English 300

his course will introduce you to the major currents in twentieth-century literary criticism, beginning with “The New Criticism” of the 1940s and 50s, moving on to the revolutionary philosophies of structuralism and deconstruction, and culminating in the theories of identity and culture as manifested in gender criticism, New Historicism, and Postcolonialism. The class is designed to equip you with new ways of seeing and new ways of thinking. I expect you to actively engage each critical concept, though you will not be asked to agree with or fully accept any given approach. You will be introduced to each approach through readings in your textbook as well as introductory lectures. We will then practice the criticism through application to selected short stories and poems found in your textbook and supplied by me. I hope that by the end of the semester you will have many new critical “tools” in your “toolbox” with which to analyze literature and derive greater meaning and pleasure from the process. We will also take time to discuss the conventions of academic writing in higher level English classes and in the professional academic community. Finally, the last two weeks of the course will be devoted to learning more about careers in English both inside and outside academia.

If you are absent while representing Union in an official capacity, you may have this absence excused with a written statement from an appropriate authority. If you are absent due to illness, I will excuse the absence provided that a physician or nurse provides a statement saying that you were too ill to attend class. Even excessive excused absences may prevent you from fulfilling basic requirements of this course, so please stay healthy!

Critical Essay 1..................................................................................................15%

Critical Essay 2..................................................................................................20%

Critical Essay 3..................................................................................................20%

Mid-term Exam.................................................................................................15%

Final Exam.........................................................................................................20%

Attendance, participation, study questions.....................................................10%

The grading scale for this course is detailed in the Union University Undergraduate Catalogue (A 95-100; B 85-94; C 75-84; D 65-74; F 64 and below). All assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments are penalized 1/3 letter for each school (not class) day late. You are responsible for getting me your papers regardless of unfavorable circumstances such as computer glitches. All work must be submitted in order to pass the course. Notify me if accommodations need to be made for disabilities of any kind.

Plagiarism can be broadly defined as using the ideas or words of others in your paper without proper acknowledgment. Using information from other term papers, websites, or even standard research tools without source citation is a serious breach of academic integrity, and ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism is no excuse. When in doubt, please consult your instructor about the appropriate use of quotation marks, paraphrase, and parenthetical citation. Flagrant acts of plagiarism (e.g., downloading all or portions of a paper from the Internet without proper citation, handing in the work of another as your own, repeated instances of plagiarism, etc.) shall result in a failing grade for the course and possible further disciplinary action taken by the University. Punishment for other forms of plagiarism may range from failing the assignment to failing the course. Union University “upholds the highest standards of honesty” (2002-2003 Undergraduate Catalogue 22), and the English department’s policy regarding plagiarism is an attempt to preserve these standards.

You will write three typed and double-spaced critical essays in this course. Details on these assignments are to follow.

There will be a mid-term and a final in this course; details on these exams are to follow. A portion of the final will be cumulative, as required by the University. There will be no alternates given for these exams. If you anticipate that an excused absence will conflict with an exam, please speak with me well ahead of time. You are responsible for furnishing your own bluebooks (exam booklets), which can be purchased at Lifeway.

In lieu of quizzes, I will assign a study question per class meeting to help guide your reading and make sure all students are keeping up. On occasion I will ask to see your responses, which will be graded on a √-, √, and √+ basis, roughly equivalent to a C, B, and A. However, the Study Question is not merely a policing measure; often the question will deal with a core concern, a critical term, or a key passage which will help you better engage the text and which you will see again on an exam or as part of a writing assignment option. Study questions also serve as springboards into class discussion. If you are absent on the day I take up these questions, you may only hand in a late assignment if your absence is excused.

This class is a “No Cell Phone Zone.” Please turn off all cell phones. If you must have your phone on, please set it to buzz/vibrate.

I often use email to communicate information regarding this course to the class at large, and I email the class via a Webadvisor option that allows me to send a note to all student accounts at once. You should regularly check your student email account, or you should make sure that all Union email is forwarded to an account you do check (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.). See computing services on how to forward email.

A required text means precisely that—required. Each student is required to have his or her own copy of the required textbook in the appropriate edition. The admittedly high cost of textbooks has prompted some students to consider “book sharing.” However, in an English course, such a plan is not good in theory, and even worse in practice. I am skeptical that a shared book can serve two students well, especially when one student has it at midnight on Tuesday and the other hasn’t finished his/her reading yet for the next day.

Furthermore, your course text provides you with more than just the subject matter. Each student ideally will engage in dialogue with the textbook, jotting notes, questions, reactions in the margins, not merely highlighting passages. If your textbook pages are clean and blank, you’re doing something wrong. A shared book does not allow for this individuated engagement with the text. In college, this is how we read—with pen or pencil in hand. If you’re concerned about the buyback potential of your book, use a pencil. But hopefully you will be more concerned about how much you’re learning in this class, which is why you came to Union instead of going to a much cheaper university a few miles down the road. Does it make sense to pay $20,000/ year to go to college, only to go cheap on the main thing, your course material?

