ENGLISH 420:  INTRODUCTION to LITERARY CRITICISM and THEORY 
   DR. JOLANTA W. WAWRZYCKA
   Russell Hall 106. Current Office Hours  E-mail: jolanta@radford.edu

ABOUT THE COURSE:  We will read selected texts of literary criticism from Aristotle and Plato to the present. The readings  are chosen on the basis of how well they contribute to our understanding of principles that govern literature and art. Lectures and discussions will highlight historical and cultural background against which critical/theoretical thinking about language, art, and literature had developed. Your presentations will introduce key figures who fostered that thinking. This "literary salon"-like class will depend on in-class discussions of the assigned readings; as you read, you are expected to learn and use (and be critical of) the theoretical vocabulary present in the texts.

Context for Discussions: To gain a better understanding of critical and theoretical approaches to literature, we will discuss selected stories from James Joyce's Dubliners and use them as textual points of reference, a base for learning HOW critical and theoretical readings are constructed. Please, read the stories carefully as you prepare your Joyce Readings Logs and add class notes. If you miss any of the James Joyce classes, you will miss an important component of this course, including discussion of Joyce's own "critical" statements about his work. 

                        REQUIRED TEXTS:
(NORTON)  Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.  
(TiP)             Ann B. Dobie, Theory into Practice.
(HCAL)        Guerin et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. 
(JOYCE)      James Joyce, Dubliners.
(Abrams)     M. H. Abrams, Glossary of Literary Terms.

                        OTHER REFERENCES:
(ReJoycing) Bosinelli/Moser, eds, ReJoycing: New Readings of Dubliners (on reserve, McConnell Library)

• Digital Portfolio: Packaging Research for Multimedia Presentations and
• Reading Logs for Literary Salons; Term papers and Tests/Exams.
• Digital Portfolio Evaluation Form
• Presenter's Check Sheet
• McConnell Library
• Literary Sites 

 COURSE  REQUIREMENTS AND CLASS POLICIES:

PRESENTATIONS will be worth 30% of your final grade (see the list at the end of syllabus). You are required to prepare a Digital Portfolio presentation; please, consult the Digital Portfolio Guidelines.
MIDTERM TEST  Week 8 (10%).
MyNotes PORTFOLIO (10%).  (See Reading Logs for Literary Salons, Part II). 
JOYCE READING LOGS PORTFOLIO for "Literary Salon" discussions AND CRITICAL TERM PAPER worth 30% of your final grade.
FINAL CUMULATIVE EXAM (20%).
ATTENDANCE POLICY: only 3 absences will be excused (alarm clock malfunction; sickness; family wedding, etc). Each additional absence will come at a price of -3 points. Useful Link: "Did I Miss Anything."
RULES and POLICIES: Please turn off your cell phones and keep them out of sight: disruption of class by your cell will earn you dismissal from classroom and an absence. Users of lap tops, please, note that such unauthorized activities as web browsing, web casting, downloading, checking email or recording, will constitute a violation of RU Honor Code: if you choose not to comply, you will be dismissed and counted absent.  Because of messaging/communication capacities provided by cell phones and PCs, repeat offenders may find themselves facing charges of Academic Integrity violation(s).  By accepting admission to RU, each student makes a commitment to understand, support and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception.  This class will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code. 

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS:

WEEK 1:  Setting the Course Requirements
Monday 8/31  Wednesday 9/2 

• Introduction: syllabus and course content; class and course policies.
• Electronic classroom; electronic presentations. 

Friday 9/4

• Types of Approaches to Literature.

WEEK 2: History of Critical Thinking--Classical Thought
Monday 9/7 

• Plato: 33-36. Discussion of Plato's "Ion." NORTON (MyNotes 1)

Wednesday 9/9

• Discussion of selections from "Republic" Book II, III and VII. NORTON (MyNotes 2)

Friday 9/11

•  Aristotle: 86-89. Discussion of selections from Aristotle's "Poetics," parts 1-11; 13-19; 23-25.  NORTON (MyNotes 3)
• (In Abrams, please look up: Plot; Tragedy; Deus ex Machina; Meter) (MyNotes 4)

WEEK 3: History of Critical Thinking--Classical & Medieval Thought
Monday 9/14

• Horace: 121-23.  Discussion of Horace's  "Art of Poetry" NORTON (MyNotes 5)
• (In Abrams, please look up:  Plot; Tragedy; Meter; ) (MyNotes 4; add Rhetorical Criticism from Abrams).

