http://www2.bc.edu/~wilsonc/narinterp.html
Office Hours:
Monday and Friday 12-12:45
Wednesday 2-3
and by appointment
If you'd like to
see my home page, click here.
This section of Narrative and Interpretation is divided into three main parts. The first two-thirds of the course deals with (a) principles of close reading and formalist analysis of narrative; and (b) certain issues raised in literary criticism having to do with context, or matters external to the text: an author's biography, his or her intention, the literary traditions or genres applied, and the issue surrounding a text's faithfulness to the world it depicts. We will also introduce the particular business of reading "modernist" texts. In these phases, the course will also offer brief exposure to four currents in contemporary literary theory (psychoanalytic, feminist, genre theory, and new-historicist) for students interested in these developments.
The last third of the course applies some of the techniques of analysis from semiotics, structuralism, and visual studies to "non-literary" texts in popular culture and film. (This means it will help to have access to a VCR or DVD player.) Here our goal will also be to introduce what is commonly called cultural studies interpretation, a large and varied field we will approach through readings of visual artifacts.
Although every section of Narrative and Interpretation emphasizes close reading, and asks you to think critically about the business of interpretation, each section also takes a slightly different approach. Other sections, for instance, commonly focus more directly on formal narrative poetics, others on recent theories of transnationalism or Lacanian psychoanalysis. By and large, the latter half of this section will emphasize "cultural" and historical interpretation--that is, the relationships between forms of literature and their context in everyday life, in popular representation (advertising, television, film) and in relation to structures of power and belief in their society. This section may, therefore, be of special interest to students minoring in interdisciplinary programs emphasizing cultural approaches (e.g. American Studies).
Jan.
Wed. 14. Opening Day: Introduction [Fitzgerald Assignment handed out. If you don't hold onto it, it's also on our Blackboard site, as is the short story "Babylon Revisited"]
Fri. 16 Discussion: "Babylon Revisited" (CR) (1)
Additional Assignment for this day: Read
the Gerald Graff essay, "Hidden Meaning," and the satire by Henry
Louis Gates, "Canon Confidential," both in the Course Readings
(CR) file on our Blackboard site. The Graff essay is also on reserve
in Graff's book, Beyond the Culture Wars (R). And the
Blackboard entry by Abrams, on "Interpretation and Hermeneutics," will give
you a good sense of the course's focus, as a whole. It's in the "Backgrounds
and Definitions" folder.
From the glossary provided by this link (click here), make sure you know the meaning of: allusion, ambiguity, canon, character, convention, denouement/resolution, exposition, figures of speech first-and third person (under narrator), flashback, foil, Foreshadowing, image, irony, metaphor, narrator, plot, point of view, protagonist, resolution, setting, stream of consciousness, symbol, theme, tone. If you want more help with these terms, consult the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms by clicking here. Knowledge of these terms will also be crucial for the close reading quiz and your first paper.) Terms underlined are of special importance. Please also read, in the "Backgrounds and Definitions" folder on Blackboard, the entry on the New Criticism. If you feel you need more support on this subject, you can also read the Blackboard folder on the "New Criticism" per se.
Fri. 23 Discussion: "Babylon Revisited" (2) It's also a good idea to start reading Dickens, Hard Times
In preparation for this class, take about an hour and a half and sktech out a "close reading analysis" of the Fitzgerald story provided in class by filling out the handout provided. This non-graded exercise will be due on this class day. Handwritten submissions are fine in this case.
Mon. 26 Discussion: Anderson, "Hands" (CR) (Please also read second story, "Paper Pills," attached to that story).
Wed. 28 Discussion: Wharton, "Roman Fever" (CR)
Fri. 30 Discussion: Dickens, Hard Times
By this date, all class members should also complete (successfully,
meaning a score of 90) the "Ticky Tacky" Assessment Quiz on Our course
Blackboard site. (I know it's annoying. Imagine how I feel.)
February
Mon. 2 Discussion: Dickens, Hard Times (2)
Wed. 4 Discussion: Dickens, Hard Times (3)
Fri. 6 HOURLY EXAM ON FORMALIST READING
PAPER also DUE on Monday, Feb. 9 (4-5
pp.) A "close" formalist reading of a scene from Hard Times.
Scenes TBA in class. Before you write your first paper,
be sure to consult the Web links at the end of this syllabus
in regard to my "pet peeves" and expectations about your writing.
