ENG 2100
Introduction to Literary Studies
Summer 2003

Dr. Cynthia Kuhn
Department of English
Metro State

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 Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature (Meyer, 6th ed., St. Martin’s, 2003) 
• Oleanna (Mamet, Vintage, 1992)
• A Handbook to Literature (Holman & Harmon, 9th ed., Prentice Hall, 2003)

Assignments:
Response Papers (20 ea.) =  200
Exam 1  =  200
Exam 2  = 200
Exam 3  =  200
Participation =    200
Total points 1000		 900-1000 = A
 800-899 = B
 700-799 = C 
 600-699 = D
 0-600 = F 

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 Holman and Harmon handbook to further your understanding of terms/concepts discussed in the Meyer anthology.
 
Date
Assignments
Please complete assignments for the days on which they are listed.Page numbers below refer to the Bedford text.RP = response paper
W 5/28
introductions 
M 6/2
“The Nature of Literature” (1-6); “Reading Fiction” (11-15), including Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”; “Writing About Fiction” (43-46); “Plot” (64-65); and Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” (75-81)
RP 1 due
W 6/4
“Character” (98-103); Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” (463-467); “Setting” (134-136); Updike, “A&P” (468-472); “Point of View” (156-161); Chekhov, “The Lady with the Pet Dog” (170-180); Oates, “The Lady with the Pet Dog” (182-194) 
RP 2 due
M 6/9
“Symbolism” (198-201); “Theme” (220-223); introduction, Nathaniel Hawthorne (283-287); Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” (287-296); Hawthorne, “The Birthmark” (306-316)
RP 3 due 
W 6/11
“Style, Tone, and Irony” (244-248); Carver, “Popular Mechanics” (248-249); “Metafiction” (416-417); Atwood, “There Was Once” (417-419); DeLillo, “Videotape” (431-434)
RP 4 due
M 6/16
Exam 1: Fiction
***Note: A number of individual poems are included in the readings assigned below. In the interests of saving paper, I am not listing them all by name, but please read them carefully if they are within the page numbers assigned.*** 
W 6/18
“Reading Poetry” (497-523); “Writing About Poetry” (530-536); “Word Choice, Word Order, and Tone” (537-556) 
RP 5 due
M 6/23
“Images” (570-588); “Figures of Speech” (589-598); “Symbol, Allegory, and Irony” (609-618) 
RP 6 due
W 6/25
“Sounds” (633-642); “Patterns of Rhythm” (657-667); “Poetic Forms” (678-703); “Open Form” (704-708) 
RP 7 due
M 6/30
Exam 2: Poetry
W 7/2
“Reading Drama” and “Elements of Drama” (929-948), including Glaspell, Trifles
RP 8 due
M 7/7
“Writing About Drama” (962-964), “Modern Drama” (1125-1130), and Ibsen, A Doll’s House (1130-1178)
RP 9 due
W 7/9
“Drama in Popular Forms” (948-957), including David, Seinfeld; Ives, Sure Thing (1444-1450)
M 7/14
Mamet, Oleanna
RP 10 due
W 7/16
view and discuss Oleanna
M 7/21
Exam 3: Drama

Recommended reading:

  • “Reading and Writing [About Literature]” (1528-1563)
  • “Critical Strategies for Reading” (1501-1527)
  • “Taking Essay Examinations” (1584-1588)


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.  An absence is an absence (there are no “excused” absences).  You are allowed one absence with no penalty.  Additional absences, late arrivals, or early departures will affect your final grade adversely (-25 points each instance at my discretion).  More than three weeks of absences will be considered grounds for failure of the course.  Metro has a policy of accommodating students who need to miss class because of their religious beliefs, provided such students notify their instructors of such needs within the first two weeks of the semester, so please talk with me if this applies to you.  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.  No late work will be accepted.  (Please do not email or fax assignments, either.)  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.

Academic Responsibilities: All work must be your own, generated this semester.  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 Student Handbook for more information). 

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES

Response Papers: Response papers should be one page long and typed (double-spaced).  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.  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 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. 

Standards for “A” Response Papers:

  • Critical thinking about the material is evident (interpretation, synthesis of ideas using specific examples from text).
  • 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 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.

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