FALL 1999
ENG 600: INTRODUCTION TO GRADUATE STUDY
COURSE SYLLABUS

Meet the students in this class (click here)

• Professor: Dr. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta
• Course: ENG 600
• Class Time: Tuesdays, 4:00-6:00 PM
• Classroom: Instructional Technology Classroom, Reinert Alumni Library Building, Room L02
• Course Dates: Tuesday, August 31-Tuesday, December 14, 1999
• Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:20 PM and by appointment
• Office: Hitchcock Communication Arts Building (CA), Room 304A
• Office Telephone: (402) 280-2522
• e-mail: fajardo@creighton.edu
• WWW Home Page: http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/fajardo/
  

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course constitutes a formal introduction to graduate study in the English language and its literature. An important goal of the course is to introduce students to the study of traditional, modern, and contemporary literary criticism, its practical applications, and its consequences for reading and writing. In addition to the ideas of selected critics from Plato and Aristotle to Edward Said and Julia Kristeva, the course will survey major twentieth-century intellectual movements such as Formalism, Structuralism, American New Criticism, Poststructuralism, Reader-Oriented Theories, Gender Studies, New Historicism, Cultural and Postcolonial Studies. Other important aspects of the course involve consideration of the materials, techniques, and tools of scholarly research--including printed sources as well as computers and electronic media (Internet, World Wide Web, etc.). The class will be conducted following the model of an advanced seminar where students work on individual research projects under the guidance of the instructor. Class time will be devoted to student presentations and discussion of the reading materials, as well as training and guidance in the use of the necessary technology.



TEXTS

Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Fifth Edition (Modern Language Association, 1995)

Raman Selden, Peter Widdowson & Peter Brooker, A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory, Fourth Edition (Prentice Hall, 1997)

Hazard Adams, Critical Theory Since Plato, Revised Edition (Harcourt Brace, Jovanovich, 1992)


COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1) Paper (40%)

Students in this course will be required to work through the several stages (proposal + annotated bibliography, preliminary draft(s), oral presentation, and final copy) of a major analytical/research paper project (20-25 pages). The paper should attempt to offer an original contribution to the understanding of an English or American literary text and demonstrate command of literary criticism and the techniques of scholarship covered in the course. Notice that the paper's thesis may be any issue connected to any aspect of a literary text chosen by the student. Papers may offer personal interpretations based on close, attentive reading of a specific and well-defined aspect of a literary text. Such interpretations however must always be presented and discussed in the context of the scholarship. Possible subjects for papers include consideration of the significance of themes, situations, passages, images, characters, symbols, motifs, language, structure, etc. of the chosen text(s). Papers must provide evidence for all their claims in the form of extended discussion and explanation of relevant textual and contextual features as well as references to the work of other scholars. In addition to logical thought, reading comprehension, and writing skill, papers should feature independent thinking, originality, precise and detailed analysis, as well as understanding of the complexities of meaning in literary texts. Papers must show awareness and accurate use of primary and secondary sources, relevant facts, historical information, cultural/intellectual backgrounds, different interpretations, and literary terminology and concepts. Students must observe the MLA guidelines in all their written work (see Gibaldi's MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers).


