English 370A: Analysis of Literature Jonathan Randle J309

W 1:30 – 4:00 Office Phone: 925-3269

Fall 2008, 3 hour lecture course E-mail: randle@mc.edu

Jennings 305 www.mc.edu/~randle

A version of this document in MS Word format is available here.

Prerequisite

Completion of English core requirement. Students should be advised that not having completed the English departmental core requirement (101, 102, 211, 212, 213) before taking Eng 370 may cause substantial difficulties in satisfactorily completing the assignments of the course.

Course Description

“This course is designed to help English majors and minors become more proficient in thinking, writing, and speaking about literature. MLA documentation will be studied and applied to writing about poetry, fiction, and drama. For English majors, ENG 370 should be taken either concurrently with the final survey course in the English core or during the first semester after completion of the survey courses in the English core.” (2008-9 Undergraduate Catalog 150).

Rationale for Eng 370: Analysis of Literature

• This course serves as a requirement in the course work for an English major and minor.
• The course is ideally taken by students entering the English major or minor, and successful completion will prepare them for the writing they will do in their 300 and 400 level English courses.
• Students will be introduced during the course to literature from many historical periods and various cultures, and thus it provides an excellent base for the literature courses offered by the English department at the 300-400 level.
• By systematically encouraging analytical reading, writing, and discussion of these processes in a seminar format, the course helps to develop life-long habits of critical thinking and judgment, as well as encouraging students to become active members of the academic community through research and debate.

Learning Objectives

• The student will become more analytical in reading literature and, consequently, in discussing and writing about literature.
• The student will become familiar with literary genres, literary terms, and critical approaches to literature.
• The student will acquire a working knowledge of the MLA Handbook.

Academic Integrity Statement

The English Department adheres to Mississippi College’s academic integrity policy as outlined in the current Undergraduate Catalog: “Mississippi College students are expected to be scrupulously honest. Dishonesty, such as cheating or plagiarism, or furnishing false information, including forgery, alteration or misuse of University documents, records or identification, will be regarded as a serious offense subject to severe penalty, including, but not limited to, loss of credit and possible dismissal. See the current Mississippi College Student Handbook or University Policy 2.19 for specific information regarding penalties associated with dishonest behavior at Mississippi College.” (2008-9 Undergraduate Catalog 60).

Course Texts and other required materials

Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 4^th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice Hall, 2006.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6^th ed. New York: MLA, 2003.

Meyer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8^th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2008.

*Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11^th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2008.

Attendance

The English Department adheres to Mississippi College’s attendance policy as outlined in the current Undergraduate Catalog:

“Class attendance is an essential part of university education, and students are expected to attend regularly and punctually all classes and laboratories for which they are registered. Cumulative absences may result in a lowered grade or loss of credit for the course. Tardiness is also subject to penalty, as is any failure to complete required class work on time. Although some specific requirements may vary according to the nature and structure of the course, the following guidelines summarize university policy:

1. Class attendance is required, and accurate records are kept.

2. Students must not accumulate excessive absences.

A student receives a grade of F in a course immediately upon accumulating the following number of absences, whether excused or unexcused:

[. . .]

4 in semester classes meeting 1 time per week

[. . .]

For lesser numbers of absences, the student should expect a lowered grade in the course, with the maximum penalty of one letter grade for each week of absences (in a semester) or the equivalent.

Absence Appeal. If a student misses more than the number of class periods specified in university policy and believes that there are reasonable explanations for the absences, he/she may appeal the absences to the dean of the school in which the course is being taught. Students may obtain a Student Absence Appeal Form from the office of the appropriate dean.”

Methods of Instruction, Requirements, Assessment, and Grading Scale

Methods of Instruction

This class will consist primarily of group discussions of the assigned texts in a seminar format, with occasional class discussions led by students (see Addendum C, Guidelines for Discussion Leaders). Therefore, it is imperative that you come to class having read the assigned texts, and also that you be prepared to discuss these texts with your peers.

Requirements

Your assessment this semester will be calculated based on your performance on the following required assignments:

1. Researched Analytical Paper (by genre)

2. Theory Presentation

3. Reading Journal

4. Literary Term Tests

A brief description of each of these criteria follows.

1. Researched Analysis Paper (by genre) and Final Revised Essay

Each student will be required to write three analytical papers – one each for fiction, poetry and drama (the three main genres we will be studying). All writing assignments should meet the minimum and maximum assigned page limit (5-6 pages), and they should also be double-spaced, with 12 point standard Times New Roman font and one inch margins. Papers should also include proper MLA parenthetical references and bibliographic citations. I will schedule tutorials with each of you during the draft stages of your first paper; after that, I will be available to read and critique drafts at your discretion and my convenience. Papers are due by 3:00 p.m. on the date assigned. They may be put in my mailbox in the English department if you do not find me in my office (be sure to have the secretary note the time of submission on the paper). See the English Departmental late paper policy (below) for the procedure to follow should you miss any of these submission deadlines. Anyone not attending, or not having a readable rough draft, on the dates assigned for peer editing will receive a ten-point deduction on the grade for that particular paper. For further grading and assessment criteria on these analytical papers, see Addendum A and Addendum B.

