ENG 170.6790W: Introduction to Literary Study
ENG 170W.6790 T/TH 4:30-5:45pm
Instructor: Christopher Ian Foster
Email: cfoster@qc.cuny.edu
Rathaus 209
Office: 349 Klapper Hall (3rd floor)
Office Hours: T/TH 12-1pm
Course Website: http://literarystudy.qwriting.org/
Course Description:
The goal of this class is to introduce you to the study of literature: how students and scholars critically
approach drama, short works of fiction, poetry, and the novel. It will introduce you to many of the
different critical lenses we use to analyze works of literature and to the genealogy of criticism. These
basic theoretical models used to interpret works of literature will include: Structuralist, Psychoanalytic,
Poststructuralist and Deconstructive, Gender Studies (including Feminist criticism), Marxist, and Critical
Race Studies. We will use this wide scope of theoretical apparatuses to begin analyzing literature. By the
end of this course you should feel comfortable utilizing these basic literary critical tools foundational to
literary studies; this will furthermore facilitate your future studies by nurturing a critical perspective
towards a wide inter-disciplinary array of texts. You will be able to apply these analytical skills to other
classes and assignments.
Required Texts:
Lois Tyson, Critical Theory: A User-Friendly Guide, Routledge, Second Edition.
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Matigari, Africa World Press, 1998.
Patricia Powell, The Fullness of Everything, Peepal Tree Press Ltd., 2009.
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, First Vintage International Edition
Note: In addition to Queens College Bookstore, these novels are readily available either at your local
bookstore or on Amazon.com and other online sites. You may purchase your books via these venues just
as long as you have the correct editions and your books arrive with plenty of time for you to read them
before their assigned date.
Supplemental texts: All supplemental texts will be posted on the class website under “readings” in PDF
format. You will be expected to print out, read carefully, and bring to class these readings. See the class
schedule below for specific texts and dates. The password to access the readings on the class website is
“english”
Grading:
Essay 1 (3-4 pages): 20%
Essay 2 (5-6 pages): 20%
Participation: 20%
Blog “comments”: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
Formal essays:
-Typed using Microsoft Word.
-Double Spaced
-Times New Roman font size 12
-MLA or Chicago style citation format: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
-Pages must be numbered
-Your essay must be titled
-You must have a thesis argument and include textual support within your essay
Blogs: http://literarystudy.qwriting.org/ (you must use your QC email to access class website)
You will be expected to post a “comment” to class blogs once a week. These comments should take the
form of a critical analysis, commentary, or discussion of the past week’s readings and/or class
discussion. Your comment may also take the form of a critical response to a classmate’s comment. You
will be expected to discuss your posts in class the following week. In length, comments must be at
least 300 words (about two paragraphs), for credit. Posts not meeting these requirements will not be
counted. You must have ten comments total for an “A” in this section of the course. As there are
fourteen weeks in the semester, this means that you do not have to post every single week. Plan
accordingly. I will post a blog at the end of every week (usually Thursdays after class). You will post a
comment on, for example, the blog post “Week 1” or “Week 2,” etc, by Monday 5pm. Do not create
your own blog post, simply “comment,” for example, on the blog post “Week 1” or whichever week
we’ve just completed. And finally, although I expect respect and courtesy on the class blogs, I do
encourage thoughtful debate. Late blog comments will not be counted.
Participation:
Every class will involve some assortment of group discussion, note taking, and in-class writing activities.
Class work cannot be made up if you are absent, so make sure you are here as much as possible. You are
also responsible for contributing to class discussions (see below). Note: to get an “A” in participation you
must speak up at least once per class (a comment or a question), and you must be absent no more than
once or twice.
