Office: CB 303

Phone: 394-5100; E-mail address: mday@silver.sdsmt.edu

Office Hours: T, Th 2:00-4:00 p.m.; or by appointment

Silko, Leslie Marmon Storyteller (bookstore)

Course Description: English 325 is a 1-credit course which examines the works of a major writer, in this case, Leslie Marmon Silko.

Course Objectives: During this course you will:

1. Carefully read two works of a major American writer;

2. Discuss these works both in class and on our Internet discussion group; and

3. Demonstrate that you have completed the reading in a series of brief quizzes.

Procedures and Requirements: The format for this class will vary, but will generally include a daily quiz, followed by class discussion.

1. Ground Rules:

— This is not a lecture course. It is a class based on preparation and

participation by both professor and students. Therefore, your presence and active participation are vital to the learning experience of this class. If you must miss class for a legitimate reason, such as illness, family emergency, or university activity, write me a short explanatory e-mail message. If you have two unexcused absences, you will lose half of the points for attendance (see below). With three or more unexcused absences your grade will drop one full letter grade.

— Complete your postings to SILKO (our Internet discussion group) by the date indicated in the schedule. These are semi-formal mini-response papers, which you will use to discuss your reactions to the readings, and to the postings of your classmates. If you don't have and use e-mail on the Internet, Get an internet account set up NOW (go to computer help desk in library and sign Computer Use Agreement), and learn to use it. See Dr. Day if you need help.

— Pass reading quizzes in class, to demonstrate that you have completed the assigned reading. These will NOT be difficult if you have done the reading. Your lowest quiz grade will not be counted.

2. Class Internet Discussion Group. Based on the success of Internet discussion groups in my other classes, I will be requiring you to participate in a similar forum during the semester. Your participation in this forum in the form of SILKO postings, will count for 40% of your final class grade. I also ask that you use the SILKO discussion group to talk informally about your growth as a reader, expound upon class discussions, ask questions of your fellow students, and explore other ideas. These will be graded on content and engagement (show that you are thinking about the reading and relating it to other areas of your experience), but will be graded down if they show a lack of professional responsibility (I.E. poor grammar and proofreading, typos, not spell-checked). Each posting should be a minimum of one screen (about half a page, or 8-10 medium-length sentences), and should either A) respond meaningfully to a discussion question or questions which I will post to SILKO at the beginning of each week, or B) respond meaningfully to what one of your classmates or me has said in class or on the SILKO list.

To subscribe to our SILKO discussion group (do this as soon as you can), send an Email message to

You don’t need a subject. In the body of the message, simply type:

(Replace "you" with your login account.)

When you want to send a message to the class, use the following address:

This list will automatically be archived on our class web page (look for the link which says, "Go to the SILKO list archive"). Please try to avoid saving all messages in your own account; it will fill up and cause you problems. DO save copies of your own messages.

Following the example of other classes around the country, we will have a class web page with this syllabus, class assignments, and handy links to resources you may need. Please use this web page; I will be asking for your feedback about it at the end of the semester. I would be pleased if you would also keep an eye out for web pages that may be of use to the class; if you let me know, I will do my best to link to them from our page as soon as I can.

4. Grading

Grading Distribution:

SILKO posting assignments 40 points total

Reading quizzes 40 points total

Attendance and participation, including class discussion 20 points total

Grading Scale: