FA16: ENGL-101 Sec 01 - Literary Criticism

Thur 8/25

Introductions: Me, You, Lit Crit

Readings/Discussions:

• Syllabus Policies & Schedule: Emailing, Office Hours, Assignments, Plagiarism
• Letters from Previous Students (in-class)
• Johns Hopkins Database of Literary Theory (in-class) (requires SJSU log-in)
• Register to Vote!

Tue 8/30

Discussion (in-class):

• Linguistics, Cloud Tagging & the Value of Literary Criticism (see NYTimes article on Presidential Inauguration Addresses)

• Language comparisons (see "The State of the Union in Context")
• "25 Maps that Explain the English Language"
• "When Shakespeare Committed Word Crimes"

• “Pulp Fiction as Typography” (video)

• "Dude" in Google's Ngram Viewer

• Hints for Reading Fiction (pdf)

• “Reading a Poem: 20 Strategies” (The Atlantic)

Discussion Post by 10am on letters from past students (credit/no credit) 

Thur 9/1

Heart of Darkness (read half)

Discussion:

• Video Sparknotes of HoD (questionable?)
• Paul Griffin discusses HoD
• 1993 film of HoD (any good?)

Post due by 10am Intellectual Autobiography (credit/no credit)

Tue 9/6

Ur-Text

• Heart of Darkness (finish all)

Discussion:

• Concordance in TaPoR
• Heart of Darkness E-Text

Thur 9/8

Formalism: Introduction

TC: Introduction & Critical Worlds (3-43)

TC: Appendix 2 “A Note on How Theories Relate” (258-61)

JHU: Forward to the JHU

JHU: “American Theory & Criticism 2: 1900 to 1970“

JHU: Russian Formalism

• Post by 10am: “What Kind of Critic Am I?” (c/nc)
• Discuss Critical Model Team Presentations
• Designate team members by Friday, 5pm (see instructions above)

Tue 9/13

Formalism: Praxis

• “In a Station of the Metro” (Pound)

• HOD: “A Critical History of HoD” (137-162)
• Heart of Darkness (always bring this to class)
• Texts & Contexts (always bring this to class)

Discussion: 

• How to Read Poetry (pdf)
• Literary/literature databases in King Library (great resource!)

Second Discussion of Defamiliarization & poem - Class Notes

Discuss Writing Tips for discussion posts

Thur 9/15

Post due by 10am on Formalism

Go over Formalism post for writing strategies

Tue 9/20

• TC: Chp 3 Unifying the Work (45-58 & 68-70)

• JHU: New Criticism
• JHU: T.S. Eliot
• JHU: Poet-Critic
• “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T.S. Eliot

Heart of Darkness

Texts & Contexts

Thur 9/22

JHU: “American Theory & Criticism: 1970 & After“

JHU: Structuralism

JHU: Semiotics

JHU: Linguistics and Language

JHU: Ferdinand de Saussure

TC: Structuralism & Semiotics (109-11)

In-Class Discussion:

• Frye's Archetypes explained

Tue 9/27

Structuralism & Semiotics: Praxis

Post due TUESDAY by 10am on New Criticism

Team Presentation

Thur 9/29

No Class Meeting

Tue 10/4

Post-Structuralism & Deconstruction:
Introduction

Read:

• TC: Chp. 5 “Opening Up the Text” (109-124 & 140-42) & Writing help (124-35)
• JHU: “Deconstruction: Derrida, de Man, and the Yale School“
• JHU: “Deconstruction: The 1980s and After“
• JHU: Jacques Derrida
• JHU: Michel Foucault
• HOD: “What is Deconstruction (205-220)
• HOD: Miller, “Heart of Darkness Revisited” (231-244)

Discuss:

• Annotated Bibliography

Thur 10/6

No Class Meeting - Research Session

Tue 10/11

Post due by 10am Annotated Bibliography Progress report

Thur 10/13

Tue 10/18

Post-Structuralism & Deconstruction:
Praxis

Thur 10/20

TC: Chp 7 “Minding the Work” (195-203 & 217-18)

JHU: Psychoanalytic Theory and Criticism (read all 3 entries)

JHU: Sigmund Freud

Discussion:

• Starbucks logo and 15th-century siren
• The CoffeeHouse: A Cultural History
• “London Cafes: The Surprising History of London’s Lost Coffeehouses” (from The Telegraph)

Post due by 10am on Deconstruction

Team Presentation on Psychoanalysis

Tue 10/25

TC: Chp 6 “Connecting the Text” (156-60)

TC: Cultural Studies (150-53 & 184-190)

JHU: Cultural Studies

JHU: Marxist Theory & Criticism (read all 3 entries)

