Hanrahan
ENGL 301
Spring 2011
English 301-01: Introduction to Literary Studies
Instructor: Dr. Heidi Hanrahan; hhanraha@shepherd.edu
Office Hours: MW 3:00-5:00; TR 10:00-12:00; and by appointment
Office Info: Knutti 201C; ph. 876-5250
Course Website: http://webpages.shepherd.edu/hhanraha/courses/eng301/eng301s11.htm
“He wins every hand who mingles profit with pleasure, by delighting and instructing the reader at the same time.”
–Horace
“[Literature is] an organized violence committed on ordinary speech.” –Roman Jakobson
“To have great poets there must be great audiences too.” – Walt Whitman
This course introduces English majors and minors to the discourse, practices, and protocols associated with the
study of literature. The course is the gateway to all English classes above the sophomore-level surveys and must
be completed before taking any upper-division courses in the major or minor.
Essential skills and outcomes to be acquired through the course include:
1. A basic familiarity with some of the major theoretical and critical approaches to literature;
2. A conversancy in the terminology used when analyzing literature;
3. An understanding of poetry, drama, short fiction, and novel forms, and their specific attributes;
4. A proficiency in conducting literary research;
5. A mastery of the Modern Language Association (MLA) conventions and protocols used in literary
scholarship;
6. A strengthened ability to write persuasively, critically, and elegantly.
Texts:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Scribner, 2004.
Gilbaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th edition. New York: MLA, 2009.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1942. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1998.
Harmon, William, and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice
Hall, 2009.
Lynn, Steven. Texts and Contexts: Writing About Literature with Critical Theory. 5th edition. New York:
Longman, 2007.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. (Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism), 2nd edition. New York: Bedford/St.
Martins, 2008.
Additional readings will be available on Sakai and as handouts. Please make sure you have access to a printer
and/or money on your Rambler to print out pages in a computer lab. You must have paper copies of all texts and
bring them to class.
Course Requirements:
1. Reading Assignments: Simply put, you cannot expect to do well in class if you do not read the assigned
texts. Bring your books/texts with you to class every day.
2. Quizzes: You can expect lots of quizzes over the course of the semester. Some are already indicated on the
syllabus. Others will be unannounced. The key to doing well is, of course, to keep up with the reading.
3. Mythology Group Presentation: As explained on a separate handout, each student will be part of a group
that will present/lead discussion of a section of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology.
Hanrahan
ENGL 301
Spring 2011
4. Annotated Bibliography: To demonstrate your growing ability to conduct research and evaluate sources,
over the course of the semester, you will compile an annotated bibliography. More instructions can be found on
a separate handout.
5. Paper Series: Over the course of the semester, you will complete three paper series. Each separate series will
contain two short papers—each a distinct critical reading of a single text. More information about this
assignment is found on a separate handout.
6. Final Exam: You will complete a final exam, designed to assess what you’ve learned over the course of the
semester.
Other Items of Note:
Attendance: In this class, attendance is crucial and missed class time cannot be made up. Therefore, you are
allowed THREE absences. Any more will reduce your grade by one third a letter grade. More than six absences
and you risk failing the class. Additionally, being late to class is rude and disruptive. Don’t do it. If you are more
than 10 minutes late to class twice, that will count as one absence. Finally, if you miss class it is your
responsibility to contact me or a classmate to find out what you have missed before the next class meeting. An
absence is not an excuse for being unprepared for the next class.
Email/Internet Access: Email is usually the best way to get into contact with me—and I will use your Shepherd
address. You will also find the course’s website and/or Sakai page helpful. If and when you do email me, please
consider the way you present yourself in your messages. Be sure to proofread your messages and make sure you
use both proper grammar and punctuation.
Cell phones: Put them away during class. If I see them on your desk, I’ll ask you to put them away. If I see you
using them at all (this includes texting), I’ll ask you to leave and mark you absent for the day.
Academic Honor: Plagiarism (passing someone else’s work off as your own or failing to correctly cite someone
else’s work) and cheating will not be tolerated. All violations of the Student Conduct Code will be reported.
Some simple advice: if you have any questions or are unsure about citing something, see me.
Turnitin: All students must upload their papers to turnitin.com before I will even begin to grade the hard copies
and papers will not be considered “handed in” until copies have been uploaded to the site. Before Monday,
January 24, please set up a user profile at turnitin.com by visiting www.turnitin.com and clicking on the New
User link in the upper right-hand corner. (You can skip this step if you’ve already created a profile for another
class.) After the new user profile has been created, you must enroll in this course using the following
information (please make sure you register for the right section):
Course ID: 3711072, Password: Gatsby
Special Note: If you require academic accommodations because of a learning, processing, systemic/medical or
cognition related disability, please visit Disability Support Services as soon as possible. I will work with you
and any approved accommodations.
