TF 9:30-10:50, Bliss Hall 228

 Dr. Jean E. Graham

 Office: 225 Bliss Hall

 Email address: graham@tcnj.edu

Office Phone: (609) 771-3233

 Office Hours: T 4:00-4:50, F 2:00-4:00, and by appointment. I am not available for appointments on Mondays.

Coronavirus update: from 3/24 through the end of the spring semester, classes will be held in Canvas; office hours and advising will be held via email (or Google Chat during scheduled office hours). I will check my office phone for voicemail daily.

Addendum to the syllabus, 3/24: 

1. Nobody signed up for this.  Not for the sickness, not for social distancing, not for the sudden end of our collective lives on campus. Not for online learning, not for teaching remotely, not for learning from home, not for adapting to new technologies, not for varied access to learning materials.

2. The humane option is the best option. We are going to prioritize supporting one another as humans. We are going to prioritize simple solutions that make sense for most. We are going to prioritize sharing resources and communicating clearly.

3. We cannot just do the same thing online. Some assignments and expectations are no longer possible.

Adapted from Prof. Brandon Bayne, UNC (Chapel Hill)

The Course: As the course title indicates, Approaches to Literature serves to introduce you to different modes of literary analysis.  It is the second in the sequence of foundation courses for English majors and builds on the close-reading techniques you have learned in LIT 200 Introduction to Poetry.  Thus we will begin the course by reviewing and expanding upon some of the techniques of formalist analysis central to LIT 200, then learn to perform Marxist, gender, psychoanalytic, postcolonial, ecocritical, and disability studies readings as well.  The department requires that each section of LIT 201 Approaches to Literature include a minimum of five approaches, including formalist, psychoanalytical, Marxist, and gender.  Throughout the course, there will be a constant emphasis on incorporating close reading skills in the application of these multiple modes of analysis.  Our readings will include works of literature, literary theory, and literary criticism.  Finally, Approaches to Literature seeks to prepare you for the English Department’s curriculum by placing a premium on your writing.  Students who complete the course successfully will know how to effectively research and integrate scholarly sources into their own written arguments and analyses.

In short, primary goals for the course are that you will:

• become increasingly conversant with essential terms of literary analysis;
• refine close-reading skills and investigate current critical theory and methodology;
• engage writing as a process and as a mode of analysis, with attention to precision, clarity, craft, and appropriate research.

Additionally, the course shares with many other English courses these broader goals:

• to enhance your ability to closely read and independently analyze complex literary texts, develop your own understanding of those texts and apply that understanding to construct well-reasoned arguments in writing and speech.
• to better find and evaluate appropriate prior scholarship as context for your own thinking and to master conventions of honestly and constructively integrating the ideas of others into your own analyses.
• to understand literature as both a reflection of and a site for the construction of culture.

These goals map onto the following Humanities & Social Sciences (Middle States) Learning Goals and Outcomes: #1 Written Communication; #5 Critical Analysis and Reasoning (Ability to critique the arguments of others in the discipline and the construction of one’s own arguments in the discipline, using data/evidence are a focus of instruction and/or the ability to analyze linguistic and cultural patterns); #6 Information Literacy:  Evaluating the validity and/or reliability of a source; #7 Interpret Language and Symbol; #12 Students will be able to demonstrate familiarity with a range of critical, generic, and literary traditions (including recent theoretical approaches) that shape – and are shaped by – literary discourses and texts of particular periods or movements; #15 Students will be able to read a literary work and characterize its main aesthetic, structural, and rhetorical strategies in an argumentative, thesis-driven essay or in a writing workshop.

Prerequisites: LIT 200 and English major or minor status.

Course units: 1 (4 semester hours).  Some years ago, the majority of undergraduate courses at TCNJ were “transformed” from 3-credit to 4-credit learning experiences, without necessarily adding an additional hour of class interaction per week.  As the equivalent of the fourth hour in this course:

f) the students are assigned additional learning tasks that make the semester’s learning experience more deeply engaged and rigorous, and no additional classroom space is needed.

