ENGL 602 (section 001): Critical Theory (3 credit hours)

Spring 2012

Dr. Leslie Bickford

Bancroft 275

Office Phone: 323-4564

E-mail: bickfordl@winthrop.edu

Web: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/bickfordl

Office Hours: MW 11:00-12:00, T 12:30-2:30 & by appointment

Texts

David H. Richter — The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and  Contemporary Trends, 3^rd ed.

Joseph Gibaldi —MLA Handbookfor Writers of Research Papers, 6 ed.

Course Goals

1.    To read, analyze, and synthesize primary works of literary theory.

2.    To recognize these theoretical perspectives in and apply them through literary criticism.

3.    To analyze and understand the impact of historical, political, and philosophical thought on literary theory.

4.    To recognize the relationships among varied theoretical perspectives.

5.    To evaluate the changing role of the literary critic and of literature through history.

6.    To write thoughtful, well-organized, and stylistically mature essays conforming to standards of grammar, mechanics, and usage generally accepted in the academic community.  

This class participates in Winthrop’s Global Learning Initiative: students will encounter works of great thinkers from all different points of the Western world and Western history.

Course Requirements

Activity

Class Participation                           10%                                                                                                          One Short Paper                                       10%                                                 Oral Presentation                    15%

Longer Critical Paper               20%                

Final Exam                               25%

Weekly Response Papers         20%

Since this is a graduate seminar, I expect you to come prepared to discuss each week’s readings.  Your weekly response papers should help you to prepare for and participate in discussion by analyzing one of the week’s readings and giving your evaluation of it.

Specific Assignments

Plagiarism
Policy

Weekly response papers will be due at the beginning of each class period both in hardcopy and on turnitin.com.  They should address each of the readings for that week by responding to two to four of the following bullets per reading:

·         Giving a one- to two-sentence summary of the writing

·         Identifying the writer’s main purpose or thesis

·         Identifying the underlying concepts important to that purpose

·         Identifying major assumptions behind and/or implications following from this train of thought

·        

·         Raising questions or disagreement with the main ideas

·         Placing the main idea(s) in context of what we’ve been studying: how’s it relate?  Why’s it important?

Your short paper should seek to place one of the later approaches (post James) in context by comparing its ideology with and reading it against the background of at least two and no more than three earlier approaches (James and before).

Your oral presentation will be on a person and reading in our book either found or not found on our syllabus.  We’ll sign up for these the second week of class.  In around 20 minutes, it should seek to explain this person’s work using the weekly response guidelines and put the work in context of our readings for that particular week. Please prepare a handout for the class(even if you use technology) and include a bibliography for works consulted.

Please review the English Department’s policy on Using Borrowed Information at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/plagiarism.htm. You are responsible for handling source materials correctly. If you turn in plagiarized work, I reserve the right to assign you a failing grade for the course. The University Policy on Plagiarism is explained at http://www.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/Judicial/judcode.htm under section V, “Academic Misconduct.”

Documen-tation

All work in this class that uses outside sources must be documented correctly in the 2009 MLA documentation style or other style approved by your instructor.

Turnitin.com Policy

We will be using www.turnitin.com this semester.  Your enrollment ID is 4704108; your password is 602S12.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend class.  You cannot benefit from or participate in a discussion from which you were absent.  Students who arrive to class late must check with me at the end of the class.  

Late Paper/ Assignment Policies

Accomodations

Papers not turned in at the beginning of class (either in hard copy or through turnitin.com) will be docked one letter grade.  Papers not turned in within 24 hours of the due date (either in hardcopy or through turnitin.com) will earn a zero. 

If you have a disability and need classroom accommodations, please contact Gena Smith, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, at 323-3290, as soon as possible.  Once you have your “Professor Notifications Letter,” please notify me so that I am aware of your accommodations well before the first paper or assignment.