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Tuesdays, 6:00 - 8:50 pm - NDH 255, plus one hour per
week online
Office: Fidelis 228
Office hours: 4:00 - 5:50 PM on Tuesdays, after class,
and by appointment
Phone: (w) 414-258-4810, ext. 287
E-mail: please send to both siegelkr@wi.rr.com and
siegelkr@mtmary.edu
Websites:
Homepage: www.kristisiegel.com
Syllabus – www.kristisiegel.com/litcrit2010
Introduction to Modern Literary Theory – www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm
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"The time for sterility is past, grateful as we must remain to
the masters of demystification. Derrida's carte postale does
have both destiny and destination; it is the universe, a universe movingly
informed by human will, mind, belief, whatever else may have formed
it. Without some radiancy, wonder, wisdom, we all risk, in this postmodern
clime, to become barren." --Ihab Hassan, The Postmodern Turn
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Site Links: |
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Esthetics Objectives:
The esthetics
realm emphasizes the human relationship to beauty. Students study
literature, music, art, drama and dance to understand and appreciate
this relationship. By means of the core courses in this realm, the
student is to ...
- develop
an esthetic awareness of the human person and her environment
- use her
creative expression for her own pleasure or for sharing
- confront
the expression of the human person's creative nature and to develop
a respect for it
- improve
critical judgment and artistic taste
Objectives for the English Department:
The English
Department offers three majors—English, English Middle/Secondary
Education, and English Professional Writing—and a number of
minors relating to these fields. Accordingly, the departmental objectives
are broad in scope and courses may focus on some of the objectives
more than others:
- to investigate
the human condition
- to think
critically and with understanding about written and filmed media
- to broaden
and deepen the ability to write effectively in academic and professional
settings and for personal growth
- to practice
the forms professional writers use and learn the technology needed
to make writing a profession
- to reflect
on ethical and philosophical issues raised whenever one reads
a creative, explanatory, or persuasive text
- to engage
in creative thought, in collaboration with other students, thus
generating new possibilities for thinking, dreaming, and challenging
structures in society
Course Description:
The course
focuses on critical theory as it applies to literature and culture.
We will also be exploring strategies for publishing and/or presenting
academic material. Review of classical Greek origins of issues concerning
the nature of literature and criticism. Study of major twentieth-century
theories and applications: historical, formalist, archetypal, psychoanalytic,
Marxist, reader-response, New Historicist, feminist, postcolonial,
American multicultural, structuralist and various post-structuralist
perspectives.
Course Objectives*:
- Students will be able to articulate the broader ways in which
literary theory applies to their own culture, global culture,
and their own lives;
- Students will demonstrate through written work and in-class
comments their ability to apply various theories to works of literature
and aspects of contemporary culture;
- Students will be able to articulate and reflect on the ethical
and philosophical issues critical theory elicits;
- Students will write a substantive paper (10+ pages) that demonstrates
their ability to compare and synthesize the theories studied;
- Students will demonstrate their ability to articulate theoretical
concepts orally by their class participation and formal presentation
of their final paper;
- Students will locate, cite, and intelligently incorporate several
sources (including print materials) into their final paper and
shorter essays;
- Graduate students will be expected to produce papers of greater
depth and will be required to cite material from primary works
by the key theorists cited for each critical theory; and
- Students will learn strategies for publishing and presenting
academic work.
*See “Assignments
and Grading” below for correlation between objectives and
assignments.
Assignments and Grading:
- Shorter
paper no. 1 - (5-7 pages) - Applying Literary Theory - 15%
Demonstrates course objectives 1, 2, 3, and 6 listed above
- Shorter paper
no. 2 (5-7 pages) - Publishing & Academia - 15%
Demonstrates
course objectives 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8
- 1 final
paper/project (10-15 pages) - 25%
Demonstrates objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 listed above
- Presentation
of final paper - 10%
Demonstrates objectives 1, 3, and 5 listed above
- Discussion
Question responses - 10%
Demonstrates objectives 1, 2, and 3 listed above
- 1 Short-Answer
Exam - 15%
Demonstrates objectives 1, 2, and 3 listed above
- Participation
- 10%
Demonstrates objectives 1, 2, 3, and 5 listed above
Required Texts:
- Tyson, Lois.
Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York:
Garland Publishing, 2nd Ed. 2006.
- Excerpt
from Plato's Republic (available online)
- Excerpt from
Aristotle's Poetics (available online)
- Shakespeare's
Macbeth (available online)
- Collection
of readings by primary theorists (handouts) - will be distributed
in class
- Literature
packet (handout) - will be distributed
- CD-ROM
containing lectures, discussion questions, and other materials
for online component
Highly Recommended:
- A handbook
of critical terminology (e.g., M. H. Abrams’ Glossary
of Literary Terms).
- F. Scott
Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. Notes & Preface by
Matthew J. Bruccoli. Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Late Papers:
Late papers
will not be accepted without serious cause and may be subject to
a lower grade and less extensive feedback.
Attendance:
You are expected
to attend class every week and also listen and participate in the
weekly online component. Please contact me if you need to miss class.
It is your responsibility to find out what work you have missed.
More than two absences may result in a lower or failing grade.
Special Accommodations:
Mount Mary
College complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
which stipulates that the College will make reasonable accommodations
for persons with documented disabilities. If you have a disability
that may have some impact on your work in this class and for which
you may require accommodations, please see me or Marci Ocker, Coordinator
of Disability Services (NDH 152), 414-443-3645, ext. 645, so that
such accommodations may be arranged.
Academic Honesty:
See hardcopy
of your syllabus for information.
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Course Calendar
Foundations
& Traditional Approaches
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Literature
& the Text
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Week One
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Tuesday,
January 26
Introduction
Discussion questions:
- Why study literary/cultural
theory? What does it have to do with literature or our world in general?
- How does this study
relate to the mission of Mount Mary College?
- What is literature?
How do you recognize it?
- Do you currently
use a literary theory to evaluate literature?
Basic Questions/Basic
Terms
Traditional Approaches –
- Biographical/Historical
- Genre
Criticism
Basic literary terms
and overview
Introduction to Aristotle and Plato |
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Online
Hour
Lecture on the readings listed below (on your CD-ROM - allow time for
the PowerPoint lecture to load; it's 90 MBs).:
Send answers to discussion
questions by 6:00 pm on Saturday, January 30:
- Briefly, outline
specifically Plato’s beliefs regarding poets. Why did Plato believe
poets
needed to be banished?
- “Aristotle
Award” – In one concise paragraph of no more than 260 words,
explain the
most important aspects of The Poetics. First and second place
awards will be determined.
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Week Two |
Tuesday,
February 2
Discussion on Plato and Aristotle
Literature & the Text – New Criticism and Formalism
- website
link
- Tyson, “New
Criticism,” 135-165
Macbeth
and Formalism (group work and discussion)
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Online
Hour
Discussion question:
- Re-read Tyson's
interpretation of The Great Gatsby. Identify and explain the
specific devices
of New Criticism Tyson uses as she analyzes The Great Gatsby.
Send your response
by e-mail by 6:00 pm, Saturday, February 6.
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Literature
& Psychology |
Week Three |
Tuesday,
February 9
Literature & Psychology - Psychoanalytic Criticism
- website
link – Freud
Tyson, “Psychoanalytic Criticism,” 1-16 and 34-50
Macbeth and
Psychoanalytic Criticism (group work and discussion) |
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Online
Hour
- Lecture on archetypal
criticism (on CD-ROM)
- Archetypal
Criticism - website
link
- Send
response to discussion question by 6:00 pm, Saturday, February
13:
- Identify one
or two of the many archetypes evident in Shakepeare's Macbeth.
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Literature
& Audience |
Week Four |
Tuesday,
February 16
Literature & Audience - Reader-Response Criticism- website
link
Tyson, “Reader-Response Criticism” 169-204
Macbeth and Reader-Response criticism (group work and discussion)
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Online
Hour
Using the description of Reception Theory in your CD-ROM,
consider one text
(a poem, story, film, drama, etc.) that you read a long time ago and then
re-read. Using
the concept Hans Robert Jauss refers to as "horizons of expectation"
(which is generally
used in reference to different historical periods rather than to stages
in the life of an individual
reader), as well as its reformulation by Wolfgang Iser, write a short
report on how and why
you originally interpreted the text, and how--at a later date--your interpretation
changed.