You should plan for an average of 10 hours a week of work for this course, including class meetings. (That is, 4 courses at TCNJ is the equivalent of a full-time job.)

Place in the Curriculum: This course counts toward:

1) the English major, as the second critical content course (and thus the minimum grade for this course to count toward the major is a C); or

2) the English minor, as one of three critical content courses that may be selected.  (Since minors are required to take only one critical content course, the prerequisite of LIT 200 is waived; minors should contact the Associate Chair, Professor Diane Steinberg, for help in registering.)

The required texts are available at the college bookstore (no substitutions):

Parker, Robert.  How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. 3rd edition, Oxford UP, 2014.

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Edited by Peter Hulme and William H. Sherman, 2nd edition, Norton, 2003.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Edited by J. Paul Hunter, 2nd edition, Norton, 2012.

Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. Edited by Michael Patrick Gillespie, Norton, 2005.

Recommended text:

MLA Handbook. 8th edition, MLA, 2016.

Summary of Work:  There are four formal essays in the course; a mid-term, and a final exam.  Additionally, I will expect consistently thorough preparation (assessed through quizzes if necessary) and avid participation in class activities.  This participation will be enhanced through regular “reading journal” assignments which are ungraded but must be brought to class for use in discussions.  Further details on grading expectations and assessment are below, with even more details in Canvas.

Contacting Me: If you cannot see me during scheduled office hours, feel free to email me (graham@tcnj.edu), call my office (609-771-3233) or talk to me before or after class to arrange an appointment at another time.  You may also leave a message in my box in Bliss 124, the mail room of the English department.  Email is generally the best way to contact me between classes, but please be aware that I receive many emails each day, and that I tend to check email less frequently in the evening and on weekends.  If you haven’t heard back from me within a reasonable amount of time–24 hours on weekdays– feel free to send me another message, especially if you think you may have accidentally emailed the wrong Dr. Graham.  (There are three of us on campus.)

Policies and Procedures:

Absences, Attendance, and Late Work: In exceptional circumstances such as illness, please contact me immediately (graham@tcnj.edu or 609-771-3233). Such notification does not necessarily guarantee that absences will be excused.  Please note that if a medical or personal emergency will keep you away from campus from an extended period, you should contact the Office of the Dean of Students (609-771-2780).  (See TCNJ’s attendance and absence policies in the Policy Manual: link.)  It is never really possible to recapture the dynamics and flow of information for a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone), but if you positively must miss a class, I expect you to find out from a peer what you missed and to come fully prepared to the next class meeting.

Unless the circumstances are both compelling and documented, each essay or other assignment submitted later than the beginning of class on the due date will be marked down a full 10% of the maximum potential grade; on each subsequent day at that time (including days TCNJ is closed, unless TCNJ loses power), the grade will go down another 10%. Each weekend counts as one day, not two. In other words, if Essay 1 is submitted 1 minute late or 23 hours and 59 minutes late, it is penalized 10 points.  At a certain point, without acceptable documentation, the assignment can earn no points. Even an assignment that earns no points must be submitted prior to any assignment that builds on it; such scaffolding will be specified in the prompt (in Canvas) and below. For instance, Essay 1 will not be accepted without a draft first paragraph and a complete draft of the entire essay, submitted on earlier dates as specified below, so that you have received feedback on these earlier stages.

Unless you provide acceptable documentation of a compelling reason for the absence (see TCNJ’s absence policy), no exam may be taken late or presentation given late.  Note that TCNJ’s attendance policy states that “the student has the responsibility to initiate arrangements for makeup work.”  If a day of religious observation or similarly compelling planned absence interferes with an assignment, I will be glad to discuss an earlier due date if given advance notice.  Also note that TCNJ holds students responsible for “avoid[ing] outside conflicts (if possible).”  No quiz may be made up or taken early, since quizzes (if any) will count as part of the class participation grade.