Paper Development Stages

• Paper Proposal. Early in the term (see Schedule below), students will submit to the instructor a 1-2 page formal proposal describing the topic/thesis to be explored and developed in the paper. The proposal should clearly define the paper's object of study, problems to be considered, positions and hypotheses, possible implications/consequences of the analysis, and theoretical/intellectual methods to be applied. Proposal should be written in narrative, essay style; featuring full paragraphs and a coherent organization, as well as logical sequencing and development of the arguments (mere outlines or lists of ideas are not acceptable). The proposal should make specific and accurate mention of relevant sources and related scholarly work and the specific ways in which they will be used in the study.
• Annotated Bibliography. Together with the proposal, students will submit an annotated bibliography offering full bibliographical information and summary/description of contents of at least ten recent (within the last ten years) articles, books, or book chapters directly relevant to the project defined in the proposal. Each entry should feature two distinct fields corresponding to the required tasks, i.e. 1) bibliographical info, 2) description of contents. Entries in the bibliography should be as detailed as possible but no longer than one typewritten page (250-350 words). Reference works are not acceptable as entries for the annotated bibliography.
• Draft. Toward the middle of the term (see Schedule below), students will submit a draft of the paper (10-15 pages). The instructor will return the drafts with corrections and suggestions for revisions.
• Oral Presentation. Toward the end of the term (see Schedule below), each student will make an oral presentation describing her/his project to the class. All presentations will be followed by a question and answer period. Suggestions and criticisms made at that time by the instructor and other students should be taken into account in the final revision of the paper.
• Final Copy. At the end of the term (see Schedule below), students will submit the final copy of the paper (20-25 pages). The final version of the paper should include the full text of the paper, a thorough list of works cited (NOT an annotated bibliography), and all relevant foot- or endnotes. No late papers, revisions, or other changes will be accepted after the specified deadline.

Notice that the total paper grade will be calculated as follows: Proposal & Bibliography (10%), 1st Draft (20%), Oral Presentation (20%), Final Copy (50%)

2) Presentations (25%)

• Throughout the semester, students will take turns in making 15-30 minute presentations on the various authors and critical texts covered in the course. Students will be responsible for reading and researching the substance and background of the assigned texts and presenting their findings to the class. Presentations may cover any facts or issues relevant to the content, history, authorship, cultural significance and/or analysis and interpretation of the critical texts studied. In addition to reading the relevant materials in the textbooks, students are expected to pursue relevant library research in order to enrich their presentations. Also encouraged, whenever possible, is the use of audiovisual materials (pictures, slides, videotapes, audio recordings, multimedia computer presentations, etc.). Students requiring special equipment (projectors, computers, etc.) must inform the instructor in advance. In addition to presentations on the course materials, each student will also make an oral presentation describing and reporting on the nature and progress of her/his paper project (see Paper above). All presentations will be followed by discussion and question/answer periods. It is strongly encouraged that students use their personal research web site during their presentations (see details below). All students will display their completed web sites on the day of their last oral presentation.
  

3) Personal Research Web Site (25%)

• Each student will be required to create, develop, and maintain a personal research web site featuring information on the research, presentations and other work pursued by the student in the course. Students should post there outlines, illustrations, references, and links to other resources relevant to their work. It is strongly suggested that students use their web site in conjunction with their presentations (a networked computer and projector will be available to display web sites in the classroom). Such pages may also feature any other items relevant to the student's interests and/or activities. The web site will be evaluated on the basis of content, organization, design, creativity, functionality, and effort. Students will show their completed web sites in class on the same day of their last oral presentation.
  • Instructions for creating a web page on Creighton's Bluejay server
  • Sample web page
  • Necessary software (on CD to be provided)
    

4) Other Performance (10%)

• Class participation, attendance, effort, attentiveness, preparation, responsibility, and, in general, active and constructive involvement in all aspects of the course will be graded by the instructor. Notice that any student missing more than 30% of class time may, at the discretion of the instructor, fail the course.
  
  

GRADING AND OTHER POLICIES

Deadlines: Make-ups/extensions for a missed deadline will only be given in cases of documented serious illness or other valid, non-frivolous excuse such as documented participation in official University sports or academic/service events (it will be up to the instructors to determine and decide on the acceptability of an excuse). Otherwise, students must meet all deadlines specified in the syllabus.

Student Conduct and Academic Honesty: All students in the class are expected to observe the University's guidelines on student conduct as described in Creighton University's Student Handbook (see "Code of Conduct," and especially the section on "Academic Misconduct" dealing with problems of plagiarism, cheating, etc.). Plagiarism-- the unacknowledged use of outside help and sources (books, articles, other student papers or ideas, etc.)--will result in failing the assignment and/or the entire course.