Wednesday 9/16

• Longinus: 135-37. Longinus's "On the Sublime" NORTON part 1, 7, 8, 9 (see also 11, 12, 15, 17, 22, 32,  39) (MyNotes 6)
• (In Abrams, please look up: Sublime) (MyNotes 7)

 Friday 9/18

•  Boethius (handout) & Aquinas (NORTON 240-246). (MyNotes 8)
•  Please look up definitions of: Allegory, Metaphor, Figure of Speech, & Figure of Thought in at least two sources.
• (In Abrams, please also look up Decorum; Figurative Language; Interpretation; Rhetoric; Rhetorical Figures;  Style) (MyNotes 9)

Monday 9/21

• Selections from Dante (NORTON 246-52) & Boccaccio's "Genealogy of the Gentile Gods" (NORTON 253-57).  (MyNotes 10)

Wednesday 9/23

• Lecture: The Legacy of Medieval Learning.

Friday 9/25

• Digital Portfolio Research Workshop. As you research your authors, please concentrate on biographical and bibliographical highlights. The organizing principle of your presentation (and underlying question you are answering) is: what contribution did this author made to literary criticism? Why are we studying his/her work in a criticism/theory class? Printout samples of your slides and Digital Portfolio Log are due 10/6.

WEEK 5:
Monday 9/28  and Wednesday 9/30

• Digital Portfolio Research Workshop. Lecture: "James Joyce: Irish Core, European Lore," Part One and Two. Do not miss any of the Joyce classes.

Friday 10/2

•  "Literary Salon:" discussion of  "The Sisters," "An Encounter" & "Araby." Joyce Reading Log 1A due.

WEEK 6:
Monday 10/5  

• "Literary Salon:" discussion of  "Eveline" & "The Two Gallants," ("Counterparts").  Joyce Reading Log 1B.  
• Samples of your slides and Digital Portfolio Log are due

Wednesday 10/7

•  "Literary Salon:" discussion of  "The Boarding House" & "A Mother" ("A little Cloud").  Joyce Reading Log 1C.

Friday 10/9

•  "Literary Salon:" discussion of "Clay" & "A Painful Case"  ("The Dead").  Joyce Reading Log 1D.

WEEK 7: Transition: From Romantic Critical  Thought to Victorian and Modernist Criticism. 
Monday 10/12

•  MIDTERM TEST

Wednesday 10/14

• "Literary Salon:" Penned by Himself -- Aspects of Joyce's writing: The Evidence of letters.  Read pp; 251-79 in Dubliners volume. Joyce Reading Log 1 due.

Friday 10/16

• "Literary Salon:" discussion of Wordsworth's "Preface to Lyrical Ballads"  (NORTON: esp. pp. 650a-51b; 655b-62b)
• MyNotes Extra Credit: Wordsworth: discuss parts devoted to language (quote/cite relevant passages): what is W's message in this "Preface"?  How does he define "poetry"?
• My introduction of Mathew Arnold's "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time" and his concept of "disinterestedness."  Please add Arnold class notes to your MyNotes Extra credit.

WEEK 8: Formalism; New Criticism; Structuralism.  
Monday 10/19

• Presentation on T. S. Eliot
• "Literary Salon:" discussion of  T. S. Eliot's "Tradition and Individual Talent" (NORTON: 1092-1097)
• MyNotes Extra credit: Eliot: how does he understand "tradition?" How does he view the poet's mind and emotions?  Focus on describing/paraphrasing his own statements.

Wednesday 10/21

• Give-away Quiz on the Intentional Fallacy and the Affective Fallacy (Wimsatt/Beardsley in NORTON 1374-78; 1387-1394; TiP Chapter 3; HCAL Chapter 5).  Discussion of Fallacies.  (MyNotes 11)
• "Literary Salon:" discussion of Formalism; Form & Structure; New Criticism; Affective/Intentional/Pathetic Fallacy.
• (In Abrams, please look up: Formalism; Form & Structure; New Criticism; Affective/Intentional/Pathetic Fallacy) (MyNotes 12)
• Joyce Reading Log 2 entry (use TiP Chapter 3): How would a formalist critic read Joyce's [story of your choice--other than "Araby"]? How can a critic of Joyce stories become a victim of fallacies?  Or can s/he?

Friday 10/23

•  "Literary Salon:" discussion of  Structural and Post-Structuralist theories. TiP Chapter 8; HCAL Chapter 10  Sec. III); (MyNotes 13)
•  (In Abrams, please look up: Semiotics; Linguistics in literary criticism. (MyNotes 14). 
• Presentation:
  • Ferdinand de Saussure

WEEK 9  Post-Structuralist and Deconstructive Thinking.
Monday 10/26

• "Literary Salon:" discussion of  Structural and Post-Structuralist theories. TiP Chapter 8; HCAL Chapter 10  Sec. III); (MyNotes 13)
• (In Abrams, please look up: Structuralist Criticism; Semiotics; Linguistics in literary criticism (MyNotes 14. ADD Poststructuralism). 
•  Presentation:
  • Roland Barthes NORTON

Wednesday 10/28

• "Literary Salon:" discussion of Post-Structuralist/Deconstructive theories. TiP Chapter 8; HCAL p. 377-78.  (MyNotes 13 & 14 with Poststructuralism added)
• (In Abrams, please look up: Deconstruction (MyNotes 15).
•  Presentation:
  • Jacques Derrida
• Your Joyce Reading Log 3 entry for the class (use questions from TiP):  What would a deconstructive reading of Joyce's stories entail? 

