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ENG 303W
Approaches
to the Study of Literature
Spring 2003
General Information
Instructor: Dr. Brad Sullivan
Office: McIver 115
Phone: 334-4690
email: dbsulliv@uncg.edu
www: http://www.uncg.edu/~dbsulliv/
Office hours: M W
Class meeting times: M W F
Location: Petty 219
Course Texts: Dobie, Ann B. Theory into Practice: An Introduction to
Literary Criticism. Thomson-Heinle.
Brontė, Charlotte. Jane Eyre.
& Handouts/Reference materials.
"Open Door" Policy
I have regular office hours, and I am delighted to discuss
your work, your concerns, and your successes during those hours.
I also try my best to make appointments at other times when students need them,
and to be readily available for questions, comments, and concerns via email and
phone. When you are pleased with the way things are going, let me know!
Positive feedback is wonderful. If you are frustrated, I NEED to know about it.
Don't rely entirely on scheduled conferences. My
door is always "open," and I hope to see you often.
Course Overview
In ENG 303W, we will explore contemporary literary and cultural studies. We will read primary texts that have had a major influence on the interpretation of literature (Freud, Marx, and others), explore the development of major critical "schools" of thought, and learn to consider texts from a variety of perspectives. Along the way, each of you will
· Study, share, and question contemporary critical approaches to literature and the literary terms associated with those critical approaches;
· Create and share a close analysis of a particular literary work;
· Develop and refine your critical thinking and writing skills;
· Refine your skills using MLA documentation and citation for research papers;
· Improve and extend your technological and computer literacy (email, internet research, and Blackboard conferencing software); and
· Improve and refine your oral presentation skills.
More broadly, we will examine the practices and values of literary scholars and teachers with two distinct purposes:
(1) to gain an understanding of
the tradition and norms that have emerged from those practices and values
(2) to explore the changing trends in those practices and values, and to
consider which of those trends are most
helpful, interesting, and worthy of pursuing.
In my view, the aim of literary and cultural study is to
bring "patterns that matter" to the attention of ourselves and
others--to focus and assign value to human experience. By doing so, we make it
possible for ourselves, our colleagues, our students, and our readers to
rethink their positions and change their approaches (not only to literature,
but to their lives).
The Learning Community Concept
ENG 303W is not a lecture-centered class which "delivers instruction." Instead, it can be seen as a structured learning environment that creates and sustains a "learning community." While the "learning community" concept is generally applied to interconnected classes, it is a useful concept for reorganizing our approach to learning in individual classes as well.
In a learning community, all members are responsible for the learning of the group. Each member contributes their ideas, energy, and writings for the better understanding of their colleagues. Each member must play the roles of both teacher and learner, leader and follower, speaker and listener, as the needs of the community dictate. Some general "rules of engagement" make it possible for a learning community to grow and develop effectively:
RESPECT other viewpoints and
opinions, both written and spoken.
LISTEN to what others have to say and to write.
SHARE what you have to say and to write.
LEARN from your interaction with people, texts, and contexts in this class.
From these "rules of engagement" come some more particular guidelines that will help you to succeed in this class:
· Remember that none of us have all the "right answers," but all of us have some valuable ones to share with others.
· Ask questions! Repeatedly! A well-considered question is worth a thousand trivial answers.
· Show consistent effort and engagement in all class activities. Attendance and participation are very important! I believe that we only learn by trying things, by DOING. So I expect to see you giving every activity your best effort.
· Read closely and carefully, take notes as you read, and compose thoughtful reactions to share with the class via our discussion board.
· Find one or more issues of genuine interest to you, and pursue better knowledge of that issue or those issues with passion!
Members of a learning community support each other by respecting and listening to each other, by suggesting resources to each other, and by providing positive feedback to each other. But members of a learning community also challenge each other by expecting their colleagues to be responsible, to participate fully, to love learning and to work hard at it, and to deepen and broaden their understanding as the semester progresses. As the facilitator of this learning community, I will model these behaviors.
Course Learning Outcomes
Working together, we will achieve the following learning outcomes:
· Learners will formulate textual and cultural interpretations that connect literary study to broader contexts such as philosophy, religion, gender relations, and the social and natural sciences.
· Learners will demonstrate general knowledge of contemporary literary theory and the critical terms associated with literary and cultural studies.
· Learners will construct and communicate clear, well-considered analyses and interpretations of texts and cultural contexts.
· Learners will demonstrate proficiency in using the on-site and electronic resources of the UNCG library to conduct research in literature and culture.
· Learners will demonstrate proficiency in using technology (word processing, Blackboard, Internet, email) effectively for research, composition, and communication.
· Learners will demonstrate proficiency in presentation skills (oral and technological).
Technology
This class will share UNCG's commitment to the use of learning tools provided by new technology. I don't believe in using computer technologies just because they are trendy, but I believe that your learning experience in this class will be enhanced by the use of several technological tools. We will use the Internet and the online discussion function of Blackboard extensively, and we will use electronic mail (email) as needed.
Blackboard will serve as our communications center, and it will also serve as a source of information and ideas for your writing. On the Announcements page, I will post important notices about changes in the reading or writing assignment schedule, announcements of special events or assignments, and other information vital to your success in the course. Resources for the course, including this course overview, can be found on the External Links page.
Email provides a valuable channel of one-on-one communication for us above and beyond conferences, office hour chats, and class time. Please make use of e-mail to communicate with me and your classmates whenever necessary.
It is your responsibility to use Blackboard and the Internet effectively and to stay informed of class developments via these technologies. You should be comfortable using email as well. I will be glad to provide assistance in the use of these technologies if you are unfamiliar with them. But I expect that you will let me know if you are having difficulties using them!
TO RECEIVE UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, please send the following message from your primary email address to listproc@uncg.edu:
Subscribe English-l yourname [use a lower case L, not the numeral 1, and
replace yourname with your real name!]
Your success in this class will depend largely on your engagement with the readings and the discussions of those readings we hold in class. We will facilitate these discussions by doing some homework in preparation for them. After reading the text for discussion (primary "critical" texts, Dobie's chapters, literary texts in Dobie, Jane Eyre) and before coming to class for a session, you will make a reading response entry on our class discussion board. These entries must be 100 or more words in length, and should offer thoughtful critical reactions to the text. After reading a literary text, offer some analysis that focuses on a particular character, on a theme that you see developing, on a passage that seems significant for the text as a whole, or on a repeated image or symbol that seems to be important in the text. After reading a critical text, highlight key points made in the text and respond to the argument being presented. The task here is not to get a "right answer," but to practice the work of interpretation by finding and sharing patterns of meaning in the texts.
Then, after two weeks of discussion and consideration, you will post a reflective entry on the discussion board. This entry will take a broader view, connecting earlier entries and responses, connecting different authors and readings with each other, or connecting authors and readings with the broader contexts we're discussing in class. You might also use reflective entries as starting points for applying critical theories to texts we have read.
We will agree on a deadline for completing these
entries--usually by
These discussion board postings will provide evidence that you are doing close reading and thinking about the texts, and they will contribute to the class's understanding as we proceed. The discussion board can be a place for discussions that we will not have time to hold in the classroom as we hasten through this survey--it can add an exciting and enriching dimension to the class. Let's work together to make it so.
Writing Component
This section of ENG 303 is writing intensive. The discussion board is an extended writing assignment that will help you develop ideas for the essays and exams that you will write in the class. In addition, you will draft, share with the class, and revise a short essay that analyzes a text from a particular critical perspective. You will draft, revise, and share with the class a longer researched essay that examines a literary text from a different critical perspective. And you will write a final exam that shows your familiarity with critical approaches and terms and your ability to explore texts using different critical perspectives.
Short Analysis Essay (approx. 3 pages): This essay will start with a particular critical perspective and analyze a text using that perspective. Different learners will employ different critical perspectives (Formalism, Marxism, Deconstruction, and so on), and these essays will be due at the time in the semester when we are discussing the selected critical perspective in class. Working with me, you will choose a short text and a critical perspective for this assignment. The class will read the text and you will share your essay with them and facilitate some discussion with my assistance. After the discussion, and with comments from me, you will revise your short analysis essay for a final grade.
Researched Essay (approx. 6-8 pages): This longer essay will also start with a particular critical perspective "in mind" and, using primary analysis and secondary research, present an argument about Jane Eyre or another text that I approve. By M February 24, you will compile a reading list of at least 12 secondary sources (at least 6 of which must be books or critical articles in print, and at least 4 must be Internet sources). We will discuss that list and I will give you feedback. By M April 7, you need to turn in a draft of your research paper for feedback from me. Your final essay will be due at the end of the term, and we will make time for discussion of these essays in the final week of class.
Guidelines for Essay Submission
Essays should be word-processed and double-spaced, allowing room for comments and suggestions. Despite the objectivity of the reader, neatness never hurts the presentation of good ideas (hint, hint).
An initial deadline is really a deadline. Unless I make official changes, all papers will be due at the beginning of our scheduled class meeting on the day listed in the course syllabus. If you need an extension for some valid reason, I will try to work with you if you contact me in advance of the deadline. I reserve the right not to assign a grade of "0" to any work that is turned in late without advance notice and agreement.
In the case of personal illness, an emergency, or a death in the family, it is your responsibility to
- Have a
friend deliver your work to me at class or at the English Department
Office (McIver 133) before
2. Contact me by phone or e-mail to make arrangements to complete and/or deliver the assignment.
Attendance and Participation
Your attendance and involvement in class activities are important not only for you, but for your fellow learners. Many minds are better than one, and if we all contribute we all learn that much more. Absences (class meetings which you do not attend at all, attend late by more than 10 minutes, or leave early) will be reflected in your class participation grade. If you accumulate more than three absences, each absence up to eight will reduce your final grade average by 3 points (4 absences = 12 points off, 6 absences = 18 points off, and so on). Nine or more absences provide sufficient grounds for failing the course. You are always responsible for making up work missed during absences.
I am willing to make exceptions for legitimate circumstances that require your absence, but to have "excused" absences you must communicate with me in advance of the class or classes missed (unless you face a verifiable emergency).
Evaluation Policies
My evaluation of your work in this class will be based on two complementary areas of judgment: (1) Completion of assignments (on time and with evidence of ongoing effort), and (2) Quality of completed assignments. To receive a C or better in this course, you must satisfactorily complete all course requirements: discussion board postings, writing projects, and final examination.
Grades
The class grade will be divided into portions as follows:
25% Completion of Discussion Board entries
5% Draft Short Analysis Essay
15% Short Analysis Essay
10% Reading List and Draft of Researched Critical Essay
25% Researched Critical Essay
20% Final examination
Grading scale
A 90%-100% Excellent
B+ 87%-89.9%
B 80%-86.9% Very Good
C+ 77%-79.9%
C 70%-76.9% Satisfactory
D 60%-69.9% Unsatisfactory results, but good effort sustained and progress made
F 0%-59.9% Failing
Tentative
Syllabus
(Always subject to revision with advance notice)
M Jan 13 Introduction to the class;
learning community concept.
W Jan 15 Detailed discussion of course expectations and assignments. Discussion of analysis and interpretation.
F Jan 17 Interpretation and why it matters--establishing contexts for our work.
M Jan 20 NO CLASS. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day
W Jan 22 Reading and responding to a text: Jane
Eyre
Reading:
Jane Eyre, Volume I
F Jan 24 Reading and responding to a text: Jane
Eyre
Reading:
Jane Eyre, Volume II
M Jan 27 Reading and responding to a text: Jane Eyre
Reading:
Jane Eyre, Volume III
W Jan 29
F Jan 31 Library Orientation
M Feb 3 Library Orientation
W Feb 5 New Criticism/Formalism
F Feb 7 New Criticism/Formalism
M Feb 10 New Criticism/Formalism
W Feb 12 New Criticism/Formalism
F Feb 14 Psychological Criticism
Reading: Selections from Freud
M Feb 17 Psychological Criticism
W Feb 19 Psychological Criticism
F Feb 21 Psychological Criticism
M Feb 24 Marxist Criticism
Researched Essay
W Feb 26 Marxist Criticism
Reading:
Dobie, 79-96, 243-49
F Feb 28 Marxist Criticism
M Mar 3 Marxist Criticism
W Mar 5 TBA--research paper conferences?
F Mar 7 TBA
Mar 10-14 NO CLASS. SPRING BREAK!
M Mar 17 Feminist Criticism
W Mar 19 Feminist Criticism
F Mar 21 Feminist Criticism
M Mar 24 Feminist Criticism
W Mar 26 Reader-Response Criticism
F Mar 28 Reader-Response Criticism
M Mar 31 Reader-Response Criticism
W Apr 2 Reader-Response Criticism
F Apr 4 Deconstruction
Reading: TBA
M Apr 7 Deconstruction
Draft
of Researched Critical Essay due.
W Apr 9 Deconstruction
F Apr 11 Deconstruction
M Apr 14 New Historicism
W Apr 16 New Historicism
F Apr 18 New Historicism
M Apr 21 New Historicism
W Apr 23 Postcolonialism/Multiculturalism
F Apr 25 Postcolonialism/Multiculturalism
M Apr 28 Research Presentations and Discussion
W Apr 30 Research Presentations and Discussion
F May 2 Research Presentations and Discussion
M May 5 Final comments, preparation for examination
T May 6 Final comments, preparation for examination
F May 9 Final examinations,