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English 227:
Writing about Literature Literature ~
Literary Theory ~ Literary Criticism fall 2006 Dr. Abby Coykendall acoykenda@emich.edu Office
Location: Pray-Harrold Hall 603G Office Phone:
734-487-0147 (messages only) Office Hours: MW 1:45-3:00; T 3:15-4:15; Th
10-11 ~ or email for an appointment ~
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English 227: Writing about Literature
Course Description: This course will not only provide
the background in literature and literary criticism necessary to appreciate and
to comprehend upper-division literature classes, but it will also furnish the
writing and critical-thinking skills necessary to succeed in them. To this end, we will focus on the three major
literary genres (short fiction, poetry, and drama),
along with surveying the wide variety of interpretive practices and critical
methodologies with which scholars and students can approach them. We will pay especial attention to those approaches
that are most representative of the major movements in literary criticism;
namely, Marxism, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, feminism, queer theory,
cultural studies, and postcolonialism.
The ultimate aim is to offer a forum in which you can develop and refine
your writing and critical-thinking skills at an advanced level, particularly by
honing in on those skills that most assist in and apply to the study of
literature.
Course Objectives: By the end of the semester, you
will have become
1. Conversant in the techniques,
thematic concerns, and formal structure of the principal literary genres;
2. Acquainted with the history,
terminology, and theoretical positions of the major schools of literary
criticism;
3.
Capable of applying this new knowledge in writing, first and
foremost by developing clear, coherent, and persuasive arguments that reflect
the conventions of literary criticism.
Required
Texts
The following books are available at Ned’s (http://www.nedsbooks.com/emu/; 483-6400;
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Text
and Contexts [TC], Ed. Steven Lynn, 4th
ed. (Longman, 2004; ISBN 0321209427)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Rime of the
Ancient Mariner [RAM]
(Dover, 1992; ISBN 0486272664)
William Shakespeare, Hamlet [HM], Ed. Susan L. Wofford (Bedford Critical Edition, 1994; ISBN 0312055447)
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 the ISBN number, a fingerprint of sorts
for the book. ***It is especially important to get the correct edition of Hamlet,
for we will be using many other materials from that edition besides the play
itself.
Several required texts are located online through the
Course Itinerary
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Section One: Reader Response and New
Criticism (Short Fiction Case Study) |
Main Texts: Isak Dinesen, “Cardinal’s
First Tale” Survey of Criticism in Texts & Contexts |
Key Skills: Organization & Argumentation |
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Section Two: Marxism and Deconstruction (Poetry Case Study) |
Main Texts: Coleridge, “Rime of the
Ancient Mariner” Marx, Derrida, Horkheimer
& Adorno One Representative
Scholarly Article Survey of Theory in Hamlet Critical Edition |
Key Skills: In-Depth Textual Analysis &
Effective Quotation |
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Section Three: Psychoanalytic and Feminist
Criticism (Drama Case Study) |
Main Texts: William Shakespeare, Hamlet Select Literary Criticism
on Hamlet Self-Directed Outside
Research on Hamlet |
Key Skills: Research & Documentation |
Each of the three sections of the course is devoted to one genre
of literature (fiction, poetry, or drama), as well as to one or more schools of
literary criticism. In addition, we will
focus on two writing skills of especial importance for each section:
organization and argumentation (section one); in-depth textual analysis and
quotation (section two); and finally research and documentation (section
three).
Altogether, you will compose three essays (one pertaining
to each of the three literary genres), as well as undertake two substantive
revisions of the essays on fiction and poetry. ** See the “Guidelines on Essays and Revisions” for more information
about the specific requirements: http://people.emich.edu/acoykenda/227/guide.htm.
Assignments &
Assessments
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20% |
Responses, Homework, &
Participation |
length: |
due dates: |
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15% each |
Essay One (Fiction): Dinesen Essay Two (Poetry): Coleridge |
3½-4 pgs. |
October
5
November
2
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15% each |
Revision of Essay One Revision of Essay Two |
4-4½ pgs. |
November
16
November
30
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20% |
Essay Three (Drama): Shakespeare |
4½-5 pgs. |
December
18
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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.
