Beacon College—LIT 3320
Topics in Literature: Beat Literature
Monday/Thursday 2:30-3:55
Three Credits
Instructor: Dr. William Nesbitt
Office Phone: 365-2839
Office Hours: 9:00-12:00 Monday and Thursday
10:30-12:00 and 1:00-2:30 Tuesday and Friday
E-mail: wnesbitt@beaconcollege.edu
Required Text: The Portable Beat Reader. Ann Charters (editor). New York: Penguin.
Required Supplies: Pen, pencil, loose leaf paper, or notebook, white typing paper, collegiate dictionary, thesaurus, and two computer disks.
Course Description: In this class, we will examined the Beat movement of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s as well as some contemporary writers influenced by the Beat movement. From time to time, we'll hear recordings of some of these writers reading their own works, try some writing ideas straight from the Beats, and discuss their larger cultural context.
Course Objectives: The student will have a working understanding of the major writers of the Beat movement and a general familiarity with the cultural aesthetics of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
Grading Scale:
93-100 A 90-92 A-
87- 89 B+ 83-86 B 80- 82 B-
77 – 79 C+ 73 – 76 C 70- 72 C-
67 – 69 D+ 63 – 66 D 60 – 62 D-
Below 60 – F
How I will determine your final grade:
Midterm: 25%
Final: 25%
Presentation: 20%
Paper: 20%
Participation (this includes in-class writing): 10%
Total: 100 percent
Cell Phones: All cell phones must be turned off during class.
Intellectual Honesty: Students are responsible for the authorship of their own papers and oral presentations. Papers that show signs of plagiarism will be returned for rewrite and may put the student in jeopardy of receiving a failing grade for that paper and the course.
Late Assignments: If late papers are accepted, there will be a penalty of one letter grade.
Early Assignments: If a student turns in an A or B paper the class period before it is due, I will award five (5) bonus points.
Attendance and Tardy Policy: Students are expected to be present and on time for all class meetings. Making up work because of an absence is the responsibility of the student. The student is responsible for knowing and understanding the policies for making up work outlined in the syllabus for each course.
• Upon the fourth unexcused absence, the student’s final grade will be dropped one mark (for example, from A to A-).
• Upon the fifth unexcused absence, the student’s final grade will be dropped another mark (for example from A- to B+).
• Upon the sixth unexcused absence, the instructor will withdraw the student from the class.
Three tardies (being 10 minutes late to class or coming back from break after the assigned time) will be considered an unexcused absence and plugged into the policy above. A student late to class and coming back late from break can receive two tardies in one class period.
Excused absences are covered by a doctor’s note.
On occasion I may be detained in an official college meeting or in a meeting with a student. Please allow the instructor 10 minutes to get to class. After that time, or upon notification by the Vice President of Academic Affairs, students may assume that class has been cancelled for that day.
VA Attendance Policy: Tardies or absence from part of a class will count as an absence from the class. Upon the fourth absence from any class during any month, the student will be terminated from Veterans Benefits for unsatisfactory attendance.
Field Trips: Any field trips taken in this course are required. No one may be excused without mitigating circumstances. The instructor must be informed of these circumstances at least two class periods in advance. Missed field trips must be made up with appropriate compensatory work.