While I am sympathetic to the cash-strapped student (I was one too not long ago), I do require each student to have his or her own textbook. After the third day of class, failure to possess your own copy of the required text will result in a 5 point participation grade penalty for each day you do not have a book.

As per a departmental requirement, I keep all exams and papers for one year. You should also keep a copy of all out-of-class work in case I lose anything. This syllabus and first-day handout may be revised as necessary. I encourage you to call me in my office or at home (668-4888; 8:00 am-10:00 pm, please) if you need anything. If you have any concerns about this course, don’t wait until the last minute to voice them—talk to me while we can take steps to make this course a positive experience for you. My office, A-17, is located in PAC in the glassed-in Humanities Vestibule near the art gallery and wellness center, across from the language lab. Once you enter the humanities area, my office is down the second corridor to the left, the last office on the left.

DAY	ASSIGNMENT	STUDY QUESTION
WEEK 1	FORMALISM & THE “NEW” CRITICISM
Wednesday, Aug. 29	Introductory comments.
Friday, Aug. 31 (Convocation)	Dobie, Chapter 3: Formalism. James Joyce, “Araby,” in Dobie.	According to the New Critics, the criteria of great literature are wit, irony, paradox, and organic unity. Do you think these criteria are essential, universal values, or are they themselves constructions of a group of (white male) critics in a particular culture at a particular time?
WEEK 2	FORMALISM; READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM
Monday, Sept. 3 Tomorrow is the last day to add a course.	LABOR DAY HOLIDAY: NO CLASS.
Wednesday, Sept. 5	Dobie, Chapter 3: Formalism. Kate Chopin, “Desiree’s Baby,” supplied.	In chapter 3 Dobie demonstrates how a formalist might analyze James Joyce’s “Araby.” Read “Desiree’s Baby” (supplied) and comment on what a formalist or New Critic might value in the text.
Friday, Sept. 7	Dobie, Chapter 7: Reader-response Criticism.	Stanley Fish coined the term “interpretive community”: A group of people defined by a distinct epistemology. How might Union University students constitute an “interpretive community”? What values / ethics / perspectives might they share? How might these shared subjective aspects affect their interpretation of literature?
WEEK 3	PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM: FREUD
Monday, Sept. 10	Dobie, Chapter 4: Psychological Criticism.	In your own words, summarize Freud’s theory of the unconscious.
Wednesday, Sept. 12	Dobie, Chapter 4: Psychological Criticism.	Review Dobie pp. 67-8 on various concepts associated with psychological criticism. Review “Desiree’s Baby” and apply one or more of these concepts to Desiree, Armand, or Kate Chopin herself. Issues to consider might include Armand’s treatment of the slaves; Armand’s awareness—or lack thereof—of his ethnicity; Desiree’s reaction to her rejection; and Chopin’s motives—conscious or unconscious—for writing this story, among others. For Chopin, it may be useful to consult the short supplied biography here: http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/katebio.htm
Friday, Sept. 14	Video : Freud.
WEEK 4	PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM: LACAN
Monday, Sept. 17	Dobie, Chapter 4: Psychological Criticism. Critical Essay #1 Due.	In your own words, summarize Lacan’s Three Orders of Development: Imaginary, Symbolic, & Real.
Wednesday, Sept. 19	Dobie, Chapter 4: Psychological Criticism. Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown,” in Dobie.	Review the brief Lacanian discussion of “Young Goodman Brown” at the bottom of p. 63. Now write a paragraph exploring how Lacan’s ideas might help analyze Desiree or Armand in “Desiree’s Baby.”
Friday, Sept. 21	Jung & Frye.	Examine Jung’s archetypes on pp. 58-60 and discuss the archetypes you discern in “Young Goodman Brown.”
WEEK 5	FEMINIST CRITICISM
Monday, Sept. 24	Dobie, Chapter 6: Feminist Criticism.	For many evangelicals, feminism is the new “f-word.” Why is that? Why do some Christians choke on this word?
Wednesday, Sept. 26	Dobie, Chapter 6: Feminist Criticism.	Do you think there such a thing as “women’s writing”?
Friday, Sept. 28	Catch-up.
WEEK 6	STRUCTURALISM, SEMIOTICS, & DEDCONSTRUCTION
Monday, Oct. 1 Tomorrow is the last day to drop a course.	Mid-term Exam. Bring a bluebook.
Wednesday, Oct. 3	Structuralism & Semiotics: An Introduction. Barthes, “Death of the Author” supplied.
Friday, Oct. 5	Dobie, Chapter 8: Deconstruction, pp. 138-43 only.	After reviewing Dobie’s discussion, explain this structuralist and poststructuralist dictum: “Language is arbitrary, conventional, and based on difference.”
WEEK 7	DECONSTRUCTION
Monday, Oct. 8	Dobie, Chapter 8: Deconstruction, complete chapter. Kate Chopin, “Story of an Hour,” supplied.	If we were to compare Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” with “Desiree’s Baby,” what structural similarities might appear (langue) independent of the given short story expression (parole?)