The participation grade, largely based on responses,
in-class writing, and homework assignments, is a considerable portion of your
final grade — 20% — so keep up with the coursework 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 to receive any commentary.
Assignments and essays will not be considered late simply because you
were absent (I always assume that you have a good reason for missing class),
but be careful not to exceed the minimum number of absences for the course.
Attendance
Because this course primarily consists of reading and
discussion — rather than facts, figures, or memorization — attendance is
crucial. After five absences, your final
grade will start being reduced by one third; 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. These five absences are for
emergencies, so make sure to conserve them for the end of the term when you may
become ill or have other extenuating circumstances. Leaving halfway through a class period or
arriving halfway into one each count as half an absence. Please do not distract other students by
coming in late, by walking in or out of class unnecessarily, or by answering
your cell phone. 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 (http://www.emich.edu/sjs/acddishon.html). 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. **Note: turning a paper in that you wrote for another course for this
class, 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)
Tuesday, September 12: Survey Course; Student
Introductions; Conjectural Response/ HOMEWORK [for 9/14]: 1) Review the syllabus, noting down any questions that you
have; 2) Read “Analyzing Fiction” [ER 1-21]; 3) Read (and preferably
re-read) Isak Dinesen, “Cardinal’s First Tale,” in Electronic Reserves [ER 3-26] (http://reserves.emich.edu/; password 227), with some of the questions on pg. 20-21 in
mind; 4) Begin reading “Critical Worlds” in Texts and Contexts [TC], pg.
3-20.
Thursday, September 14: Discuss Elements of Fiction;
Groupwork on Dinesen & New Criticism/HOMEWORK [for 9/19]: 1) Finish “Critical Worlds” [TC
20-28];
2) Read “Creating
the Text” [TC
61-75]; 3) Read “Unifying the Work” [TC
37-48]; 4) Re-Read Dinesen,
“Cardinal’s First Tale” [ER]; 5) Write a brief,
250-word response on the Dinesen short story from the point of view of Reader
Response Criticism or New Criticism (as briefly described in TC).
Tuesday, September 19: Dinesen & Reader Response
Criticism/HOMEWORK [for 9/21]: 1) Finish “Critical Worlds” [TC
28-34]; 2) Read “Guidelines
on Essay Formatting and Organization” [ER 10
pgs.]; 3) Review the “Sample
Essay” [ER]; 4) On a computer, adapt the “Sample
Essay” file, substituting a provisional title for Essay One (on Dinesen
using either New or Reader Response Criticism), along with your own header,
name, section, and other information; 5)
Print a copy to turn in. **Save this template
file for all of your future essays, without altering the margins or fonts, but
changing the specific information as the need arises. [18 pgs.]
Thursday, September 21: Review of Essay Conventions &
Literary Criticism; Workshop Paper Topics/HOMEWORK [for 9/26]: 1) Read Texts & Contexts [TC
48-55, 76-88]; 2) Adapting the
“Sample Essay” file from last time, write an introductory paragraph for Essay One, making sure that it has a thesis
statement as well as three topic sentences underneath for the body paragraphs; 3) Email a copy of the resulting
outline to acoykenda@emich.edu by Sunday 2PM. [19 pgs.]
Tuesday, September 26: Discuss
Critical Approaches; Essay Writing; Begin Poetics (Shakespeare, Millay, Hughes,
Brooks)/HOMEWORK [for 9/28]: 1) Begin reading “Analyzing Poetry” [ER
22-29]; 2) Begin reading Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
[RAM],
Parts I-II; 3) Add a body paragraph,
complete with both indented and in-text citations, to Essay One,
formatting the citations properly (see the “Guidelines
on Essay Formatting” [ER]); 4) Print a copy to turn in. [~25 pgs.]
Section II: Marxism and Deconstruction
(Poetry Case Study)
Thursday, September 28: Workshop Paragraphs; Discuss Poetics; Listen to “Rime
of the Ancient Mariner”/HOMEWORK [for 10/3]: 1) Finish “Analyzing Poetry” [ER
29-41]; 2) Read Coleridge, “Rime” [RAM],
Parts III-IV; 3) Add at least two
paragraphs to Essay One,
revising the earlier portions as needed;
4) Bring two copies of
the draft to next class. [~25 pgs.]
