v Text
and Contexts:
Writing about Literature with Critical Theory, Ed. Steven Lynn, 4th ed. (Longman, 2004; ISBN
0321209427)
v
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Case
Studies in Contemporary Criticism, Ed. Paul H. Fry (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999;
ISBN 0312112238) ** You must have the correct edition of this widely
publicized poem since no other edition includes the criticism.
v
Sigmund Freud, Dora:
An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria, Intro. Philip Reiff (Touchstone,
1997; ISBN 0684829460)
v
Tennessee Williams,
Streetcar Named Desire, Intro. Arthur Miller (New Directions, 2004; ISBN
0811216020)
Make sure to get
the same editions pictured above even if you purchase the books online, where
they may be significantly less expensive; otherwise, the differing page numbers
will make it difficult, if not impossible, for you to follow along with class
discussions. The most reliable way to
get the correct edition is to search by ISBN number, a fingerprint of sorts for
the book.
Many other required texts are located
online in the Halle
library’s Electronic Reserves (ER): http://reserves.emich.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=1369. It is best to print out the ER materials
every few weeks in advance from the multimedia computers on the first floor of
the Halle
library. These computers are more
likely to open the files (and to open them quickly) than your own computer,
printing the materials from that location will be entirely free, and
technicians are nearby should you encounter any kind of problem.
Make sure to bring a copy of each text
that we will be discussing to class, whether it be a book or a print out from
the Electronic Reserves. You will have to
have read the assigned material, and have it on hand, for groupwork and class
discussions.
Course Itinerary
Each of the
three sections of the course is devoted to one genre of literature (fiction,
poetry, or drama respectively), two or more literary critical schools
(identified in the description of assignments below), as well as a writing
skill of especial importance: organization, in-depth textual analysis, and
finally research. This class will be
recursive in structure both in terms of the writing skills addressed and in
terms of the critical theory covered.
As to writing,
Essay One and Revision One should be composed with the organization of the
essay uppermost in your thoughts, and class discussion will focus on that
particular skill accordingly. You will be
addressing a relatively short, yet poignant, selection of fiction, as well as
two straight-forward schools of literary criticism, which will help you to
achieve that end. We will review (and
you should thus attempt to do) in-depth textual analysis of the short story, as
well as in-text citations, for Essay One, but you will likely become proficient
in those skills only after practicing them in the first essay and then
incorporating them into Essay Two and its Revision. Both Revision Two and Essay Three will incorporate research,
folding that all-important skill into those already practiced and perfected in
previous essays.
As to the theory, in section one, we
will read a brief survey of all of the critical schools, while focusing on two
in particular. In the next section, we
will go into greater depth with each of these schools (reading the surveys and
samples of them in the critical edition of The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner), while focusing on two in particular. In the final section, we will not only focus
on two critical schools, but also read a primary text from one of them in full
(Freud’s Dora), which will provide
expertise in at least one prominent type of literary theory. Considering the complexity of these texts,
the repeat return to different kinds of critical schools from distinct
perspectives and in diverse contexts will enhance your overall comprehension.
Assignments &
Grading
As with any
university course, the homework will take around two hours for every hour of
class, and you can thus expect to spend six hours each week completing the
various assignments and readings. A
significant amount of writing will be assigned throughout the semester, whether
informal responses or more formal essays.
With the responses, the mechanical elements of writing do not matter in
the least, and the goal is to freely and openly express ideas; whereas, with
the essays, the mechanical elements of writing must be attended to very
thoroughly and the goal is to defend a focused argument clearly, coherently,
and persuasively.
|
19%
|
Responses, Homework,
& Participation
|
length:
|
due dates:
|
|
15% each
|
Essay One (Fiction):
Bierce
Essay Two (Poetry):
Coleridge
|
3˝ pgs.
|
October
5
October
26
|
|
17% each
|
Revision of Essay One
Revision of Essay Two
Essay Three (Drama):
Williams
|
4 pgs.
|
November
9
November
30
December
21
|
The
participation grade, largely based on responses, in-class writing, and homework
assignments, is a considerable portion of your final grade — 19% — so keep up
with the various assignments and contribute to class discussions as actively as
you feel comfortable. Late homework
assignments are marked down only minimally, but they must be turned in within a
week of the initial due date. Although
absences will count against you (see below), assignments will not be considered
late simply because you were absent. I
always assume that you have a good reason for missing class.