Course Expectations:
In order for you to do well in this course, you need to be in class prepared and ready to work. You need
to have read all assigned material before class and have prepared thoughts or questions to bring up in
class (these needn’t be formal). Since some of the readings may be particularly demanding you should
be prepared to read assigned texts, such as the short articles assigned, twice. In addition, I expect
everyone to participate in class discussions. A note on reading strategies: Our “primary” texts are mostly
the novels we will be reading. “Secondary” texts are the theoretical and political texts assigned that you
will print out in PDF format. These texts explain or are relevant to the primary texts. Some are
particularly demanding and necessitate a second reading. If you cannot allot the time for this I would
recommend taking the course at a later date.
Distracting Classroom Behavior:
I expect you to come to class prepared and ready to work. I also expect that while in class, you will be
attentive to our work as a class. Please turn off and conceal cell phones. Texting, IMing, answering cell
phones, talking instead of listening to others, for example, all count as “distracting behavior.” If you
persist in any of these behaviors, I will deduct up to a full letter grade (A to B or B to C, etc.) from your
final grade depending on the severity and occurrence of the distraction. If I see your phone in your
hand, on your desk or anywhere else I will ask you to leave. You may rejoin the class next session.
Late Work:
It is your responsibility to contact me about missed work. All assignments are due on the date assigned.
Unless prior arrangements are made, late work and missed assignments are NOT accepted.
Academic Honesty:
All students of Queen’s College are responsible for preparing and presenting original work. In
accordance with the college’s policy on Academic Integrity, the penalty for papers which are plagiarized
and any cheating during exams is grounds for immediate course failure. It is considered plagiarism
when you present other people’s work as your own without properly citing your source and/or
presenting an already-written essay as your own.
Learning Goals:
-Students will demonstrate a rigorous understanding of the myriad issues surrounding global literature.
-Students will be introduced to postcolonial theory and literature.
-Through close readings students will utilize historical and theoretical texts to broaden their
understanding of the novels we will read in class.
-Students will improve their academic writing through blog commentary and formal take home essays.
-Students will engage in literary, historical, political and theoretical discussions in class thus facilitating
their academic fluency.
Class Schedule (Dates and assignments are subject to change):
9/6: Course introduction, Shklovsky “Art as Technique” PDF
9/8: Shklovsky cont. View images on class website (Duchamp and Warhol).
Marxism and Literature
9/13: Marx The Communist Manifesto PDF and Marx “1859” PDF
9/15: Lois Tyson Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide pp. 53-68 and Marx and Gramsci “Ideology”
PDF
9/20: Begin Ngugi’s Matigari pp.1-54
9/22: Matigari cont. pp.57-107
9/27: Finish Matigari
9/29: NO CLASS
10/4: NO CLASS
Structuralism
10/6: Saussure from Course in General Linguistics PDF
10/11: Tyson Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide pp. 209-234
Psychoanalysis
10/13: Freud from The Ego and the Id PDF
10/18: Tyson Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide pp. 11-26 and Freud “The Material and
Sources of Dreams” PDF
10/20: Shakespeare from Macbeth PDF
10/25: Begin Patricia Powell’s The Fullness of Everything pp. 1-62
10/27: Powell’s The Fullness of Everything pp. 63-104
11/1: Lacan “The Mirror Stage” PDF and Tyson Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide pp. 26-39
11/3: Lacan “The Insistence of the Letter in the Unconscious” PDF
11/8: ESSAY ONE DUE
Deconstruction
11/10: Derrida “Différance” PDF
11/15: Tyson Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide pp. 249-260 and Melville “Bartleby” PDF
11/17: Deconstruction cont. and begin Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye pp. 1-6
Race and Gender
11/22: (Psychoanalysis review) Morrison’s The Bluest Eye forward and pp. 9-37 and Tyson Critical Theory
Today: A User Friendly Guide pp. 83-120
11/24: NO CLASS
11/29: Morrison’s The Bluest Eye pp. 38-109 and Tyson Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide pp.
359-395
12/1: Morrison’s The Bluest Eye pp. 110-131 and du Bois from The Souls of Black Folk PDF
12/6: Finish The Bluest Eye
12/8: Review for final exam
12/13: FINAL EXAM
Final essay due Sunday December 18th by 12am (midnight) via email.