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Existentialism and Modern Literature 3E Fr. Daniel Bauer |
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¡@Shakespeare¡¦s Comedies 3E Dr. Raphael Schulte |
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Research and Bibliography 3R Prof. Cecilia H. C. Liu |
English Writing I 3R Bro. Nicholas Koss |
Selective Readings of Modern and Contemporary Literary Theories 3E Dr. Kate C.W. Liu LC302 |
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Required Courses
Senior Thesis/4 credits
Third- and fourth-year students must take this course. Be sure to record this course on the registration form.
There is no description for this course. Please feel free to contact the teacher if you have any questions.
Course Overview:
This course is designed to acquaint students with methods of research in literature, criticism, and theory as they are currently practiced. We will work through the stages of the research process, from developing an original idea or question to locating primary materials to setting parameters for the research project. Thus, we start with an overview of academic research, and then discuss alternative approaches to research design and the development of a research proposal. Then we will discuss development of the literature reviews and the selection of research methodologies. Along the way students will learn how to use the MLA Handbook and how to prepare author and topic bibliographies. Reference works useful for literary research to be introduced include: bibliographies, dictionaries, literary biographies, literary anthologies, literary periodicals/journals, literary handbooks and concordances. Much attention will also be given to literary journals and reference works on each period of English and American literature. On-line resources helpful for the study of English and American literature will be examined, and contemporary literary critical theories will be discussed, too.
We will gain familiarity with the forms in which research ideas and projects are formulated, such as the abstract and the research proposal, as well as the forms in which completed research is presented, such as the seminar paper, the scholarly article, the conference paper, the monographic study and thesis proposal. During the semester assignments will consist of a number of exercises and reports designed to achieve the goals set out above.
The Online Environment
About the Course
About the Lessons
About the Assignments
About Grading
Electronic Research Resources
About the DeveloperThere will be no examinations in this course, but you will be expected to participate in weekly discussion forums and to submit an acceptable research proposal as well as the literature review topical outline and preliminary bibliography.
Course Objectives
In this course, you will develop important information retrieval, technical reading, and critical thinking skills. By the end of this course you will be able to
¡° describe the types of academic research;
¡° describe the research process;
¡° design a research methodology;
¡° develop a research topic based on critical theories;
¡° prepare a thorough, well-documented literature review;
¡° develop data collection instruments; and
¡° prepare a thesis proposal.Textbooks/References:
Altick, Richard, and John J. Fenstermaker. The Art of Literary Research. 4th Ed. NY: Norton, 1993.
Browner, Stephanie, Stephen Pulsford and Richard Sears. Literature and the Internet. New York: Garland, 2000.
Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. 3rd ed. London: Penguin, 1992.
Eliot, Simon and W.R. Owens, eds. A Handbook to Literary Research. New York: Routledge in Association with Open U, 1999. ISBN: 0415198607
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. NY: MLA, 2003.
Harner, James L. Literary Research Guide: A Guide to Reference Sources for the study of Literatures in English and Related Topics. New York: MLA, 1993.
Kehler, Dorothea. Problems in Literary Research: a Guide to Selected Reference Works. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1997. (Or Nov. 1996. ISBN: 0810832178)
Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide. 11th ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon Longman, 2004. ISBN: 0321236467
Stevens, Bonnie Klomp, and Larry L. Stewart. A Guide to Literary Criticism and Research. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996.
Internet Links
- http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/artsma/grr.html The Open University's MA page; carefully chosen links, enough to provide a wide range of resources but not so many that the useful links get lost amongst the specialist links or the useless links.
- http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/artsma/litres.html Literature resources at the Open University
- http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/ Literary Resources on the Net: Links across periods and forms; a good range of links to conferences, libraries, and other scholarly resources.
- http://vos.ucsb.edu/ The online literary page for North America.
- http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ Electronic texts online.
- http://library.open.ac.uk/bysubject/arts/index.html Finding infor. in Arts at the Open University
Assignments
Each week there will be a written assignment as well as an oral report. The major project for the semester will be the preparation of extensive author, period, and genre bibliographies.
Attendance
Week attendance is expected. If a student is not able to come to class, the instructor should be notified by e-mail before the class. Two unexcused absences will make it difficult for the student to pass this course.
Grading
The final grade will be based on class participation (25%), oral reports (25%), written reports (25%), and final bibliographies (25%).
Elective Courses
- Selective Readings of Modern and Contemporary Literary Theories/3 credits/Dr. Kate Liu
Course Website/3 credits/Dr. Kate LiuThis course is designed for you to achieve three goals:
1) critical reading of both primary and secondary texts of modern and contemporary theories to understand the questions they ask and how they answer them,
2) engagement in some theoretical issues (such as meaning and interpretation, text and textuality, ethics and ideology, discourse, politics and power relations, etc.) as they arise from our reading of the primary texts, and
3) analyzing literary texts from different theoretical perspectives with an awareness of the limitations of each.Theory,¡¨ as Myers points out, ¡§is not a methodology or paradigm or ¡¥strategy¡¦ that one puts on, in order to dress for academic success. It is an argument. It is an implacable reflective struggle to work out a vexing tangle in literary experience. Nor can a theoretical argument be easily applied, as if it were an ointment; it must be thought through, point by point and in detail; it must be interlocked with, in a reflective struggle. [. . .] To accept a theorist¡¦s argument in toto because it is daring or stylish, or because others have hailed it as unanswerable, is to be neither a theorist nor a student of theory.¡¨ (D. G. Myers <http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/myers/teaching_theory.html >)
In other words, theories are not to be read, comprehended and then applied neatly to some literary texts. Rather, we struggle through their language and textuality to tease out their issues and the broader issues behind them. To use Stuart Hall¡¦s term, reading theories is to ¡§wrestle with the angels,¡¨ and there are actually two types of angels to deal with: the theoretical texts and our chosen literary/cultural texts. Negotiating the differences between theories and our texts in order to make a dialogue between them possible, then, is a major task in this course.
