ENGL 200: Introduction to Critical Reading
- Instructor: Andrew Pilsch
- Office Hours: M 12:20-1:10 & by appointment
- Office Location: Burrowes 227F
Course Description
Class Thesis: “I believe that theory is to be grasped as the perpetual and impossible attempt to dereify the language of thought, and to preempt all the systems and ideologies which inevitably result from the establishment of this or that fixed terminology.” – Fredric Jameson, Valences of the Dialectic
This class will introduce the concept of literary theory to students. English departments have been using literary theory as their major critical toolbox for the last half century. It is a discourse that questions assumptions about the reading, writing, ideology, and cultural role of literary texts. In exploring this discourse, we will approach literary theory as a genre of writing (not unlike science fiction or the Western) with its own set of audience assumptions, reading protocols, stylistic quirks, and shared tropes. While the class will familiarize you with the processes of reading theory and how such processes impact your reading of literature, the main goal is to explore the lessons theory can teach us as professional language manipulators.
Grade Breakdown
- Weekly Writing – 25%
- Papers (3) – 60%
- Attendance & Participation – 15%
Grading Scale
Grades will be averaged using the above formula w/ letter grades mapping to the following percentages:
- A – >=95%
- A- – <95% && >=90%
- B+ – <90% && >=88%
- B – <88% && >=83%
- B- – <83% && >=80%
- C+ – <80% && >=73%
- C – <73% && >=70%
- D – <70% && >=60%
- F – <60%
Weekly Writing
You will keep a weekly log of your thoughts regarding the reading material, as a means of practicing the mindset that literary theory demands. Each weekly log entry will be between 200-400 words & represent your thoughts on a reading from the last week or so (I'm not entirely concerned with what you talk about, so much that you are thinking and talking about the material). These log entries could take a number of forms:
- What cultural objects does this reading seem applicable to & why?
- What did you find cool/interesting about the reading & why?
- How does a given reading apply to something you're reading in another class or for fun?
- What confused you about the reading?
These weekly log entries will take the form of a “web log” (or blog). There are several ways to write these entries:
- If you already have a blog of your own, you could post these log entries there.
- You can set up a blog using Penn State’s blog service. (Be sure to read the getting started guide)
- You could add me as a friend on Facebook, use the Notes feature to write your log entries & tag me in the notes when you create them.
In any case, you need to email me about what you are going to do (& include the URL for your blog). This is your responsibility to get this log going. If you need help, we can meet during office hours.
These log entries will be graded on completion and on the degree to which the log entry indicates an attempt to engage with the material (for instance, if you wrote 13 entries about not understanding the material, your grade would be negatively impacted).
A log entry will be due by 5PM on Friday each week in which a log entry is required. You cannot make up missed entries (except in the case of excused absences).
Log entries must start the second week of class and run until the next to last week (13 total entries). No entry over Thanksgiving.
Attendance Policy
Attendance and participation are an integral part of your success in this class (15% of final grade). Your contributions to class will factor into this grade, as will your presence on each class period. You may miss two classes (without an excuse) before your grade will start to deteriorate.
According to University’s policy, students may be excused for the following reasons:
- Illness or injury when the student is unable to attend class
- Family emergency
- Religious observance where the nature of the observance prevents the student from attending class
- Participation in university activities (such as sports) at the request of university
In all cases, students are required to submit documentation for an excused absence. If sick, a doctor’s note is required within two class periods for the absence to be excused. Family emergencies and religious functions require an email at least two class periods before the event (when possible; obviously emergencies are emergencies). University sponsored activities require official University documentation.
It is impossible to make up any missed evaluation, including (but not limited to) assignments, homework, activities, exams, quizzes, etc. However, in the event of an excused absence, a make-up can be scheduled. Email contact with me is necessary to set up a make-up.
In any case, always email (do not just speak to me after class) in the event of an excused absence or make-up assignment.
Plagiarism
The departmental policy on plagiarism is available at http://www.la.psu.edu/undergrad/integrity/studentpolicy/collegepolicy.htm. If you have any questions about plagiarism and its consequences, please ask. Plagiarism demonstrates contempt for ethical standards, your instructor, and your peers. If you are caught plagiarizing, you risk failing the course. You may also be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs, and this may result in probation, suspension, or expulsion for academic dishonesty.
