Harris Friedberg
English 201, Section J
Fall 2014
101, 285 Court St.
685-3622; hfriedberg@wesleyan.edu
Hours: Th 4:15-5:30
Study of Literature: Syllabus
Sept 2
4
Organizational Meeting; Brooks, “We Real Cool”
Bishop, “One Art”
9
11
16
18
23
25
30
Oct 2
Jonson, “On My First Daughter,” “On My First Son”(PAPER)
7
9
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I; “Early Narratives,” “Succession Controversy,”
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I; “Discourses of the Feminine”
14
16
Macbeth, Act II; “Jacobean Theory of Kingship,”
Macbeth, Act III; “Witchcraft and Prophecy,”
21
23
28
30
Macbeth, Act IV; “Royal Charisma”
Macbeth, Act V; “Resistance in Theory,”
Conferences
PAPER
Nov 4
6
Dickens, Great Expectations, chapters I–X; “Dickens and the World of Pip”
Great Expectations, chapters XI–XIX; essays by Van Ghent, Moynahan, Watt
11
13
Great Expectations, chapters XX–XXXI; essay by Brooks
Great Expectations, chapters XXXII–XXXIX; essays by Ginsburg, Raphael
18
30
Great Expectations, chapters XL–L; essay by Walsh
Great Expectations, chapters LI–LIX; “Putting an End to Great Expectations”
Dec 2
4
Conferences
PAPER
Wyatt, “They Flee from Me” (PAPER)
Shakespeare, Sonnet 146 (PAPER)
Yeats, “Leda and the Swan”
Rich, “Rape” (PAPER)
Required texts: Shakespeare, Macbeth, ed. William Carroll (Bedford/St. Martin’s); Dickens,
Great Expectations, ed. Edgar Rosenberg (Norton); Hacker, Pocket Manual of Style’
Recommended: A Glossary of Literary Terms, M.H. Abrams and Geoffrey Harpham
Disability Resources: Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students
with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs
and services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as
defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of
2008, and provide documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may require early
planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact Disability Resources now.
Goals: The purpose of this section is to learn how literary form creates meaning in the genres of
lyric poetry, drama, and prose fiction. We will study not just what these works mean but how
they create meaning. We will learn how to read closely by studying the language of lyric poems.
In studying Macbeth we will investigate its relation to the culture of its time. While reading
Great Expectations we will investigate how literary criticism and interpretation can help instruct
how we read. Students are responsible for all the readings listed on the syllabus, not just the
poems, play, and novel.
Expectations: Students must come to class having read the assignment and having closely
analyzed the focal passage. Please bring the text to class. You will write four shorter and two
more substantial papers. Your papers must develop a critical argument and demonstrate your
mastery of the texts by citing and analyzing passages from them; plot summary will not be
accepted. Your papers must also demonstrate your mastery of all the readings posted on the
syllabus. The papers will count for 75% of your grade. In addition, you will sometimes be asked
to submit a one-minute exercise at the end of class explaining what they consider the most
important point covered in the lecture or assigned reading and asking one question prompted by
them; these will count for 20% of your grade. Extensions shall be granted only for documented
medical reasons or at the request of your class dean. All missed work must be made up within
one week. You must complete all written assignments to receive credit for the course. Using
other people's words or ideas without attribution is, of course, plagiarism, and the Honor Code
requires that any suspicions be reported. If you have any questions about how or what to
attribute, please ask me. Attendance is mandatory; more than three unexcused absences will be
considered grounds for dismissal from the course. If you must miss class for any reason, please
let me know why by email ahead of class; absences will not be excused after class begins. Cell
phones, tablets, and laptops cannot be used during class; their use is grounds for dismissal.
Format:
The course will consist mostly of discussion. Discussion succeeds only if you are
prepared. Preparation not only means having read the texts but having studied them and the
required readings. The university considers that each credit represents between 120 and 160
hours of work. Please do not take this course unless you are prepared to commit the time to it.