Friday 10/30

• "Literary Salon:" discussion of Post-Structuralist/Deconstructive theories.
(MyNotes 13, 14 & 15)
• Principles of deconstructive reading: overview of  terminology. 

WEEK 10: Psychoanalytical and Myth/Archetype Approaches 
Monday 11/2

•  Psychological/Psychoanalytic approach to literature:  TiP Chapter 4;  HCAL  Chapter 6;  and on Mythology/Archetype: HCAL, Chapter 7.  (MyNotes 16)
• (In Abrams, please look up: Psychological & Psychoanalytical Criticism; Myth) (MyNotes 17)
  •   Claude Levi-Strauss
• Your Joyce Reading Log 4 entry for the class (use TiP & HCAL): What elements of  Joyce's story of your choice [other than "Araby"] would a mythology/archetype critic analyze?

Wednesday 11/4  Psychoanalytical Approaches: Freudian and Jungian Principles

• Psychological/Psychoanalytic approach to literature continued: (MyNotes 16 & 17)
• Presentations:
  •   Sigmund Freud NORTON
• Your Joyce Reading Log 5: How would a Freudian psychoanalytic critic read Joyce's story of your choice [other than "Araby"]?

Friday 11/6   Psychoanalytical Approaches: Freudian and Jungian Principles

• Psychological/Psychoanalytic approach to literature:
• Presentation:
  • Carl Jung and his concepts of collective unconscious, archetype, etc.
• Your Joyce Reading Log 6 entry for the class: How would a Jungian critic read Joyce's story of your choice [other than "Araby"]?  

• "Literary Salon:" discussion of Marxist, Cultural, and New Historical theories; TiP Chapters 5 and 9; HCAL Chapter 9, Sec. II B. (MyNotes 18)
• (In Abrams, please look up: Marxist Criticism; Cultural Studies; New Historicism; Poststructuralism). (MyNotes 19)
• Presentation:
  • Karl Marx  NORTON
• Your Reading Log 7 entry for the class: How would a Marxist critic read Joyce's story of your choice [other than "Araby"] ?

• "Literary Salon:" discussion of Bakhtinian Dialogism (HCAL Chapter 10, Sec. I & II; TiP, Chapter 7; in Abrams - Dialogic Criticism).
(MyNotes 20)
• Presentation:
  • Mikhail Bakhtin NORTON
• Your Joyce Reading Log 8  entry for the class (use TiP and HCAL): How would a New Historicist/Bakhtinian critic read Joyce? 

 Friday 11/13 Preparation for your Term Paper

WEEK 12: Feminist Thought
Monday 11/16 

•  "Literary Salon:" Feminist theories: TiP Chapter 6;  HCAL Chapter 8. (MyNotes 21)
  • Mary Wollstonecraft and Vindications NORTON
  • Virginia Woolf and "A Room of One's Own" NORTON

Wednesday 11/18

• "Literary Salon:" Feminist theories: TiP Chapter 6;  HCAL Chapter 8. (MyNotes 21)
• Presentations:
  • Elaine Showalter and her introduction to A Literature of Their Own (please see me for materials).
• Start your Joyce Reading Log 9 entry for the class: How would a feminist critic read Joyce's story of your choice [other than "Araby"]?

Friday 11/20

• In preparation for your Term Paper Workshop you are asked to select one of the critical approaches discussed so far and write a 5-6 page draft based on your Reading Logs. Use the strategies outlined in TiP. Your draft will be presented on 12/2.

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WEEK 14: Research and Final Paper Preparation
Monday 11/30 

• "Literary Salon:" Feminism in practice: Joyce Reading Log 9: How would a feminist critic read Joyce's story of your choice [other than "Araby"]?
• In preparation for your Term Paper Workshop you are asked to select one of the critical approaches discussed so far and write a 5-6 page draft based on your Reading Logs. Use the strategies outlined in TiP. Your draft is due on  12/2.

Wednesday 12/2

• Final Paper  Workshop: thesis statement. You cannot miss this class. Have your draft in front of you regardless of its shape.

Friday 12/4

• Final Paper Workshop (individual appointments).

WEEK 15: Term Paper Workshop

Monday 12/7

• Final Paper Workshop (individual appointments).

Wednesday 12/9  

• Final Paper Workshop -- presentations. You cannot miss this class. Term paper and Joyce Log Portfolio and MyNotes are due after class.  

Friday 12/11

• Overview.  Preparation for final exam. FINAL EXAM:  2:45 pm, Monday Dec. 14

© 2009 Introduction to Literary Criticism and Theory
Jolanta Wawrzycka. All Rights Reserved.