violations against academic honesty are always serious and may result in sanctions that could have profound long-term effects. The final responsibility for understanding the Academic Honesty Policy of the institution, as well as the specific policies for individual courses normally found in syllabi, rests with students. If any doubt exists about what constitutes academic dishonesty, students have the responsibility to talk to the faculty member. Students should expect the members of their class to be academically honest. If students believe one or more members of the class have been deceitful to gain academic advantage in the class, students should feel comfortable to approach the faculty member of the course without prejudice.
Violations of the Academic Honesty Policy will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Academic Affairs. Along with a verbal warning, the following are consequences a student may face for academic dishonesty:
• a failing grade or “zero” for the assignment;
• dismissal from and a failing grade for the course; or
• dismissal from the Institution.
VII. MEANS OF EVALUATION
Your final grade will be based on assignments weighted as follows: (A) class participation and journals, including the blogged analyses of professional writing, worth 50 percent of the total grade; (B) reporting assignments, including coverage of noontime events as well as the 1,500-word article and query letter, in total worth 25 percent of the total; and (C) quizzes and tests including the midterm and the final exam, worth 25 percent. Note the heavy emphasis on class participation; if you're absent, you can't participate. If you don't participate, you don't get credit for something you didn't do.
The instructor's grading scale is as follows: A = 100-90. B = 89-80. C = 79-70. D = 69-60. F = 59-0.
Grade Appeal Process
Grade appeals must be initiated 90 days prior to the end of one semester after the course in question has been completed. The process for appealing a grade is outlined below.
First, contact the Instructor.
1. A student must appeal to his/her instructor in writing (e-mail is acceptable) and provide specific reasons why his/her grade should be changed.
2. The instructor must respond to the student in writing (e-mail is acceptable) and provide a copy to the Division Chair.
Second, contact the Division Chair.
3. If the student wishes, he/she may then appeal to the Division Chair in writing (e-mail is acceptable) and provide specific reasons why his/her grade should be changed without the instructor’s permission. The student should understand that overwhelming evidence must be presented to the Division Chair to prove that the current grade is incorrect.
4. The Division Chair must respond to the student in writing (e-mail is acceptable) and provide a copy to the academic dean.
Lastly, contact the Academic Dean.
5. If the student wishes, he/she may appeal to the academic dean in writing (e-mail is acceptable) and provide specific reasons why his/her grade should be changed without the instructor’s or the Division Chair’s permission. The student should understand that overwhelming evidence must be presented to the academic dean to prove the grade is incorrect.
6. The academic dean must respond to the student in writing (e-mail is acceptable). The academic dean’s decision is final.
Add/Drop Dates
Please refer to the current Academic Calendar for add/drop dates.
Incomplete Request
To qualify for an “I” grade, a minimum of 75% of the course work must be completed with a passing grade, and a student must submit a completed Request for an Incomplete form to the Registrar’s Office. The form must be completed by both student and instructor, but it is the student’s responsibility (not the instructor’s) to initiate this process and obtain the necessary signatures.
Student Withdrawal Procedure
It is the student’s responsibility to officially withdraw from a course by completing the appropriate form, with appropriate signatures, and returning the completed form to the Advising Office. Please refer to the Student Handbook for important financial information related to withdrawals.
VIII. TOPICAL COURSE OUTLINE
Please also see Tentative Calendar below.
A. Literature and journalism, 'new' and old
- purpose
- stereotypes
- history
B. 'New journalism' and creative nonfiction
- 'literary' narrative techniques
- style as substance?
C. Principles and practices of journalism
- discipline of verification
- Watchdog role: 'afflicting the comfortable'
- Defining community: goals and heroes
- Voice for the voiceless
D. Examples of journalism and satire
- Jonathan Swift
- Carl Hiassen
IX. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)
Benedictine University at Springfield provides individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in educational programs, activities, and services. Students with disabilities requiring accommodations to participate in campus-sponsored programs, activities, and services, or to meet course requirements, should contact the Director of the Resource Center as early as possible.
If documentation of the disability (either learning or physical) is not already on file, it may be requested. Once on file, an individual student’s disability documentation is shared only at that individual’s request and solely with the parties whom the student wishes it shared. Requests are kept confidential and may be made by emailing jharris@sci.edu or by calling (217) 525-1420, ext. 306.
X. ASSESSMENT
Goals, objectives, and learning outcomes that will be assessed in the class are stated in this syllabus in Sections IV and VI. Instructor will use background knowledge probes, one-minute papers, reflective essays and/or other Classroom Assessment Techniques as deemed necessary in order to provide continuous improvement of instruction.
Please note: Reading assignments will be supplemented by updates to the HTML version of this syllabus and/or subsequent posts to the The Mackerel Wrapper. You are responsible for keeping up with any changes to the schedule.
Principles of journalism, 'new' and old. In Kerrane and Yagoda, read Yagoda's preface and Kerrane's "Making Facts Dance" (13-20). On the Web, read the Committee of Concerned Journalists' Principles of Journalism at http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles; University of North Carolina-Pembroke journalism prof Mark Canada's Introduction to Literary Journalism; and retired college English teacher Robert Harris' introduction to satire. We will compare statements on the writer's purpose by William Faulkner and a character in the play "The Front Page." Choose a name for your Web log and open it; if you have already created a blog for one of my 300-level courses, you may use it to blog for COMM 387. I will post more detailed instructions to the class blog.
