English , Fall 2013 Hood House 211 MWF 12:00 1, Hamilton Smith Hall 140 (603) Office Hours: Friday and by appointment

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1 Introduction to Literary Analysis Dr. Katherine Gaudet English , Hood House 211 MWF 12:00 1, Hamilton Smith Hall 140 (603) Office Hours: Friday and by appointment English 419 is a course designed to teach the fundamentals of writing analytically about literature. In addition, English 419 is specifically designed to establish a foundation for the study of literature in the UNH English Department. Because English 419 is our department s only required course for the English major, it is directed toward introducing students to specific analytic and writing skills essential for their success in more advanced coursework within the major; it also offers the student a sampling of the kinds of literature they might study within the department. This section of English 419 will read selected texts from a variety of periods, genres, and traditions with attention to the reader s experience and the ways it is shaped (intentionally and otherwise) by literary forms and devices, as well as by the material conditions of literary transmission. We will read a live play, film clips, and visual art in addition to textual works. In this class students will: Write and revise analytic essays of the type appropriate for higher-level literature courses Practice close reading and other critical approaches to literature Read and analyze examples of the three major literary forms: poetry, drama, and fiction Consider the effects of formal and genre conventions on literary meaning Encounter excellent and varied works of literature Required Texts: Mays, The Norton Introduction to Literature, Shorter Eleventh Edition Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, any edition Hacker and Sommers, A Pocket Style Manual, Sixth Edition Readings on Blackboard Our Town, Johnson Theatre Discounted tickets ($12) will be available after 9/16 at the PCAC Ticket Office. Tell the ticket agent you are enrolled in this class. NOTE: The course includes a long novel, Anna Karenina, which we will read in a way that nods toward the typical consumption of this important literary form and attempts to mimic a recreational rather than academic reading style (albeit the reading is required). For 10 weeks of the semester, our Friday meetings will constitute a kind of academic book club, in which we will discuss our experience of reading the novel. You may choose any unabridged edition of the novel. Film versions are not appropriate, because abridged; audio versions are acceptable as long as the reader finds a way to refer to particular passages when necessary in class discussion. Differences in translation as well as format will constitute part of our discussion about the experience of reading. The class will determine its own reading assignments for this book so that it is completed within the semester.

2 Assignments and Grading Participation: 25% This is a discussion-based class, which requires all students to attend and participate consistently; to be prepared for class; and to conduct themselves courteously. Absences, tardiness, failure to contribute in an informed and useful way to the discussion, and discourteous conduct (e.g. participation in personal conversations, virtual or verbal) affect the class as a whole and will be reflected in the Participation grade. Attendance will be taken daily. Homework, quizzes, in-class writing: 25% This grade reflects the time and care you take completing reading and writing assignments. There will be occasional short quizzes, which give you the opportunity to show that you have completed and understood the reading. This category also includes a quiz on poetic meter and form. Throughout the semester you will write short (250-word) responses to the reading that will be handed in at the beginning of class, and will sometimes be asked to write during class. Short Essays: 30% (10% each) You will write 3 short (2 4 pp), polished essays during the semester. Assignment details are given at the end of this syllabus. One of these essays will be workshopped in class and returned to you for revision. The (presumably higher) revision grade will replace your lowest essay grade. In addition to this formal revision, it is expected that all essays are polished and revised by you before handing them in. If you wish to revise any essay (except the final essay) after it is graded, you may do so after a conference with the instructor. Final Essay: 20% The semester will conclude with a final paper of 7 10 pp. You will choose your topic in consultation with the instructor. Late work policy: Homework is due at the beginning of class unless otherwise specified. Missed homework, quizzes, and in-class writing cannot be made up, unless an exception is granted by the instructor. Essays will be marked down by ½ letter grade for each day they are late. Academic Honesty: Work that you submit for a grade must be yours alone, and must be written expressly for the given assignment. Writing that takes text and/or ideas from other sources (including your own previous work) without appropriate attribution constitutes plagiarism and is in violation of the Academic Honesty policy and subject to disciplinary action. You are responsible for understanding the University s definition of plagiarism and adhering to its standards for originality. For more detail please consult and the tutorial at Access: The University is committed to providing students with documented disabilities equal access to all university programs and facilities. If you think you have a disability requiring accommodations, you must register with Disability Services for Students (DSS). Contact DSS at (603) or disability.office@unh.edu. If you have received Accommodation Letters for this course from DSS, please provide me with that information privately in my office so that we can review those accommodations. 2

