Syllabus 09winter Rev

English 441: Major Critics Prof. Jim Garrett Office: E & T A608 Office Hours: Monday 5:00pm-6:00pm, Tuesday 11:30am-1:20pm, and by appointment Phone: (323) 343-4163 Email: [email protected] Course web site: http://www.calstatela.edu/jgarret/441 Description: English 441 provides a general introduction to the theories and methods of literary criticism through an overview of major historical figures and significant contemporary trends. Objectives: The main objective of the course is to provide each student with a basic understanding of the major figures in literary critical theory from Plato to the present. In addition, we will work on becoming better readers, writers and thinkers through frequent discussions, examinations and writing tasks. Ultimately our goal is to work on improving our ability to think critically about texts (in whatever form we encounter them) and to communicate clearly our ideas. Each of us must consider the acts of reading and writing as ways of making the world, of making it cohere or come apart, of inscribing it with purpose and meaning. Course Requirements: While the amount of reading in this class is not particularly great, much of it is difficult and will require not merely reading but re-reading. You will need to be diligent about planning ahead and completing your tasks on time. Listed below are the required assignments for this course: 1.

Attendance and participation (discussion, pop quizzes, in-class writing, presentations). (25 points —10%)

2. Two short quizzes (12.5 points each—10% of total) 3.

Two short papers (4-5 pages or 1500+ words) (50 points each—40% of total)

4.

A midterm (short answers, short answer identification questions, and one essay question) (50 points —20% of total)

5.

A final exam (short answers, short answer identification questions, and one essay question). (50 points—20% of total)

In order to pass this course all assignments (responses, papers, exams) must be legitimately attempted. Plagiarism (see description below) does NOT constitute a legitimate attempt of the assignment. Policies: Grading Policy: The distribution of points for the individual assignments in this course is listed in “Requirements” above. For the quarter, 250 points are possible. Course grades are based on standard percentages (i.e. 90% and greater is some version of an A, 80%-89% is some version of a B and so on). Plus and minus grades are used in the class. Electronic Devices: Please turn off all computers, cell phones, pagers, portable radios, televisions, computers, MP3/CD/Disc/Mini-disc players, and any other electronic communication and/or entertainment devices before coming to class. Contacting the Instructor: Email is the most effective way of communicating with me outside of class and my office hours. However, be reasonable. If you email me at 2:00 AM, the morning before a paper is due, don’t expect a response. Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. I will take attendance at the start of every class. If you are not present I will mark you absent. Arriving late will count as half of an absence. You are allowed one absence without penalty. Each absence beyond the first one will reduce your course grade. If you miss more than four classes you will be disqualified from taking the final and therefore will fail the class. Please read the assigned texts before class. Often I will offer some guidelines about future reading assignments in class. For example, I might tell you to focus on a particular text for the next class meeting. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting the assignment from a classmate. Garrett—English 441

Winter 2009 (Revised)

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Written Assignments: Please note the following carefully when preparing your written assignments for this class: •

Written assignments must be typed following standard formatting practices for college writing— use a readable type style (12 point type), indent paragraphs, double space between lines, and use one inch margins. Any style guide will contain information on formatting your written assignments for submission.

•

Before handing in written assignments, edit and proofread your work carefully.

•

Do not use plastic covers or report folders or title pages on your written assignments. Each assignment, though, should have your name, the course number, the date, and my name on separate lines (double-spaced) in the upper left corner of the first page. If the paper has a title, center it on the first page, after the above information.

•

Use page numbers and place them in the upper right corner of the page. If you are uncertain how to have word processing software generate the correct page number in the header of your document, ask someone in one of the labs.

•

MLA format and style conventions should be followed for all written assignments (essays and responses). For more information on MLA format and style conventions, see The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, the appropriate section of a recent (published after 2000) writer’s handbook, or one of the many reputable online sources.

•

Late papers are not accepted. The assignment due dates are distributed on the first day of class, and the assignments are made available often weeks before they are due.

Academic Dishonesty/Cheating: Collaborating with others is encouraged when you are planning your papers, reviewing each other’s work, preparing for presentations or for exams. Study or reading groups can be effective ways to study and learn. However, when you write your papers, the text needs to be your own. •

You must carefully observe the standard rules for acknowledging the sources of words and ideas. If you make use of a phrase or a quote or if you paraphrase another writer’s words or ideas, you must acknowledge the source of these words or ideas telling us the source of these materials. APA and MLA style differ on the exact format of this attribution, but the simple version is the name of the author and the page number (if appropriate) in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing the use of the source material.

•

Please note that failure to cite correctly is indistinguishable from plagiarism. If you are caught plagiarizing, your course grade will be an F and you be reported to the Student Disciplinary Officer for administrative sanction.

Textbooks: The following texts are required for this class: Richter, David. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Third Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2007. Schedule Reading—Page numbers refer to The Critical Tradition T

1/6

Course Introduction

Th

1/8

Richter 1-8; Plato 25-46

T

1/13

Aristotle 55-81 (focus on parts 1-18, 23-26)

Th

1/15

Horace 82-94; Longinus 95-108

T

1/20

Augustine (handout); Dante 120-123; Christine de Pisan 124-131

Th

1/22

Sidney 132-159

Garrett—English 441

Winter 2009 (Revised)

Assignment

First Quiz

2

Reading—Page numbers refer to The Critical Tradition T

1/27

Johnson 210-230

Th

1/29

Hume 231-244

T

2/3

Kant 247-274

Th

2/5

Wordsworth 304-318

T

2/10

Coleridge 319-329; Keats 330-333

Th

2/12

MIDTERM

T

2/17

Nietzsche 435-452, 459-461

Th

2/19

Arnold 412-434; Eliot 534-541

T

2/24

Formalist 749-760; Schlovsky 774-784

Th

2/26

Structuralist 819-837; Barthes 874-877; Foucault 904-914

T

3/3

Marxist 1198-1214; Marx 397-409; Althusser 1264-1272

Th

3/5

Psychoanalytic Theory 1106-1119; Freud 497-514

T

3/10

Feminist 1502-1516; Woolf 596-610; Baym 1519-1530

Th

3/12

New Historicist 1320-1339; Foucault 1357-1366

T

3/17

FINAL 1:30 PM-4:00 PM

Assignment

First Paper Due

Second Quiz

Second Paper Due

Some Questions of Aesthetics While technically we will not be considering aesthetic theory until later in the quarter, we might make use of some of its assumptions as we read earlier theorists. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the fine arts. Although we might argue with the premise that the purpose of art and specifically literature is the creation or expression of beauty, such a premise underlies most writers on the subject well into the twentieth century and persists in many contemporary critical formulations. Someone interested in aesthetics would ask the following questions about each of the readings in this course: 1. According to this theory, why do human beings make art and why are they audiences for art? 2. According to this theory, what is the difference between art and other things? 3. According to this theory, what is the difference between aesthetic experience and other kinds of experience? 4. According to this theory, what does the artist contribute to make a thing art? 5. According to this theory, (how) is art related to the moral, social, political, economic and cultural context in which it is created?

Garrett—English 441

Winter 2009 (Revised)

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