Since different maps can be drawn for this criss-crossing and endlessly extensive terrain of modern and contemporary critical theories, and different routes can be taken, I am open to your suggestions of which schools, theorists or texts to include. If one fourth of the students registered (or more than two) have similar interests, I will definitely accommodate them in our course. The other suggestions will also be put into consideration. Tentatively, I choose Structuralism, Poststructuralism, Feminism, and Topics of Trauma and Postmodern Ethics. But all of the above choices can be changed or modified if you desire so.
Requirements:
In this course, you will be responsible for:
1) active participation in class and on the internet,
2) a 30-minute report on a theoretical text with an outline ready for online publication,
3) a 30-minute report on how a certain theory can be "critiqued" by, "used" on, or articulated with another literary or theoretical text.
4) a term paper of both theoretical discussion and literary application.Textbook: Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Eds. Vincent B. Leitch, et al. NY: Norton, 2001. Also selections from some other anthologies.
Tentative choice of texts:
1. Structuralism ¡V 4 weeks
1) F. de Saussure and Levi Strauss;
2) Roman Jokobson
3) Roland Barthes
4) Summary and Practice2. Poststructuralism -- ¡V 4 weeks
1) Jacques Derrida
2) Barbara Johnson & The Purloined Poe;
3) Michel Foucault
4) Judith Butler3. Feminism -- ¡V 4 weeks
1) French Feminism: Helene Cixous and/or Irigaray
2) French Feminism: Julia Kristeva
3) American Feminism: Gilbert ad Gubar
4) Postmodern Feminism: Donna Haraway4. Trauma and Postmodern Ethics -- ¡V 4 weeks
1) Zygmunt Bauman¡Xpostmodern Ethics
2) Cathy Caruth ¡V Trauma
3) Charles Taylor -- The Ethics of Authenticity
4) Conclusion
This seminar course will focus on Shakespeare¡¦s comedies. Throughout the course of his dramatic career Shakespeare engaged in the production of ¡§comedies¡¨¡Xa term that we will need to continuously redefine. Among the earliest of his still-existent plays were comedies, and for the purposes of this class I will also include the late plays Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter¡¦s Tale, The Tempest, and The Two Noble Kinsmen¡Xsometimes referred to as ¡§romances¡¨ or tragicomedies¡¨¡Xas comedies that challenge the nature of ¡§comedy.¡¨ There are currently eighteen comedies attributed to Shakespeare, but because of time constraints we will only read ten of them. The reading list for the course, however, is not set and is negotiable, so if there are plays that interested students prefer to read, please let me know. As we study these plays, we will be forced to raise questions about renaissance understandings of genre. The complete title of The History of Troilus and Cressida, for example, implies that the play is a history (like Richard III or Henry IV), but the 1609 quarto edition of the play describes the play as being ¡§full of the palm comical.¡¨ To make the issue of genre even more confusing, the two editors of the 1623 First Folio intended to place the play among the tragedies. This play and many of the other comedies we read will resist easy classification. This seminar will explore practical and theoretical issues about genre, especially about comedy as a literary and dramatic form, kinds of comedy, their origins, and their development within the social and political contexts of Elizabethan and Jacobean history
Each student will be responsible for three in-class presentations. In one of the presentations, you will lead the discussion of a particular aspect of the play being addressed; in the second, you will briefly summarize and critique a recent critical writing about the play under discussion; in the third, you will apply a critical methodology of your choice to some aspect(s) of the play we will discuss that week. You will have the choice of writing two papers (the first due during midterm week; the second due at the end of the semester) or one long paper due at the end of the semester. You will also be expected to fully engage in class discussions. Your final grade for the semester will be based on the assigned writings, presentations, participation in class discussion, and attendance. As always, I welcome student input in our choice of texts and am willing to help students outside of class to understand better the texts we read and offer help with the paper(s) they write.
I prefer students to read from the Riverside Shakespeare (second edition), but any scholarly edition of Shakespeare¡¦s plays will be acceptable.
This course offers students a philosophical and literary understanding of a "movement" that was highly popular in post World War II Europe and the United States, and which still interests intellectuals. The major authors we will read are Gabriel Marcel (essays), Albert Camus (essays, and novels The Stranger and The Plague) and Jean Paul Sartre (drama, including No Exit) (in English translation). We will offer a limited amount of attention on 20th century drama by writers such as Samuel Beckett and others who show the influence of this interesting "school" of literature. Themes of special interest include anxiety, suffering, death, human communication, the relation between the individual and society, and authenticity.
The course will require three "journals" (4 pages each, to be described in class) and a major paper at the end of the semester. Students should come to class with prepared thoughts on the texts and a willingness to actively participate in discussion.