English 115  Freshman Honors Clai Rice English Department University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Office: Griffin 357 Phone: 482-1327  Email: crice@louisiana.edu Office Hours: TTH 9:00-11:00 a.m., 1:00-4:00, and by appointment

English 115 is the single writing class required by the University for honors freshmen. This course will give students practice in reading and writing about literature in a variety of formats and genres, including the standard research essay. The focus topic for the semester will be bioethics, specifically the ethics of human reproduction. As medical technology continues its rapid progress, more and more of us will confront critical issues of reproductive ethics, either in our private lives or in the context of public debate over legal regulation of reproductive technology. Most of us, though, are not experts in a medical field; we are not equipped to evaluate professional medical research. However, as educated persons we should be able to confront an unfamiliar topic with a tested strategy for learning about the topic, analyzing arguments presented by interested parties, and developing opinions or guidelines for action coherent with our general approach to life.

Two canonical literary texts will introduce us to some of the questions and problems generated by advances in science and technology, while readings from a current bioethics textbook will familiarize us with some of the specific issues confronting legislators, judges, doctors, and "clients" in America's complex health care system. Finally, and perhaps most instructively, we will rhetorically analyze current news and opinion pieces from print, broadcast, and internet sources. Each student will write four essays, present one oral report, and complete a research project.

Texts: Please note! The two literary texts are not the ones available in most cheap editions. If you attempt to follow along with us using a different edition, you will become hopelessly lost!

Essays: Each short essay will be a 500-1500 word, word-processed, original work based on material read in class.  All essays will conform to standard MLA format as described in your St. Martin's Handbook. Late papers will  be penalized at the rate of 20 points per day.  You can find additional information about essays and essay format from the page of Guidelines for Writing about Literature.

Plagiarism: All work will be original; no uncredited copying or paraphrasing will be tolerated. Seeking limited assistance in mechanics is always helpful, but avoid appropriating someone else's words as your own. As outlined in the ULL Undergraduate Bulletin, University policy dictates that plagiarism will result in a grade of zero (0) for the assignment, and possibly further action, such as failure of the course and assignment of the case to the Dean of Students.

Class Participation: This grade includes any necessary quizzes, daily participation in discussion, and attendance. I expect everyone to exercise classroom manners that demonstrate respect for other class members and for any people who may be the subjects of our difficult bioethical discussions.

Attendance: You may miss five days of class, no questions asked. Any subsequent absences will be likely to hurt your grade. See my standard attendance policy.

Essay Revision: You are encouraged to revise one of your graded essays so that it can be re-graded.  Revising means more than simply addressing a couple of the instructor's comments or editing marks.  Rather, seek to rework your essay so that it is a better essay in every way.

Oral Report:  For your oral presentation you will work in groups of three.  You will choose a particular specific issue involving medical or reproductive technology and report to the class some of the basic information and ethical issues posed by that technology.  This might involve some research on the web, but it will certainly require careful thought and discussion among your group members.  One model for your oral report is the CNN report on the Huia bird.  Notice that within the general news report are paragraphs summarizing the ethical issues raised by those both supporting and opposing the proposal to clone the extinct bird.  The goal of your oral report is to educate the class by providing a coherent overview of your topic with the appropriate facts and general analysis.  In other words, the series of oral reports will resemble a seminar in ethical issues and biomedical technology.  Each report should last about 20-30 minutes.  It should begin with a brief introduction that states succinctly the topic of the report and the main ideas to be covered.  You must provide some sort of visual aid--handout, pictures, posters, even writing on the chalk board--that will help the class remember the central issues of your report.  The key to providing a successful report is careful planning and coordination with your partners.  Don't waste time looking for notes or switching activities, and don't have so much material that it can't be covered in the allotted time.  Oral report grades will be based on content, proper length, clarity/organization, and adherence to stipulated guidelines.

Research Paper:
    Follow up on your oral report by writing an ethical opinion on a specific case within the area of your research.  It should begin with a summary of the case at hand, incuding any relevant technology, then proceed to a well-organized analysis of pertinant ethical issues that concludes with your recommendation in the case. You may use the research for the oral report as a basis for your written report, but be sure that you isolate a specific case to focus on.  Pay close attention to carefully documenting your sources.

Frankenstein:
Resources for the study of Frankenstein
Mary Godwin's Remonstrance (psychoanalytic reading by Nelson Hilton)

Bio-Technology:
Roger Cossack of CNN comments on the impossible dilemma presented by the conjoined twins in Britain.
Salon.com article on biotech art. See especially the link for "worry dolls" made from skin and muscle tissue and grown in an artificial womb. Yikes.
NPR report on a woman arrested so that her baby would be born in a safe environment. If the link does not work, you can find the report at www.npr.org, the NPR web site, in the Morning Show section from Sept. 1, 2000. The title is: Child-endangerment Case.
Another story on the same case, from the Boston Herald. A search of their site should lead to a series of reports following the story since this summer.
CNN Report on Ethics of Cloning
A Sperm Race
DNA Learning Center
Cloning of extinct Huia bird approved
Cell scientists hope to grow human spare parts
Frontline: Making Babies

Print Resources:
Fiedler, Leslie. Tyranny of the Normal: Essays on Bioethics, Theology, and Myth. Boston: David R. Godine, 1996.
Fiedler, Leslie. Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self. 1978.
Ridley, Aaron. Beginning Bioethics. New York: St. Martins, 1998.
Crigger, Bette-Jane. Cases in Bioethics. New York: St. Martin's, 1998.  The companion to Beginning Bioethics.
Shattuck, Roger. Forbidden Knowledge, 1997.  Shattuck concludes that there is certain knowledge that should be forbidden.

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