GEN 380 LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM
Professor: Brian Derico Semester: Spring 2012 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 244-8147
Course Description
GEN 380 Literary Theory and Criticism is an introduction to the major trends in twentieth-century literary theory and criticism: Russian Formalism, New Criticism, Reader-Oriented Criticism, Structuralism, Post- Structuralism, Deconstruction, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Feminism, Marxism, New Historicism, and Cultural Studies (Postcolonialism, African-American Criticism, and Queer Theory). Additionally, students will gain experience in applying principles and methods of literary scholarship.
Course Rationale
A guiding thesis for this course is the assertion that approaches to literary criticism are inevitably informed by historically and culturally located theories of literature, hermeneutics, epistemology, and rhetoric—among others. Thus, in addition to examining the major trends in twentieth-century literary theory and criticism, students enrolled in this course will inquire into the theoretical assumptions implicit in their own approaches to interpretation. Metacognition about their own critical practices in relationship to the matrix of trends in literary theory and criticism positions students to make more thoughtful choices as they make interpretive choices and as they interact with the interpretive choices of others.
Course Objectives
Students who satisfactorily complete this course should be able to: 1. understand the major theoretical approaches to literary criticism, their central critical concepts and terms, and their similarities and differences; 2. articulate a relationship between literary theory and the way they live their lives; 3. understand the basic theoretical concepts underlying contemporary approaches to literature and the major differences between them; 4. employ the methods and materials of literary research; 5. demonstrate their ability to generate and articulate responses to literary and critical texts, and to explain the premises and assumptions underlying such personal responses.
Course Texts
Peter Barry's Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (Manchester UP, 2nd Edition, 2002)
Charles Bressler'sLiterary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice (Prentice Hall, 5th Edition, 2011)
Assignments
● Explication (1) ● Critical Response Essays (1) ● Problem-Posing/Theoretical/Critical Exploratory Essay (1) ● Presentation/Meeting Facilitation (1) Grades
● Each submitted assignment will receive a 5, 3, 1, or 0 on a five point scale (5 being equivalent to 100%, 3 being equivalent to 80%, 1 being equivalent to 60%, and 0 being equivalent to 50%). ● Work not submitted will receive 0%. ● Assignments only earn credit during meetings between student and professor (or his surrogate). ● Late work will receive a 0 (50%) and may not be revised. Assignments only earn credit during meetings between student and professor (or his surrogate). ● First submitted drafts that do not reflect a satisfactory effort will receive a 1 (60%) and may not be revised. ● Students who miss a meeting for a first submitted draft will receive for that assignment a 1 (60%) without opportunity for revision. Assignments only earn credit during meetings between student and professor (or his surrogate). ● Students who miss a meeting for a revised assignment will receive for that assignment a 3 (80%) without opportunity for revision. Assignments only earn credit during meetings between student and professor (or his surrogate).
Course Policies
● Students enrolled in this course must read and respond appropriately in a timely manner to email from the professor. ● All written assignments must be shared with me in Google Docs under file names that conform to the pattern described in the File Name Format section of this syllabus. ● The attendance regulations listed in the CCU catalog apply to this course. ● If you do not understand an assignment or section of class discussion, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification either during the class session or in private consultation with the professor. ● You must maintain scrupulous academic integrity. The CCU Policy on Academic Integrity will be our guide on occasions of academic dishonesty. ● I reserve the right to amend the above policies for individual circumstances. It is always your responsibility to apprise me of extenuating circumstances. ● If you require academic accommodations due to any documented physical, psychological, or learning disability you should request assistance from the Academic Support Director within the first two weeks of class. The Academic Support Office is located in the Lower Level of the Worship and Ministry Building (room 153). You may also contact the office by phone (244-8420).
File Name Format
When you name your Google Documents please name the file using the following pattern: your name, assignment description
● Example: jeff tweedy, explication ● Example: jeff tweedy, explication revision document one ● Example: jeff tweedy, explication revision document two ● Example: jeff tweedy, critical response essay ● Example: jeff tweedy, critical response essay revision document one Conferences
In the context of a scheduled conversation about a written assignment you will receive credit for your work and may be asked to submit a revised draft. Conferences are 15 minutes long and are typically scheduled for times outside of the regular meetings of our course. Conferences are typically held at a table in the student center or in the coffee shop. Arrive to a conference prepared to lead our dialogue about your micro-article.
● please schedule a meeting using the Google Doc created for that purpose; ● please plan to discuss only one assignment at an appointment; ● please make available to me in Google Docs a version of the draft we will discuss by 7:00 p.m. the day before our meeting; ● please list your name and the subject of our meeting when you reserve an appointment; ● please read your work before our meeting and arrive prepared to participate in a dialogue about your work; ● please take notes during our meeting; ● you must submit a document explaining your revision decisions prior to a meeting at which we will discuss a revision; ● do not make more than one appointment per day; ● do not add appointment times to the schedule; ● please cancel at least 24 hours in advance appointments you cannot attend; ● please let me know if the appointments listed in this document do not coincide with your availability.