Academic Integrity: You are expected to provide a list of works cited for each paper, using the latest MLA format, to acknowledge information from course textbooks and Canvas, as well as sources of images for presentations.  Plagiarism is the appropriation of the words, images, music, and/or ideas of others. It is intellectual theft, and a serious infraction of the college’s Academic Integrity Policy (in the Policy Manual) as well as the laws of our nation.  In accordance with the policy, plagiarism and all other suspected violations of the Academic Integrity Policy will be reported.

Accommodations: Anyone requiring special adaptations or accommodations will benefit from contacting the Accessibility Resource Center (link).  If you require special assistance, I will make every effort to accommodate your needs and to create an environment where your special abilities will be respected. Please note that recording a class must be approved in advance by the instructor or the Accessibility Resource Center, and that all students must be made aware that the class is being recorded.  (See the Policy Manual.)

Diversity and Inclusion:  In this class, we will make an effort to read materials from and about a diverse group of writers and critics, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material.  Please contact me (in person or electronically) or submit anonymous feedback at the end of the semester if you have any suggestions to improve the quality of the course materials.

Electronics: For this class, you must be able to use Canvas, and you must read your TCNJ email regularly.  If you need assistance with either, please let me know during the first week of class.  I will be updating both our website and Canvas periodically, posting assignments, resources, and other information. You will not receive paper copies of course materials; if you wish to have paper copies, you will have to print them out yourself. Grades and attendance will be recorded in Canvas.  (N.B. Attendance does not enter into the final grade.)  Use of electronic devices is prohibited during class time except to refer to a reading online (see the schedule below) or unless otherwise instructed; otherwise, using such devices distracts the user and is rude to others.  If I see or hear an active electronic device during an exam or quiz, you will receive a zero on the exam or quiz.

Weather Cancellations: If class is cancelled due to inclement weather but we still have power, please check your email prior to class time to see whether and how we will hold class in Canvas.  The same holds true for office hours.

Grading and Assignments:

Participation: You are expected to read the assignments with enough care and thought (including taking notes in your reading journal) to be able to participate productively in all class activities including class discussions, small group work, and peer-response assignments.  This doesn’t mean you are necessarily expected to understand everything you read, but you should at all times be ready and eager to voice your questions, doubts, and points of confusion as well as your conclusions and insights. Although attendance is not graded at TCNJ, please note that it is impossible to participate unless you are both physically and mentally present for the entire class period; therefore, absences, tardiness, leaving class early, and/or taking frequent or long breaks will adversely affect your participation grade in the course.  Keep in mind that productive participation includes participating in a way that encourages the participation of others. To help you gauge your performance here is my grading rubric for daily class performance.  3 points: Active in class and small group discussion.  Participation shows thoughtful and thorough engagement with assigned reading.  Has all materials needed for class discussion, including a reading journal with notes for the day’s reading. 2 points: Active in group work, and participates occasionally (perhaps once per class) in class discussion.  The reading journal and any quiz and/or in-class exercise show some preparation. 1 point: Any of the following: late, left early, and/or took an extended break during class without a medical excuse; present but unprepared (may not have course materials needed for class discussion).  0 points: Absent (with or without documented excuse, because someone who isn’t present can’t participate!)

Reading Journal: Part of your participation grade will rely on you taking notes by hand and completing other homework in a paper journal. (Please note that studies suggest that students learn better when taking notes by hand: link.)

Writing Expectations: For each writing assignment, I will provide you (in Canvas) with a specific prompt. However, all writing assignments share a basic set of expectations.  No matter the particulars of an assignment, you are always expected to:

• Construct an argument—that is, take a position and defend it (state a claim and back it up; present a thesis and support it).
• Maintain a clear pattern of assertion and support with frequent reference to the text and/or to relevant outside sources when appropriate to the assignment.
• Turn in essays with unique titles (that is, not “Essay 1” or “Short Story Essay”).
• Turn in work on time.
• Turn in work that is formatted correctly (e.g., in 12 pt. Times New Roman, and conforming to MLA style for documentation and format).
• Turn in work that is a result of a process of draft, revision, editing, and proofreading.
• Turn in work that is free from errors in punctuation, grammar and usage.