Tuesday, October 3: Discuss Coleridge; Poetics
Review; Peer Workshop/HOMEWORK [for 10/5]: 1) Finish Coleridge, Rime of
the Ancient Mariner [RAM],
Parts V-VII; 2) Complete Essay One (3½
pages, due Oct. 5). [~15 pgs.]
Thursday, October 5: Discuss Coleridge; Watch portions of Karl Marx & Marxism/HOMEWORK [for 10/10]: 1) Read “Background on Marx,
Engels, and Marxism” [ER]; 2) Do “Critical Theory Exercise,” Part
I, for Marxism [ER]; 3) Read “What Is Marxist Criticism?”
from the Hamlet Critical Edition [HM 332-44]; 4)
Read Karl Marx, “Meaning of Human Requirements” [ER
93-98]. [20 pgs.]
Tuesday, October 10: Discuss Marxism & Coleridge/HOMEWORK [for 10/12]: 1) Read Horkheimer & Adorno,
“Enlightenment as Mass Deception” [ER]; 2) Read David Simpson, “How Marxism
Reads ‘The Rime’” [ER
148-66]. [25 pgs.]
Thursday, October 12: Discuss Marxism & the
Frankfort School/HOMEWORK [for 10/17]: 1) Read “What Is Deconstruction?”
[HM
283-93]; 2) Read Texts and Contexts [TC
106-12]; 3) Read Background on
Derrida [ER
1815-19]; 4) Read Jacques Derrida,
“Wears and Tears” [ER
77-94]. [~31 pgs.]
Tuesday, October 17: Discuss Deconstruction &
Derrida/HOMEWORK [for 10/19]: 1) Re-Read Coleridge’s “Rime” in its entirety [RAM]; 2) Note down the line numbers of a passage
from the poem that seems to relate to Derrida (or seems ripe for
deconstruction), along with a second passage related to Marx (or Marxism), and
be prepared to discuss those passages in class. [~45 pgs.]
Thursday, October 19: Discuss
Deconstruction, Marxism, & Coleridge/HOMEWORK [for 10/24]: 1) Write an
introductory paragraph, complete with a thesis statement and three topic
sentences, for Essay Two
(on Coleridge using either Marxism or Deconstruction and quoting Marx
or Derrida directly); 2) Email a
copy of the outline to acoykenda@emich.edu by Sunday 2PM. [~18 pgs.]
Tuesday, October 24: Watch the film Derrida/HOMEWORK [for 10/26]: 1) Read “What Is Psychoanalytic
Criticism?” [HM 241-51]; 2) Read Sigmund Freud, “Interpretation of Dreams” [ER113-27];
3) Continue working on Essay Two
(draft due 11/31). [~14 pgs.]
Section III: Psychoanalytic and Feminist
Criticism (Drama Case Study)
Thursday, October 26: Discuss Freud &
Psychoanalysis/HOMEWORK [for 10/31]: 1) Read William Shakespeare, Hamlet,
Introduction and Act I [HM 3-56]; 2) Read “Analyzing Drama” [ER 42-53];
3) Bring two copies of the draft of Essay Two
with at least four paragraphs to next class [~45
pgs.]
Tuesday, October 31: Introduce Shakespeare &
Drama; Peer Editing of Essay Two/HOMEWORK [for 11/2]: 1) Read Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act
II-III [HM
56-109]; 2) Finish Essay Two,
due Nov. 2. [~45 pgs.]
Thursday, November 2: Discuss Shakespeare; Watch portions of Kenneth Branagh’s
Hamlet/HOMEWORK [for 11/7]: 1) Read Freud, “The
‘Uncanny,’” Parts I-III [ER]; 2) Finish Shakespeare, Hamlet,
Act IV-V [HM
79-109] ; 3) Write a
250-word response on Hamlet using Freud’s “The ‘Uncanny.’” [~45 pgs.]
Tuesday, November 7: Discuss Shakespeare & Freud;
Watch portions of Hamlet/HOMEWORK [for 11/9]: 1) Read “What Is Feminism?” [HM 208-15]; 2) Do “Critical Theory Exercise,”
Part II, for Showalter [ER]; 3) Read Elaine Showalter,
“Representing Ophelia” [HM 220-38]. [25 pgs.]
