Fall 2004
Instructor: Professor Stephen R. Yarbrough
Office: 200A Faust
Office Hours: TTh 2-3pm, and by appointment
Office Phone: 334-3280
Home Phone: 292-1186
E-mail: sryarbro@uncg.edu
Required Text:
Keesey, Donald. Contexts for Criticism. 4th ed. McGraw Hill, 2003.
Course Requirements:
1. You must submit three brief (4-6 pages), typed papers, each on one of the
eight approaches to literary criticism we will read about and discuss in class
(10% of your final grade, each). One of the first three papers must focus on
theory; one must be an application of theory to “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “Ode
on a Grecian Urn,” or “Benito Cereno.” Which papers are theoretical
and which is practical is your choice.
2. For each short paper there will be a workshop. Failure to attend a workshop
without a medical excuse or excuse from the instructor in advance will result
in a five-point deduction from your final grade.
3. You must revise and expand (to 7-9 pages) the first two brief papers and
resubmit them for an additional grade (25% each). You must submit the revised
versions less than two weeks after I’ve returned the brief version you
(or before the last day of class, whichever comes first).
4. Immediately after each unit, you will take an online reading quiz (seven
quizzes, at 1% each), and at the end of the semester you will take a comprehensive
online reading quiz (3%).
5. Each student must participate in the Blackboard discussion panels. For each
unit I will set up a panel with some “starter” threads. You may
respond to these, or start your own threads. Each student must meet the minimum
length requirement of 500 words ( for the total of all your individual responses).
I will grade the discussions pass-fail; a failure will lower your final grade
by 10%.
6. Class participation is required. I expect you to come to class with your
reading done and to be prepared to ask questions (10%). More than two unexcused
absences will result in a lowering of this grade.
7. There will be no mid-term or final examinations.
Blackboard Site
The syllabus and other course materials may be found at our course site on Blackboard.
On your browser (Internet Explorer works best with Blackboard) go to the following url address: http://pythia.uncg.edu/
Use your Novell Netware username and password, then click on the link to ENG-303-FALL2004-combined_01:200408
Fall ENG-303-01-02 Approach to the Study of Lit-COMBINED .
To access Blackboard, you must know your UNCG Novell Netware username and password (email username and password). Those who do not know their Novell password can reset it at http://accounts.uncg.edu. Select the Self Service Password Resetting and answer the questions. On one screen you will be asked to indicate the account password you are changing. Select the Novell Directory (Netware) password. You do not need to know your current password to do this.
Those who have not activated their UNCG accounts will not appear in Blackboard since they have not been assigned a UNCG username. Accounts can be activated at http://accounts.uncg.edu by selecting Unix Communications, Netware and Campus Pipeline Account Creation.
Email accounts are automatically set in Blackboard to the UNCG account. However, you may choose to forward your UNCG account to another email address. This can be done at http://email.uncg.edu. You will need to know your UNCG email username and password to do this. If you have previously activated your account and do not know your UNCG email password, go to http://accounts.uncg.edu and select Self-Service Password Resetting. On one screen you will be asked to indicate the account password you are resetting. Select the Unix account. If you have not previously activated your account, see above.
Once online, use your browser to go to http://pythia.uncg.edu . Log in.
To take the quizzes, click on the link on the Announcements page.
“Student Learning Goals”
“At the completion of this course, the student will be able to
? Demonstrate the ability to write clearly, coherently, and effectively about
a particular discipline.
? Adapt modes of communication to the audience.
? Incorporate constructive feedback from readers to improve the written work.
The student will also have the ability to
? Understand several critical approaches to interpreting texts
? Apply these approaches to specific texts
? Relate the study of texts in English to other disciplines
? Understand the general nature, purpose, and methods of English studies.”
Schedule
(Note: This schedule is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.)
• Week 1: Aug. 17, 19
T. Introduction to the Course
Read CC 1-8. Begin reading “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Benito Cereno,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
R. Introduction to Formal Criticism
Read CC 75-83.
• Week 2: Aug. 24, 26
T. Read CC 84-91.
R. Read CC 92-98, 112-15.
• Week 3: Aug. 31, Sept. 2
T. Introduction to Historical Criticism.
Read CC 9-28. Online reading quiz.
R. Read CC 66—73.
•
Week 4: Sept. 7, 9
T. Introduction to Reader Response
Read CC 129-39. Online reading quiz.
R. Read CC 140-47.
• Week 5: Sept. 14, 16
T. Meet in Jackson Library.
R. Meet in Jackson Library.
• Week 6: Sept. 21, 23
T. Read CC 148-62. Assign: Brief Paper #1
R. Read CC 172-84.
• Week 7: Sept. 28, 23
T. Read CC 185-93.
R. Writing skills review. Online reading quiz.
-------------------- Fall Break!! --------------------
• Week 8: Oct. 7
R. Introduction to Marxist and New Historicist Criticism
Read: CC 409-18
• Week 9: Oct. 12, 14
T. Read: CC 419-27.
R. Due: Draft, Brief Paper #1 (Formal, Historical, Reader-response). Workshop.
• Week 10: Oct. 19, 21
T. Read: CC 436-41, 470-83. Online reading quiz.
R. Introduction to Intertextual Criticism
Read CC 265-78. Due: Brief Paper #1. Assign: Brief Paper #2.
• Week 11: Oct. 26, 28
T. Read CC 288-97.
R. Read CC 310-26. Online reading quiz.
• Week 12: Nov. 2, 4
T. Introduction to Feminist Criticism
Read HANDOUT.
R. Read CC 224-34.
• Week 13: Nov. 9, 11
T. Due: Draft, Brief Paper # 2 (Marxist, New Historicist, Intertextual, Feminist).
Workshop. Assign: Brief Paper # 3. Online reading quiz.
R. Introduction to Poststructuralism
Read CC 341-52. Due: Brief Paper #2.
•
Week 14: Nov. 16,18
T. Read CC 353-63
R. Read CC 401-408. Online reading quiz.
• Week 15: Nov. 23
T. Due: Draft, Brief Paper # 3. Workshop.
•
Week 16: Nov. 30, Dec. 2
T. Due: Brief Paper # 3. Review of the Course
R. Online comprehensive reading quiz.
Due: Final revised and expanded paper.
Notice: To enhance communication with majors, the English Department has set up a listserve. Please join the listserve by sending this message from the e-mail account (on campus or at home) that you use most regularly: listproc@uncg.edu: subscribe English-l firstname lastname. (Substitute your first name and last name for those terms in the message. For example subscribe English-l Jane Doe. Note that the letter l follows English, not the number 1.)