Week 1 Introduction
Week 2
"Tradition & the Individual Talent" by T. S. Eliot,"The Heresy
of Paraphrase" by Cleanth Brooks
"The Intentional Fallacy," by Wimsatt & Beardsely (OR)
"The Object of Study" & "The Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by
Sausurre in Modern Criticism & Theory (MCT) edited by
David Lodge
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson
Week 6
"The Death of the Author" (MCT) & The Pleasures
of the Text (OR) by Roland Barthes, "Sorties" (MCT)
& "The Laugh of the Medusa" (OR) by Helene Cixcous
Week 7 Where Are We Now?
Week 8
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Week 9
"Geneology, Nietszche, History" by Michel Foucault, "Against Tradition: Towards a Particularized Theory of Literary History" by Marilyn Butler (OR) "Literature, History, and Politics," by Catherine Belsy, (MCT)
Week 10
"Interpreting the Variorum" by Stanley Fish, (MCT)
"Race, Gender & The Politics of Reading" by Michael Awkward,
Week 11
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
Week 12
Without You I'm Nothing produced by Jonathan Krane, dir. John Boskovich, written by Sandra Bernhardt & John Boskovich (OR)
Week 13
"The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism,"by Frederic
Jameson "Manifesto for Cyborgs" by Donna Harraway, "Simulation and
Simulacrum" by Jean Baudrillard, "The New Sentance" by Ron Silliman
(OR) (OR)
Week 14 The Man in The High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Week 15 Last Class
Typically Monday will be discussion with maybe some lecture, Wednesdays will be discussion, and Friday's lecture.
1) I assume valuable things happen in class sessions. I take attendance; I expect you to keep track of your attendance too, because "I didn't realize I'd missed that many classes" is not an excuse. You get two unexcused absences, that is absences other than illness or family emergency . "I had a paper due for another course, my fish was depressed, I don't do Mondays, I'm in a production of The Sunshine Boys and we had rehersal" are not excusable absences.
We only have 39 classes, less than 33 hours over the semester. More than 2 unexcused absences and your grade goes down; after 7 unexcused absences, you've no-entry-ed the course.
2) You have to participate in the class. Participation doesn't mean simply talking a lot, it means being engaged in the interchange among the members of the class: asking good questions, responding to other people's questions, thinking before you talk. Talking in groups such as a class is a skill, every bit as much as writing is. Its a skill worth having, because in fact a lot of work in all institutions gets done in that way. Being able to talk effectively in a group is, as they say, an important "self-empowerment." I know that a number of people have trouble speaking up in class. You should feel as free to consult me on strategies and methods for doing that as you'd to consult me about your writing.
3)You have to form, with other members of the course, a discussion group that meets outside of class once a week. Some groups prefer to meet before discussions and/or lectures, other prefer to meet after. That's up to each group to decide. Groups should be 4 or 5 people maximum. In the week before Fall break I'll meet with each group to discuss the course so far.
Academic or emergency incompletes are yours to take if you want, as long as you are in good standing in the course. You don't need to tell me the story, unless you want to; I trust that you wouldn't take an incomplete without a good reason. "Good Standing" means that you have completed all the work assigned for the first module and at least some of the work for the second
I'll divide the class into four groups. On a rotating basis, members each group of about 6 people will write a short (250-500 word maximum; these are to be exercises in concison) comment/question about the reading, though the essay can also put the week's reading in relation to the earlier readings. These essays are mean to be speculative and interpretive, not analytical expositions of what the essyas or novel said, though obviously you'll have to figure this out before you can reflect on it. These essays are due on Wednesday; they can be sent to me by email up to midnight. You'll write 3 of these essays over the course of the semester.
The final essay for this course is a 2500 word essay on a topic of your choice. The essay will be developed over the course of the semester in five stages. The assignment are on line on this course's web pages.
#1. A 750 word essay in which you explain why you are taking the course and what specifically you want to get out of it.