2. Theory Presentation

Each one of you, as part of a group, will be required to present an oral report on one of the schools of critical thought which have contributed to the study of literature in the last century. You and two or three of your classmates will be responsible for leading the class discussion that day on the assigned portion of the Bressler text, with reference to additional seminal works in the given theory. While each of your presentations will necessarily be slightly different in terms of content and approach, several elements should be consistent in everyone’s presentation

i. You should plan to introduce and briefly explain your school of critical theory to the class, drawing on

information you have read and consulted – including Bressler’s text and any additional material you may

find useful.

ii. Having introduced your theory, you should demonstrate how such a theoretical approach is directly

applicable to modern literary study (what benefits does it add to our study of literature? How does it help

us understand or enjoy texts?). You may refer to well-known passages from other works (think of your

survey classes, or perhaps passages from texts we have read earlier in the semester) in order to illustrate how

your theory “works” in such texts.

iii. Prepare questions for the class, or lead them in an activity, in order to give them a chance to apply the

theory to one of the texts from Meyer that we will have read in preparation for the class meeting.

In addition to these more general guidelines, two specifics will be required from each of you during your presentation. You are to prepare the following:

iv. A brief, but authoritative, bibliography (minimum of one page) of works used or consulted during your

preparation. This should provide your classmates with a survey of the most important books and essays on

your particular school of critical theory. You may add annotations, but these are not required.

v. A handout consisting of examples in which your theory is applied to different texts, both short enough to

reprint and accessible enough to facilitate your presentation. You might wish to incorporate this handout

into number ii above.

As this is a seminar class, and as most of the instruction will be coming from you and your classmates, you should plan to use at least 15 minutes (but no more than 20 minutes) of class time for your presentation. Remember, you will be viewed (and treated) as the class expert on your assigned theory, so treat these presentations seriously. Also, your classmates will be expected to be prepared for discussion and participation of your given theory and assigned reading.

Your grade for this assignment will be based on three factors:

i. Content: your presentation should be clear, concise, and thorough enough to provide your classmates

with sufficient material regarding the major issues and critics of your theory.

ii. Participation: the extent to which you engage the audience, how you field questions from your

classmates, and the extent to which your preparation reflects earnest concern for the increase of their

awareness and knowledge

iii. Bibliography and handout: all material should be correct and presented in MLA format.

A generic guide for classroom presentations in the English Department is provided in Addendum C of the syllabus.

3. Reading Journal

Each student must also keep a reading journal on each selection read, as well as a list of terms (and corresponding definitions) given in each unit. While your journal entries need not be paper-length, and need not involve a great deal of scholarship on your part, they do need to represent your thoughts and reflections about the text(s) that you have read in preparation for class. See Addendum A for further information regarding the Reading Journal component of the course. Additional writing assignments may be made for both in-class and out-of-class completion, and these should be included in your Journal as well.

4. Literary Term Tests

In conjunction with the list of literary terms and definitions mentioned in number 3, above, you will be periodically quizzed on literary terms throughout the semester. These short, prompt-and-indentification tests cannot be made up. See more comprehensive discussions of this requirement in Addendum A.

Note: One of the course objectives noted above includes familiarization with the MLA Handbook. Although we will discuss certain portions of this text in class, it is YOUR responsibility to familiarize yourself with its content. You should plan on consulting the handbook throughout the semester, and especially as you approach writing your Researched Analysis Papers.

Assessment

Your final grade, out of a possible 700 points, will be determined by the following distribution:

Researched Analysis Papers 300

Fiction 100

Poetry 100

Drama 100

Theory Presentation 100

Reading Journals 100

Literary Term Tests 150

Class Participation 50

(Participation in Seminar Presentations, contribution to discussions, responses to assigned Questions for Critical Thinking and Writing)

Grading Scale

I will use the following grading scale to determine your scores on each assignment:

A = 93-100% 744-800 points

B = 85-92% 680-743

C = 75-84% 600-679

D = 65-74% 520-599

F = below 65% 519 and below

Late Paper Policy

The English Department has established the following policy for late work submitted in upper-level and graduate English courses:

No major papers or projects will be accepted after the due date except in the case of your hospitalization or the death of an immediate family member; you may appeal your case, if necessary, to a departmental committee after filling out an appeals form available from the department chair.

Grades for other assignments will be reduced according to the following schedule:

· after time due and up to 24 hours late: one letter grade;

· after 24 hours and up to 48 hours late: two letter grades;

· after 48 hours and up to 72 hours late: three letter grades;

· after 72 hours, any paper turned in will be given an “F.”

Failure to turn in an assignment will result in a grade of zero on that assignment.

The last day to drop a course for the fall semester is 31 October.

Tentative Course Outline

The following is a general outline for the material which we will be covering this semester; it is, of course, subject to change. For each text, a number of questions will be assigned for you to prepare to discuss. You should plan to include your responses to these questions in your reading journal.