Grading: Written work will be graded holistically according to the rubric in Canvas.  That is, I will assign a grade based on the overall balance of qualities in an essay rather than giving or taking off a fixed number of points for particular strengths or weaknesses.

Listed below are the qualities which characterize an excellent essay in general.  To receive an A, a paper should satisfy all of these expectations.  The extent to which a paper fails to satisfy certain expectations determines how much below an A the grade will be.  I strongly recommend that you treat these criteria as goals for your own writing and consult them during the writing process for each assignment.  If you do not understand any of these expectations, please speak to me personally for a fuller explanation.

Most generally, an outstanding (A) essay exhibits excellence in ALL of these areas: claim (thesis), logic and organization, analysis and support, citations, and control of language and other conventions.  More specifically, it

• Has a focused, specific, genuinely debatable, scholarly, and compelling claim about the text or topic;
• Develops ideas cogently, organizes them logically, and connects ideas within and between paragraphs with effective transitions;
• Demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the text or topic; provides ample, relevant, concrete evidence and persuasive support for every debatable assertion; uses scholarly sources exclusively (if the assignment calls for secondary sources), and assesses them critically; and maintains the writer’s own voice;
• Accurately quotes, paraphrases, and cites support, following current MLA format; integrates the support into the paper; and
• Demonstrates exact control of language, including effective word choice and sentence variety; demonstrates superior facility with the conventions of standard written English.

Writing Assistance: Since your essay will be graded in part on control of language and accuracy of quotation and citation format, asking someone else to proofread for you would be an academic integrity violation.  Asking for peer feedback at the Tutoring Center (link), on the other hand, is encouraged. A peer tutor at the Tutoring Center will not proofread for you, but can give you tips on how to proofread for yourself.

Submission of Assignments:  Unless otherwise stated on this syllabus, on the date listed on the syllabus for each assignment, a copy is due in Canvas before class. Using Canvas will give us both a record of your work, including the date and time of submission. To save paper and ink, no paper copy is due of any final assignment.

Essay Revision Policy: For Essay 1 only, if you receive less than 80% and revise and resubmit your essay within one week of the time the grades are released, I will regrade your essay and average the two grades together. It is your responsibility to read my comments and ask me for further guidance, should you need it.

Final Exam. In accordance with the College’s final evaluation policy (see the Policy Manual), this course has an in-class final exam meeting during the regularly scheduled exam period for our course; the exam is comprehensive and integrative, and counts for between 15% and 50% of the course grade.  Part of the exam will be take-home; that is, I will give you the questions in advance, and the answers will be due at the scheduled exam time.

Extra Credit: You will be able to receive 20 points for completing the Focused Reading assignment explained on the first day of class (and due in Canvas).  You will be able to receive additional extra credit (20 points) for attending any performance of Annie Baker’s The Antipodes, on campus March 25 – 29, OR for attending Dr. Larry McCauley Close Reading of Frankenstein on April 14, “Is Frankenstein Green?”  Either way, to get credit you will need to write an informal response paper (a minimum of two full pages and a maximum of four full pages, double-spaced) explaining what you experienced and what you thought of it, and submit this in Canvas.

GRADING SCALE

Class Participation: 100 points

Essays 1, 2, and 3: 100 each

Essay 4: 200

rough draft for each essay: 10 each

MLA research exercise: 20

Midterm: 140

Final exam: 200

Focused reading: 20 extra credit

The Importance of Being Earnest film response: 20 extra credit

The Tempest podcast response: 20 extra credit

Total possible: 1060 points

Your course grade will be calculated as follows: 93% (930 points) and above = A, 90-92% = A-, 87-89% = B+, 83-86% = B, 80-82% = B-, 77-79% = C+, 73-76% = C, 70-72% = C-, 67-69% = D+, 63-66% = D, 62% and below = F.