Essays One, Two, and Three will be given
two grades — one for theme and one for writing — which will be averaged
together evenly. Those students who are
less familiar with the technicalities of writing will therefore receive a boost
if they put initiative into conceiving a unique idea, and those students who
are less used to thinking critically will receive a boost by writing clearly
and carefully. In order to ensure that
you put effort into enhancing both aspects of your writing, however, the
revisions of essays will be worth as much, if not more, than the first
versions. Revisions will also be given
two grades: one for the amount of effort put into revision and one for the
quality of the essay as a whole.
Essays in Depth
The primary goal of the papers is to demonstrate an understanding of
the formal nuances of fiction, poetry, or drama, and to use that understanding
to defend a unique interpretation of the literature that is either in concert
with or in contention with an accurate understanding of one of the critical
schools discussed for that section of the course.
|
Essay One:
|
Either a New Critical or Reader Response close
reading of the Bierce short story, or a close reading which is critical of
one or the other of those methodologies.
|
|
Essay
Two:
|
Either a Marxist or Deconstructive interpretation
of the Coleridge poem, or an interpretation which is critical of one or the
other of those methodologies.
|
|
Essay Three:
|
Either a Feminist or Psychoanalytic interpretation of
the Williams play, or an interpretation which is critical of one or the other
of those methodologies. **This
essay must employ one outside source.
|
|
Revision One:
|
An extension of Essay One to at least four pages that significantly
restructures the original essay to expand or clarify its focus. It should also address and amend complex
and recalcitrant mechanical concerns like passive voice or comma splices.
See the feedback on Essay One for the organizational or grammatical
issues most applicable to your particular essay.
|
|
Revision Two:
|
An extension of Essay Two to at least four pages, which along with the kinds of revision
mentioned above, incorporates outside research and includes a Works Cited
page properly formatted.
|
Essays One and Two must be at least 3˝-4
pgs.; the revisions of those essays, as well as Essay Three, must be at least
4-4˝ pgs. The shortness of the papers is meant to give you more time to concentrate
on polishing the writing; however, for that reason, it is important to attain
the minimum length for each assignment.
Although you can go over the page limit as much as you like, try to
focus on fine tuning what you already have rather than on adding more. Writing skills are more effectively enhanced
by honing your revising skills than by practicing writing in and of
itself. Important reminders:
·
Format your papers properly and do not attempt to make them look
longer than they actually are. To establish a fair standard for all students, every paper
(excluding responses or homework) must be double spaced in 12 pt. Times New
Roman font, with one-inch margins, with the standard 23 lines per page, and
without superfluous indentations or paragraph breaks. Papers must also follow MLA
formatting conventions (which we will cover in class), although only the
research papers (Revision Two and Essay Three) need to have a Works Cited
page.
· Any paper that is shorter
than the required length will be marked down in proportion to the amount of
text missing. For instance, a 3-page essay that is
supposed to be 3˝ pages will receive a grade of 86%, or B, at most since it is
missing 14% of the required length; if that essay is B quality, it will
ultimately receive a 73%, or C-, which is 85% of the possible 86 percentage
points.
· Late papers will drop a
third of a grade for each class period late; that is, an A paper will turn into A- if
turned in one class period late, an A paper will turn into B+ if turned in two
class periods late, and so on.
· Make sure to keep a copy
of returned essays on hand for the revisions. I grade the effort put towards revision,
so you must turn in the original essay (the version that has my commentary)
along with the revision itself.
Attendance
Because this
class primarily consists of reading and discussion — rather than facts,
figures, or memorization — attendance is crucial. You may be absent five times without penalty. Each absence after that will result in a
reduction of your final grade by one-third the letter grade: that is, the
sixth class missed will turn a final grade of an A into an A-; the seventh,
into a B+; and so on. Aside from the
grade reduction, missing classes will hinder your ability to do the assignments
properly and promptly. If you are
absent from class, contact another student to fill you in on missed work before
contacting me. Above all, make sure to
withdraw from the course if you find that you cannot attend class regularly or
fall too far behind in the reading.
