ENGL 3000-01: Research and Methodology
Spring 2012 Dr. Meg Pearson
Pafford 309 678-839-4892
T/R 9:30-10:50 am megp@westga.edu
Office hours: M 2-5 pm, TR 2-4 pm & by appt TLC 2240
Course description
Literary criticism is frequently a process of deduction. With that in mind, this course will take as its mascot the master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Alongside our explorations of theory and critical methodology, we will read Holmes's adventures as imagined by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Once we have mastered several theoretical models, we will finish the course with Dracula, a detective story gone Gothic.
Course Goals and Learning Outcomes
Texts
Please note that the Conan Doyle and Stoker listed below are both critical editions with accompanying essays. Please purchase these editions only, because we will be working on the essays as well as the literature!
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007. (**Please note that this is a new edition!**)
Conan Doyle, Arthur. Sherlock Holmes: The Major Stories with Contemporary Critical Essays. Ed. John A. Hodgson. New York: Bedford St. Martin's, 1994.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Ed. John Paul Riquelme. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2002.
CourseDen – We will use this tool for paper submissions primarily, but I will also use it to have class should I need to cancel a class because of a sick child. I will notify you over email should this become necessary. (I will use your mywestga.edu email. Be able to access it.)
Requirements
Participation & Discussion (15% of final grade): I expect everyone to read and come to class ready to discuss and ask questions. All class members are responsible for civil and informed classroom discussion. You will have very basic reading quizzes every day on CourseDen before class to check on your comprehension. Occasional in-class writing will be included in this part of your grade as well.
Short Papers (30% total; 10% each): three essays, two of which are critical, analytical essays (2-3 pages each) in response to specific texts discussed in class and utilizing different critical approaches and another which is a review/summary/discussion of a critical article. (All three may be revised--see what that means here.)
Teaching Presentations (10%): The week after Spring Break students will work in groups to teach each other the critical approaches to Dracula. (See syllabus)
Final Research Paper (20% total): Following the schedule outlined on the syllabus, you are required to write a research paper of 8-10 typed, double-spaced pages. The research paper process includes producing a prospectus, an annotated bibliography, a draft, and a final documented paper that refers to no fewer than five secondary sources and correctly follows MLA style documentation. The topic will be related to our final text, Dracula.
· Please note on the syllabus the mention of required draft days. For these classes, you will come with the number of pages noted on the syllabus for peer review. Draft day helps you get the paper written in a timely fashion, and it helps you get readerly perspectives on your work. These are not optional, and missing either one will result in the reduction of your final paper grade of half a letter. (e.g., Your B+ will become a B if you miss one day, a B- or even a C+ if you miss both.)
Final Exam (Take Home) (25%): The final will be a general test of your knowledge of the basic fundamentals of each critical theory we have explored in the course (not tests on the literature).
Formatting and Submitting Papers
All take-home papers will be turned in using our CourseDen page. However, they should still have all the appropriate formatting required by MLA standards. All papers should be typed in a simple font in 10-12 point typeface. Always leave one-inch margins on each side. Papers are always to be double-spaced. Always cite your sources. And finally, always make a back-up copy of every paper you write.
You will sometimes need to email me your papers if CourseDen is down or a similar emergency. Please send papers to megp@westga.edu or, if that’s not working, to mfpearson@gmail.com. When I receive your email with an attachment, I will email you back right away to say “Got it.” If you submit something to me, not to CourseDen, and I do not email you back within 24 hours, I have not received your paper. Resend it.
CourseDen will let you know when you’ve submitted, and you can double check it yourself. If you have having troubles with CourseDen, please get in touch with the University ITS people. I cannot help you, sadly.
The departmental grading rubric for all upper-division written work may be found here. I have lots of writing tips and terms and links on my website, too: http://www.westga.edu/~megp.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism or cheating, whether it is using the words and/or ideas of another without properly giving credit to the source(s), submitting someone else’s work as your own, submitting your own work completed for another class without my permission, collaborating on individual exercises, or otherwise violating the university's code of academic integrity will not be tolerated, and infractions will be severely punished. Familiarize yourself with the university’s policy on academic dishonesty: http://www.westga.edu/~engdept/Plagiarism/pladef.html.
If an idea does not come fully-formed out of your skull, it is not yours. Anything else is likely plagiarism. If you cheat in my class, you will receive an automatic F for the class. Do not test this.
Attendance
You are expected to attend every class session regularly. What we cover in class is what you need to know. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to contact another student for an explanation of what was covered. I offer you 3 absences to do with as you like—use them wisely for the inevitable "stuff" that can mess up your semester: illness, traffic, death in the family, etc. If you miss 4 classes, you will not pass this class.
Tardiness
Be on time for class. We start immediately, and a quiz given at the beginning of the period and missed due to tardiness may not be made up. Two tardies count as an absence.
