ENGLISH 621:  PRINCIPLES of LITERARY CRITICISM and THEORY 
   DR. JOLANTA WAWRZYCKA
   Russell Hall 106. Current Office Hours  E-mail: jolanta@radford.edu

ABOUT THE COURSE:   The course covers selected texts of literary criticism from Aristotle and Plato to the 20th Century. The readings  are chosen on the basis of how well they contribute to our understanding of principles that govern literature and art. A  number of traditional and electronic lectures  will highlight  some aspects of historical and cultural background against which critical/theoretical   thinking about language, art, and literature has developed. The lectures will also introduce key figures who fostered that thinking.  Aside from my lectures, this 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.

 TEXTBOOKS:

• (NORTON)   Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.
• (JOYCE)      Dubliners (Viking).
• (TiP)            Ann B. Dobie, Theory into Practice.
• (Abrams)     M. H. Abrams, Glossary of Literary Terms.
• (HCAL)        Guerin et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature.
• (ReJoycing) Bosinelli/Moser, ReJoycing: New Readings of Dubliners (optional; on reserve, 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
• Literary Sites; McConnell Library;

COURSE  REQUIREMENTS AND CLASS POLICIES:
PRESENTATIONS will be worth 20% of your final grade. Because you are required to prepare a Digital Portfolio and presentation, please, consult the Research Guidelines for Packaging Multimedia Presentations but note that presentations in this course are mainly "thematic" rather than biographical. In addition to Internet research, please include materials from course textbooks in your presentation. You are working on one opening slide (your name, course, semester, date and title) and 18-20 max content slides. As you research your author(s)/definitions, please offer just a few slides of biographical highlights (education; research, achievement). The organizing principle of your content slides (and the underlying question you are answering in your presentation) is: what contribution did this author make to literary criticism? Why are we studying his/her work in a criticism/theory class? For your convenience, I will collect samples of your programs (week 5/6) and I will preview your presentations so please mail them to me as attachments a week before you present.   
READINGS LOG PORTFOLIO 30%
TERM  PAPER & Joyce Logs A-E (details will follow) 30% of your grade.
FINAL EXAM  (details will follow) 20% of your final grade.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: only 2 absences will be excused. Each additional one will come at a price of -4 points.

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. 

WEEK 1: 1/18  No class: holiday.

WEEK 2: 1/25 Setting the Course Requirements

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

To gain a better understanding of how critical and theoretical approaches are applied to literature, we will discuss stories from James Joyce's Dubliners and use them as textual points of reference, a literary base and context for discussions of critical and theoretical schools of thought, including discussion of  Joyce's own "critical" statements about the purpose of his work (see  Dubliners volume, pages 251-279; Epiphanies, etc).

• PowerPoint Lecture on James Joyce: Irish core, European lore.

WEEK 3: 2/1  Context for Critical/Theoretical Discussions:   

• James Joyce: Dubliners; please read "The Sisters," "An Encounter," "Araby," "Eveline," "The Two Gallants," "Counterparts," "A Little Cloud" "The Boarding House," "Clay," "A Mother" and "A Painful Case," and "The Dead." Joyce  LOG 1

WEEK 4: 2/8   Context for Critical/Theoretical Discussions:   James Joyce.

• Discussion of James Joyce's Dubliners; Joyce LOG 1 due.

WEEK 5:  2/15    History of Critical Thinking--Classical Thought  LOG 2

• NORTON - Discussion of:
• Plato: 33-36. Plato's "Ion" and  selections from "Republic" Book II, III and VII.  
• Aristotle: 86-89. Selections from Aristotle's "Poetics," parts 1-11; 13-19; 23-25.
• (In Abrams, please look up: Inspiration; Tragedy; deus ex machina; Meter)

WEEK 6:   2/22  History of Critical Thinking--Classical & Medieval Thought  LOG 3

• NORTON - Discussion of :
• Horace: 121-23. Horace's  "Art of Poetry."
• Longinus 135-37 and his "On the Sublime" 1, 7, 8, 9 (see also 11, 12, 15, 17, 22, 32,  39).
• Selections  from Boethius (PDF) & Aquinas (240-246),  Dante (246-62) & Boccaccio's "Genealogy of the Gentile Gods" (253-57).  
• Please look up definitions of Allegory, Metaphor, Figure of Speech, & Figure of Thought in at least two sources.
• In Abrams, please also look up Sublime; Decorum; Rhetoric; Rhetorical Figures; Figurative Language; Style.