How did your changed "horizons of expectation" affect your interpretation?
Send your response
by e-mail by 6:00 pm, Saturday, February 20. |
Literature
& Socioeconomics |
Week Five |
Tuesday,
February 23
Literature & Socioeconomics – Marxism- website
link
Tyson, “Marxist Criticism,” 53-80
Video (TBA) and discussion
Topic building for essay due March 2
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Online
Hour
Work on your essay (due March 2), and e-mail your thesis
statement and "game plans" by 6:00 pm, Saturday, February
27. |
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Literature
& Culture
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Week Six |
Tuesday,
March 2
Essay no. 1 due.
Literature & Culture - New Historicism - website
link
Tyson, 281-313
Example from "It's Suicide to be Abroad" chapter
Film Excursion: Excerpt from Where the Boys Are, 1960 (group
work and discussion) |
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Online
Hour
Literature & Culture - New Historicism
Read “The Structures of Punishment” – Michel Foucault
(handout)
Discussion question:
What panoptic structures can you identify in today's society? Send your
response by e-mail by 6:00 pm, Saturday, March 6.
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Week Seven |
Tuesday,
March 9
Essays returned - discussion on essays
Essay no. 2 assigned (handout provided)
Continued discussion on Michel Foucault
Literature & Culture - Feminism - website
link
Tyson, “Feminist Criticism,” 83-131
Review of "Little Red Riding Hood"
Film excursion: The Women (1939) - group work
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Online
Hour
Literature & Culture – Feminism
Read the material below:
- "Sorties:
Out and Out: Attacks/Ways Out/Forays" - Helene Cixous (handout)
- "The Company
of Wolves" - Angela Carter (handout)
Discussion questions:
1) We discussed the traditional version of the fairytale "Little
Red Riding
Hood" in class; identify the ways in which Carter's version "re-writes"
gender roles, 2) Cixous
begins her essay by citing a number of binaries - what is her point?,
and 3) In the section
where Cixous quotes James Joyce ("Bridebed, childbed, bed of death")
what is the traditional
trajectory (life) she sees for women vs. men?
Send your responses by e-mail by 6:00 pm, Saturday, March 13.
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Week Eight |
Spring Break - March 14-20 |
Week Nine |
Tuesday,
March 23
In-class short answer test
Recap on Feminism
Literature & Culture – Postcolonialism- website
link
Tyson, 417-447
Movie Clip: The King and I
Group work and discussion on video clip & short story (TBA)
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Online
Hour
Literature & Culture – Postcolonialism
Read: "Orientalizing the Oriental" - Edward
Said (handout)
- What does Said
cite as the problems of studying "Orientalism" as an academic
discipline?
- What do you think
Said means when he writes, "The Orient at large, therefore, vacillates
between the West's contempt for what is familiar and its shivers of
delight in--or fear of--novelty" (263).
Send your response
by 6:00 pm, Saturday, March 27. |
Week Ten |
Tuesday,
March 30
Continued Discussion
on Postcolonialism
Literature & Culture - American Multiculturalism
Tyson, 359-411
Presentation by Tammy Tramel
Film excursion - White Man's Burden - (group work and discussion)
Topic building on Essay no. 2 (due April 6)
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Online
Hour
Read: Toni Morrison, “Black Matters” and
work on Essay no. 2
- Write and send
me your thesis statement/game plan for Essay no. 2.
- Develop two discussion
questions on Morrison's essay, and be prepared to answer your own questions.
Send your thesis statement/game
plan and the two discussion questions by 6:00 pm, Wednesday, March
31 or Thursday, April 1.
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Literature,
Language & Its Structures of Meaning |
Week Eleven |
Tuesday,
April 6
Essay no. 2 due
In-class discussion of American Multiculturalism, Whiteness Studies,
and Morrison's "Black Matters"
"Literature,
Language & Its Structures of Meaning" - Structuralism
and Semiotics - website
link
Tyson, 209-246
In-class exercise on structuralism (work in pairs) - discussion
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Work on
final paper. |
Week Twelve |
Tuesday,
April 13
Structuralism (cont.)