Extra Help
If you feel you need help or if you have any questions regarding the
class, come by my office, Room 2240 in the TLC. I will always be in my office
and prepared to offer assistance during my office hours, which are listed on
the first page. If for some reason you are unable to see me during my
office hours, we will arrange an alternative meeting time. Contact me via email
to set up an appointment. Also, do not forget about the Writing Center where
the instructors and staff work to assist writers at any point in the writing
process. For more information or to make an appointment, e-mail the Writing
Center at writing@westga.edu.
Contacting Me
I am most easily tracked down using email: megp@westga.edu. (Please note that mpearson@westga.edu is NOT ME. Poor Mike Pearson is very tired of hearing from my students.) I will only be able to contact you via your university email or your CourseDen Email. Please e-mail me from your university account in order to make it easier to identify the sender of the e-mail and to avoid unnecessary security or virus risks.
Special Circumstances
If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please see me at the beginning of the semester. If you have a disability that you have not yet registered through the Disabled Student Services Office, please contact Dr. Ann Phillips in the Student Development Office (678-839-6428).
Syllabus
Note: (LC) is Bressler’s Literary Criticism, (SH) is the Holmes anthology, and Dracula is Dracula!
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Tuesday |
Thursday |
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1/10 First Day Read: (LC) Chapter 1 [TAKE READING QUIZ ON COURSEDEN BY 8 AM!] Historical Overview MLA and the Department of English (No afternoon office hours for MP) |
1/12 Read: (LC) Chapter 3 “Russian Formalism and New Criticism” (pp. 48-64) and “Young Goodman Brown” (pp. 239-48) [nb: Pearson may be late – please wait until 9:45 unless you are emailed otherwise.] |
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1/17 Read: (LC) “The Formalist Critics” (pp. 250-56); (SH) “The Musgrave Ritual”; Brooks essay, “Reading for Plot” |
1/19 Read: (SH) “The Dancing Men” |
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1/24 Short Paper 1 Due Read: (LC) part of Chapter 5 (pp.85-105); (SH) “The Red-Headed League” and Priestman, “Sherlock Holmes, the series” |
1/26 Read: (LC) second half of chapter 5 (pp. 105-122), Derrida essay (pp. 256-271) |
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1/31 Read: (LC) Chapter 7 “Feminism”; (SH) “Charles Augustus Milverton” |
2/2 Read: (LC) Chapter 8 “Marxism”; (SH) “The Blue Carbuncle” |
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2/7 Read: (LC) Chapter 9 “New Historicism”; (SH) “Man with the Twisted Lip” and Jaffe, “Detecting the Beggar” Short Paper 2 due |
2/9 Read: (SH) “Case of Identity” Discuss the “identity” theories: African-American, Queer Theory |
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2/14 Read: (LC) Chapter 10 “Post Colonialism”; (SH) “The Speckled Band,” Hennessy and Mohan essay on “Speckled Band” Third Paper Assignment |
2/16 Read: (SH) Hodgson article (pp. 335-52), bring in outline of article with thesis and main points and pieces of evidence highlighted (organizing an analysis/critique)
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2/21 Read: (SH) “The Final Problem” Short Paper 3 Due |
2/23 Read: (LC) “John Keats and Nature, an Ecocritical Inquiry” (pp. 288-300) |
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2/28 Read: Dracula, pp. 26-121 (Chapters I-VIII) |
3/1 Read: Dracula, pp. 122-212 (Chapters IX-XV, stop at “Dr. Seward’s Diary, 28 September”) Assignments for Dracula criticism day W Day Friday |
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3/6 Read: Dracula, pp. 213-299 (Chapters XV-XXII) |
3/8 Read: Dracula, pp. 300-end (Chapters XXIII-end) |
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3/13 Theorizing Dracula Historical Context (MP), Gender Criticism, Psychoanalytic Criticism, New Historicism |
3/15 Theorizing Dracula New Historicism, Deconstructionism, Combined Perspectives |
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3/20 Spring Break |
3/22 Spring Break |
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3/27 Research Overview (computer lab) |
3/29 MP @ CEA CONFERENCE – MOVE TO COURSE DEN!
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4/3 Research Day (no class) Meet with Pearson DUE: Prospectus for Final Paper |
4/5 How to use sources wisely and in a scholarly fashion (narratio, argument paragraphs) DUE: Annotated Bibliography |
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4/10 Final Paper – how to write and organize one (parts of a full argument, thesis, evidence) |
4/12 Required Draft Day 1 (2-3 pages) |
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4/17 Required Draft Day 2 (5-6 pages) |
4/19 last day of class Final Paper Due Hand out take-home final |
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4/24 Finals week – no class |
4/26 FINAL EXAM TIME 8 am Final Exams to be turned in via Course Den by 8 am. |