Disability Notice
If you have registered with the Office of Disability Services, you will need to give me the documentation the Office will provide as soon as possible so we can work out arrangements to accommodate your needs. If you have not registered but still would like extra consideration for your learning difficulty, come talk to me.
Books to Buy
- Mythologies by Roland Barthes (ISBN 0374521506)
- The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore (ISBN 1584230703)
- The Ecstasies of Communication by Jean Baudrillard (ISBN 0936756365)
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (ISBN: 0553380958)
Schedule
- Online readings need to be printed out and brought to class.
- Readings that are not hyperlinks are available in Online Reserves
- Access Online Reserves by clicking on the “Resources” tab in ANGEL and clicking “Library Reserves”
- On dates that have assignments due, those assignments are due before the start of class (9:04 AM) on that date.
Week 1 – It Begins
- M 8/23 Course Overview
- W 8/25 Terry Eagleton, “The Rise of English”
- F 8/27 Jonathan Culler, “What Is Theory?” Log Information Due
Week 2 – Departures
- M 8/30 W.K. Wimsatt, Jr. & Monroe C. Beardsley, “The Intentional Fallacy”
- W 9/1 Viktor Shklovsky, “Art as Technique”
- F 9/3 Friedrich Nietzsche, “On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense”
Week 3 – The Sign Has Landed
- M 9/6 Memorial Day – No Class
- W 9/8 Ferdinand de Saussure, “The Sign”
- F 9/10 Toni Cade Bambara, “Gorilla, My Love”
Week 4 – Myths of the Modern
- M 9/13 Roland Barthes, Mythologies
- W 9/15 Roland Barthes, Mythologies
- F 9/17 Allen Ginsberg, “America”
Week 5 – The Economies of the Sign
- M 9/20 Siegfried Kracauer, “The Hotel Lobby”
- W 9/22 Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
- F 9/24 Discussion of Grand Hotel (screened outside of class; also on reserve in the library’s media room for personal viewing)
Week 6 – Spaces of Theory
- M 9/27 Michel Foucault, “Of Other Spaces” Paper 1 Due
- W 9/29 J.B. Harley, “Maps, Knowledge, Power”
- F 9/31 Jorge Luis Borges, “Of Exactitude in Science”
Week 7 – Covering the Globe With Signs
- M 10/4 Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage
- W 10/6 Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage
- F 10/8 John Cheever, “The Enormous Radio”
Week 8 – Postmodernism, or, It’s the End of the World As We Know It and I Feel Fine
- M 10/11 Jean-François Lyotard, from The Postmodern Condition (also)
- W 10/13 Fredric Jameson, “The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism”
- F 10/15 William Gibson, “The Winter Market”
Week 9 – Jean Baudrillard Did Not Exist
- M 10/18 Jean Baudrillard, The Ecstasies of Communication
- W 10/20 Jean Baudrillard, The Ecstasies of Communication
- F 10/22 Timothy Leary, “The Cyber-punk: The Individual As Reality Pilot”
Week 10 – The Breakdown of Language
- M 10/25 Bruno Latour, “On Technical Mediation”
- W 10/27 William S. Burroughs, “The Electronic Revolution”
- F 10/29 John Varley, “The Persistence of Vision”
Week 11 – New Forms of Power
- M 11/1 Gilles Deleuze, “Postscripts on Societies of Control” Paper 2 Due
- W 11/3 Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”
- F 11/5 Discussion of Equilibrium (screened outside of class)
Week 12 – Women In Theory
- M 11/8 Donna Haraway, “Teddy Bear Patriarchy”
- W 11/10 Judith R. Walkowitz, “Jack the Ripper and the Myth of Male Violence”
- F 11/12 Vernon Lee, “Dionea”
Week 13 – Beyond Postmodernism
- M 11/15 David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction”
- W 11/17 Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
- F 11/19 Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
Week 14
- Thanksgiving
Week 15 – Mall Mythologies
- M 11/29 Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
- W 12/1 Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
- F 12/3 Richard Rorty, “American National Pride: Whitman and Dewey”
Week 16 – Arrivals
- M 12/6 Outside Consultations (schedule a meeting)
- W 12/8 Outside Consultations
- F 12/10 Paper 3 Due