This schedule of readings and assignments contains essential information about course work. Numbers in brackets refer to page numbers in the Norton Introduction to Literature: Portable Tenth Edition.
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 12 --------- Week 1 |
What is literature? Who needs it anyway?
What is literary criticism? Who needs it anyway? Critical approaches to literature. Some discipline-specific terminology. What are we doing when we study literature and write criticism? Why do it? Who needs it? Canonicity. The 5 texts: Text, Context, Subtext, Counter-text and Inter-text(uality). Literal and figurative language. The OED (The Oxford English Dictionary) |
See your Norton text for more.
1. What is lit? (1) 2. Why read lit? (8) 3. Why study lit? (10) and for "critical approaches" (1317) explore at least three of these: a. New criticism (1320) b. Poststructuralism (1323) c. Deconstruction (1324) d. Jungian (1331) e. Reader-response (1334) f. Marxist (1337) g. Feminist (1338) h. Gender & queer (1340) |
In preparation for the course-wide in-class writing assignment in week 3 start reading these excerpted passages from
Ben Jonson's’s Timber, or Discoveries.
After this first course-wide in-class exercise, each tutorial leader decides when the remaining in-class assignments will occur. |
Look at Professor Loebel's Grammar Basics and in the Norton,
discuss some of the "Critical Approaches."
TCG's Literary Criticism & Critical Theory Page Participation component explained by tutorial leaders. Review topics from lecture. Brief discussion of several critical approaches to literature Experiment with the OED by looking up the meanings of some words. Identify what kinds of information the OED offers. |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
|
Sept 19
--------- Week 2 Focus on a single text of prose nonfiction Digital tools for analyzing language |
Renaissance prose.
The emergence of language as a subject of study in early modern texts. Left & right branching sentences; subordination hypotaxis) and coordination (parataxis); Ciceronian and Senecan prose styles. Determining core arguments, key words, mapping, figurative language: metaphor, conceits, and tropes. For lecture and tutorial |
For lecture today, read these excerpts from Sir Philip Sidney's
Defence of Poesy pub. posthumously in 1595.
And in the Norton read Ch. 15, "Paraphrase, Summary, Description" (1244-7). Short description of Tag Clouds. The (+/-) of cloud tags (see http://www.tagclouds.com/). This is usually a very slow-loading page. On June 11, 2011 the New York Times used tag clouds to show the lexical sets of common words used at commencement speeches in US colleges. See the NY Times Education Archives Tag Clouds are part of a new and larger "sunrise industry" called data visualization. For example, see Netlytics which uses tag clouds and other graphical representations to visualize the results of data mining the Twittersphere. |
Here is Essay #1 ; it's due in tutorial, Oct 10 (week 5).
The task of essay #1 is to write a comparative analysis of these two short stories: Jamaica Kincaid's Girl (118) and Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birth-Mark (218) . See the assignment for more details. Remember! Next week is the first in-class exercise. Make sure you have prepared the excerpted passages from Ben Jonson's Timber, or Discoveries. |
Experiment with Tag
Crowd or with other quantitative language analysis tools such as
TTCG, the
Readability Score (Excellent! formerly Add Bytes) and Textalyser.
Try running the same prose passage through different analyzers. Consider the relationship between text and visualization/visual rhetoric in anticipation of the material in week 8. Does the use of visualization tools diminish our ability to read accurately and critically? Are there any senses in which prose might be considered poetic? Can prose make use of poetic and figurative devices and still be considered prose? What are some of the literary and cultural characteristics of the period known as the Renaissance? (Sometimes this period is referred to as the "Early Modern" period. |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
|
Sept 26
--------- Week 3 Focus on a comparison of two nonfiction texts, one Romantic and one Victorian. |
Prose of the Romantics (William Wordsworth) and prose of the Victorians (Matthew Arnold).
Genre and sub-genre issues. The academic essay as genre. Audience, motive, and context. |
Read this excerpt from
William Wordsworth’s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads.
Read this excerpt from Matthew Arnold. Paolucci's quantitative analysis See the Norton 1. On theme (246-49) 2. On genre (6) and (57) |
You're working on essay #1 this week; it's due Oct 10 (week 5).
|
Some discussion of Romanticism, Victorianism and the literary properties of prose.
************************
Every tutorial writes this first in-class assignment in tutorial this week; this assignment constitutes part of your tutorial participation grade. |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
| Oct 3 --------- Week 4 Focus on comparing two pieces of short fiction |
Prose fiction: the short story and its elements.
The 3 stages of analysis . |
Read and compare Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivner (367) and Kafka’s A Hunger Artist (333).
In the Norton, read On plot (59-65); on narratology (102-7); on character (121-9); on symbol and figurative language (212-18) |
You're working on essay #1 this week; it's due Oct 10 (week 5). |
Some discussion about the elements of fiction.
Discussion of the first in-class exercise ( worth 10% of your final mark), which is returned this week. Ch. 16, "The Elements of an Essay" (1248) |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
| Oct 10 --------- Week 5 Applying research skills: Part I |
Today's lecture begins to prepare you for the library exercise and the major research paper.