3 Essays Students will write four essays and several short pieces that focus on the relationship between literary form and effects on the reader. One of these will be submitted twice and undergo an in-class revision process, but students are expected to revise and polish all essays before submitting them. Essays are to be submitted via attachment to before the beginning of class on the due date. Essays submitted after the beginning of class will be considered one day late. The preferred format is MS Word (.doc or.docx) but PDFs are also acceptable. Please use a standard serif font (e.g. Times New Roman) in 12 point, and double-space. The English Department s definition of an analytic essay, and the criteria by which essays will be graded, are as follows:the writer makes a specific interpretive claim in the essay, that is, asserts a thesis. Typically, that interpretive claim focuses on the meanings of the text itself. Students should be able to distinguish between an interpretive claim and an essay topic, between affective response and analysis. a. The writer marshals specific passages from the text in support of that interpretive claim. Students should be able to cite textual material responsibly, building on skills in close reading, and with attention to context (intratextual and intertextual, including social, historical, political, religious, or aesthetic contexts), building on skills with other critical approaches. b. The writer should revise his or her writing. It is important to stress the difference between editing (in which the writer corrects mechanical errors and makes minor changes in argument and format) and revision (in which the writer engages in substantial rethinking and refinement of the interpretive argument in response to a reader s reaction, in addition to editing). Essay 1: Practicing the Form words (2 3 pp), due 9/9 In this essay, your ideas do not matter. You will be using the form of an academic essay; that is, presenting a thesis and supporting it with argument and evidence. Because this exercise is focused on format and not content, your thesis can be anything. You will be asked to write according to a strictly defined structure. You will probably feel that the structure is too confining and prevents you from expressing your ideas or style. In future essays, you will have more freedom, and your ideas will be of equal importance to your writing. The structure is as follows. 1. Thesis sentence: The first sentence states the case that you are going to argue. 2. Index paragraph: The first paragraph contains all of the points that you will make in the essay. 3. Topic sentences: Each paragraph begins with a sentence that summarizes its content. 4. Concluding paragraph: The final statement sums up the argument and suggests a so what, but does not introduce new evidence or arguments. Essay 2: Poetry Analysis words (3 4 pp), due 9/25 Compare two poems that we have read together. Make a claim about the poems differing or similar use of formal elements (meter, rhyme, formal conventions, etc.) and how this changes the poems effects. Limit your focus to one or two formal elements. Essay 3: Drama Analysis words (3 4 pp), due 10/28; revision due 11/6 Select a play that we have read or watched together. Write an analytic paper, making a claim about how formal elements (e.g. plot structure, narrative voice, point of view) create meaning, and what meaning is created. Limit your focus to one or two formal elements. Essay 4: Final Paper words (7 10 pp), due 12/13 by 12:30 PM In this essay, use the skills and concepts you have learned in this course to analyze two works of literature in relation to one another. The specific topic is up to you and must be discussed with the professor in an individual writing conference. 3

4 Schedule of Readings and Assignments Unless otherwise noted, page references are to the Norton anthology. 8/26: INTRODUCTION Syllabus review How and why we read literature Week 1 8/28 INTRODUCTION TO POETRY Read: Write: 250 words, comparing two of the poems 8/30 ANALYZING POETRY: NEW CRITICISM Read: Ransom, Criticism, Inc. (BB) 9/2: No Class (Labor Day) Week 2 9/4: CARPE DIEM Read: Donne, The Flea (738) Marvell, To His Coy Mistress (739) Herrick, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time (BB) Shakespeare, Not marble, nor the gilded monuments (892) Write: For each poem, a one-sentence summary of the argument 9/6 CARPE DIEM? Read: devries, To His Importunate Mistress (BB) Lauinger, Marvell Noir (986) Milton, When I Consider How My Life Is Spent (893) Week 3 9/9 RHYME Read: Yeats, A Prayer for My Daughter (BB) Write: Essay 1 9/11 USES OF POETRY Write: Find a poem of any kind that you feel helps mark the anniversary of September 11, Write 250 words about why you selected it. Be prepared to read the poem aloud. 9/13 METER Read: (do scansion exercise as well as read the following poems) Coleridge, Metrical Feet Anonymous, [There was a young girl from St. Paul] Tennyson, from Charge of the Light Brigade Suckling, Song Week 4 9/16 FORM Read: Prepare for quiz on poetic form 4

5 9/18 POETRY IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT: HARLEM RENAISSANCE Read: Quiz: Poetic Form 9/20 HARLEM RENAISSANCE Read: Write: Compare the experience of reading these poems--grouped together and with awareness of their historical context with the way we have read other poems, i.e. focusing on the poem itself without regard for its provenance (250 words). Week 5 9/23 POETRY IN BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT: EMILY DICKINSON Read: /25 Write: Essay 2 In class: some classic poems 9/27 Read: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, /30 INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA Read: Sophocles, Oedipus the King, first half Week 6 10/2 OUR TOWN Johnson Theater, 7:00. No class. 10/4 Tolstoy, Anna Karenina 10/7 Sophocles, Oedipus the King, second half Week 7 10/9 Guest speaker: Professor David Richman Write: A comment or question for Professor Richman about the performance of Our Town 10/11: Anna Karenina 10/14 Shakespeare, Hamlet, Acts I II Week 8 10/16 Shakespeare, Hamlet, Acts III V 10/18 No class (semester break) 10/21 Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, Act I Week 9 10/23 Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, Acts II III 10/25 Anna Karenina 10/28 Write: Essay 3 In-class writing workshop Week 10 5

6 10/30 INTRODUCTION TO FICTION Read: Poe, The Cask of Amontillado, Poe, on Hawthorne s Twice-Told Tales Hawthorne, The Birth-Mark, English /1 Anna Karenina Week 11 11/4: PLOT Read: Write: Compare the plots of The Cask of Amontillado and The Birth Mark, using the terms outlined in the reading (250 words) 11/6 Write: Revised Essay 3 11/8 Anna Karenina 11/11 No class (Veterans Day) Week 12 11/13: Character Read: O Connor, Everything That Rises Must Converge, /15: Anna Karenina Week 13 11/18: Reliability Morrison, Recitatif, Write: Analytic response to Recitatif (250 words) 11/20: Point of View Saunders, Puppy, /22: Anna Karenina 11/25: Anna Karenina Week 14 11/27 Individual writing conferences (scheduled during this period or at another time during this week) 11/29 No class (Thanksgiving) 12/2: Anna Karenina Week 15 12/4: In-class writing workshop Write: outline for final paper 12/6: Anna Karenina, to end 12/13: Final paper due by 12:30 PM 6