WEEK	DATE	TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION		TEXT(S) TO BE READ
		Topics in Theory	Topics in Literature
1	27 Aug.	Introduction; syllabus review; opening questions
UNIT I: SHORT FICTION
2	3 Sept.		Introduction to the Analysis of Fiction	Meyer: “Reading Fiction” [13-46] including “The Story of an Hour”; “A Secret Sorrow”; “A Sorrowful Woman.” Respond to questions 1-6 [43]
3	10 Sept.		The “Trinity” of Fiction: Plot, Character, and Setting	Meyer: “Plot” [69-78], “Character” [117-24], “Setting” [162-4] “A Rose for Emily” [90-7]; “Bartleby the Scrivener” [124-49]; “Soldier’s Home” [164-70] Respond to questions 2-6 [96-7]; 1, 3-6 [149]; and 1-3, 6, 8 [170]
4	17 Sept.		Perspective and Perception in Short Fiction	Meyer: “Point of View” [188-93], “Symbolism” [237-40] “The Lady with the Pet Dog”, by both Checkhov [204-18] and Oates [219-32]; “The Hand” [240-2] Respond to questions 1-3, 6-8 [216]; 1-2 [231]; 3-10 [242]
5	24 Sept.	Library tour; meet upstairs in the Leland Speed Library Electronic Classroom		Meyer: “Theme” [262-5], “Style, Tone, and Irony” [283-7] “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” [266-73]; “Popular Mechanics” [287-9] Respond to questions 1-6 [273-4] and 1-8 [289]
6	1 Oct.	Rough Draft of Short Fiction Paper due; Peer Edit Writing the Literary Research Paper – Some Pointers Final Draft of Short Fiction Paper due no later than 3:00 on Monday, 6 October		MLA Handbook review
UNIT II: POETRY For Poetry unit, in addition to reading all “embedded poems” within the chapter commentary by Meyer, read the assigned texts and answer all “Questions for Critical Thinking and Writing” for these texts
7	8 Oct.	Beginning the discussion: An overview of critical theory	Introduction to the Analysis of Poetry	Meyer: “Reading Poetry” [569-612] “Word Choice, Word Order, and Tone” [622-58] ‘Hazel Tells Laverne’ Four Love Poems [635-41] Bressler: Chapters 1 and 2
8	15 Oct.	New Criticism Presentation Schedule	The “Stuff” of Poetry: Imagery and Figurative Language	Meyer: “Images” [659-80] Whitman, ‘Cavalry Crossing a Ford’ Roethke, ‘Root Cellar’ Arnold, ‘Dover Beach’ Owen, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ “Figures of Speech” [681-91] Castellanos, ‘Chess’ Atwood, ‘February’ Plath, ‘Mirror’ Donne, ‘A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning’ Bressler, Chapter 3
9	22 Oct.	Reader-Response Criticism	The “Style” of Poetry: Representative Symbols and Sounds	Meyer: “Symbol, Allegory, Irony” [702-24] Kenyon, ‘Surprise’ Reed, ‘Naming of Parts’ Browning, ‘My Last Duchess’ “Sounds” [725-51] Carroll, ‘Jabberwocky’ Plath, ‘Mushrooms’ Donne, ‘Song’ Bressler: Chapter 4
10	29 Oct.	Structuralism and Deconstruction	The “Structure” of Poetry: Meter and Form	Meyer: “Patterns of Rhythm” [752-72] Housman, ‘When I was one-and-twenty’ Herrick, ‘Delight in Disorder’ Jonson, ‘Still to be Neat’ “Poetic Forms” [773-99] Cummings, ‘in Just-’ Williams, ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ “Open Form” [800-17] Bressler: Chapter 5
11	5 Nov.	Rough Draft of Poetry Paper due; Peer Edit Final Draft of Poetry Paper due no later than 3:00 on Monday, 10 November
UNIT III: DRAMA For the Drama unit, be prepared to discuss all of the “Questions for Critical Thinking and Writing” which accompany the assigned texts.
12	12 Nov.	Psychoanalytic Criticism	Introduction to the Analysis of Drama	Meyer: “Reading Drama” [1045-7, 1058-63] Trifles [1047-58] Bressler: Chapter 6
13	19 Nov.	Feminism	Classical Drama: In the beginning….	Meyer: “A Study of Sophocles” [1094-1101] Oedipus the King [1101-51] Bressler: Chapter 7
14	26 Nov.	THANKSGIVING RECESS; no class meeting
15	3 Dec.	Marxism	Renaissance Drama: Classical Redux	Meyer: “A Study of William Shakespeare” [1152-62] Othello the Moor of Venice [1162-1245] Bressler: Chapter 8
16	10 Dec.		Modern Drama: Realism and Absurdity	Meyer: “Modern Drama” [1252-6] A Doll House [1256-1307]
		Final Draft of Drama Paper due no later than 3:00 on Monday, 15 December