Grade Breakdown:
15%: Quizzes
10%: Mythology Group Presentation
15%: Annotated Bibliography
15%: Paper Series 1
15%: Paper Series 2
15%: Paper Series 3
15%: Final Exam
Hanrahan
ENGL 301
Spring 2011
Course Schedule
Subject to revision; also note that this is just a reading schedule—other written assignments might be added throughout the
semester and it is your responsibility to write them down.
M 1/10: Introduction to the course
W 1/12: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 1; Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature: Belles-Lettres,
Criticism, Criticism, Types of, Fiction, Genre, Genre Criticism, Plot, Prose, Theme, Theoretical
Criticism, Theory; Vocabulary Quiz
F 1/14: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 2
M 1/17: No Class—MLK Day
W 1/19: Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 3.4, 3.6, and 3.7, and all of Chapters 5, 6, 7
F 1/21: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 9; MLA Quiz
M 1/24: Library Skills Day—meet in Library
W 1/26: Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1-59
F 1/28: Gatsby, 60-111
M 1/31: Gatsby, 113-end
W 2/2: Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature: Allusion, Archetype, Classic, Classical, Classicism,
Myth, Mythic Criticism; Mythopoetics, Oral Transmission. Symbol; Hamilton, Mythology, Introduction
and Part 1; Vocabulary Quiz
F 2/4: Ciardi, “How Does a Poem Mean?” (handout)
M 2/7: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 3; Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature: Anaphora, Blank
Verse, Conceit, Dramatic Monologue, Epic, Feminine Rhyme, Free Verse, Idyll, Image, Imagery, Lyric,
Masculine Rhyme, Metaphor, Meter, Metonymy, Ode, Rhyme, Scansion, Sonnet, Synecdoche;
Vocabulary Quiz
W 2/9: Annotated Bibliography: First Five Entries Due; Eliot, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (link on
Sakai)
F 2/11: Hamilton, Mythology, Part 2; Mythology Group Presentation
M 2/14: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 4; Lux, “The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently” (handout)
W 2/16: The Lyric: Poe, “To Helen;” Auden, “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” (handouts)
F 2/18: Hamilton, Mythology, Part 3; Mythology Group Presentation
M 2/21: The Sonnet: Shakespeare, “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun;” Cullen, “Yet Do I Marvel;”
Collins, “Sonnet” (handouts)
W 2/23: Paper Series #1 Due; The Idyll and the Ode: Wordsworth, “The Solitary Reaper;” Keats, “Ode to a
Nightingale” (handouts)
F 2/25: Hamilton, Mythology, Part 4; Mythology Group Presentation
M 2/28: Free Verse: Whitman, “As I Lay with My Head in Your Lap Camerado,” Kinnell, “After Making Love
We Hear Footsteps;” Smart, from “Jubilate Agno” (handouts)
W 3/2: Conceit and Dramatic Monologue: Donne, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning;” Browning, “My Last
Duchess” (handouts)
F 3/4: Hamilton, Mythology, Part 5; Mythology Group Presentation
M 3/7: Other Poetic Forms: Bishop, “One Art;” Harper, “Dear John, Dear Coltrane;” Swenson, “Women”
(handouts)
W 3/9: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 5
Hanrahan
ENGL 301
Spring 2011
F 3/11: Annotated Bibliography: Second Five Entries Due; Hamilton, Mythology, Parts 6 and 7; Mythology
Group Presentation
M 3/14, W 3/16, and F 3/18: No classes—Spring Break
M 3/21: Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature: Antagonist, Antihero, Anticlimax, Arthurian Legend,
Medieval Romance, Narrative, Narrator, Novel, Novelette, Novella, Parody, Point of View, Protagonist,
Romance, Satire; Lydia Davis selections (handout); Vocabulary Quiz
W 3/23: Shelley, Frankenstein, 19-101
F 3/25: Frankenstein, 101-189
M 3/28: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 6
W 3/30: Texts and Contexts, Chapter 6, continued
F 4/1: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 7
M 4/4: Texts and Contexts, Chapter 7, continued
W 4/6: Paper Series #2 Due; Davis, “Resisting the Novel” (handout)
F 4/8: Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature: Act, Catastrophe, Comedy, Drama, Dramatic Structure,
Freytag's Pyramid, Scenes, Tragedy; Rivera, “Tape” (handout); Vocabulary Quiz
M 4/11: Complete Annotated Bibliography Due; Glaspell, “Trifles” (handout)
W 4/13: Lynn, Texts and Contexts, Chapter 8
F 4/15: Texts and Contexts, Chapter 8, continued
M 4/18: Frankenstein, “Contextual Documents” discussion
W 4/20: Frankenstein, “Case Study in Contemporary Criticism” discussion
F 4/22: No class—Spring Weekend Recess
M 4/25: Paper Series #3 Due; Howard, “Literary Scholars Ponder Their Future;” Gottschall, “Measure for
Measure” (handouts)
W 4/27: Review for Final Exam
F 4/29: Review for Final Exam
W 5/4: Final Exam, 9:00-11:00