English 446 Critical Theory

EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
School of Arts and Sciences ENGL 446: Critical Theory
New GE Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (CP)

Credit hours: 4
CRN: 32370
Meetings: Tuesdays 6-9:30 PM, LH 117

Instructor:
Nancy Knowles
Office: Loso 146--(541) 962-3795
E-mail: nknowles@eou.edu
Course home page: http://www.eou.edu/~nknowles/446.htm
Course discussion board: http://webcourse.eou.edu
Office hours: M noon, TR 2 PM, and by appointment.

Prerequisites: ENGL 206 or 207, one British or American survey course, upper-division standing and consent of instructor.

Catalog description: A study of selected principles underlying literary criticism and analysis, with focus on both historical and contemporary theorists.

New GE CP Outcomes: (Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to...):

a. Generate effective arguments,
b. Analyze information,
c. Evaluate claims and data,
d. Synthesize material, and
e. Demonstrate systematic thinking within the guidelines of critical theory.

Learning outcomes (Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to...):

1. Read and understand critical theory,
2. Situate their understanding of critical theory within the history of criticism and students' own critical styles, and
3. Employ effective writing strategies for discovery and demonstrating ability to understand, apply, and synthesize the ideas of multiple theorists.

Means of assessment (The above outcomes will all be assessed using the following methods):

Participation in course meetings and events (10%)
Assignments and responses posted to the Blackboard discussion board (20%)
4-page paper (20%)
8-page paper (40%)
Final exam presentation and theory map (10%)

Grading information, rules, and guidelines common to all my syllabi

Course requirements:

Reading: read all assigned texts by the week they are assigned.
Attendance: Because this course meets only one night a week, attendance is required. More than two absences without a serious, demonstrated excuse will result in course failure.
Participation: Because this course will be taught seminar-style, participation is required. In addition to assigned readings and materials, students will be expected to come prepared with ideas and questions so that we can work towards shared understanding through discussion.
Discussion Board Assignments: Short assignments and detailed responses will be posted to the Blackboard discussion board: http://webcourse.eou.edu
4-Page Paper: Write a minimum two-draft, thesis-driven paper applying the argument of one theorist to one literary or film text read or viewed as part of this course.
8-Page Paper: Write a minimum two-draft, thesis-driven paper analyzing one literary or film text read or viewed as part of this course using the ideas of at least three theorists. These theorists must come have been assigned in weeks other than that of the theorist used for the 4-Page Paper.
Rough Drafts: Response group work is required. I will not grade papers for people who have not participated in response groups--both commenting and receiving comments.
Citation: All ideas and words belonging to others must be properly cited in MLA format; use a handbook or visit the following site: http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml.
Extra credit will be awarded for documented use of the EOU Writing Lab.
Final Exam: Make a presentation about your theory map.

446 Assignments page: http://www.eou.edu/~nknowles/fall2005/446papers.html

Required materials:

Leitch, Vincent B., ed. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness
Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World

Schedule:

Reading recommendation: Theory is difficult. Try to read straight through once and then go back and reread parts you don't understand.

Week	Class Activities	Assignments Due
Week 1 Tuesday, September 27	Introduction to critical theory Introduction to ENGL 446 Buy textbooks Reading: Plato from Republic Book X pages 67-80; Aristotle Poetics pages 90-116; Al-Mubarrad from Epistle on Poetry handout; Dhanamjaya from Dasarupa handout; Lao Tzu from Taoteching handout Lecture: Classical Theory Application activity	Write Week 1 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, October 2 At some point this term: Write two public event postings and respond to four others Throughout the term: Maintain a map listing main ideas of theorists and drawing connections among them.
Week 2 Tuesday, October 4	Application activity Lecture: Renaissance and Age of Reason Group discussion	Read for class: Sidney "An Apology for Poetry" pages 326-62; Dryden from An Essay of Dramatic Poesy pages 381-82; Pope "An Essay on Criticism" pages 441-57; Kant from Critique of Judgment pages 504-535; first half of Conrad Heart of Darkness Write Week 2 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, October 9
Week 3 Tuesday, October 11	Application activity Lecture: 19th Century Group discussion	Read for class: de Stael from Essay on Fiction 597-603; Hegel from Lectures on Fine Art pages 636-44; Wordsworth Preface to the Lyrical Ballads 648-67; Coleridge from Biographia Literaria 674-81; Nietzsche from Birth of Tragedy pages 884-94; second half of Conrad Heart of Darkness Write Week 3 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, October 16
Week 4 Tuesday, October 18	Response Groups 4-page Paper Application activity Lecture: Formalism and New Criticism Group discussion	Bring three copies of 4-page Paper draft Read for class: Eichenman from The Theory of the "Formal Method" pages 1062-86; Brooks "The Heresy of Paraphrase" pages 1353-65; Wimsatt and Beardsley "The Intentional Fallacy" and "The Affective Fallacy" 1374-1402 Write Week 4 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, October 23
Week 5 Tuesday, October 25	Application activity Lecture: Marxism Group discussion	Bring final draft of 4-page Paper and supporting materials Read for class: Marx from The German Ideology pages 767-68; Trotsky "The Formalist School of Poetry and Marxism" 1005-16; Benjamin "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" 1166-85; Wilson "Marxism and Literature: 1243-53; beginning of The Home and the World Write Week 5 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, October 30
Week 6 Tuesday, November 1	Application activity Lecture: Structuralism, Poststructuralism, and Deconstruction Group discussion	Read for class: de Saussure from Course in General Linguistics pages 960-76; Barthes from Mythologies, "The Death of the Author," and "From Work to Text" pages 1461-75; de Man "Semiology and Rhetoric" pages 1514-26; Derrida from Of Grammatology pages 1822-29; continue The Home and the World Write Week 6 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, November 6
Week 7 Tuesday, November 8	Application activity Lecture: Phenomenology and Pychoanalytic Theory Group discussion	Read for class: Jauss from Literary History as a Challenge to Literary Theory pages 1550-64; Iser "Interaction between Text and Reader" pages 1673-81; Freud from The Interpretation of Dreams pages 919-28; Jung "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry" pages 990-1001; Lacan "The Mirror Stage" 1285-89; finish The Home and the World Write Week 7 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, November 13
Week 8 Tuesday, November 15	View The Home and the World (Satyajit Ray) Lecture: Race and Postcolonial Theory	Read for class: Du Bois "Criteria of Negro Art" pages 980-86; Fanon from The Wretched of the Earth pages 1578-92; Achebe "An Image of African: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" 1783-93; Said from Orientalism pages 1991-2011; Anzaldua from Borderlands/La Frontera pages 2211-22 Write Week 8 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, November 20
Week 9 Tuesday, November 22	Response Groups 8-page Paper Application activity Lecture: Feminism and Gender Theory Group discussion	Bring three copies of 8-page Paper draft Read for class: Wollstonecraft from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman pages 586-93; Woolf from A Room of One's Own pages 1021-29; Rich from Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence 1762-80; Cixous "The Laugh of the Medusa" 2039-55; Kristeva from Revolution in Poetic Language 2169-78; Mulvey "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" 2181-92 Write Week 9 Blackboard posting and respond to two others by Sunday, November 27
Week 10 Tuesday, November 29	Theory game Wrap-up discussion	Bring final draft of 8-page Paper and supporting materials
Final Tuesday, December 6	Final Examination	Come prepared to make a presentation on your theory map