Week-by-Week Schedule of Themes, Readings, and In-Class Discussions & Activities

ENGL 3706/6902: Critical Theory

Week One (Aug. 22—30)

THEME: Course Intro: What is “Theory”?
READING: Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (NATC): “Introduction to Theory and Criticism” 1-28; Plato (41-82); Aristotle (83-118); Horace (119-122); Longinus (133-36); and Chopin’s Regret.
DISCUSSION TOPICS: Why “theory” matters. The preoccupations and assumptions of Classical theory.
Work Assigned: Personal Statement; emailed to me no later than 5:00p, Friday, 30 Aug.
Work DUE: Personal Statement emailed to me no later than 5:00p, Friday, 30 Aug.
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Week Two (Sept. 2—6)

THEME: Classical Theory
READING: NATC: Plato (41-82); Aristotle (83-118); Horace (119-122); Longinus (133-36); and Chopin’s Regret.
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of Classical theory.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY: Analyzing Chopin’s “Regret” through the lens of Classical theory.
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Week Three (Sept. 9—13)

THEME: Enlightenment & Romantic Theory
READING: NATC: Kant (406-49); Burke (450-60); Hegel (536-55), Wordsworth (556-78), Coleridge (579-90), Shelley (591-612); and Chopin’s Regret.
 DISCUSSION TOPICS: Preoccupations and assumptions of Enlightenment & Romantic theory
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY: Analyzing Chopin’s “Regret” through the lenses of Enlightenment & Romantic theory
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Week Four (Sept. 16—20)

THEME: Enlightenment & Romantic Theory
READING: NATC: Kant (406-49); Burke (450-60); Hegel (536-55), Wordsworth (556-78), Coleridge (579-90), Shelley (591-612); and Chopin’s Regret.
DISCUSSION TOPICS: Preoccupations and assumptions of Enlightenment & Romantic theory
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY: Analyzing Chopin’s “Regret” through the lenses of Enlightenment & Romantic theory
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Week Five (Sept. 23—27)

THEME: Victorian Theory
READING: NATC: Poe (636-48); Baudelaire, “Beauty, Fashion, and Happiness” and “The Artist, Man of the World, Man of the Crowd, and Child” (676-84), Arnold (691-721), Nietzsche (759-84); and Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of Victorian-era theory
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” through the lens of Victorian Theory
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Week Six (Sept. 30—Oct. 4)  

THEME: Formalism/Canon Formation
READING: NATC: Eliot (951-69), Ransom (969-81), Ohmann (1761-78), Graff (1960-69); and Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of the early formalists & canonizers
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Poe’s “Cask” through the lens of the formalists and canonizers
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Week Seven (Oct. 7—11)

THEME: Formalism/The “New Criticism”
READING: NATC: Eichenbaum (921-50), Brooks (1213-29), Wimsatt & Beardsley (1230-45, “Intentional Fallacy” only); and Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of the formalists and New Critics
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Poe’s “Cask” through the lenses of formalism and New Criticism
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Week Eight (Oct. 14—18)

THEME: Semiotics and Structuralism
READING: NATC: de Saussure (845-66), Heidegger (982-97), Jakobson (1141-55), Levi-Strauss (1273-85), Frye (1301-15); and Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel.”
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of the semioticians and structrualists
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Lessing’s “Tunnel” through the lenses of semiology & structuralism
Work ASSIGNED: Final Project; the Lit Search and Prospectus elements of this assignment are to be emailed to me no later than 5:00p, Friday, 25 October. (The final project itself is due on the last day of class.)
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Week Nine (Oct. 21—25)

THEME: Marxism & Marxist Theory
READING: NATC: Marx and Engels (647-75), Benjamin (1046-71), Horkheimber and Adorno (1107-26), Wilson (1127-40), Williams (1420-45), Eagleton (2137-45)
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of Marxist theorists
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Lessing’s “Tunnel” through the Marxist lens
Lit. Search and Prospectus DUE: emailed to me no later than 5:00p, Friday, 25 Oct.
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Week Ten (Oct. 28—Nov. 1)

THEME: Marxism & Marxist Theory
READING: NATC: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (647-75), Walter Benjamin (1046-71), Max Horkheimber and Theodor Adorno (1107-26), Edmund Wilson (1127-40), Raymond Williams (1420-45), Terry Eagleton (2137-45)
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of Marxist theorists
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Lessing’s “Tunnel” through the Marxist lens
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Week Eleven (Nov. 4—8)

THEME: Feminist Theory
READING: NATC: De Beauvoir (1261-72), Wittig (1904-12), Gilbert and Gubar (1923-37), Kolodny (2045-66), Bordo (2237-54), Smith (2221-36)
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of feminist theory
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Lessing’s “Tunnel” through the feminist lens
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Week Twelve (Nov. 11—15)

THEME: The New Historicism
READING: NATC: Foucault (1469-1520), White (1533-52), Greenblatt (2146-60), Knapp and Benn Michaels (2458-2475)
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of New Historicists
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Chopin, Poe, & Lessing through the lens of New Historicism
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Week Thirteen (Nov. 18—22)

THEME: Deconstructionism/Postmodernism
READING: NATC: Barthes (1316-31), Lyotard (1463-68), Baudrillard (1553-65), Derrida, Of Grammatology (1680-97), Jameson (Political Unconcsious, 1818-45), Thiong'o, et al (1992-99), Bhabha (2351-72), bell hooks (2507-15)
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of Deconstruction & Postmodern theory
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Chopin, Poe, & Lessing through the lenses of Deconstruction & Postmodern theory
Work ASSIGNED: Personal Statement Redux; Class Evaluation Memo: PS Redux, Final Project, and the eval memo are due no later than 5:00p, Friday, 6 Dec. (the last day of classes).

No class on TH or F in observance of Thanksgiving!

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Week Fourteen (Nov. 25—29)

THEME: Deconstructionism/Postmodernism
READING: NATC: Barthes (1316-31), Lyotard (1463-68), Baudrillard (1553-65), Derrida, Of Grammatology (1680-97), Jameson (Political Unconcsious, 1818-45), Thiong'o, et al (1992-99), Bhabha (2351-72), bell hooks (2507-15)
DISCUSSION TOPICS: The preoccupations and assumptions of Deconstruction & Postmodern theory
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Analyzing Chopin, Poe, & Lessing through the lenses of Deconstruction & Postmodern theory
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Week Fifteen (Dec. 2—6)

THEME: Sharing your work
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES: Students will give a presentation (10-12 minutes) that summarizes their final projects
Assignments DUE: Final Project, Personal Statement Redux, Class Evaluation Memo, and any outstanding revisions emailed to me no later than 5:00p, Friday 6 Dec.

Have a peaceful and joyful Winter Break!