Thursday, November 9: Discuss Feminism &
Shakespeare/HOMEWORK [for 11/14]: 1) Read “What Is New Historicism?”
[HM
368-76]; 2) Read Edward Said
“Imaginative Geography,” from Orientalism [ER]; 3) Read Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick,
“Epistemology of the Closet” [ER 244-50]; 4)
Work on Revision One (due
Nov. 16). [19 pgs.]
Tuesday, November 14: Discuss New Historicism,
Post-Colonialism, & Queer Theory/HOMEWORK [for 11/16]: 1) Do “Critical Theory Exercise,”
Part II, for Adelman [ER]; 2) Read Janet Adelman, “‘Man and
Wife’” [HM
256-79]; 3) Finish Revision One (4
pages, due Nov. 16).
[16 pgs.]
Thursday, November 16: Discuss Adelman; Research
Demonstration/HOMEWORK [for 11/21]: 1) Read Texts and Contexts [TC
245-78]; 2) Review “Guidelines
on the Research Essay” and “Researching Literature” [ER]; 3) You must find at least one refereed
article through the library databases to incorporate into Revision Two (of Essay Two) by Nov. 30, so if you will be out of town or away
from a computer over the break, do the research before you leave. [25 pgs.]
Tuesday, November 21: Optional Conferences during Regular Class Time (603G Pray
Harrold)
Thursday, November 23: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Recess)/HOMEWORK [for 11/28]: 1) Read “MLA Style” and “MLA
In-Text Citations” [ER]; 2) Read “MLA Documentation” [ER]; 3) Finish draft of Revision Two (4
pages, due Nov. 30), incorporating a quotation from at least one referred
article and properly documenting the essay according to MLA conventions. [~43 pgs.]
Tuesday, November 28: Documentation & Research/HOMEWORK [for 11/30]: 1) Read Marjorie Garber, “Hamlet:
Giving up the Ghost” [HM 297-329];
2) Finish Revision Two (4 pages,
due Nov. 30), including a properly formatted Works Cited page; 3) NOTE:
Make sure to bring the original draft of Essay Two, as
well as the revision, to class. [31 pgs.]
Thursday, November 30: Continue Discussion of
Shakespeare; Quiz on MLA Documentation/HOMEWORK [for 12/5]: 1) Find at least two refereed articles
or book chapters on Hamlet to incorporate into Essay Three (a 4½-pg. feminist or
psychoanalytic interpretation of Hamlet, using Sedgwick, Said, or
Freud); 2) Write an introductory paragraph, complete with a thesis statement, for Essay
Three, including
three topic sentences and the two citations properly formatted; 3) Email a copy of the draft to acoykenda@emich.edu by Sunday 2PM; 4) Be
prepared to discuss passages from each of the two sources in class. [~40
pgs.]
Tuesday, December 5: Continue Discussion of Shakespeare
and Research/HOMEWORK [for 12/7]: 1) Find at least one refereed
article or book chapter of literary theory to incorporate into Essay Three (see the bibliographies in the Hamlet
edition or see the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism on reserve
at Halle); 2) Be prepared to discuss a passage
from that source in class. [~25 pgs.]
Thursday, December 7: Continue Discussion of
Shakespeare and Research/HOMEWORK [for 12/12]: 1) Draft at least four paragraphs
of Essay
Three; 2)
Bring two copies of the draft
to next class. [~0 pgs.]
Tuesday, December 12: Workshop Essay Three/HOMEWORK [for 12/14]: 1) Read Conjectural Response from
first day of class; 2) Write
Optional 300-word Extra-Credit Response on the Conjectural Response, describing
how your understanding of literature and literary criticism has been changed or
reconfirmed; 3) Make up any outstanding
homework by next class. [~0 pgs.]
Thursday, December 14 (1:30-3:00
PM): Course
Retrospect & Research Presentations/HOMEWORK:
1) Finish final copy of Essay Three (4½ pages, due 12PM Dec. 18)
Monday, December 18: Essay Three due by 12 PM
(either put in it my English department mailbox, 612 Pray Harrold, or slide it
under my office door, 603G Pray Harrold)
[Syllabus last
modified November 7, 2006]