Stereotypes, values and principles. Read up on Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's play "The Front Page"; Notre Dame journalism prof Robert Schmul's article on its place in newspapering lore; and the 1940 movie remake "His Girl Friday," including the original reviews in Variety and selected newspapers of what The New York Times called " the maddest newspaper comedy [movie] of our times." on a Cary Grant fansite. We will watch the movie in class. A transcript of the shooting draft for "His Girl Friday" is available on line. I
will assign Paper No. 1, an analysis of how the movie reflects and/or satirizes journalistic principles; I will hand out a detailed assignment sheet and supplement it to the class blog.
Beginnings: Coffeehouses. In Kerrane and Yagoda, read Daniel DeFoe, "Jonathan Wild"(23-28); On the Web, we'll read an article by Jamie Pratt in History magazine about The Tatler and The Spectator, magazines written by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in the early 1700s; an breif excerpt by Addison; a survey of 18th-century periodical satire; Jonathan Swift's "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift"[yes, that's right] on the 18th-century literary scene; and Swift's "Description of a City Shower" [be sure to check out the 18th-century magazine layout]. Paper No. 1 on "His Girl Friday" is due.
Week 4
Correspondents and news. In Kerrane and Yagoda, read Charles Dickens, "Great Tasmania's Cargo" (K&Y 38-45); and Times of London correspondent William Russell's Crimean War dispatches on the Charge of the Light Brigade and conditions at a military hospital. If you're interested in a transcript and manuscript version of Lord Tennyson's poem inspired by Russell's article, the University of Virginia has one on line. Abraham Cahan's stories on immigrants (K&Y 76-82).
Innovation and continuity: Telegraph to HTML. In Kerrane and Yagoda, read Richard Harding Davis, "Death of Rodriguez" (71-75) John Steinbeck, "Once There Was a War" (458-60); and Times correspondent John Simpson's dispatch "Tiananmen Square" (347-53). On the Web, we will read an early wire report, by
Henry Villard of The New York Herald on the Union defeat at Bull Run, and compare it to today's online news from Iraq, Afghanistan and/or whatever trouble spot is in the news this week.
Literary journalism 101: Narrative. On the Web, we will read Marc Weingarten's survey essay "New Journalism: Capturing the Mad, Hulking Carnival of American Life." In Kerrane and Yagoda, we will read excerpts from Tom Wolfe's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" 169-82; and "The Girl of the Year" (469-79); Truman Capote, "In Cold Blood" (161-68); John Hersey, "Hiroshima" (111-14); and Joan Didion, "Los
Angeles Notebook" (K&Y 480-84).
Literary journalism 102: Reporter as gonzo fashion plate. In Kerrane and Yagoda, we will read Lillian Ross, "Portrait of Hemingway" (129-38); Ernest Hemingway, "Japanese Earthquake" (411-16); Hunter Thompson, "Scum Also Rises" (290-301); and Michael Herr, "Dispatches" (494-506). I will assign the midterm, a take-home essay due next week.
Week 8
Literary journalism 103: Style and substance. In Kerrane and Yagoda and on the Web, we will read James Agee, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (K&Y 417-20) and his deadline account "The Bomb" at the end of World War II; and two articles about Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, (a) Martha Gellhorn, "The Third Winter" (422--32) and (b) George Orwell, "Homage to Catalonia". Your midterm is due.
Principles: A discipline of verification. In Kerrane and Yagoda, we will read Walter Bernstein, "Juke Joint" (104-07); A.J. Liebling, "Earl of Louisiana" (258-70) and John McPhee, "Pine Barrens" (485-93). [Did you notice the reading assignments are a little short this week and next week. That's so you can start reading "Lucky You." You'll write a paper about it between now and the end of the semester.]
Principles: Afflicting the comfortable. In Kerrane and Yagoda, we will read W.T. Stead, "If Christ Came to Chicago" (49-57) and compare it to the hard-copy printout I will give you on the glory days of Springfield's levee district. On the Web, read a report on a Poynter Institite seminar on on the "watchdog culture" in journalism.
Principles: Community, goals and (essentially middle class) heroes. In Kerrane and Yagoda, we will read Jimmy Breslin, "It's an Honor" (466-68). On the Web, we will read stories by Mike Royko of The Chicago Tribune and WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle.
A moral center? Journalism and satire. Re-read retired college English teacher Robert Harris' introduction to satire and Jonathan Swift' spoem "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift." Also his essays "On the Death of Esther Johnson" and "An Essay on Modern Education." I will assign paper No. 2, on how Carl Hiaasen's novel "Lucky You" satirizes the newspaper industry and what you can learn from it about the
principles of journalism.
On the Web, we will look at columns by Mike Royko and John Kass of The Chicago Tribune. But we will focus on Carl Hiaasen's recent columns on The Miami Herald's website and the introduction to "Kick Ass," a 1999 collection of his earlier columns. Be ready to discuss similarities and differences between Dean Swift's satire 20th- and 21st journalists who also write in a satirical mode. Paper No. 2 is due.
We will discuss "Lucky You" in class. Review and assessment.
Final exam schedule TBA.
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