ENGLISH 114 THE ART OF INTERPRETATION

PROFESSOR ELIZABETH BAER

“Read in order to live.” Gustav Flaubert
“For the desire to read, like all other desires which distract our unhappy souls, is capable of analysis.” Virginia Woolf


SPRING 2004 OFFICE HOURS: M 2-4pm
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE Confer 327
T, TH 10:30-11:50 P.M. x7324 ebaer@gac.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course introduces students to the historical backgrounds of contemporary literary theory and criticism and to several current approaches. Students will also learn about basic elements of prosody and form and the methods and skills of English studies through reading and discussing primary and secondary texts, writing criticism, and doing research.

COURSE TEXTS:

Atwood, Margaret Surfacing
Dobie, Ann Theory into Practice: An Introduction to Literary Criticism
Friel, Brian "Translations"
Kaufman, Moises "The Laramie Project"
Rivken, Julie and Ryan, Michael (eds), Literary Theory: An Anthology



COURSE OBJECTIVES:

+to develop strategies for understanding and interpreting a range of texts
+to explore various schools of literary theory
+to learn the vocabulary of literary analysis
+to improve skills of writing, speaking, and critical thinking
+to research secondary materials and incorporate them in your own analysis

GRADING POLICY:

Papers = 40%
Class participation, attendance = 30% More than 3 absences will lower your grade.
Quizzes, in-class writing, midterm and final exam = 30%


A few words about this policy: Note that a full 30% of your grade depends
upon your presence and performance in class. Come to class well-prepared:
this means that you have not only read the required texts but that you
have also devoted time to developing comments and analysis that you can
contribute to our discussions or write in the occasional quizzes and informal
writing. Such comments may include comparison between texts, connections to
life experiences, observations on the historical era of the text, use of the discourse of
literary theory, and so forth.

NOTE: READING ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED IN CLASS. FOR EACH
SCHOOL OF THEORY WE STUDY, WE WILL READ BOTH THE RELEVANT
CHAPTER IN DOBIE, AND SOME THEORISTS FROM THAT SCHOOL IN THE
RIVKEN AND RYAN ANTHOLOGY

CLASS SCHEDULE:

FEBRUARY 10 INTRODUCTIONS
FEBRUARY 12 FORMALISM

FEBRUARY 17 PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM
FEBRUARY 19 Class Cancelled PAPER #1 DUE

FEBRAURY 24 PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM
FEBRUARY 26 STRUCTURALISM/INTERTEXTUALITY QUIZ #1

MARCH 2 FAIRY TALES (HANDOUT)
MARCH 4 ATWOOD

MARCH 9 ATWOOD
MARCH 11 FEMINIST CRITICISM

MARCH 16 FEMINIST CRITICISM
MARCH 18 MARXIST CRITICISM

MARCH 23 MIDTERM EXAM
MARCH 25 QUEER THEORY

MARCH 30 KAUFMAN PAPER #2 DUE
APRIL 1 GUEST SPEAKER: AMY SEHAM, Theatre Dept.

SPRING BREAK

APRIL 13 READER RESPONSE CRITICISM
APRIL 15 CULTURAL STUDIES: POSTCOLONIALISM

APRIL 20 CULTURAL STUDIES: POSTCOLONIALISM
APRIL 22 FRIEL

APRIL 27 FRIEL Quiz #2
APRIL 29 CULTURAL STUDIES: NEW HISTORICISM

MAY 7 CULTURAL STUDIES: NEW HISTORICISM
MAY 9 WRITING WORKSHOP

MAY 14 LIBRARY RESEARCH PAPER #3 DUE
MAY 16 SECOND HALF EXAM


MAY 21 CONCLUSIONS AND EVALUATIONS

* * *

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS:

You will be writing two essays and in-class exercises as well as a final paper which will be a thorough analysis of one of the texts studied in class and will incorporate considerable library research.

MORE DETAILS ON PAPER TOPICS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE CLASS LISTSERV.

Format: Papers should be typed, double-spaced. Paginate your essay and give it a title. Utilize the new MLA style to give proper credit for all sources used.

Deadlines: Deadlines are FIRM. Papers are due by 5:00 p.m. at my office, Confer 327, on the date indicated, unless otherwise specified. I WILL NOT ACCEPT PAPERS THAT ARE SENT TO ME ELECTRONCIALLY. PLEASE DO NOT SKIP CLASS TO FINISH WRITING YOUR ESSAY. You must request permission IN ADVANCE for an extension. No make-ups are given for missed quizzes.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

As a student at Gustavus Adolphus College, you are a member of a community of scholars which includes 2500 students and 200+ faculty members as well as the wider national and international community of literary scholars. As such, you must understand that the “coin of the realm” in this community is “intellectual property,” which includes knowledge, ideas, theories, speculations, publications. Stealing someone else’s ideas or published words is a serious offense: it is theft of the most valuable commodity of academia. Thus, you must be certain that any written work you submit is YOUR OWN. If you use others’ ideas or words, from printed matter or from the WEB, proper credit must be given. Please consult Diane Hacker, Section M on MLA documentation. If you have questions, please consult a tutor in the Writing Center or me. If you represent the ideas or words of others as your own, that is plagiarism. You will be reported to the Dean’s Office and may fail the course as well.

This year, Gustavus is initiating an HONOR CODE. You will find this honor code posted in class rooms, and in the Academic Bulletin and the Gustavus Guide. Your enrollment at Gustavus signals your willingness to uphold the academic honesty policy and to abide by the decisions of the joint student/faculty Honor Board. The honor code requires that you write and sign the following Honor Pledge when submitting papers, writing exams, or handing in creative work. I expect this pledge to be included and signed on all the work you do for this FTS.

"On my honor, I pledge that I have not given, received, or tolerated others' use of unauthorized aid in completing this work."