EN495 SENIOR SEMINAR Course Syllabus - Marta Wilkinson

Term
Fall 2025
Section
M1
Course Delivery
ln person­[FTF]
Class Program

EN495:

Credits 4
Description
A capstone for majors, this course will continue to develop students' knowledge of literary theory and the schools of criticism and their research writing skills. Students will be expected to contribute their writing, analysis, and research throughout the semester. This course is primarily student-driven, and course meetings are centered on active participation and the collaboration between students and the faculty. Following the practices of scholarly research, students investigate a topic thoroughly and produce a thoughtful and original research paper and presentation.

Prerequisites

Senior standing

Meeting Times, Location, & Course Delivery Details

Meeting Days:
TR
Meeting Times:
2:40 - 4:10
Location:
CH109

Contact Information

Instructor:
Marta Wilkinson
Instructor Email:
marta_wilkinson@wilmington.edu
Office Location:
College Hall 203-B
Phone Number
ext 451
Office Hours:
MW 12:45 - 1:45, TR 1 - 2:30 ( and by appointment)
Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course....

Course Materials
Instructor's Course Objectives

Writing Assignments: We will develop each of the skills necessary to fulfilling your research project through in-class exercises, workshops, and writing assignments. Your writing for this course will be divided into several graded assignments:

Course Schedule

SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

 Theme:ReadingsAssignments

Aug 19

8/21

Introductions, Research Projects & Questions

Close reading analysis

Review all course materials & descriptions; discuss student topics & research questions

Heart of Darkness I

Assignment 1: 4 textual observations explained with close reading

 

8/26

8/28

Close reading analysis

Close reading analysis

Heart of Darkness II

Heart of Darkness III

 

 

Assignment 2: 2-3 page close reading literary analysis draft

Sept 2

9/4

Reading criticism & applying theory

Conferences: Close reading literary analysis drafts

“Darkness in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”; What approaches can we bring to the text? Bressler chapters 3 (formalism, new criticism) & 4 (reader-oriented criticisms)

  1. “Impressionism and Symbolism…”
  2. Choose 1 of: “Moral Conditions for Genocide…” or “Binary Oppositions….”

 

 

Paper 1 due WEDNESDAY by 4 pm

 

 

 

 

9/9

9/11

Reading criticism & applying theory

Reading criticism & applying theory

Heart of Darkness discussion & theory; Bressler ch’s 5, 8 & 10 (modern/post-modern/ structuralism/deconstruction, Marxism, post-colonial)       

  1. “Two Visions in HoD
  2. “HoD and Racism,”
  3. Choose 1 of: “Conrad’s Treatment of the Other..” or “HoD Crimes Against Humanity…”

Heart of Darkness discussion & theory:   Bressler ch’s 6, 7, & 11 (psychoanalysis, feminism, African-American crit)

  1. “The Journey Within…”
  2. “The Women of HoD
  3. Choose 1 of: “Women as Sights/Sites…,“ or “Knowledge of Self…” or “Trauma Narrative and Testimony…”

Assignment 3: Applied theory in context (2 pages)

Assignment 4: Applied theory in context (2 pages)

 

 

 

9/16

9/18

Reading criticism & applying theory

Discuss project books–summaries to share, working thesis

Bressler 9, 12 & 13 (cultural poetics/new historicism, queer, ecology);

  1. “Masculinity, Modernity, and Homosexual Desire”
  2. “An Image of Africa: Racism…”
  3. “The Earth Seemed Unearthly….”
  4. Choose 1 of: “HoD Western Women…” or “Liminality HoD,” or “Choice of Nightmares, Ecology...”

Your research questions and close reading of your texts

Assignment 5: Applied theory in context (2 pages)

 

 

 

 

 

9/23

9/25

Applying theory

Apocalypse Now, Conrad revisited

Apocalypse Now, Conrad revisited

Assignment 6: Close reading analysis drafts due

9/30

Oct 2

Database navigation

Evaluating Sources, Bibliographies

Working Bibliographies; library databases

 

 

Discuss Proposals

Assignment 7: Literary analysis of your primary work  due

Assignment 8: Research questions

10/7

10/9

Writing schedules, work log

Presentations

Writing schedules & drafting plan

Conferences – research proposals

English Faculty Intervention

Assignment 9: Outline & working bib due

Assignment 10: Bring 4 copies of research proposal to present to English faculty

10/14

10/16

No class

Drafting workshop

Faculty In-Service

Drafting workshop

 

