ENGL 209: Introduction to Literary Analysis
Longwood University
Spring 2015
Professor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Phone:
E-mail:
Web Page:
Class meets:
Shawn Smith
Grainger G14
MW 10-12 (and by appointment--use e-mail below)
434.395.2797
smithsb@longwood.edu (This is the best way to contact me.)
http://www.longwoodshakespeare.net
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00-9:15, in Grainger G16.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
Sustained study of reading and writing skills necessary to the student of literature, including close reading, the ability to
conduct research, and an overview of major critical approaches. Emphasis on a variety of poetic, dramatic, and fictional
forms from a range of cultures and historical eras. Prerequisite: completion of General Education Goal 3 or permission of
department chair. 3 credits.
REQUIRED TEXTS (available at the University Bookstore)
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The Norton Anthology of Poetry, shorter fifth edition (Norton, 2005).
Herman Melville, Melville’s Short Novels, ed. Dan McCall (Norton, 2002).
Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey into Night (Yale UP).
Reading and Writing about Literature, third edition, ed. Janet Gardner (Bedford, 2013). Bring every day!
You should also have a good collegiate dictionary, and please acquaint yourself with the location of the Oxford
English Dictionary (second edition) in the library’s Humanities Reading Room (210) at your earliest convenience.
There are other important literature reference works there that are not available online in any form.
The Handouts and Research sections of my web page include a number of resources you might find useful for this
course.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING [see web version of syllabus for hyperlinks]
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One 4-5 page (minimum) paraphrase and analysis (.pdf) essay on a short poem of your choice that we have not read
or discussed in class (20% of final grade). Use my Poetry Explication Checklist (.pdf) and OED Handout (.pdf) as
guides. I encourage you to discuss a draft of this paper with me during my office hours.
Three additional papers of 4-5 pages, one each on: Prose fiction, drama, and a work of your choice. The fourth
short paper must incorporate research and secondary literature (20% each). It is up to you to devise a paper topic and
to discuss it with me at least one week before the paper is due (and preferably before this). Use the model essays in
Gardner for guidance.
Final exam (20% each of final grade). You will need a blue book for this exam.
POLICY MATTERS
It is essential that you read thoroughly and carefully, and this means marking up your book with underlining, comments, and
questions. Think of it as “texting the book.” You’ll need to identify characters and quotations we discuss in class on the
exams, so it will be useful to find some way of highlighting them in your books during class discussion. Literary works are
both thematically and linguistically complicated in a number of ways, and I encourage you to locate these complications and
to engage the class in a discussion of them.
http://www.longwoodshakespeare.net/shakespeare/syllabus.pdf
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Please arrive on time, and be prepared to listen, to think, and to contribute. Please turn off wireless phones, headphones, and
other electronic devices that might disrupt class—and put them away, out of sight, and beyond the reach of your hands.
Please treat other students and your instructor in a civil and respectful manner. About taking notes on laptops or tablets: I
urge you not to do this. Taking notes by hand forces you to process information in a more productive way than transcribing
comments into a word processer does. Laptops not only present you with numerous distractions (e-mail, Facebook, etc.), but
they are also a distraction for other students, especially those sitting behind you. Students who take notes on laptops or
tablets tend to do poorly in this course.
The Longwood University attendance policy in the Undergraduate Catalog will be the attendance policy for this course. You
will receive an F on work missed because of unexcused absences. Your grade will be lowered by one letter grade if you miss
10 percent of the scheduled class meeting times for unexcused absences. You will receive an F if you miss a total (excused
and unexcused) of 25 percent of the scheduled class meeting times. If you arrive late, it is your responsibility to check with me
at the end of class to make sure that I’ve counted your late arrival. Three late arrivals will be counted as an absence. If you
are absent, it is your responsibility to obtain notes from a classmate (as well as announcements about syllabus changes or
other matters; it’s also your responsibility to pick up papers or exams that might have been handed back). Exams can be made
up only under the most grave of circumstances, and with documentation from an MD or a Longwood University official. If
you foresee a conflict, I expect you to discuss it with me beforehand. If you expect a prolonged absence from class because of
illness or emergency, you should inform the Dean of Students. Written assignments handed in late will lose one letter grade
for each class day late. Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of intellectual dishonesty will result in an F for the course and
referral to the Longwood University Office of Student Conduct and Integrity.