Literature, Language & Its Structures of Meaning – Modernism
& Postmodernism - website
link
"Postmodernism and Modernism" (handout) - small group discussions
Handout on Baudrillard
Video on Derrida
Sign-up sheet for conferences
on April 27
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Online
Hour
Literature, Language
& Structures of Meaning - Structuralism and Semiotics
Read: "The World of Wrestling" - Roland Barthes
(on CD-ROM). What are the signs and structures Roland Barthes identifies?
Send your response by 6:00 pm, Saturday, April 17. |
Week Thirteen |
Tuesday,
April 20
Literature, Language & Its Structures of Meaning – Post-Structuralism
& Deconstruction
- website
link
Tyson, 249-280
Deconstruction
& material from literature packet (TBA) - group work and discussion |
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Online
Hour
- Read:
Jacques Derrida, “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse
of the Human Sciences” (on CD-ROM) - Send a brief synopsis of
Derrida's essay by 6:00 pm, Saturday, April 24.
- Have thesis statement
and a good start on your rough draft prepared for conference on April
27.
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Week Fourteen |
Tuesday,
April 27
Individual Conferences
- Fidelis 228 |
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Online
Hour
Complete final paper |
Week Fifteen |
Tuesday,
May 4
Follow up on Derrida & Deconstruction
Course Evaluations
Papers due - presentations on papers |
Exam Week |
Tuesday,
May 11
Papers due/ Presentations on papers
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Bibliography
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- Bertens, Hans.
Literary Theory: The Basics. London and New York: Routledge,
2001
- Bressler, Charles
E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice.
3rd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
- Bertens, Hans.
Literary Theory: The Basics. London and New York: Routledge,
2001
- Culler, Jonathan.
Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, OUP, 2000.
- Davis, Robert
Con, and Ronald Schleifer. Contemporary Literary Criticism: Literary
and Cultural Studies (4th Edition). Longman, 1988.
- Dobie, Ann B.
Theory into Practice: An Introduction to Literary Criticism.
Thomson, 2002
- Eagleton, Terry.
Literary Theory: An Introduction. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota
P, 1983.
- Green, Keith and
Jill LeBihan. Critical Theory & Practice: A Coursebook.
London and New York: Routledge, 2004.
- Groden, Michael,
and Martin Kreiswirth. The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory
and Criticism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1994
- Guerin, Wilfred
L. et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature.
4th Ed. New York: OUP, 1999.
- Hall, Donald E.
Literary and Cultural Theory: From Basic Principles to Advanced
Application. Boston: Houghton, 2001.
- Jefferson, Anne.
and D. Robey, eds. Modern Literary Theory: A Comparative Introduction.
London: Batsford, 1986.
- Keesey, Donald.
Contexts for Criticism. 4th Ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2003.
- Latimer, Dan.
Contemporary Critical Theory. San Diego: Harcourt, 1989.
- Lentriccia, Frank.
After the New Criticism. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1980.
- Lodge, David,
with Nigel Wood. Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader. 2nd
Ed. London: Longman, 1988.
- Magill, Frank
N, ed. Critical Survey of Literary Theory. Pasadena: Salem
Press, 1987.
- Makaryk, Irena
R., ed. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches,
Scholars, Terms. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1993.
- Murfin, Ross and
Ray, Supryia M. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms.
Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2003.
- Natoli, Joseph,
ed. Tracing Literary Theory. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1987.
- Patai, Daphne
and Will H. Corral. Theory's Empire: An Anthology of Dissent.
New York: Columbia UP, 2005.
- Sarup, Madan.
An Introductory Guide to to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism.
Athens: U of Georgia P, 1989.
- Selden, Raman
and Peter Widdowson. A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory.
3rd Ed. Lexington: U of Kentucky P, 1993.
- Staton, Shirley
F., ed. Literary Theories in Praxis. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania
P, 1987.
- Tyson, Lois. Critical
Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York & Long: Garland
Publishing, 1999.
- Walder, Dennis,
ed. Literature in the Modern World: Critical Essays and Documents.
2nd Ed. OUP, 2004.
- Wolfreys, Julian.
ed . Introducing Literary Theories: A Guide and Glossary .
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
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