10/21

10/23

Peer Review 1

Secondary sources

Bring in 3 short sections of the close reading you will incorporate into your paper, fully drafted, triple spaces. 2 copies

Secondary source interaction & application: bring 3-4 of your secondary sources to class

Assignment 11: Peer Review 1, 4-page section, triple spaced, 2 copies

10/28

10/30

Peer Review 2

Conferences

Your choice, 4-5 page section

Conferences – section one draft

Assignment 12: different 4-page section with at least 2 secondary sources integrated (tripled spaced, 2 copies)

11/4

11/6

Peer Review 3

Conferences

Workshop, 8-10 page draft

Conferences

Assignment 13: 8-10 page draft

 

11/11

11/13

Peer Review 4

Full-text editing

Peer Review 4: (Introduction & conclusion only!)

 

Editing: In-text citations & bibliography formatting (full draft of paper and bibliography required!)

Assignment 14: Introduction & conclusion only

 

 

 

11/18

11/20

Conferences

Presentation overview

Conferences

Presentation/poster overview

Assignment 15: Full paper draft!

11/25

11/27

Presentation workshop

THANKSGIVING

Workshop presentations

 

Give thanks that your paper is in!

Final Papers Due by the beginning of class

 

 

12/2Project presentationsProject presentations to English faculty & EN 134 classFinal presentation slides/poster due

 

Course Assignments

See syllabus calendar and Blackboard

Evaluation of Work

Grade Breakdown:

50%     Assignments                          

30%     Paper 2: Final Research Paper

10%      Paper 1: 4-5 page paper

10%     Final paper presentation

Grade Scale:

A

93.5 <

B+

87 <

C+

77 <

D

60 <

A-

90 <

B

  1. <

C

     73.5 <

F

>59.9

 

 

B-

80 <

C-

70 <

 

 

Instructor Course Policies

Instructor's Course Attendance Policy

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory, as is punctuality. We will begin each class promptly and go directly into quizzes, lecture and class activities. You get 3 absence freebie’s, after which there will be a 2-point deduction from your final course grade for EACH additional absence (illness, death, relationship drama, POS car, alien abduction…please at least be original!).

Reading: This is a literature course so you will be expected to keep up with the readings, be ready to discuss the materials, and engage in a thoughtful dialogue with your peers. These readings will also be the primary source material for the writing assignments required in this course.

Quizzes and Exams: There will quizzes on terms and readings throughout the course! No exams 😊

You’re welcome.

Presentations: You will be presenting your research project to the English faculty twice; a proposal and rough outline in mid-October (think of this as early intervention) and then in December we will gather with the EN 134 students to present your final paper.

Peer reviews: The drafting of the final paper will be broken up into sections. Each section will be due at regular intervals for peer and instructor review. 

Instructor's Academic Integrity Policy

PLAGIARISM: Don’t do it. Plagiarism is addressed in the Student Handbook (Student Life Policies, Academic Integrity, Plagiarism): “To quote from Practical English Handbook (Watkins, Dillingham and Martin, 1978, 260): ‘Using others’ words and ideas as if they were your own is a form of stealing called plagiarism.’  In academic or scholarly writing, plagiarism offends the community of learning as seriously as does cheating on an examination. Developing the habit of giving appropriate credit to others for their ideas is important not only in school but in all other professional and life situations” (quoted in WC Student Handbook, 21).

Any plagiarized assignments or papers (in part or in full) will result in an automatic zero in this course. Infractions will also be reported to the office of Academic Affairs and recorded in your student file. 

Institutional and Program-Level Policies

Final Exam Schedule

All exams will follow the Final Exam Schedule. Students scheduled to take three or more final examinations on one day may request to arrange their examination schedule, so no more than two exams occur on one day.
Requests for early or late exams are considered only under extreme circumstances. Prior to the exam period, the student must file a written request on the Early/Late Exam Form available in the Student One Stop Center, Academic Records, and on the WC portal. The form must be signed by the Instructor and the Academic Dean, approving the alternate exam time. This process must be completed prior to the scheduled exam period.

SP25 Final Exam Schedule 

 

Out-of-class Work Expectation

A minimum of 2 hours of out-of-class student work is expected for each hour of in-class time for traditional face-to-face courses. For online and hybrid courses, the combination of face-to-face time and out-of-class work should be equal to 3 hours per credit hour per week.

Instructional Course Delivery                                                                                                            

Definition of Courses

Academic Integrity Policy

The use of generative AI is prohibited except where expressly allowed in assignment instructions.

Academic Integrity Policy

Class Attendance Policy                              

Institutional Class Attendance Policy

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)