ENG 2100  Introduction to Literary Studies "In fact, I had only just then realized how hard it would have been to explain myself.  I could not chatter away as I used to do, taking it all for granted.  My words now must be as slow, as new, as single, as tentative as the steps I took going down the path away from the house, between the dark-branched, tall dancers motionless against the winter shining."   -- "She Unnames Them," Ursula K. Le Guin   Metro State   Spring 2004  section 2   CRN# 30454  Dr. Cynthia Kuhn Course Description:  ENG 2100 provides an introduction to academic literary study—its concepts, traditions, critical approaches, and controversies.  Students will read and write about literature written by women and men from diverse backgrounds.  In addition, we will discuss critical terms and concepts useful for working with literary texts.  By the end of the semester, students should understand general features of major types of literature and should be able to write an effective interpretive paper. Required Texts: The Norton Introduction to Literature (Beaty, Booth, Hunter, and Mays, shorter 8th ed., Norton, 2002) and The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (Murfin and Ray, 2nd ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003). Assignments:  Response Papers   200 Presentation   100 Critical Essay   100 Exam 1 (fiction)   200 Exam 2 (poetry)   200 Exam 3 (drama)   200 Total points 1000 900-1000 = A   800-899 = B   700-799 = C    600-699 = D       0-600 = F  (adjusted per absence policy) COURSE POLICIES The following policies are in place to protect our community, to ensure that your experience is as positive as possible, and to facilitate the growth of a challenging and rewarding work environment. Attendance: You are a vital member of our community, and regular attendance is essential and expected.  There are no “excused” absences.  The policy is as follows: you are allowed one week of absences with no penalty—additional absences, late arrivals, or early departures will affect your final grade adversely (-25 points each instance at my discretion).  Three weeks of absences will result in failure of the course.  Metro has a policy of accommodating students who need to miss class for a religious holiday observance, provided such students notify their instructors in writing within the first two weeks of the semester.  Any student eligible for reasonable accommodation of special learning needs should speak with me during the first week of class.  Assignments: Assignments are due in class, at the beginning of class, on the due date to receive full credit.  I will accept your work one class period late (this will result in a reduction of ten points) but not after that.  Please do not email or fax assignments.  I will expect you to have completed the assigned readings and to be prepared to talk about them in class—I’m looking for active, thoughtful, constructive participation.  Please bring your textbook to class each day. Academic Responsibilities: All work must be your own, generated this semester for this course.  Plagiarism involves using all or part of a source (words or ideas) without correctly citing the source (this would include representing another person's work as your own or using a source in any way without correct documentation). You are responsible for asking me if you are not sure how to document something.  Academically dishonest or plagiarized work will receive an "F" and may be grounds for further disciplinary action (see the Metro State Student Handbook for more information). Important Dates: The No-Credit (NC) deadlines are February 16 (no faculty signature required) and March 26 (faculty signature required).  Final exam week is May 10-15.  Grades will be available on the web on May 21. ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES Response Papers: Response papers should be one page long and typed (double-spaced) in a 12-pt. standard font (Times, Garamond, Arial).  A response paper should reflect your critical reading of a text: after reading the text at least twice, take a position on something by exploring one specific topic in detail.  This is not a summary of the plot or a discussion of whether or not you liked the text—it is a short position paper, so take a clear stand in your thesis (make it your first sentence) and support it throughout your paper.  Your first sentence, therefore, will identify the author, the text you are writing about, and your position that will be the focus of the rest of the discussion.  I’ve put some topic ideas on the syllabus to get you started, but you don’t have to address those questions if something else compels you.  The following list may help you focus on a direction for discussion: Choose a section that is important to your interpretation of the text and explain why it is significant. Trace a pattern that you notice and speculate about its function. Explore the structure or point of view of the text if it is unusual or surprising--and explain the result. Discuss a specific point of comparison to another text we’ve read and draw a conclusion. Discuss the implications of the text’s main “issue.” In all cases, you should make specific references to the textual evidence for your idea (quote and cite in MLA format where necessary in the paper).  I'm looking for thoughtful responses that demonstrate your active consideration of the course material, so you should clearly connect your response to the ideas that we’ve been discussing in class.  Please bring your response paper to class on the day that particular reading appears on the schedule.  The heading of your response paper will look like this (put on left upper corner):   Your Name  Dr. Cynthia Kuhn Introduction to Literary Studies 7 January 2004 (return once, then center the number of the response paper and your thoughtful title)  RP #3: Atwood’s Tricky Use of Mirror Imagery (return once again, indent, and begin writing—remembering to put the author, title, and thesis in your first sentence)       In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Tricks with Mirrors,” mirrors suggest… Standards for “A” Response Papers: • Critical thinking about the material is evident (interpretation, synthesis of ideas using specific examples from text).  • The discussion is developed well (and length requirements are met). • Thesis is clear, specific, and supported by the discussion. • Organization is purposeful. • Points of discussion are linked for the reader to follow through effective transitions; coherence is evident. • Voice and sense of audience are strong. • Use/integration of quotations is effective. -Quotations do not stand alone—they are integrated smoothly into a sentence. -Quotations do not begin or end a paragraph. -Quotations are not taken out of context (meaning changed). -Brackets and ellipses are used when necessary to indicate omissions. -Periods and commas go inside quotation marks unless there is a citation (then they go after the citation). • Documentation and format is correct. • Papers are grammatically, mechanically, stylistically problem-free (no repetitive errors, any errors are non-intrusive). Exams: The best way to prepare for exams is to prepare for class well (see “Schedule” introduction).  In addition, keep track of new definitions, terms, and concepts that you encounter in your reading, in our discussion, and in your own research.  Take excellent notes during class and review them before the exam.  Exams may be any combination of identification, definition, short answer, and/or essay questions.  Please bring a blue book for each exam. Critical Essay: Choose a text or theme of interest (something we have covered in this course) and write a critical essay on the topic.  Find and use at least three recent critical articles on your selected text/topic.  You may use articles from scholarly journals in print or articles downloaded from academic databases available through the Auraria library.  While you may also use credible website material, websites do not count as critical articles.  Your primary goals should be to take a position, develop your idea, and support it, taking into consideration other scholarly views on your topic.  Use evidence where appropriate and be scrupulous about paraphrasing, quoting, and citing sources.  This essay should be approximately 4-6 pages long, with correct format, documentation, and works cited list (use MLA style).  Presentation:  You’ll receive more information on this later in the semester. Some Helpful Appendices in the Norton:  • Writing About Literature   A28-A52 • Glossary of Terms    A53-A63 • Critical Approaches to Literature  A18-A27 SCHEDULE To prepare for class, please read the assigned texts carefully, more than once.  The first time, you might skim quickly to get a sense of the whole, then read the material again, more slowly, to identify the text’s main issues, its structure, and any significant patterns worthy of exploration.  You might also think about our class discussions and the ways in which you could draw connections to literary concepts or to other texts we’ve read.  In addition, I highly recommend that you use the Bedford handbook to further your understanding of terms/concepts discussed in the Norton anthology.   T 1/20 introductions  R 1/22 reading, writing, & responding to fiction read: 2-22 (introductory material) including Tallent, “No One’s a Mystery” Atwood, “Happy Endings” T 1/27 point of view and characterization read: 66-69 Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”  read: 102-107 Welty, “Why I Live at the P.O.”  write RP 1: Which one of these narrators is more engaging?  Explain. R 1/29 setting  read: 157-158  Tan,”A Pair of Tickets” T 2/3 symbol read: 186-188  Hawthorne,  “Young Goodman Brown”  García Márquez, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”  R 2/5 theme  read: 214-217 Chopin, “The Story of An Hour” LeGuin, “She Unnames Them” write RP 2: Discuss how reading short short fiction differs from reading longer fiction (aside from length)--what demands does it make on you as a reader? T 2/10 evaluating fiction  read: 423-425 Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”  Rodgers, “We All Said, ‘she will kill herself’…” Fetterley, “A Rose in ‘A Rose for Emily’”  Moore, “Of Time…” write RP 3: How do the critical essays affect your reading of the story? With which points do you agree/disagree? R 2/12  Exam 1: Fiction  Note: in the poetry section, read ALL of the poems within the page numbers given below…and pay special attention to the poems listed beneath the reading assignments. T 2/17 reading, writing, & responding to poetry read: 600-614 Sexton, “The Fury of Overshoes”  Auden, “[Stop all the clocks…]”  Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband”  write RP 4: Are there any recognizable patterns in one or more of these poems? R 2/19 tone and speaker  read: 620-629, 640-659 Piercy, “Barbie Doll”  Rich, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” Baca, “Green Chile”  Parker, “A Certain Lady”  Lorde, “Hanging Fire”  Whitman, “[I celebrate myself…]” T 2/24 situation/setting read: 660-677 Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”  Plath, “Point Shirley” Nelson, “How I Discovered Poetry” write RP 5: Which of these poems seems to have the strongest, most interesting speaker, situation, or setting?  Explain. Also: bring a typed paragraph describing the topic of your critical essay. R 2/26 language: precision & ambiguity  read: 679-687, 691-702 Dickinson, “[I dwell in Possibility--]”  cummings, “[in Just--]” Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow” T 3/2 metaphor, simile, and symbol  read: 717-728, 729-742 Lawrence, “I Am Like a Rose” Parker, “One Perfect Rose”  Blake, “The Sick Rose” write RP 6:  Discuss the effectiveness of the dominant symbol in one or more of these poems—or compare the dominant symbol in these three poems. R 3/4 internal structure read: 743-759 Cope, “Emily Dickinson” Poe, “The Raven”  Dickinson, “[A narrow Fellow in the Grass]”  write RP 7: Make an argument about the sound or structure of one of these poems. T 3/9 workshop Bring two typed copies of your critical essay draft. R 3/11  Critical Essay due in a folder with all your source material highlighted. T 3/23 internal structure  read: 770-789  Olds, “The Victims” Williams, “The Dance” Borson, “Save Us From”  R 3/25 external form  read: 793-820 Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” Bishop, “Sestina”  Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts”  Dickinson, “[My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun--]” write RP 8:  How does form affect your reading of poetry? T 3/30 evaluating poetry  read: 924-955 Plath, “Daddy”  Steiner, “Dying Is An Art” Alvarez, “Sylvia Plath” Kroll, “Rituals of Exorcism: ‘Daddy’” write RP 9: How do the critical essays affect your reading of the poem?  With which points do you agree/disagree? R 4/1  Exam 2: Poetry T 4/6 reading, writing, and responding to drama  read:  1016-1039 Glaspell, Trifles write RP 10: Make an argument for or against Trifles as “good literature.” R 4/8   read: 1043-1050 Sophocles, Antigone T 4/13   read: 1578-1584 Ibsen, A Doll House, Act I R 4/15  Ibsen, A Doll House, Act II and III T 4/20  Ives, Sure Thing  write bonus RP for extra credit if you would like:  Which genre—fiction, poetry, or drama—places the most difficult demands on you as a reader?  Explain. R 4/22  Exam 3: Drama  T 4/27  in-class performance work R 4/29  in-class performance work T 5/4  Performances R 5/6  Performances TBA  Final Exam Week Meeting / Performances     return to main page