JHU: Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

Just for Fun:

• “How to Talk to Babies About Semiotics“

Discussion

• Hamlet’s Soliloquy
• Revolution in Les Miserables

Post due by 10am – on Psychoanalytical Criticism

(No Team Presentation)

Thur 10/27

No Class Meeting

Post due by Friday, 5pm – on Marxism

Bonus Post Due Monday, 5pm

Tue 11/1

Feminist & Gender Theory: Introduction

TC: Chp 8 “Gendering the Text” (221-35 & 251-53)

HOD: “What are Feminist and Gender Criticism” (163-176)

JHU: Feminist Theory & Criticism (read all 5 entries)

JHU: Gender Theory & Criticism

JHU: Judith Butler

Article: "Donald Trump Sounds More Feminine than any Candidate..." (Slate Mar 14, 2016)

Article: "Man Enough? Masculinity, Media, and the American Presidency" (Blue Review)

Video: "Male Privilege" by MTV

Video: “Bic Pens for Women” (video)

Video: “Body Form Responds: The Truth” (video)

Video: History of Superheroines (PBS) (Video trailer)

Thur 11/3

Feminist & Gender Theory: Praxis

• “Potty Mouthed Princesses“
• 1980s Enjoli Perfume Commercial
• “You Spin Me Round,” Dead or Alive
• David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust

Team Presentation

Tue 11/8

No Class Meeting - GO VOTE!

[Harris performing external review of another CSU English Dept - no sitting on the beach!]

Work on Feminist & Gender Theory Post

OR ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thur 11/10

Queer Theory: Introduction & Praxis

• JHU: Queer Theory & Criticism (read all 3 entries)
• JHU: Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

Discussion:

• “Tim Cook Speaks Up“
• Paris is Burning
• “The Music and Meaning of Paris is Burning“
• “homosexual,” OED (requires log-in)
• “queer,” OED (requires log-in)
• Psychopathia Sexualis, Chaddock, 1894
• “queer,” NGram Viewer (American English corpus)
• “queer,” Wikipedia
• Oscar Wilde’s literary legacy and his gender-bending publisher

Team Presentation

Tue 11/15

Postcolonial Criticism: Introduction

• TC: Postcolonial and Ethnic Studies (160-63 & 184-90)
• JHU: Postcolonial Cultural Studies (read both entries)
• JHU: Globalization

Thur 11/17

Postcolonial Criticism: Praxis

Discussion:

• Shirley Cards (race & arts), NPR Podcast

Tue 11/22

Race & Ethnicity Studies: Introduction &

WORKSHOP ON ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORKSHOP ON ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Bring 1 entry to workshop in class

Readings:

• JHU: Race & Ethnicity
• JHU: Edward Said
• Article: “Achebe: Racism in Heart of Darkness“
• Podcast: Chinua Achebe on NPR
• Article: Chinua Achebe in The Guardian
• Scholarly Article: “‘A Bloody Racist’: Achebe’s View of Conrad,” The Yearbook (requires SJSU log-in)

Annotated Bibliography & Reflective Essay Due Wed by 5pm

Thur 11/24

Thanksgiving — No Class Session

Tue 11/29

Race & Ethnicity Studies: Praxis 

Discussion:

• Optional revision of one post? (for class decision)

Thur 12/1

Postmodernism: Introduction

JHU: Postmodernism

JHU: Jean Francois Lyotard

JHU: Frederic Jameson

JHU: Jean Baudrillard

Online: “Understanding Baudrillard with Pumpkin Spice Lattes“

Tue 12/6

Postmodernism: Praxis

Note: If you have not been reading the Johns Hopkins or Texts & Contexts chapters throughout the semester, review all of them for today's discussion. (Engaging with these materials will be a requirement of the final exam essay.)

Discussion:

• What really is Postmodern Literature? (let's start with Wikipedia definition)

Possible Pop Quiz on all Critical Models

Optional Revised Discussion Post due 12/7, 7pm (read directions carefully to ensure you get your points)

Thur 12/8

• JHU: Katherine Hayles
• JHU: Donna Haraway

Discussion:

• “interpellation” and social institutions
• "What Comes After the Turing Test"
• Using computers to enhance Humanities research: "Agatha Christie and Nuns Tell a Tale of Alzheimer's"
• Revisit early discussion post, "What Kind of Critic Am I?"

Team Presentation on PostHumanism

Post due by 10am on participation - credit/no credit

Discuss Final Exam Essay (instructions distributed during class)

Letter to future 101ers (in class – bring paper)

FINAL EXAM

Essay Due on Dec. 15, by 10am

December 15, 9:45AM-12PM (no class meeting)