WEEK 7:  3/1  Transition:  From Romantic Critical  Thought to Victorian and proto-modern Criticism.  LOG 4

• No need to read Wordsworth/Arnold/Eliot; just be there as I present a guided discussion of:
  • William Wordsworth: "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" (NORTON, esp. pp. 650a-51b; 655b-62b).
  • Mathew Arnold and "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time"  (esp. passages on pages 813b-816a; 822; 823b-825). 
  • T. S. Eliot: "Tradition and Individual Talent."
• Your class reading: LOG 4
• Intentional Fallacy and the Affective Fallacy (Wimsatt/Beardsley in NORTON, 1374-78; 1387-1394).  Discussion of Fallacies. 
• Discussion of Formalism & New Criticism: TiP Chapter 3;
• In Abrams, please look up: Formalism; Form & Structure; New Criticism; Affective/Intentional/Pathetic Fallacy.
• Joyce Log 1A:  include comments on how a formalist critic would read Joyce's story of your choice (use questions in TiP).

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WEEK 8:    3/8 Spring Break 
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WEEK 9: 3/16 Psychoanalytical and Myth/Archetype Approaches  LOG 5

• Psychological/Psychoanalytic & Mythological studies of literature:  TiP Chapter 4 & Abrams.
• Presentations:
  • Freudian & Lacanian Criticism. 
  • Carl Jung, Northrop Frye & Mythological criticism.
• Homework: Joyce Log 1B: how would a psychoanalytic and/or mythological critic read Joyce's story of your choice?

WEEK 10: 3/22    Structuralism Post-Structuralist and Deconstructive Thinking LOG 6

• Joyce Log 1B due.
• Structuralist and Post-Structuralist theories. TiP Chapter 8 & entries in Abrams.
• Presentations:
  • Structuralism: Ferdinand de Saussure.
  • Structuralism: Roland Barthes; Claude Levi-Strauss.
  • Jacques Derrida and the Derrida Factor
  • My own discussion  of principles of deconstructive reading; overview of terminology. 
• Homework: Joyce Log 1C: how would a structuralist read Joyce's stories?  What would a deconstructive reading of Joyce's stories entail? 

WEEK 11:   3/29    Marxist and New Historicist Criticism LOG 7

• Joyce Log 1C due.
• Marxist, Cultural, and New Historical theories; TiP Chapters 5 and 9;  Abrams.
• Presentations:
  • Karl Marx; Louis Althusser & other Marxist thinkers (2). 
  • Mikhail Bakhtin and the Bakhtin Factor (principles of dialogic reading; overview of  terminology). 
• Homework: Joyce Log 1D: include comments on how a Marxist critic would read Joyce's story of your choice.

WEEK 12:  4/5  Post-Colonial and Multi-Cultural Studies   LOG 8

• Joyce Log 1D due.
• Postcolonial and Multicultural theories: TiP Chapter 10 and Abrams. 
• Lecture on "Archival Joyce."

WEEK 13:  4/12  Feminist Critical Thought LOG 9

• Feminist theories: TiP Chapter 6 and Abrams. 
• Homework: Joyce Log 1E: include comments on how a feminist critic would read Joyce's story of your choice.

WEEK 14:   4/19  Term Paper Workshop. 

• Joyce Log 1E due.
• Paper workshop. Have your Joyce Logs with you.

WEEK 15:   4/26  Term Paper.  It's a Wrap...

• Paper presentations. Term paper and Joyce Logs 1A-E due after class.  
• Overview.  Preparation for final exam.

WEEK 16:  FINAL EXAM: 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 5

Choices for  Presentations:

Updated on January 22, 2010

© 2010 Principles of Literary Theory and Criticism
Jolanta W. Wawrzycka. All Rights Reserved.