English 376-The Colloquium in English
This is the syllabus page for Prof. Misty Anderson's Spring 2000 section
of the colloquium. It will be updated throughout the semester, so please
check for new information.
Course Materials
A Critical and Cultural Theory Reader, eds. Easthope & McGowan
(Toronto)--C
Writing Poems by Robert Wallace, Michelle Boisseau
Falling into Theory, ed. David Richter (St. Martins)-Falling
The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms by Ross
C. Murfin, Supryia M. Ray
The Tempest, William Shakespeare (Bedford)
Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift (Bedford/St. Martins)--G
Mama Day, Gloria Naylor (Vintage)
Reserve Readings Packet, Hodges Library--R
Class Web Page http://web.utk.edu/~misty/Anderson376home.html
January
13 Introduction, Keats, "Ode on a Grecian
Urn," Brooks, "Kitchenette Building." (H) Go to First
Day Survey.
18 Brooks, "Keats' Storied Urn,"
(R), and Chapter 1 in Writing Poems. Also, look at this handout
on close reading, and pick up tips
on scanning a poem.
20 Chapter 4, Writing Poems,
poetry selections, workshop time on the papers.
21 Short
Paper (3-4 pages)Due
Friday 9:00 AM .
25 Richter, "Introduction" and "Why
We Read,"Vendler, "What We Have Loved..." and Eagleton, "The Rise
of English" (Falling). Take a look at the discussion
questions.
27Chapter 7, Writing PoemsWorkshop
on the papers.
February
1 de
Saussure, from Course in General Linguistics,Barthes, from Mythologies,(C)
and
(R)
PM
Screenings of Ways of Seeing
3 Ways of Seeing in class, "Ideology"
introduction, (C). More thoughts on ideology?
Click
here.
4 Optional
Rewrite
Due Friday, 9:00 AM
8 Althusser, Marx from "Preface"
and Marx
and Engels, from The German Ideology
10 The Tempest,through Act
III (PM Screenings).
-
Take a look at some great
discussion questions on-line.
-
You can also look at the on-line
text for a point of comparison.
-
Need to get something off your chest? Come rant on the class CURSE
PAGE! (Remember, only the uninteresting resort to actual profanity.
Feel the power)
15 The Tempestcompleted,
Said, from Orientalism,Greenblatt and Will (Fallingor The
Tempest) For some more information on the film Prospero's
Books,click
here.
17 The Tempest, continued,
plus Cesaire (246-254), Zoomba (324-336), and Brower (183-202). Barker
and Hulme (229-243) is optional.
22 Gulliver, Books I and
II, advertisement, letter from publisher (G). Take a peek at this
AWESOME
GULLIVER SITE! Pictures! Text! History! What more could you
want?
24 Gulliver, Book III and
"What is Feminist Criticism?" Nussbaum (G).
29 Gulliver, Book IV, "What
is Deconstruction?" Castle, "Why the Houyhnhmns Don't Write" (G).
March
2 EXAM 1, in class.
7 Introduction to "Difference"
(C). If you would like to have some extra reading tips, take a look
at the following notes, prepared by John Lye, on deconstruction.
9 Derrida, from "Différance"
(C).
14 "What is Psychoanalytic Criticism?"
(G), Spivak, "Displacement..."(C). More on psychoanalytic criticism
after Lacan,
click
here.
16 Lacan,
from The Mirror Stage, Foucault, from Discipline and Punish(C).
Getting a little overloaded? Take a look at this shot of your favorite
philosopher. Now doesn't he look more stressed than you do?
Spring Break
27 Foucault, from The History of
Sexuality(C).
29 Sedgwick, from Between Men(C)
and Epistemology of the Closet(Falling).
April
4 TBA
12 TBA, Mulvey, from "Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema"(C).
11 Jameson, from, Postmodernism,
Baudrillard, from Simulations(C).
13 Smith, "Toward a Black Feminist
Criticism" (Falling),Naylor, Mama Day.
Mama
DayHandout
18 Mama Day,Gates, "Canon-Formation,
Literary History, and the Afro-American Tradition" (Falling).
Handout
on Identity Politics
20 Mama Day,Traub, "Rainbows
of Darkness," (R)
25Catch up, paper planning session.
27 Review for Exam, PAPER
2 DUE
Review
Handout
Final Exam: Friday, May 5th,
2:45-4:45 PM
About this Course:
The colloquium is designed to give
English majors and other interested students a firm grounding in the process
and theory of reading texts. We will begin by honing your skills as a "close
reader," which entails your ability to explain the structure of a passage
or poem and to put forth an interpretation of the same in a single coherent
argument. Once we work through those skills, we will examine some of the
various methods of reading and the assumptions of these different schools.
It will be important to keep in mind that not all theories or methods work
equally well for all texts. Through an understanding of the differences
of literary criticisms, I hope that you will see the various values, assumptions,
and limitations that shape many different methods of reading, including
your own. This better understanding of how to "do" English should have
practical benefits for you as an English major; it may also have more resonant,
perhaps even troubling implications for you as this course asks you to
think about how we see and what we privilege.
Requirements for the course:
-
Class participation--10% - This
is the area of your grade over which you have the most control. By coming
to class, being prepared, and participating in the discussion, you can
give yourself a wonderful class participation grade and a better grasp
of the material, which will be reflected in your tests and papers. If you
miss more than three classes, we will need to have a conference to assess
your progress in the course.
-
Leading a Class--10% - Think
of this as the "other half" of your class participation grade. Pick a text
(or a day) that sounds good to you for a class discussion. You will need
to meet with me a full week before your discussion day so we can go over
the text on which you will focus in your facilitator role. This schedule
means that you will also need to read ahead for that week. Some good approaches
include discussion questions for the class, a structured debate for the
whole class, or possibly a contemporary point of connection with the older
text. Try to find something that illustrates the issues of the text at
hand; show instead of tell. Let your creativity roam free. Your main job
is to interest your classmates in the dayís reading. PLEASE do not give
a short biography or lecture about the writer (unless he or she had a particularly
colorful past). We might fall asleep.
-
Exams--20% each - We will go
over the format of both the midterm and the final before each test. The
final will be cumulative.
-
Papers--20% each - The first
paper, which comes due very early in this course, is a close reading of
a poem from the poetry packet. We will discuss close reading at length
in class; please feel free to seek me out for additional help outside of
class. It is your option to rewrite the first paper, an option I heartily
encourage you to exercise. You are welcome to write on a topic of your
choosing for the second paper as long as you clear it with me no later
than a week before the paper is due.
Useful Hot Links
The following is a short list of some very useful hot links to other theory
and literature sites on the web. I encourage you to use them when preparing
for class, putting together your class discussion day, or writing a paper.
Enjoy! There's some great information out there.
-
The
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism
-
The guide is an on-line, searchable version of the well-respected print
guide. It has extensive entries on people and issues. It will also help
you get some historical perspective on the philosophical questions behind
some critical debates.
Jack Lynch, perhaps the most wired man in literary studies today, maintains
this directory page. It is very comprehensive.
This page is maintained by Dr. Felluga, who put together a lovely introduction
to reading methods with input from her students.
These links will take you to some of the most up-to-date sites in cultural
theory. You can check out everything from monster theories (yes, theories
about monsters and their significance) to ancient philosophies. It also
starts with a picture of Foucault.
This is a lovely resource with short essays on subjects and texts put together
by D. Arnason. I highly recommend his notes in the first section.
This site has good links as well as a few good essays.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at misty@utk.edu
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