LITERARY ANALYSIS

LIT 2341.002
SPRING 2005

INSTRUCTOR: Jamie Wheeler

LOCATION: JO 4.102
PHONE: 214.405.7563 (cel)
OFFICE HOURS: T-TH 11:00-12

Description of the Course

This course is designed to help students develop the necessary skills to effectively
analyze, discuss and write about literature. Literary Analysis challenges students to
perfect their perception, critical thinking, judgment and aesthetic taste through careful,
close readings of literary texts, class discussions, and analytical writing about those texts
through various methods (response papers, discussion questions, testing, and research
papers.) We will consider a variety of genres (fiction, poetry, drama, and essays) to
begin to understand why we read, how to become a better critical reader, and what one
should read to develop keener analytical ability. The course will acquaint students with
the wide (and often conflicting) range of critical approaches and methodologies.

Required Texts

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume D: Between the Wars 1914-
1945 (Paperback)by Nina Baym (Editor)ISBN: 0393979008

The Viking Critical Library: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck; Texts and Criticism. Edited
by Peter Lisca and Kevin Hearle (Paperback). ISBN: 0 14 02.74475 0

O Pioneers! (Vintage Classics) (Paperback) by Willa Cather. ISBN: 0679743626

Waiting for Lefty and Other Plays (Paperback) by Clifford Odets. ISBN: 0802132200

Falling into Theory: Conflicting Views on Reading Literature (Paperback) by David H. Richter
ISBN: 0312201567

Highly Recommended:
Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Theory, 4th ed.
ISBN: 0-140-51363-9

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed.

ISBN: 0873529863
COURSE REQUIREMENTS

CLASS DISCUSSION- 25%

For each class period with assigned reading, the student is required to bring a typed discussion
question pertaining to the reading. Handwritten discussion questions are not accepted. (This is to
ensure that you have given thoughtful consideration to the works for the day and have notmerely
dashed off something 2 mins before class.) At the end of class, questions shall be submitted to
me. These count as both your attendance and participation for the day. If you do not have a
question prepared, a handwritten note with your name may be turned in, but you will not receive
participation points for the day. More than 2 absences and/or failure to turn in a discussion
question will negatively impact your grade. If you have more than 4 absences/discussion
questions, you should not expect to pass. Discussion is essential to success in this course.

ORAL REPORT & WRITTEN PRÉCIS- 15 %

Students will select one author and find a scholarly essay on that author and/or the work that does
not come from your assigned readings and/or texts. On the day that author is scheduled for class
discussion, the student will present their findings to the class and submit a 1-2 page précis. A
sign-up sheet will be passed around the first week of class. No more than two students per author
or day.

MIDTERM- 20% (BLUE BOOK REQUIRED!)

Midterm will consist of 5 short answer (“short” meaning a paragraph, not a few words) and one
longer essay (prob. at least 3-4 handwritten pages) from a selection of 2 or 3 choices. Open
book and open notes.

PAPER- 20%

One 8-10 page research paper. This paper must include sources that consider your subject in an
analytical manner. The topic for your paper must be approved by me, and a proposal for the
approach you intend to take must also be submitted and approved prior to undertaking the
project.

The paper must also undergo at least one rough draft, which will be peer reviewed as well as
critiqued by me. Failure to submit a rough draft means you will fail this portion of the
grade. No exceptions.

FINAL- 20% (BLUE BOOK REQUIRED!)

Final will be comprehensive, with the same criteria as listed above for the midterm.

Cautionary Note #1: Academic dishonesty -- cheating and plagiarism – will not be
tolerated. Consult university catalogue for guidelines.

Cautionary Note #2: NO late work is accepted

Cautionary Note #3: NO incompletes will be issued for this course.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week One

Tues, 1/10: Course introduction. Assignment for Thurs: What is the “canon” and who is (or isn’t) in it?

Thurs, 1/12: Falling into Theory (FT) Robinson, “Treason in Our Text” 153, Gates, “Canon-Formation,
Literary History, 175, Sedwick, “Epistemology of the Closet,” 183.