Revision Documents
You may not meet to discuss a revision unless you submit a separate revision document. Revision documents must offer an explanation of the revised draft you are submitting. Specifically, what is different from the previous draft and what considerations motivated these changes. If you chose not to make a specific recommended revision you should also offer an explanation of that decision.
Assignment Descriptions
Genre Expectations:
The following bulleted items reflect genre expectations for literary analyses. Micro-Articles should conform to these genre expectations unless there is a compelling reason to violate these expectations.
● Literary analyses describe the action of literature as though it happens in the present tense. ● Literary analyses most commonly are written in the third person. ● Literary analyses must incorporate quotations from the text as evidence. ● Literary analyses may also incorporate evidentiary support derived from inquiry beyond the text. Such evidence might be, for instance, biographical, bibliographical, historical, psychological, physiological, ideological, critical, cultural, sociological, or epistemological. ● Literary analyses must include reference to the title of the subject of the analysis in the introduction-- even if it appears in the title. ● Literary analyses must include reference to the full name of the author of the subject of the analysis in the introduction—even if it appears in the title. ● Literary analyses present evidence in support of a claim about the subject of the analysis—not summary or description alone. ● Literary analyses must make an assertion with which a reasonable person might disagree—or that a reasonable person might not have considered but would benefit from encountering. ● Literary analyses mark the title of a short story with quotation marks. ● Literary analyses conform to MLA format and style. ● Literary analyses should be organized in support of a thesis rather than according to the chronology of the poem or short story that is the subject of the analysis. ● Literary analyses have titles that reflect their argument—not just their subject.
Explication:
Explicate a short passage (fifteen lines or so) from an assigned text. A paraphrase restates and translates to provide the gist of the original even as this exercise both explains and necessarily alters meaning. An explication presents a meticulous, thorough, and systematic close reading (annotation) or unfolding sentence by sentence, presenting your questioning sense of the text’s meanings, methods, and implications. The explication is not only explanatory and expository but implicitly argumentative: an occasion for you to discover, clarify, and account for your understanding and interpretative analysis of the passage and its function in context(s). This is also a chance to share your perceptions, enthusiasms, and even your doubts as you delve into the narrative’s significance and purpose.
You will be responsible for introducing a summary of this explication in class on the day when the relevant text is to be discussed.
Critical Response Essay:
Offer a carefully located critical response to an assigned text; your observations and analysis should be succinct and sharply focused. You will be responsible for introducing a summary of this critical response in class on the day when the relevant text is to be discussed.
Problem-Posing/Theoretical/Critical Exploratory Essay:
The primary aim of this assignment is to engage with literary theory by identifying problems, developing claims and arguments, and enriching your literary understanding, interests, and commitments—this focused pursuit occurs via particular theoretical perspectives and specific interpretative practices and questions.
Problem-Posing/Theoretical/Critical Exploratory Presentation:
A presentation of Problem-Posing/Theoretical/Critical Exploratory Essay. You should rehearse your fifteen- minute presentation to a classmate before you present it to the class. Your presentation may not be a reading of your essay. Instead, your presentation should be re-imagining of your essay.
Course Agenda All dates are approximate and subject to change without notice. The student enrolled in this course is responsible for remaining aware of any modifications to the course agenda.
January 18 Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism
23 Defining Criticism Bresslerch. 1; Bertens Introduction 25 Historical Survey Bresslerch. 2
30 New Criticism Bresslerch. 3; Bertensch. 1 & 2 February 01 Literature Discussion Doyle: “A Scandal in Bohemia” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
06 Reader-Oriented Criticism Bresslerch. 4 08 Literature Discussion Doyle: “The Red-Headed League” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
13 Modernity & Postmodernism Bresslerch. 5; Bertensch. 3 & 5 15 Literature Discussion Doyle: “The Copper Beeches” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
20 Psychoanalytic Cricism Bresslerch. 6; Bertensch. 6 22 Literature Discussion Doyle: “A Case of Identity” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
27 Feminism Bresslerch. 7; Bertens pp. 73-81 29 Literature Discussion Doyle: “A Scandal in Bohemia” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
March 05 Spring Break 07 Spring Break
12 Marxism Bresslerch. 8; Bertens pp. 61-73 14 Literature Discussion Doyle: “The Red-Headed League” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
19 New Historicism Bresslerch. 9; Bertensch. 7 21 Literature Discussion Doyle: “The Boscombe Valley” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary 26 Postcolonialism Bresslerch. 10; Bertensch. 8 28 Literature Discussion Doyle: “The Speckled Band” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
April 02 African-American Criticism Bresslerch. 11; Bertens pp. 81-87 04 Literature Discussion Doyle: “The Yellow Face” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
09 Sexuality Bresslerch. 12; Bertensch. 9 11 Literature Discussion Doyle: “The Copper Beeches” Due: Critical Response Essay Summary
16 Ecocriticism Bresslerch. 13; Bertensch. 10 18 Literature Discussion Doyle: “A Case of Identity”
23 Due: Presentations 25 Due: Presentations
30 Due: Presentations May 02 Due: Presentations