Please submit all written work for this course to me in hard copy--e-mail attachments will not be accepted. You should keep
electronic versions of any work you submit for this class, and the graded work I hand back to you, until after you have
received your final grade. In case of inclement weather, continue to read the daily assignments, and check the course web
page for announcements. Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a physical,
psychological, medical, or learning disability should contact me privately. If you have not already done so, please contact the
Office for Disability Services (103 Graham Building, 395.2391) to register for services.
Note: the syllabus may be changed at any time if necessary. The online version of this syllabus is the most current one.
Please check it regularly.
CALENDAR
13 Jan.:
15 Jan.:
20 Jan.:
Course introduction. Introduction to poetry.
Making arguments about literature.
Norton 1251-1275; Gardner 96-100;
Wordsworth, “I wandered lonely as a cloud”
and “The world is too much with us” (Norton
1807-8); Milton, Paradise Lost 1.1-26
(Norton 277-278).
Meter boot camp: Cadmon’s Hymn (Norton
1); Spenser, The Faerie Queene 1.1.1
(Norton 127); Donne, “The Good-Morrow”
(Norton 191); Blake, “The Tyger” (Norton
446-7); Hardy, “The Ruined Maid” (Norton
747); Poe, “The Raven” (Norton 615-8);
Hopkins, “The Windhover” (Norton 755-6);
Campion, “Rose-cheeked Laura” (Norton
http://www.longwoodshakespeare.net/shakespeare/syllabus.pdf
22 Jan.:
27 Jan.:
3 Feb.:
185).
Rhyme: Donne, “The Flea” (Norton 202);
Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur” (Norton 755);
Dickinson 591 (465) (Norton 727); Wyatt,
“Whoso list to hunt” (Norton 103); Surrey,
“Love, that doth reign and live within my
heart” (Norton 108).
Form: Wyatt, “They flee from me” (Norton
104); Thomas, “Do not go gentle into that
good night” (Norton 991); Sidney, “Ye
goatherd gods” (Norton 154-6); Keats, “To
Autumn” (Norton 587).
Sonnets: Milton, “When I consider how my
light is spent” (Norton 274-5); Shelley,
“Ozymandias” (Norton 541); Keats, “On
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5 Feb.:
10 Feb.:
12 Feb.:
17 Feb.:
19 Feb.:
24 Feb.:
26 Feb.:
10 Mar.:
12 Mar.:
17 Mar.:
19 Mar.:
24 Mar.:
26 Mar.: .
31 Mar:
2 Apr.:
7 Apr.:
9 Apr.:
14 Apr.:
16 Apr.:
21 Apr.:
23 Apr.:
29 Apr.:
First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”
(Norton 567); Yeats, “Leda and the Swan”
(Norton 776); Spenser, Amoretti 75 (Norton
142); Shakespeare, Sonnets 29 and 55
(Norton 171-2).
Ballads and hymns: Early modern ballads
(Norton 86-98); Bob Dylan, “Boots of
Spanish Leather” (Norton 1153-4); The
Massachusetts Bay Psalm Book, Psalm 58
(Norton 250-1, and handouts); Emerson,
“Concord Hymn” (Norton 588-9).
Bring a draft of your paper to class.
PAPER 1 DUE. Introduction to drama.
Gardner, 111-114; O’Neill, Long Day’s
Journey into Night.
O’Neill, continued.
O’Neill, continued.
Snow Day.
O’Neill, continued.
O’Neill, continued. Bring a draft of a
paragraph of your paper to class.
PAPER 2 DUE. Introduction to prose
fiction. Gardner, 72-75.
Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener.”
“Bartleby,” continued.
Melville, Benito Cereno.
Melville, Benito Cereno, continued.
Bring a draft of your paper to class.
PAPER 3 DUE. Introduction to criticism
and theory.
Assignment TBA.
Assignment TBA.
Assignment TBA.
Bring a draft of your paper to class.
PAPER 4 DUE. Review for final exam.
FINAL EXAM, 8:00-10:30
http://www.longwoodshakespeare.net/shakespeare/syllabus.pdf
Course Objectives
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Upon completion of this course, students will be able
to:
Read literary texts with precision and care;
Write cogently about literary form, content, and
history;
Conduct research appropriate to assignment
parameters; and
Orally present ideas, information, and questions with
clarity and confidence.
Grading Scale
94-100 = A, 90-93 = A, 87-89 = B+, 84-86 = B, 80-83 = B-,
77-79 = C+, 74-76 = C, 70-73 = C-, 67-69 = D+, 64-66 = D,
60-63 = D-, 0-59 = F.
[Updated:
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