Wednesday, Oct. 10	Jacques Derrida, “Differance,” from Speech and Phenomena, 129-60, supplied.	Which page of this essay most clearly (?) explains what the concept of “Differance” means in Derrida’s philosophy, and why?
Friday, Oct. 12	Dobie, Chapter 8, Deconstruction. Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” supplied.	Perform a deconstructionist reading of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” supplied.
WEEK 8	DECONSTRUCTION
Monday, Oct. 15 Mid-term grades are due.	Video: Derrida.
Wednesday, Oct. 17	Video: Derrida.
Friday, Oct. 19	FALL HOLIDAY: NO CLASS.
WEEK 9	MARXISM
Monday, Oct. 22	Lecture: “The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing,” based on Graff & Birkenstein.
Wednesday, Oct. 24	Dobie, Chapter 5, Marxist Criticism. Critical Essay #2 Due.	Many Americans are uncomfortable with the Marxist analysis, fearing its associations with the brand of Communism which led to the Cold War. Yet on Union University’s very campus, Mikhail Gorbachev memorably proclaimed, “Jesus was a Socialist.” After reading Dobie on Marxism, discuss whether there is anything inherently “wrong” with Marxist theory.
Friday, Oct. 26	Dobie, Chapter 5, Marxist Criticism. William Faulkner, “Barn Burning,” in Dobie.	Discuss how a Marxist critic might view “Barn Burning.”
WEEK 10	CULTURAL STUDIES
Monday, Oct. 29	Dobie, Chapter 9, Cultural Studies: New Historicism.	In literary terms, the canon is said to be the collection of works that are considered to be essential masterpieces. Do you think the canon is more of a stable assessment or largely a construct? What factors might affect canonicity? Who’s in and who’s out?
Wednesday, Oct. 31	Dobie, Chapter 9, Cultural Studies: New Historicism.	Imagine you are writing a history book 100 years from now about the presidency of George W. Bush. Which source do you think would be most helpful in reconstructing the thoughts and attitudes of most Americans during the Bush years: The New York Times, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, or American Family Radio (AFR)? Why?
Friday, Nov. 2	Dobie, Chapter 10, More Cultural Studies: Postcolonialism and Multiculturalism.	Postcolonialism is a field involving “in-depth examinations of the various relationships between dominant and subjugated cultures.” Postcolonialist criticism, like some forms of feminist criticism, is often concerned with considering marginalized discourses—those of the colonized, particularly in areas formerly controlled by 19th-century European imperialist powers such as Britain and France (e.g., the Middle East, the Caribbean, etc.). But Postcolonialism is more than a celebration of victim-hood; postcolonial criticism also concerns itself with how colonizers and colonized responded to each other constructed each other. How might Shakespeare’s The Tempest be read by a Postcolonialist critic?
WEEK 11	CULTURAL STUDIES: POSTCOLONIALISM
Monday, Nov. 5	Video: Edward Said, On Orientalism.
Wednesday, Nov. 7	DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: NO CLASS.
Friday, Nov. 9	Special Study: Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act 1.	Merchant of Venice pre-reading quiz.
WEEK 12	SPECIAL STUDY
Monday, Nov. 12	Special Study: Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act 2.	Does Jessica’s desertion create sympathy for Shylock? Or do we cheer her action? Is this “conversion” an uplifting one?
Wednesday, Nov. 14	Special Study: Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act 3.	Discuss the Marxist implications of why Venetian law must allow Shylock to press his case for a pound of Antonio’s flesh.
Friday, Nov. 16	Special Study: Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act 4.	How might a feminist critic respond to Act 4, in which a boy actor in Shakespeare’s time would be playing a woman (Portia) playing a man (the “most learned judge”)?
WEEK 13	SPECIAL STUDY
Monday, Nov. 19	Special Study: Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act 5.	Why does Portia initiate the ring test of Bassanio?
Wednesday, Nov. 21	THANKSGIVING
Friday, Nov. 23	THANKSGIVING
WEEK 14	THE STATE OF THE PROFESSION
Monday, Nov. 26	Guest lecture: Prof. Pam Sutton: “Teaching English as a Profession.”	Bring in three questions related to the lecture title that you would like to ask our speaker.
Wednesday, Nov. 28	Guest Lecture: Prof. Erin Hetzel: “Life as a Graduate Student.” Critical Essay #3Due.	Bring in three questions related to the lecture title that you would like to ask our speaker.
Friday, Nov. 30	Guest lecture: Career Services: “What Can’t You Do with an English Degree?”	Bring in three questions related to the lecture title that you would like to ask our speaker.
WEEK 15	THE STATE OF THE PROFESSION
Monday, Dec. 3	Lecture: “So You Want to Go to Grad School?”
Wednesday, Dec. 5	Guest lecture: Prof. Bobby Rogers, “The MFA and Creative Writing.”	Bring in three questions related to the lecture title that you would like to ask our speaker.
Friday, Dec. 7	Catch-up/TBA.
WEEK 16	FINALS
Wednesday, Dec. 12, 11:00-1:00	Final Exam. Bring 1-2 Bluebooks.