Since I use Canvas to calculate grades, you will be able to monitor your grades at all times. A course grade of B after one essay may not translate to a course grade of B. Also note that “rounding up” means, for instance, from 86.5% to 87–not from 86.4 to 87.            

Schedule of Assignments:

As the semester proceeds, any changes to the schedule will be highlighted in yellow.  Refer to the schedule regularly, since it may change.  When you find conflicts between the web page and the dates for assignments on Canvas, ask me!

• T 1/28: Before class, read the syllabus and (in Canvas) Short Story 1. (I’ll reveal the author and title after you read all the stories.)  Bring a single-subject notebook to use as your reading journal.
• F 1/31: Read chapter 2 (“New Criticism”) in Parker and Short Story 2 in Canvas. In addition to your (optional) extra credit assignment in Focused Reading (explained in class on 1/28), in your reading journal, make a list of textual details/elements in Short Story 2 that you think a formalist/new critical reading would focus on.  Quiz on the syllabus (other than the schedule).
• T 2/4: Read chapter 6 of Parker (“Feminism”) and Short Story 3 in Canvas. In addition to your (optional) extra credit assignment, in your reading journal, make a list of textual details/elements in Short Story 3 that you think a feminist reading would focus on.
• F 2/7: Read chapter 8 (“Marxism”) in Parker and Short Story 4 in Canvas. Also read the modules on Marx (not Althusser or Jameson) here (link), taking note of the website’s creator.  In addition to your (optional) extra credit assignment, in your reading journal, make a list of textual details/elements in Short Story 4 that you think a Marxist reading would focus on.
• T 2/11: Read Short Story 5 and (in Canvas) the document titled “Feminism.”  In addition to your (optional) extra credit assignment explained in class, write a draft of a first paragraph for a formalist or feminist essay on Short Story 5. Submit your first paragraph in Canvas, and bring a paper copy to class.  Last Focused Reading assignment (extra credit) due.
• F 2/14: Read the student essay “The Vietnam War, the American War: Literature, Film, and Popular Memory,” focusing on its organization and use (amount, placement, quotation, and citation) of evidence: link. Write a complete rough draft (required step prior to Essay 1) for Essay 1: Formalist or Feminist Reading of a Short Story (prompt and rubric in Canvas) and bring a paper copy to class. (Remember to make an effort to reduce the amount of paper you use by printing single-spaced.)  Also submit a copy to Canvas before class begins.
• T 2/18: Submit Essay #1 in Canvas by the beginning of class. (Remember that a hard copy is not due.)  In the Norton Frankenstein, study the title page (unnumbered, but it would be p. 3) and read the following poems: Byron’s “Prometheus” (p. 301) and from Book X of Milton’s Paradise Lost (p. 293). In Parker, read chapter 5 on “Psychoanalysis” through p. 137. Also read the document titled “Psychoanalytical Approaches” in Canvas.
• F 2/21:  In Frankenstein, read Vol. 1 very carefully (pp. 7-60).  In your reading journal, note any specific passages or elements that might be eligible for psychoanalytic reading.
• T 2/25: Return to Felluga’s website and read the modules on Althusser and Jameson: link.  Then read (in Canvas) the document titled “Marxism.” Read Frankenstein through end of vol. 2 (p. 105), continuing to observe elements that would be relevant to a psychoanalytic reading, but also taking notes (in your reading journal) on anything that would be relevant to a Marxist reading.
• F 2/28:  Read Parker, chapter 12, “Ecocriticism and Disability Studies,” and finish Frankenstein (Vol. 3).  In your reading journal, take notes about elements of Frankenstein that you feel might be eligible for an ecocritical reading or a disability studies reading.
• T 3/3: Write a potential thesis statement for imagined essay reading Frankenstein from either a psychoanalytic or a Marxist point of view.  Then, in the Norton Frankenstein, read the essay by Brooks (368-90), and in Canvas, read the essay by Crimmins. In your reading journal: write a brief summary of each of the articles, which includes what you understand to be the central point of the essay, and what you recognize as the main points of textual support. Both summaries should be in your own words, and not include quotations except of key terms.
• F 3/6: Bring in a complete rough draft (required step prior to Essay 2) of Essay 2: Psychoanalytic or Marxist Reading of Frankenstein (prompt and rubric in Canvas), as well as submitting a copy to Canvas before class. Make sure that you quote not only Frankenstein but also–at least once–either Brooks or Crimmins.
• T 3/10: Midterm exam.
• F 3/13: Final draft of Essay 2 is due in Canvas. Read “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Arthur Conan Doyle (link).  In your reading journal, choose a critical approach and make notes of how you would apply it to “The Speckled Band.”  What do you come up with?  Be sure to keep focus on details of the story and note in your journal what specific details you think particularly support your reading.
• T 3/17 and F 3/20 Spring Break
• Class held in Canvas starting 3/24
  