Introduction to research methodologies, scrutinizing sources, a taxonomy of resources (academic and popular). |
Start with
Research tips from Dartmouth University
Also, see Paolucci's material on research and a selected webography of further reading about research. Also explore this document on scholarly search engines Click this link for a recording of today's lecture |
Library assignment assigned
today and due in Oct 24 (week 7) and returned Oct 31 (week 8).
Major research paper assigned today. Due Nov 21 (week 11). |
Essay #1 is due this week. Take the 24 hour extension if you need it (no penalty), but your graded paper will be
returned after on-time submits are marked.
Preliminary discussions about the library assignment and the research paper. |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
|
Oct 17 --------- Week 6 Applying research skills: Part II |
Today's lecture will be taught by Lisa Sloniowski, librarian-consultant to the department of English. Here is Lisa's Power Point. | The core
competencies in research skills expected of English majors.
Here are some research guidelines customized for EN1001 (thank you Lisa!). For the MLA choose "Finding Articles" and then "MLA International Bibliography (via Proquest)". You can also check Google Scholar Click this link for a recording of today's lecture |
You’re working on your major research paper, due Nov 15 (week 11). | Ch. 17, "The Writing Process" (1258) |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
| Oct 24 --------- Week 7 Working with a single play |
What is drama? Greek and Renaissance drama.
As You Like It |
Understanding the text: Elements of Drama (809-21);
As You Like It (Norton critical edition) |
You’re working on your major research paper, due Nov 15 (week 11). |
Library assignment due today.
Essay #1 returned this week. Ch. 18, "The Research Essay" (1273) Ch 19, "Quotation, Citation, and Documentation (1291) |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
|
Oct 31
--------- Week 8 Nov 8 is the last day to drop a fall half course without academic penalty. |
Co-curricular days | No lectures or classes from Oct 31 - Nov 4 | Use this time wisely! Work on your major research paper by reading the plays and gathering some thoughts and ideas. | No tutorials from Oct 31 - Nov 4. |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
| Nov 7 --------- Week 9 Nov 8 is the last day to drop a fall half course without academic penalty. |
As You Like It and film.
The medium of film: some basics A little bit about visual rhetoric . |
Some Cinematic Terms
Some basics of visual rhetoric. Some sample scenes for analysis: |
You’re working on your major research paper, due week 11 in tutorial | Library assignment returned this week |
|
Nov 14 --------- Week 10 Nov 9 is the last day to drop a fall half course without academic penalty. |
More As You Like It |
The MLA style. (Maybe Zotero if there is time and inclination) and the
Zotero Quickstart Guide.
MLA 7th edition (2009) Bibliography and Metadata |
You’re-working on your major research paper, due Nov 15 (week 11). | Here is a Power Point on essay revision strategy.
Tomorrow (Nov 8) is the last day to drop a fall half course without academic penalty. |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
|
Nov 21
--------- Week 11 Metaphysical poetry Some sub-genres of poetry |
The genre (and sub-genres) of poetry; historical perspective; some variations of poetic form
(epic, sonnet, lament, elegy, and more); modern versification
Renaissance, Romantic, & Victorian poetry. Poetic forms |
The extended metaphysical conceit: Donne, The Flea (526)and Frost, The Road Not Taken
(677).
Language and meter (Paolucci) Prof Loebel's document on meter Jonson, On My First Son (445); Blake, London (483); Donne, The Good Morrow (535);Walcott, A Far Cry From Africa (541);Browning, When Our Two Souls Stand Up (650), Marvell, The Garden (699). [Suggested exercise: try to situate these poems in their sub-generic categories i.e.: a lyric, a eulogy, a lament etc. ] |
Research paper due this week.
Take the 24 hour extension if you need it (no penalty), but your graded paper will be returned after on-time submits are marked. |
Work through the analysis of Aphra Behn's On Her Loving Two Equally, pages 451-459 ("Responding to Poetry: Eight Concrete Steps and and Example") |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
| Nov 28 --------- Week 12 Poetic form and comparing two or more poems. |
Modern poetry and
the breakdown/re-invention of form. Found poetry and Web 2.0 mashups. Erasure.
Rhythm, meter and cadence: A Study in Contrast |
Postmodernism
About sonnets Coleridge, Metrical Feet (596); Shakespeare, My Mistress' Eyes (653); Hopkins, Pied Beauty (557); Hughes, The Negro Speaks of Rivers (691); Moore, Poetry (637); MacLeish Ars Poetics (639) and Kinnell, Blackberry Eating (696). Sonnet forms compared |
Have a go at Edward Herbert's Sonnet of Black Beauty and Joshua Clover's The Nevada Glassworks (531). | |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |
| Dec 5 --------- Week 13 In-class exam |
In-class test (20%) | Research paper returned | No tutorials this week | |
| DATE | TOPICS | WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ | ASSIGNMENTS | TUTORIAL |