#2. Midterm essay, 750-1000 words. This essay will take the form of a reflection on what we have done in the first half of the semester. You may revise or reflect back upon your first essay, or you can write something totally new. Due the week before Fall Break, 10/16
#3 Proposal. A brief 250-500 word explanation of what you think you want to write about and why you think this is important. due 11/16
#4 First Draft of the term essay. Due 11/23. I'll read and comment on this draft. It should be as complete as possible, but I don't expect a "finished" product.
#5 Final Draft. Due at the end of Reading Period.
The comments on your writing will be, as one former student put it, "ambiguous." I don't do much "this is good, that's bad" commenting. The comments I make will be directed to making you think about what you're writing about, raising issues you may want to consider in revising, or writing about in the next prep essay. For specific advice on how to revise, what to do with a particular argument, etc., we should set up a conference.
You won't receive any grades over the course of the semester. This isn't because the grade is unimportant (if it was unimportant we wouldn't give it, would we?) but because the work in the course is part of a process, rather than a sequence of discrete units. If I am trying to encourage you to use your writing to be experimental and speculative, leading to your final essay, it makes little sense to grade it along the way. But if you want a sense of how you're doing, you should feel free to come and speak to me about your work. I will be able to tell you if you are making what I see as reasonable progress, what things you may want to work on, what things you seem to be doing best. I won't be able to be extremely precise about a grade equivelent, however. On a rough scale, though, I would say that if you are doing intelligent analysis of the works we consider and are able to state your own views clearly, that is C- to C+ work. If you are able to interpret the material we are working with, discuss not only what is "said" but what its significance might be, you would be in the B- to B range. If in addition you can demonstrate a capacity for self-reflective critical work (thinking about your own way of thinking and what it means to think as you do) you would be in the B+ to A range. So these are the kinds of mental activity you will be doing in the course: analysis & response, interpretation, and self-reflection.
All primary readings marked OR are on reserve. I have also put on reserve "The Preface to the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads" by William Wordsworth and "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time," by Mathew Arnold, founding essays in romantic and humanist theory, respectively.
The following books of essays on theory & criticism are on reserve.
American Literary Criticism by Vincent Leitch. An historical survey of various schools of criticism.
Critical Terms for Literary Study, edited by Frank Lentricchia. Essays on topics in contemporary theory and criticism.
Structuralism and Since, edited by John Sturrock. Essays on the Big Five French theorists: Levi-Strauss, Derrida, Barthes, Lacan, and Foucault
The following essays which practice various contemporary critical methods on either Heart of Darkness or Frankenstein are on reserve.
Frederick Karl, "Introduction to Danse Macabre: Conrad's Heart of Darkness" (biographical/historical)
Adena Rosmarin, "Darkening the Reader: Reader-Response Criticism and Heart of Darkness"
Johanna Smith, "Too Beautiful Altogether: Patriarchal Ideology in Heart of Darkness" (feminism)
J. Hillis Miller, "Heart of Darkness Revisited" ("deconstruction")
Brook Thomas, "Preserving and Keeping Order by Killing Time in Heart of Darkness
Warren Montag, "The Workshop of Filthy Creation: A Marxist Reading of Frankenstein"
Lee Heller, "Frankenstein and the Uses of Cultural Criticism"
Contemporary Literary Theory, English 342
Fall, 1994
Essay Assignment #1
I'd like you to write about why you're taking this course and what you expect/want to happen in it. This essay should help you define your own relation to the course, your goals and interests, and help me understand what you and the other members of the class are like, what you want, where we, as a group, are starting from. I'm asking you to write the essay because I think people get more out of a course if they can define what they want, and see themselves as actively pursuing their own interests than if they just accept the terms of the course as designed and hope they find some way to fit in.
I'd like you to think about these questions in writing the essay. What do you think contemporary literary theory is? Why did you decide you ought to take a course in it? How do you think this fits in with other course work you've done? Other interests you have beside course work? How did you come to have whatever ideas you have about literary theory and why its important? An essay like this asks for some personal narrative, but you also have to reflect on what that narrative means. Remember, when you have come to some sort of conclusion, ask yourself: what does it mean to say what I have just said?
Essay is due Tuesday, September 8 by 4:30 at my office, Rice 114.