The five
absences are for emergencies, so if you ditch the class five times, do not
expect a reprieve from the rule if you become ill or have other extenuating
circumstances towards the end of the semester.
If there is a documented emergency (a death in the family, lost limb,
prison term, &c.) at the end of the semester, I will go out of my way to
help in any way I can, including giving an incomplete, supposing that you have
otherwise kept up with the assignments, attended class regularly, and finished
a majority of the course.
If you are not chronically late, there
will be no penalty for lateness.
However, lateness can have several undesirable consequences: you may
miss crucial information (such as the extension of a deadline) often covered in
the first ten minutes of class and, of course, you will likely distract other
students and myself while entering the room.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have not been marked
absent because you were late.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is a
very serious offense against the Code of Student Conduct. Any plagiarized writing will automatically result in a failing,
zero-percent grade for the assignment, as well as in further disciplinary
action from the Student Judicial Services if egregious. The general rule is that if you use three or
more words of another writer in a row without enclosing those words in
quotation marks and acknowledging your source, you are guilty of
plagiarism.
See http://www.emich.edu/halle/plagiarism.html
for
more specific guidelines on plagiarism.
With the internet, plagiarism is easy and tempting to do; however, the
internet also makes plagiarism that much more easy for professors to catch and
document, so do not even think about doing it in this class or elsewhere. **Note: turning a paper in that you wrote
for another course for this course, i.e. recycling the same words for double
credit, also constitutes academic dishonesty at EMU.
Schedule
Section I: Reader
Response and New Criticism (Short Fiction Case Study)
Wednesday, September 7: Survey of Course; Student Introductions;
Conjectural Responses/
HOMEWORK: 1) Review the syllabus and note down any
questions that you have; 2) Begin reading “Critical Worlds” in Texts and Contexts [TC], 1-23; 3) Read Ambrose Bierce, “Chickamauga” in the Electronic Reserves [ER] (http://reserves.emich.edu/; password
227), including the discussion questions at the end; 4) Write a brief, paragraph-long
response on the short story from the point of view of New Criticism,
Reader-Response Criticism, or Deconstruction (as briefly described in TC), perhaps inspired by one of the
discussion questions. **Either do this response, as well as future homework
assignments, on a computer or make a copy of your handwritten drafts to turn in
to me. [28 pgs.]
Monday, September 12: Review Approaches to Literature; Groupwork
on Bierce/ HOMEWORK: 1) Finish “Critical Worlds” [TC 23-34]; 2) Begin reading “Analyzing Fiction” [ER 1-12];
3) Re-Read Bierce, “Chickamauga” [ER 213-218]; 4) Extend your response a second paragraph, analyzing the short
story from the point of view of Cultural Studies, Psychology, or Feminism (as
described in TC), preferably by
disputing or reconfirming some argument that you made in your initial
paragraph. [28 pgs.]
Wednesday, September 14: Continue Work on Bierce/Literary
Criticism; Jigsaw Review of the Elements of Fiction/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read Texts and Contexts [TC 37-48, 61-75]; 2) Finish “Analyzing Fiction” [ER 12-21];
3) Extend your Bierce response a third paragraph,
articulating and synthesizing your own perspective on the story now that you
have analyzed it closely from a number of different angles, preferably by using
some of the concepts or terminology in “Analyzing
Fiction” to support your argument. [34 pgs.]
Monday, September 19: Discuss Reader Response and New Criticism;
Jigsaw Review of the Elements of Fiction/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read
“Guidelines on Essay Formatting and Organization” [ER 10 pgs.]; 2) Review the “Sample Essay” [ER]; 3) On
a computer, adapt the “Sample Essay” file, substituting a provisional title,
your own header, name, section, and other information for Essay One; 4)
Print a copy to turn in. **Use this template file for all future
essays, without altering the margins or fonts, but changing the specific
information and saving it in a new file as the need arises. [11
pgs.]
Wednesday, September 21: Jigsaw Review of Essay Conventions;
Workshop Papers Topics/
HOMEWORK: 1) Read Texts
and Contexts [TC 48-55, 76-88]; 2) Add an introductory paragraph,
complete with a thesis statement, to the “Sample Essay” file, as well as three
topic sentences; 3) Email a copy of
the draft to acoykenda@emich.edu by Sunday 4PM. [19 pgs.]