Grading: All assignments and relevant aspects of a student's performance will be graded on a 100-point scale, where 90-100=A (Outstanding), 80-89=B (Very Good/Satisfactory), 70-79=C (Marginally Satisfactory), 60-69=D (Not satisfactory), 0-59=F (Failing). Early stages of the paper (proposal, bibliography, draft, etc.) will be evaluated with the preliminary marks S-, S, S+ for different degrees of satisfactoriness of the work (where S- corresponds approximately to the 0-79 range, S to 80-89, and S+ to 90-100). The final version of the paper will be assessed a grade on the standard 0-100 scale as described above. Please note that, in general, graduate students should have a B (80-89) or higher average in order to maintain good standing in the program. The course grade will be calculated according to the following formula:

CLASS SCHEDULE

Students should come to every class having done the reading assigned and prepared to present and discuss the relevant issues, pose questions, offer answers, and actively participate in all aspects of the class discussion.

Tue Aug 31

• General introduction to library research and electronic research tools (MLA bibliography on-line and printed sources, Internet research tools, library catalogues on line, Web Browsers, etc). Read Chapter 1, "Research and Writing" (pp. 1-40) in Gibaldi's MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

Tue Sep 07

• Literary Criticism in Antiquity (read selections in Adams anthology):
  • Plato
  • Aristotle

Tue Sep 14

• Literary Criticism in the Middle Ages(read selections in Adams anthology):
  • St. Augustine
  • St. Thomas Aquinas

Tue Sep 21

• Literary Criticism in the Renaissance (read selections in Adams anthology):
  • Sir Philip Sidney
  • Francis Bacon

Tue Sep 28

• Literary Criticism in the Neoclassical Age (read selections in Adams anthology):
  • Alexander Pope
  • Samuel Johnson

Tue Oct 05

• PROPOSAL AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
• Literary Criticism in the Age of Romanticism (read selections in Adams anthology):
  • Immanuel Kant
  • Friedrich Schlegel
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge .
    

Tue Oct 12

• Foundations of Modern Critical Theory (read selections in Adams anthology):
  • Karl Marx
  • Friedrich Nietzsche
  • Sigmund Freud

Tue Oct 19

• FALL BREAK

Tue Oct 26

• PAPER DRAFT DUE
• Moral Formalism and New Criticism (read Reader's Guide's "Introduction" and "New Criticism, Moral Formalism, and F. R. Leavis"; also Arnold, Eliot, and Wimsatt/Beardsley selections in Adams anthology).
  • Matthew Arnold
  • T. S. Eliot
  • W. K. Wimsatt & Monroe Beardsley

Tue Nov 02

• Russsian Formalism and Structuralism (read Reader's Guide's "Russian Formalism" and "Structuralist Theories"; read also Saussure, Barthes, Shklovsky selections in Adams anthology):
  • Victor Shklovsky
  • Ferdinand de Saussure
  • Roland Barthes

Tue Nov 09

• Poststructuralism and Reader Oriented Criticism. Reader's Guide's "Poststructuralist Theories" and "Reader-Oriented Theories"; read also Derrida, Lacan, and Fish selections in Adams anthology):
  • Jacques Derrida
  • Jacques Lacan
  • Stanley Fish

Tue Nov 16

• Political Criticism. Reader's Guide's "Marxist Theories," "Feminist Theories" and "Postmodernist and Postcolonialist Theories"; read also Williams, Said, and Kristeva in Adams anthology)
  • Raymond Williams
  • Julia Kristeva
  • Edward Said

Tue Nov 23

• THANKSGIVING BREAK

Tue Nov 30

• STUDENT PROJECT AND WEB SITE PRESENTATIONS
  

Tue Dec 07

• STUDENT PROJECT AND WEB SITE PRESENTATIONS. Conclusion. Evaluations (bring a #2 pencil).
  

Tue Dec 14

• PAPERS DUE IN INSTRUCTOR'S OFFICE OR MAILBOX

| Home |