Week Two

Tues, 1/17: (FT) Vendler, “What We Have Loved,” Norton (N), Stein, “The Making of Americans,”
1151; *On Reserve: Peltier, “Redefining the American Dream: Willa Cather

Thurs, 1/19: Cather, “O Pioneers!” (Part One)

Week Three

Tues, 1/24: Cather, “O Pioneers! (Parts 2 & 3)

Thurs: 1/26: Cather, “O Pioneers!” (Part 4 &5); (FT) Kolodny, “Dancing Through the Minefield…,”
302

Week Four

Tues, 1/31: (FT) Rabinowitz, “Actual Reader…,” 258, Fish, “How to Recognize a Poem,” 267; *On
Reserve: “Apologizing for Robert Frost,” Priscilla Patton

Thurs, 2/2: (N) Frost, “Home Burial,” “The Oven-Bird,” “Fire and Ice,” “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” “ Two
Tramps in Mud Time”

Week Five

Tues, 2/7: (N) Eliot, from “Tradition and the Individual Talent” 1425, “The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock,” 1420; (FT) Bloom, “Elegaic Conclusion,” 225

Thurs 2/9: (FT) Morrison, “Black Matter(s),” 310; (N) Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Mother
to Son,” “Visitors to the Black Belt”

Week Six

Tues, 2/14: (N) Hughes, “I, Too,”; Hurston, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” 1516; Wright, “The Man
Who Was Almost a Man” 1925; (FT) Booth, “Who is Responsible in Ethical Criticism, and for What?”
349

Thus 2/16: *HAND-OUT: Bruccoli, “Hemingway and Fitzgerald: A Dangerous Friendship”; (FT),
Nausbaum, “The Literary Imagination,” 356; (N) Fitzgerald, “Winter Dreams,” 1641

Week Seven

Tues, 2/21: (N) Fitzgerald, “Babylon Revisited,” 1658; Hemingway, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” 1846

Thurs, 2/23: (FT) Hooks, “Towards a Revolutionary Feminist Pedagogy,” 79; (N) Porter, “Flowering
Judas” 1464
Week Eight

Tues, 2/28: (FT) Gilbert & Gubar, “The Female Swerve,” 290; (N) Parker, “The Waltz,” 1615

Thurs, 3/2: MIDTERM

Week Nine

3/7 & 3/9: SPRING BREAK!!!!

Week Ten

Tues, 3/14: Viking Critical Ed, The Grapes of Wrath, Benson, “The Background…” 505; Grapes
Chapters 1-14

Thurs, 3/16: Grapes Chapters 15-23;

Week Eleven

Tues, 3/21: Grapes Chapters 24-30; Lisca, “The Grapes of Wrath as Fiction,” 572. TOPICS FOR
FINAL PAPER SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL.

Thurs, 3/23: Viewing of 1st half John Ford’s interpretation of The Grapes of Wrath.

Week Twelve

Tues, 3/28: *On Reserve: “Steinbeck and Film: The Grapes of Wrath,” by Joseph R. Millicamp;
Viewing of 2nd half of The Grapes of Wrath. PROPOSALS FOR PAPERS DUE

Thurs, 3/30: *On Reserve: “Government and the Arts: Voices from the New Deal Era,” Rosenzweig
&Mclosh; Clifford Odetts, “Waiting for Lefty.”

Week Thirteen

Tues 4/4: (FT) Purves, “Telling Our Story…” 211; (N) O’Neill, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”
Viewing of 1st half of film

Thurs, 4/6: Viewing of 2nd half of film

Week Fourteen

Tues, 4/ 11: FIRST DRAFT OF PAPER DUE/PEER REVIEWS

Thurs, 4/13: CONFERENCES

Week Fifteen

Tues, 4/18: (FT) Dasenbrock, “Do We Write the Texts We Read?” 278; (N) Faulkner, “Barn Burning,
1790

Thurs, 4/20: FINAL DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE

WEEK SIXTEEN: Tues 4/25 FINAL 8AM-11AM.