Section II: Marxism and Deconstruction
(Poetry Case Study)
Monday, September 26: Discuss Critical Approaches; Workshop
Papers; Listen to Coleridge, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”/ HOMEWORK: 1) Begin reading “Analyzing Poetry” [ER 22-29]; 1) Read Ferguson, “Coleridge and
Deluded Reader” in Rime of the Ancient Mariner [RAM], an example
of Reader Response criticism; 2) Add
a body paragraph, complete with an indented citation, to the “Sample Essay”
file, formatting the citation properly (refer to the original “Sample Essay”
file for reference, as well as to the “Essay Guidelines” handout [ER]); 3) Print a copy to turn in. [~20 pgs.]
Wednesday, September 28: Workshop Papers; Discuss Coleridge Stanza;
Ferguson/ HOMEWORK: 1) Finish “Analyzing Poetry” [ER 29-41]; 2) Read “Biographical and Historical
Contexts” and the 1798 version of the “Rime” [RAM]; 3) Add another body paragraph and
conclusion to Essay
One, revising the other portions as needed; 4) Bring two copies of the paper to
next class. [~40
pgs.]
Monday, October 3: Jigsaw Review of the Elements of Poetry; Application to Coleridge;
Peer Workshop of Papers/ HOMEWORK:
1) Do “Critical Theory Exercise,”
Part I, for Marxism [ER]; 2) Read “What Is Marxist Criticism?” [RAM]; 3) Read Karl Marx, “Meaning of Human
Requirements” [ER 93-98]; 4) Finish final copy of Essay
One (3˝ pages, due Oct. 5). [~18 pgs.]
Wednesday, October 5: Discuss Marx; Watch portions of Karl
Marx and Marxism/ HOMEWORK:
1) Read Simpson, “How Marxism
Reads ‘The Rime’” [RAM]; 2) Do “Critical Theory Exercise,” Part
I, for Deconstruction [ER]; 3) Read “Deconstruction and ‘The Rime’”
[RAM]. [~39
pgs.]
Monday, October 10: Discuss Marxism, Deconstruction, and Coleridge/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read Williams,
“An I for an Eye: ‘Spectral Persecution’ in ‘The Rime’” [RAM]; 2) Read Modiano, “Sameness or
Difference? Historicist Readings
of ‘The Rime’” [RAM]; 3)
Write a polemic debate
question on the poem, including
mutually exclusive pro-con propositions (see examples in the ER); 4) Bring two copies of the
propositions to class. [~26
pgs.]
Wednesday, October 12: Discuss Coleridge and Criticism; Vote on Debate Questions; Debate
“The Rime”/ HOMEWORK:
1) Read the 1817 version of
Coleridge, “Rime” [RAM]; 2) Read Texts and Contexts [TC 106-12]; 3) Write an introductory paragraph,
complete with a thesis statement and three topic sentences, for Essay Two; 4)
Email a copy of the draft to acoykenda@emich.edu
by
Sunday 4PM. [~40
pgs.]
Monday, October 17: Discuss Essays and Coleridge; Watch and Discuss portions of the
film Derrida/ HOMEWORK: 1) Do “Critical
Theory Exercise,” Part I, for Psychoanalysis [ER]; 2) Read “What Is Psychoanalytic
Criticism?” [RAM]; 3) Read Texts and Contexts [TC 189-99]; 4) Continue working on Essay
Two. [~39
pgs.]
Section III: Psychoanalytic
and Feminist Criticism (Drama Case Study)
Wednesday, October 19:
Discuss Psychoanalysis/ HOMEWORK: 1)
Read
Freud, Dora [D
1-39], including the footnotes; 2)
Add two paragraphs to Essay
Two and revise the thesis and intro; 3) Bring two copies of the draft to next class. [39 pgs.]
Monday, October 24: Discuss Freud; Workshop Essays/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read Freud, Dora
[D
39-55]; 2) Finish
final copy of Essay
Two (3˝ pages,
due Oct. 26). [16
pgs.]*
Wednesday, October 26: Critical Exercise: Deconstructing Freud/ HOMEWORK: 1) Finish
selections from Freud, Dora [D
85-119]; 2) Write a one- to two-paragraph
response on Freud, explicating one of his arguments, applying that argument to
another of his passages, and using your understanding of the argument to “read
against the grain of the text” and to psychoanalyze Freud himself. [34 pgs.]
