Faculty

ENGL-1302 English Composition II

Mark Laskowski

Credit Spring 2026

Section(s)

ENGL-1302-013 (16496)
LEC MW 10:30am - 11:50am EGN EGN1 1234

ENGL-1302-218 (16619)
LEC MW 12:00pm - 1:20pm EGN EGN1 1234

Course Requirements

Textbook: This is a ZTC course - Prof. Laskowski will provide electronic versions of reading materials

Recommended supplies: Laptop or tablet, pens, pencils, highlighters of various colors, paper/spiral for notes, folder to keep notes, assignments, essays, and drafts organized

COURSE DESCRIPTION

ENGLISH 1302 Composition II (3 credit hours) is a continuation of English 1301 with an emphasis on the analysis of readings in fiction. Students will use literary elements to interpret short fiction.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY

This course will include lectures, small group/collaborative activities, use of electronic media, out-of-class reading, and in-class writing workshops.

COURSE OVERVIEW

In Composition II, students will deepen their practice in analytical and persuasive writing, with a significant focus on incorporating literary analysis. Students will learn to write eﬀectively within academic and other public writing contexts. Toward this end, students will analyze texts selected by the instructor (these texts may be primarily literary or drawn from other fields), and they will conduct independent research with the instructor's help and guidance.

REQUIREMENTS: ESSAYS AND ASSIGNMENTS

This course will emphasize the study of the art of short fiction and poetry using the literary elements of central idea/theme, character, conﬂict, point of view, setting, language, and tone. Students will submit 4 major essays during the semester, including the final exam, for a total minimum of 4000 words (including revisions and short writing assignments). In each essay, students must demonstrate their mastery of research methods and MLA documentation style by using parenthetical documentation and providing a list of works cited containing at least one primary source and a variety of secondary sources where appropriate.

COURSE OUTLINE - 16 Weeks: Jan. 20, 2026 – May 17, 2026

Essential questions:

How does Fiction tell the Truth?
How does Literature help us understand the “Human Condition”?
How does an author’s purpose shape the choices they make in structure, style, and evidence?
How do literary texts construct meaning through language, form, and structure?
What role does historical, cultural, or social context play in interpreting a literary work?
How can close reading reveal tensions, ambiguities, or multiple interpretations within a text?
In what ways can literature function as an argument about human experience, power, or values?
How does writing function as a tool for thinking, not just communicating?

Unit #1 – Elements of Fiction and Poetry: the Impact of Image and Irony (weeks 1-3)

Feb 16 - 1st essay due (Power of Irony)

Unit #2 – Narration Technique and the Influence of Point of View (weeks 4-6)

March 16 - 2nd essay due (Influence of POV)

Unit #3 – The Unreliable Narrator and Building Suspense (weeks 7-9)

Unit #4 – Finding Her Voice: The Rise of Feminist Literature (weeks 10-12)

April 20 - 3rd essay due (Impact of Literature)

Unit #5 – Sci-Fi and Fantasy: Exploring the Human Condition through Imagination (weeks 13 -14)

Unit #6 – The Power of Symbolism and Allegory (weeks 15-16)

May 11 - 4th essay (Conveying the Human Experience)

FINAL EXAM - May 13, 2026

**Students will be notified in advance if there are any date changes**

Professor Laskowski will provide speciﬁc written guidelines for each essay and may require part or all of at least one paper to be written under supervision. In addition, he will assign readings from various genres that support the requirements of the departmental exam. Professor Laskowski will also assign:

Readings and questions
quizzes
multiple drafts
other activities that will affect ﬁnal grades

Readings

1302 COURSE READINGS BY UNIT

Unit 1: Elements of Fiction and Poetry: The Impact of Irony and Epiphany

Ordeal by Cheque by Wuther Crue

The Box Social by James Reaney

The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty

Test by Theodore Thomas

Button, Button by Richard Matheson

Araby by James Joyce

Ado by Connie Willis

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick

All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein

Poetry:

Richard Cory by E.A. Robinson

The Journey by Mary Oliver

War is Kind by Stephen Crane

Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

Military Operating Room by John Reed

Unit 2: Narration Technique and The Influence of Point of View

There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor

Speech Sounds by Octavia Butler

The Swimmer by John Cheever

Bread by Margaret Atwood

Orientation by Daniel Orozco

And Yet… by A.T. Greenblatt

Poetry:

Sketch by Carl Sandburg

Worst Day Ever by Chanie Gorkin

Mid-term Break by Seamus Heaney

The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy

The Chimney Sweep by William Blake

Unit 3: The Unreliable Narrator and Building Suspense

Born of Man and Woman by Richard Matheson

Disappearing Act by Richard Matheson

A&P by John Updike

The Open Window by Saki

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher

The Monkey’s Paw W. W. Jacob

Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets by Jack Finney

Poetry:

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath

Unreliable by Sarah Kay

Unit 4: Finding Her Voice - The Rise of Feminist Literature

Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

Black Box by Jennifer Egan

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Excerpt from A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

She Unnames Them by Ursula Le Guin

The Falling Girl by Dino Buzzati

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

Poetry:

A Lady by Amy Lowell

Still, I Rise by Maya Angelou

Unit 5: Science Fiction and Fantasy- Exploring the Human Condition through Imagination

The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov

To Serve Man by Damon Knight

2b-or-02b by Kurt Vonnegut

They’re Made out of Meat by Terry Bisson

Evil Robot Monkey by Mary Robinette Kowal

Travel by Wire by Arthur C. Clarke

Poetry:

Second Coming by W. B. Yeats

Letter To Someone Living Fifty Years From Now by Matthew Olzmann

Poem-Rocket by Allen Ginsberg

Unit 6: Strange Departures: The Power of Symbolism and Allegory

All About Suicide by Luisa Valenzuela
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

City of Spectres by Bandi

Poetry: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight by Dylan Thomas

Course Subjects

Essential questions:

How does Fiction tell the Truth?
How does Literature help us understand the “Human Condition”?
How does an author’s purpose shape the choices they make in structure, style, and evidence?
How do literary texts construct meaning through language, form, and structure?
What role does historical, cultural, or social context play in interpreting a literary work?
How can close reading reveal tensions, ambiguities, or multiple interpretations within a text?
In what ways can literature function as an argument about human experience, power, or values?
How does writing function as a tool for thinking, not just communicating?

Unit #1 – Elements of Fiction and Poetry: the Impact of Image and Irony (weeks 1-3)

Feb 16 - 1st essay due (Power of Irony)

Unit #2 – Narration Technique and the Influence of Point of View (weeks 4-6)

March 16 - 2nd essay due (Influence of POV)

Unit #3 – The Unreliable Narrator and Building Suspense (weeks 7-9)

Unit #4 – Finding Her Voice: The Rise of Feminist Literature (weeks 10-12)

April 20 - 3rd essay due (Impact of Literature)

Unit #5 – Sci-Fi and Fantasy: Exploring the Human Condition through Imagination (weeks 13 -14)

Unit #6 – The Power of Symbolism and Allegory (weeks 15-16)

May 11 - 4th essay (Conveying the Human Experience)

FINAL EXAM - May 13, 2026

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The goals of Composition II are to promote:

Critical thinking, reading, and writing within an intercultural context
Clear, coherent, confident, and effective communication
Collaborative learning
Literary analysis

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of English 1302, students should be able to:

Analyze and discuss parts of a short story and show how they relate to the story as a whole
Write objectively, concisely, and analytically about short stories
Discuss the central idea, character, conflict, setting, point of view, language, and tone in a short story
Relate elements of fiction to the short story as a whole

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of English 1302, students should be able to: