E531 Graduate Literary Criticism

South Carolina State University
Department of Communications and Languages
English 531
Literary Criticism
Summer 2007

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Thomas Cassidy
LOCATION: TH 286-A
OFFICE HOURS: TBA
PHONE: 803/536-8785 (X68785)
EMAIL: tcassidy@scsu.edu


REQUIRED TEXTS:
1. Othello: Texts and Contexts William Shakespeare / Kim Hall. Bedford/St.Martins
ISBN: 0-312-39898-0
3 Passing: A Norton Critical EditionNella LarsenEdited by Carla Kaplan, Northeastern UniversityISBN-10: 0-393-97916-4 • ISBN-13: 978-0-393-97916-
3. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature Wilfred L Guerin Fifth Edition Oxford U Press ISBN: 0195160177


I. COURSE DESCRIPTION
English 531 literary criticism is a one-semester course for which the student receives three credits. The course is a practical survey of theories and approaches to literature from the development of formalism in the early twentieth century on down to the explosion of critical approaches—feminism, Marxism, new historicism, deconstruction, cultural criticism—available to the modern reader and teacher of literature. Emphasis will be particularly places on the multiplicity of theoretical and cultural approaches that have dominated the field for the past 25 years.

II. COURSE RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE

E531 is a class in literature criticism and theory for graduate students who will become English educators; such students must learn to use speaking and observing as major forms of inquiry and reflection. Therefore, students will be responsible not only for learning the course material, but for being able to present it. Class assignments will not only require understanding of the material, but will emphasize how Marxist, feminist, deconstructive, and cultural studies insights might be applied in the classroom. The successful student of E531 will be able to apply critical thinking about culture, but explain the benefit of a lifelong habit of critical appreciation of culture.


III. COURSE OVERVIEW
Since the 1980’s, no field of study has been more influential on language and literature studies—or more reviled—than Literary Criticism. Ten years earlier, the role of literary criticism seemed fairly clear: the job of the literary critic was to determine which works were good, which were great, and explain why. If no two critics ever completely agreed on a list or a work, yet there was widespread consensus as to who the luminaries were and what constituted the criteria for greatness (subtlety of technique, unity of form and content, universality of subject matter).
No more.
Between them, deconstruction, feminist studies, and culture studies have managed to challenge every cozy notion of what is greatness and who gets to define it, and have also along the way exposed any number of previously ignored or overlooked assumptions regarding literary criticism. Despite it all, the now old-fashioned “new criticism” reigns as the supreme orthodoxy of our undergraduate and secondary education classrooms, even as its place in the graduate seminar has been firmly displaced by the study of “theory.” Thus the study of literary criticism today not only entails the study of clear (and some not so clear) methods for evaluating literature, but also understanding where these methods came from, and what their limitations are.

IV. COURSE COMPETENCIES.
1. Institutional Outcomes
E531 Literary Criticism is well aligned with the University’s goal of developing students and teaching candidates who are effective performers, reflective decision-makers, and humanistic practitioners.
q The humanities content of E531, and the students’ responsibility for demonstrating a keen appreciation of it, is designed towards developing effective performers. Students engage literature and culture from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural perspectives, including the voices of women, African-Americans, European-Americans, and writers from the Caribbean

q Reflective decision making is developed through consideration of the ethical, moral, cultural and psychological issues that inevitably shape and inform aesthetic and critical reactions to literature
q Humanistic practice is engendered when the students demonstrate cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of others’ beliefs, values, and cultural constructions, as well as their own.

This course offers the students an understanding of how collegiate, academic literature study began in the 19th century as an outgrowth of Victorian humanistic reform efforts, and grew into a multi-faceted, dialogic discourse which sometimes challenges the very ground (humanistic reform) which supports it.

2. Specific Learning Objectives.

Upon completion, the student of E531 should be able to

A. understand and apply the methods of New Criticism;
B. understand and challenge the limitations of New Criticism;
C. be able to construct a critique of a literary work from each of the following perspectives: (ref. NCATE matrix 3.2.4, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 4.7).

1. Jungian criticism
2. Freudian criticism
3. Deconstructive criticism
4. Cultural criticism
5. Feminist criticism
6. Reader Response criticism
7. New Historical Criticism;
D. be familiar with many of the standard reference works regarding literary criticism;
E. be able to show clear knowledge of the major figures and key ideas that have influenced the development of literary criticism in the 20th century;
F. be able to define and explain in lay terms the meanings of key technical terms;
G. be able to write an essay on a work of literature using multiple literary critical perspectives to demonstrate the importance of the text;
H. lead and participate in class discussions on the validity of each approach to literature;
I. lead and participate in class discussions on applications of literary criticism to the criticism of music, movies, magazines, the Internet, and other cultural formations.
GENERAL POLICIES

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Be here
Excused Absences: Document absences, and be prepared to do make-up work.
Plagiarism: Don’t cheat. Plagiarism is the use of someone else's words or ideas without giving that person proper credit, and is a serious breech of academic ethics. If you cheat, you fail.
Class participation: You cannot sit quietly in this class. Be prepared to participate.
Tardiness: Be on time.

II EVALUATION
Presentations..................................30%
Final Exam……………………… 20%
Final Presentation…................…...30%
First Paper................………..…....15%
Class Participation..........................10%
Total 100%

III GRADING SCALE
90-93 A- 94-97 A 98-100 A+
80-83 B- 84-86 B87-89B+
70-73 C-74-76 C77-79C+
60-63D-64-66D67-69D+
Below 60 F

IV. Course Content
Likely Order of Readings:

Class One
Introduction.

ClassTwo
Criticism before New Criticism. (Apply to Emily Dickinson, “A Bird Came Down the Walk,” and “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass.”)
1. Textual Scholarship
2. Historical Biographical
3. Moral-Philosophical

Class Three
Othello– Part I

Class 4 (Tuesday May 29)

Criticism Before New Criticism, applied
1. “To His Coy Mistress.” 2. “Everyday Use.”
The “New” Criticism
Guerin, Chapter5,
Professorial overview and application to Emily D.


5/30 Formalism Continued
1. “Young Goodman Brown.”
2. “Everyday Use.”

First Theoretical approach: Freud
Overview of Freud as pertains to literature. Guerin, Chapter ^


5/31
Student Presentation on Blake?
Student Presentation on Poe?
Second Theoretical approach: Jung (Archetype) and Frye (Myth)
Guerin Chapter 7

6/4/06 Return to Othello
Application of the above to the text:
Brief Discussion of Feminism

6/5 Feminism
Guerin Chapter 8


6/9/06
Paper 1 due . The goal is to provide a psychoanalytic reading of Othello; contrast it with a New Critical analysis of the play to show differences. Length is about 800-1200 words, typed. Use the sources in Guerin and in the Textx and Contexts Edition.

This is important: Focus! FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS! It might be a good idea to begin with the idea that you’re going to contrast Othello and Iago, or Othello and Desdemona. You may end up focusing only on one character; that might be all to the good.

Or ask yourself this: How do images of the Ego, the Id, and the Superego show themselves in this play? How does repressed sexual desire? How does projection?

Why are the psychological meanings of Desdemona’s / Othello’s public declaration of love, the fuss about the hanky, and the murder of Desdemona? How would a new critic see these events?

We’ll look at some of these elements from a formalist, a Jungian, and Freudian perspective. These approaches are covered pretty well in your text, but we’ll add to it considerably.

6/13
Student presentations on selected feminist essays.

Class nine Cultural Studies
Guerin 239-267

Class ten Cultural Studies
Student presentations on
Selected essays.

Class eleven
Guerin, “ Reader – Response Criticism”

Class Twelve
Class Thirteen
These classes will be devoted to final student presentations. The final presentations will be graded presentations and open discussions about major works of literature (or your choosing) analyzed from a variety of perspectives. You will be expected to use and refence major sources of research and theory (i.e., books, periodicals, reports, proceedings of professional conferences, videotapes, electronic and non-electronic data bases) (ref. NCATE matrix 3.2.4; 3.5.1.6; 3.7.1).

Last Class
In-Class, Written final. Referencing two of the assigned critical readings, write two short essays on The Marrow of Tradition taking differing critical approaches.

Guidelines for you graded class presentations:

q Plan your presentations with an eye towards how you would present this material to public middle or high school classroom. Of course, you’re presenting it to graduate students, so you want to respect your audience, but show us how you would present some of the same ideas if you were teaching. (Ref NCATE 2.4)
q Speak TO the class; don’t read something downloaded from the web!!
q Make eye-contact.
q Reading some of the text can be interesting, but you have to MAKE IT interesting! For instance, use inflections in your voice, and call on another member of the class to help.
q Relate your material to other course material, and to anything else that will help the students.
q Ask for questions
q Ask questions. Leave the audience something to consider.
q When possible, give the class something to look at or listen to. Pictures of Columbus, the Puritans, slaves, and the founding fathers often reveal much about changing cultural attitudes. Examples can be found at http://www.learner.org/amerpass/. This doesn’t have to be elaborate; 10 copies of two pictures can do much to illustrate a point.
(ref NCATE matrix 3.2.1-3.2.5;4.7; 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3; 3.6.2)

Grading criteria for class presentations:
Summary of the material (present the main points in a way that is easily understandable) 38%
Relationship to the course material in general (other authors, issues, and periods) 20%
Showmanship (presentation, audio/visual, eye-contact, posture, dress) 22%
Clarity and pronunciation of speech 10%
Questions and Answers 10%
Top Possible score: 100%

Not only will the instructor evaluate the student; students will be required, at the end of each class, to evaluate the student presentations of that class. (ref. NCATE matrix 4.6, 4.7, 4.8).

A Select, Annotated Bibliography
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 6th edition. NY: HBJ, 1993. There are many glossaries of literary terms available. This may be the most helpful, in that it cross indexes many terms, and offers readers a variety of helpful essays about the concepts behind the terms.

Baker, Houston. Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.

-----Workings of the Spirit.
Almost anything written by Houston Baker is worth reading, though not necessarily easy reading. In these two books he lays out his theoretical understanding of how African American literature in general, and African American women's literature specifically, have developed distinct, literary forms.

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. NY: Manchester University Press, 1995.
By far the most readable, non dogmatic account of the ambiguous world of literary theory. Very thoughtful, with no attempt to be complete, but every attempt to be clear and helpful.

Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. "Race," Writing, and Difference. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986.
An excellent collection of essays in which some of the most important literary critics of the day confront the question of race, its history, its definition, its importance, and the social forces which have constructed it.

-----The Signifying Monkey. NY: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Though its reputation has slowly begun to erode, this book's thesis that the repetition with an ironic difference evident in Jazz music, in folktales about trickster figures, and in the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and Ishmeal Reed, among many others, was and remains a breakthrough work making a connection between African American literarature and the theories of the importance of "play" in meaning put forth by post-struturalists.

----Reading Black, Reading Feminist. NY: Meridian, 1990.
A groundbreaking collection of essays which look at black literature from a thoughtful feminist/womanist perspective.

Gilroy, Paul. The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Cambridge: Harvard, 1993.
A well thought out, weel researched attempt to use post-structuralism to inform black literary theory. Gilroy argues that for several centuries, people of African descent have been defined less by national boundaries than by a shared, diasporic culture that criss-crosses the Atlantic.

Groden, Micheal, and Martin Kreiswirth. Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1994.
A comprehensive and extensive guide to literary terms and movements, written by experts in the field. This volume was published to be definitive, and has come close to fulfilling that goal. The essays in here are written with considerable authority and background.

Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 7th ed. NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996
A dictionary of literary terms, with more emphasis on traditional approaches to literature (as opposed to the most recent).

Murfin, Ross C. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. NY: Bedford Books.
A paperback series which reprints well known texts, articles about various literary movements (reader response criticism, psychoanalytic criticism, feminist criticism, etc.) as well as essays which use those theories to understand the primary text from a variety of perspectives. So for instance the volume on The Awakening writes about that novel from feminist, psychoanalytic, marxist, and other positions. There are also volumes on The Scarlet Letter, The Dead, A Portrait of the Artist, Hamlet, Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness,Walden, Gulliver's Travels, and Walden. Highly recommended.

Marks, Elaine, and de Courtivron, Isabelle, eds. New French Feminisms: An Anthology. NY: Shocken, 1980.
This anthology remains the most influential collection of the highly theoretical, and very playful form of feminism that French feminists, including Helene Cixous, Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray, and Monique Wittig, among others, have devised.

Mongia, Padmini. Contemporary Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. London and NY: Arnold, 1996.
Like the Postcolonial movement in literature studies itself, this is a highly sophisticated, theoretically dense collection. It is also the best collection of Post-colonial theory available.

Newton, K. M., ed. Theory into Practice. NY: MacMillan, 1992.
A collection of pieces on applied theory.

Orr, Leoard. A Dictionary of Critical Theory. NY: Greenwood Press, 1991.
A glossary of literary terms which provides reliable definitions for technical terms of current literary theory and criticism.

Patterson, Margaret C. Literary Research Guide 2nd edition. NY: MLA, 1984.
A widely used bibiography of basic literary research sources. This book will tell you what other books to look for in the library to do your literary research.

Ryan, Kiernan. New Historicism and Cultural Materialism: A Reader. London and NY: Arnold, 1997.
An excellent collection for showing the wide diversity of approaches that are grouped together as "New Historicism."

Rice, Philip, and Patricia Waugh. Modern Literary Theory: A Reader. 3rd Edition.
NY: Edward Arnold Press, 1997.
Contains a good overview of important, theoretical essays.

Said, Edward. Orientalism. NY: Vintage, 1978.
Though now dated, this work was a breakthrough in terms of its attempt to analyze how the concept of "The Orient" has distorted the West's view of itself and others.

Warhol, Robyn and Diane Price Herndl. Feminisms. Revised Edition. NJ: Rutgers UP, 1997.
An excellent collection of outstanding Feminist writing which looks at literature from a variety of perspectives, highlighting institutions, practice, conflicts, ethnicity, class, history, and autobiography, among other focuses.

A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism and Philology http://www.unizar.es/departamentos/filologia_inglesa/garciala/bibliography.html
Handbook to Literature http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_harmon_handbook_10/
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “ Literary Theory http://www.iep.utm.edu/l/literary.htm
The Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/guide.html
The LitCritToolKit http://www.geocities.com/litcrittoolkit/
Literary Criticism http://literarycriticsm.blogspot.com
Voice of the Shuttle: “Literary Theory” http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2718
Appendix B


Your graduate education will play a key role in helping you to become a well rounded teacher in today's and tomorrow's technologically sophisticated, multi-culturally diverse classroom.
Of particular interest to us is how English 531 Literature Criticism fits into that goal. Like all of the humanities, English 531 is concerned with presenting the issues that people from diverse backgrounds have represented in the arts. English 531 though, is particularly interested in asking questions such as, to what extent do distinct traditions of writing demand distinct traditions of interpretation? Is the English language the same for all users? Can we ask the same questions of a poem by the Caribbean writer Kamau Brathwaite as we would of the American writer Robert Frost? Do Toni Morrison and Willa Cather use narrative in the same way? Should we read the works of a feminist such as Alice Walker differently than we would a contemporary male writer, such as John Updike?
Do not expect this class to provide easy answers to such questions. It is hoped that you will come up with answers that you can fully justify, but at least it is important that you enter the classroom aware of the role that such issues may play.