• T 3/24: Read Acts One and Two of The Importance of Being Earnest.
• F 3/27: Finish The Importance of Being Earnest (Act Three).  Also read the excised sections (pp. 61-67).
  
• T 3/31: Read Ch. 7 (“Queer Studies”) in Parker.  In the Norton The Importance of Being Earnest, read the essay by Craft (136-66). Submit in Canvas,a brief summary of the article, which includes what you understand to be the central point of the essay, and what you recognize as the main points of textual support.
• F 4/3: Write the introduction for your Essay 3: Gender Reading of The Importance of Being Earnest and post to the Canvas discussion board.  These questions from the perspective of gender and Queer theory may help: link.  Concentrate on relevance of the introduction and the presentation of a clear, precise thesis.  Also post to the discussion board the bibliographic information (author’s name, title, publication information including date) for the scholarly article you have found for Essay 3, and to write a brief summary of the entire scholarly article.  [The introduction and the summary and MLA entry for the scholarly article=required step prior to Essay 3.]
• T 4/7: Full draft of Essay 3 is due [required step prior to Essay 3]; submit to Canvas and I will assign you a partner to work with for feedback.
• F 4/10:  Reread “The Speckled Band.” In Parker, study chapter 10, “Postcolonial and Race Studies,” with special attention to the postcolonial section. Post to the discussion board some ideas about how postcolonial criticism might be applied to “The Speckled Band.” These questions from the perspective of postcolonial theory may help: link
• T 4/14: Final draft of Essay 3 is due in Canvas. Watch Kimberle Crenshaw’s TED Talk on intersectionality: link.
• F 4/17: MLA research exercise due. Submit to drop box. For MLA style, useful resources are the MLA (link) and Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) (link).  Read the first act of The Tempest. 
• T 4/21:  The Tempest through Act III.  Think structurally about the play and about parallels and contrasts among the characters.
• F 4/24:  Finish The Tempest. Be prepared for a quiz on important quotations and characters.
• T 4/28:  In the back of the Norton Tempest, read adaptations by Dryden and Davenant, Duffett, the Brough brothers, and Cesaire (314-330, 343-347).
• F 5/1: In the back of the Norton Tempest, read the scholarship by Octave Mannoni (146-154), George Lamming (154-174), and John Gillies (235-256).  Write a brief summary of each of these critical texts.  Be prepared for a quiz on these readings. “Progress report” [required step prior to Essay 4] for Essay 4 (claim statement and works cited) is due in Canvas.
• T 5/5: Full draft [required step prior to Essay 4] of Essay 4 is due in Canvas and I will assign you a partner for peer feedback.
• F 5/8: Essay 4: Postcolonial Reading of The Tempest is due in Canvas.   Read the poems by de Assis (353-354), Namjoshi (359-61), Johnson (361-364), and Muller (365).
• Final Exam will be in Canvas, F 5/15 8-10:50 am.

Please note: We will not go over all the particulars of this syllabus in class.  As announced at the beginning of the semester, it is your responsibility as a student to read the syllabus carefully, ask questions if you do not understand or have an objection to anything, and subsequently abide by the policies and guidelines contained therein.