ENGL 2300: Practical Criticism: Research and Methodology

Dr. Margaret E. Mitchell

MW 3:30-4:45, Humanities 208

Office: TLC 2250

Email: mmitchel@westga.edu

Website: http: //www.westga.edu/~mmitchel

Phone: 770.836.6512

Office Hours:

MW 10-12, TR 2:30-3:30, and by appt.

Required Texts:

Literary and Cultural Theory: From Basic Principles to Advanced Applications. Donald E. Hall.

MLA Handbook for Writers. Ed. Joseph Gibaldi.

The Broadview Anthology of Short Fiction. Ed. Gaunce & Mayer.

Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Ed. Chris Baldick.

 --I may occasionally distribute other short readings.

Course Description:

This course will introduce you to some of the major schools of contemporary literary theory, emphasizing the multiple ways in which different critical perspectives can illuminate literary texts. As you acquire an understanding of several important modes of criticism, you will also be learning how to apply these critical lenses to specific literary texts. In order to accommodate both goals, your intensive reading will be supplemented by a series of writing workshops throughout the semester. This challenging and rigorous work will prepare you for advanced studies in English and related fields. It is important to stress, however, that learning to apply literary theory to texts is more than an intellectual exercise. As you become more familiar with the various schools of literary criticism, their emphases and their ideologies, you are certain to find some more appealing than others, and more in tune with your own critical tendencies. Ideally, the work you do in this class will enable you to begin to define your own position as a reader and critic of literature, and your awareness of a range of interpretive possibilities will open the world of literature to you in a new and rewarding way.

Course Requirements:

Readings in Literary and Cultural Theory will be supplemented throughout the semester by literary texts, including Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and some well-known short stories. You will be required to write two 5-page analytical essays in which you apply specific critical perspectives to these texts; you will receive detailed assignments on the days designated in the schedule. In the last few weeks of the course, you will write a longer research paper (8-10) pages, applying a theoretical approach (or approaches) of your own choosing to a short story you will select from the Broadview anthology. Along with this paper you will submit a 2-page proposal, a rough draft, peer evaluations, and an annotated bibliography. You will discuss your project in a short class presentation in the final days of the semester. There will be a final exam designed to test your understanding of the various schools of criticism and key terms discussed in the course; there will also be occasional quizzes and in-class writing assignments that I will not necessarily announce in advance. Everyone will be expected to contribute to class discussions.

Grading:

Paper #1: 10%

Paper #2: 20%

Paper #3: 30%

Presentation: 10%

Quizzes, in-class writings, participation (including writing workshops): 20%

Final Exam: 10%

Policies:

Your active presence is essential to the success of the class. Quizzes, in-class writings, and workshops cannot be made up; you will not eceive credit for them unless you are present. Papers will drop a third of a letter grade for each day they are late (from a B to a B-, for instance)—including weekends. I will  accept papers only in class; please don’t email them to me or leave them in my mailbox. In other words, your grade is likely to suffer whenever you miss a class.  If you miss 6 classes (the equivalent of three weeks of class), you will not pass.

Please come to class on time. If you are late three times it will count as an absence; lateness may also affect your ability to complete quizzes or in-class writings within the amount of time allowed. Please turn off cell phones and other potential sources of electronic disturbance before you enter class.

If you have special needs of which I should be aware, please meet with me as soon as possible to discuss satisfactory arrangements.

Course Goals:

• Students will cultivate skills in reading, writing, and critical analysis appropriate for the advanced English major.
• Students will understand major critical approaches that are employed in the field of literary studies.
• Students will be able to read, discuss, and analyze literary works using a variety of critical perspectives.
• Students will articulate how these perspectives both inform and direct our understanding and appreciation of literature.
• Students will develop competence in literary analysis from at least three different critical perspectives.
• Students will organize and complete a substantive research paper that demonstrates the ability to engage effectively in critical research and writing.
• Students will demonstrate in both oral and written work a discipline-specific critical facility through convincing and well supported analysis of course-related material.
• Students will demonstrate their command of academic English and of the tenets of sound composition by means of thesis-driven analytical prose.

Academic Honesty

Any form of plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the assignment and may lead to a failing grade for the course; there may also be consequences at the university level. Whether the source is a book, a website, a friend, a classmate, or a parent, passing off someone else’s ideas or language as your own constitutes plagiarism. All outside sources must be properly acknowledged and documented. I will be glad to clarify any concerns you have about plagiarism.

Schedule

*Begin reading Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights on your own as soon as you can; if you’ve read it before, make sure you reread it. You will be expected to have finished it by the beginning of week four.

**Throughout the semester, you should read around in the Broadview Anthology of Short Fiction so that you will be ready to choose a short story not already discussed in class for your final research paper.

***This schedule is subject to change in response to the needs of the class. Any changes will be announced in class and posted on the website.

Week One

M 8/23 Introduction

W 8/25 Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (L&CT); Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” in The Broadview Anthology of Short Fiction (BASF).

Week Two

M 8/30 Chapter 1 of L&CT: The New Criticism/ Formalism

W 9/1 Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” in BASF. Discuss application.

Week Three

M 9/6 Labor Day

W 9/8 Chapter 2 of L&CT: Reader Response Analysis.

Week Four

M 9/13 Wuthering Heights. Discuss applications. Assignment #1.

W 9/15 Writing workshop.

Week Five

M 9/20 Paper #1 due. Chapter 3 of L&CT: Marxist and Materialist Analysis.

W 9/22 Discuss application to Wuthering Heights, short stories.

Week Six

M 9/27 Chapter 4 of L&CT: Psychoanalytic Analysis.

W 9/29 Discuss applications.

Week Seven

M 10/4 Chapter 5 of L&CT: Structuralism and Semiotic Analysis.

W 10/6 Chapter 6 of L&CT: Deconstruction and Post-Structuralist Analysis.

Week Eight

M 10/11 Discuss applications. Assignment #2.

W 10/13 Workshop.

Week Nine

M 10/18 Rough drafts due. Peer editing.

W 10/20 Chapter 7 of L&CT: Feminist Analysis.

Week Ten

M 10/25 Chapter 8 of L&CT: Gay/Lesbian/Queer Analysis. Paper #2 due

W 10/27. Chapter 9 of L&CT: Race, Ethnicity, and Post-Colonial Analysis.

Week Eleven

M 11/1 Chapter 10 of L&CT: New Historicism and Cultural Analysis.

W 11/3 Discuss applications. Assign and discuss research paper.

Week Twelve

M 11/8 Discuss literary research—strategies and methods.

W 11/10 2 page paper proposal due. Writing workshop: textual analysis.

Week Thirteen

M 11/15 Conferences: no class.

W 11/17 Conferences: no class.

Week Fourteen

M 11/22 Rough drafts due. Peer editing workshop.

W 11/24 Thanksgiving

Week Fifteen

M 11/29 Presentations.

W 12/1 Presentations.

Week Sixteen

M 12/6 Presentations.

W 12/8 Review for final exam. Research papers due (submit proposal, draft, peer editing notes, and annotated bibliography).

Final Exam.