Monday, October 31: Discuss Freud/Responses/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read Annette Kolodny, “Dancing through
the Minefield” [ER 144-63] (make
sure to read the whole article, for you may be reporting on any portion of it
next class);
2) Write a polemic
debate question on feminism, including
mutually exclusive pro-con propositions (see examples in the ER); 3) Bring two copies of the
propositions to class. [19
pgs.]
Wednesday, November 2: Jigsaw
Kolodny; Vote on Debate Questions; Debate Feminism/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read Texts
and Contexts [TC 211-27]; 2) Finish draft of Revision One (4 pages); 3) Bring two copies of the paper to next class. [16 pgs.]
Monday, November 7: Workshop Revisions; Watch Portions of Streetcar
Named Desire (dir. Elia Kazan)/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read Williams, Streetcar
[SND
1-45]; 2) Finish final copy of Revision
One (4 pages, due Nov. 9); 3) Bring the original draft (Essay One), as well as the revision, to next
class. [~30 pgs.]
Wednesday, November 9: Discuss Williams & Revisions; Watch
Portions of Streetcar Named Desire/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read “Analyzing Drama” [ER
42-53]; 2) Read Williams, Streetcar
[SND
46-99]. [~46 pgs.]
Monday, November 14: Discuss Williams; Workshop Scenes; Jigsaw
the Elements of Drama/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read Williams,
Streetcar [SND
100-50]; 2) Write a response on
Williams, incorporating either Freud or Kolodny. [~33 pgs.]
Wednesday, November 16: Discuss Williams, Freud, Kolodny; Research Demonstration/ HOMEWORK: 1) Finish
Williams, Streetcar Named Desire [SND
50-79]; 2) Read Texts
and Contexts [TC 133-56]; 3) Review “Researching Literature” [ER]; 4) You must find at least one refereed
article to incorporate into Revision Two (of Essay Two) by Nov. 28 (one
not already included in RAM), so if you will be out of town and away
from a computer over the break, do the research before you leave. [~43
pgs.]
Monday, November 21: * Watch & Discuss sections from All
about My Mother (dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 102 min.)/ HOMEWORK: 1)
Read
Texts and Contexts [TC 245-78]; 2) Read “MLA Style” and “MLA In-Text
Citations” [ER]; 3) Finish draft of Revision
Two (4 pages), incorporating a citation to at least one
referred article; 4) Bring two
copies of the paper to class. [~43
pgs.]
Wednesday, November 23: NO CLASS
(Thanksgiving Recess)
Monday, November 28: Discuss
Williams, Film Adaptations, and Research; Peer Workshop of the Revisions/ HOMEWORK: 1) Read “MLA Documentation” [ER]; 2) Finish final copy of Revision
Two (4 pages, due Nov. 30), including a properly
formatted Works Cited page; 3) Bring
the original draft (Essay Two), as well as the revision, to next
class. [9 pgs.]
Wednesday, November 30: Continue Discussion of Williams and
Research/ HOMEWORK: 1) Find two refereed
articles to incorporate into Essay Three (4 pgs.); 2) Write an introductory paragraph, complete with a
thesis statement and three topic sentences, for Essay
Three; 3) Email
a copy of the draft to acoykenda@emich.edu by Sunday 4PM. [0 pgs.]
Monday, December 5- Monday, December 12: ** Conferences on Essay Three ** You must come during the appointment
scheduled for you, but you do not have to go to the regularly scheduled class
(missing the appointment will count as two absences) / HOMEWORK:
1) Add at least two paragraphs to Essay Three (4 pgs.) and revise the thesis and
intro; 2) Bring two copies of the
draft to class Dec. 14.
Wednesday, December 14: Workshop Essay Three; Revisit Conjectural
Responses/ HOMEWORK: 1) Finish final
copy of Essay
Three (4 pages, due Dec. 21)
Monday, Friday, December 16 (11:30 - 1:00
PM): *Research
Presentations
Wednesday, December 21: Essay Three due in my English Department mailbox (612 Pray-Harrold) or under my office
door (603G Pray Harrold) by 6 PM.
*
[Syllabus last modified September 6, 2005]