Monday: Feb. 9 Lecture: Critical Approaches (Mandatory Attendance)
Reading Assignment: Bohanan essay(CR)
Fri. 13 Discussion: Dickens and His Audience
Assignment: read the selections on reserve from George H. Ford,Dickens and His Readers, pp. 20-34, 75-82 (CR) and in the Norton Hard Times, read the sections called "Dickens's Comments on the Composition of Hard Times, "Dickens' Working Plans," and "The Running Headlines." In the Textual Notes, focus on the long textual note referring to the end of Chapter 13.
Mon. 16 Discussion: The Uses of Context (1) Assignment: read the Raymond Williams handout and the Holloway essay in the Norton Hard Times. In addition, look up the word "Fancy" in the O.E.D. You can get there by clicking here
Wed. 18 IN-CLASS DEBATE: The Uses of Context (2) Assignment: Read in the Norton edition the sections entitled "Dickens's Comments on the Composition of Hard Times," and the one called "Industrialism," focusing particularly on Dickens's own account of the strike in Preston.
Fri. 20 Workshop: Paper Writing and Close Reading
[Over this week, your assignment is to read the biographical background to Gilman's life in the introduction of the Erskine Yellow Wallpaper collection (R) Please also read the CR essay that provides an "Overview" of Feminist Interpretation.
Wed. 27 Discussion: "The Yellow
Wallpaper" For this class, I'd like you to make a list of
3 things you think are either "unsaid" or virtually inexplicable
in this story. You'll also notice that I'm asking you to sign
up for panels on "The Yellow Wallpaper":
Fri. 29 NO CLASS
SPRING VACATION
March
Mon. 9 Workshop: Reading a Critical Essay: Elaine Showalter, "Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness" (CR). And please read the definitional/overview essay on "Feminist Criticism" on Blackboard.
Wed. 11 Group Presentation/Discussion: Gilman's essay on "The 'Nervous Breakdown' of Woman" and the essays by S. Weir Mitchell and Juliann Fleenor. If you want, look up "discourse" in the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, by clicking here. How is Mitchell's vocabulary a "discourse," and what are its rules?
Fri. 13 Group Presentation/Discussion: Haney-Peritz essay on YW (R and CR)
Mon. 16 Group Presentation/Discussion: Kolodny and Shumaker essays in YW volume (R and CR).
Wed. 18 Group Presentation/Discussion:
Smith-Rosenberg essay in YW (CR) and Dimock Essay on "Yellow Wallpaper"
(CR) Also recommended: the definitional essays on Blackboard
about "new historicism" and "reader-response" criticism
Mon. 23 Discussion: Spitzer & Lohoff essays (CR) Please also start reading Berger's Ways of Seeing
Wed. 25 Discussion: Berger, Ways of Seeing
Fri. 27 Judith Williamson, Decoding Advertisements (selections TBA)
PAPER DUE on Friday, March 27 Topics TBA, including "special" assignments applying a critical model to either the Hansen, Chessman, or Waldie book.
Mon. 30, Wed. April 1 Show and Tell:
Advertising Readings.
These "in-class demonstrations" will be given in groups of 3 or 4 students, interpreting an advertisement for the rest of the class. In addition,during this week you should view 2 films on your own, or on reserve: "Adaptation" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman."
Fri. 3 Lecture/ Discussion: Barthes, Mythologies Lead Essay: "Blue Guide" Please also read the definitional essays on Blackboard about "Semiotics" and "Ecriture"
Mon. 6 Discussion, Barthes, Mythologies Lead Essay: "New Citroen"
Wed. 8 Discussion: Barthes, Mythologies
Lead Essay: "Soap Powders and Detergents"
EASTER VACATION
Assignment: For models for writing about popular culture, please read one or two of the Arlen essays, "Baretta's T-Shirt," "Smooth Pebbles at Southfork," and/or "Hosts and Guests." I will also suggest essays by Eisenstein and Bluestone, in Gerald Mast, ed. Film Theory and Criticism (TBA) suitable for potential "shuttling" if you choose to focus your final paper on film
Wed. 15 Film Discussion: "Adaptation"
Fri. 17 "Adaptation" (2)
Mon. 20 NO CLASS Patriot's
Day
Wed. 22 Open Day for Adjustments in the Schedule
Fri. 24 Discussion: "Kiss of the Spider Woman"
Mon. 27 Discussion: "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (2)
Wed. 29 LAST CLASS DAY
PAPER DUE on last class day, analyzing a collection of cultural texts (ads, artifacts, films)--topics must be approved in advance.
Course Policies:
1. Class attendance is a requirement of this course;
on certain days, for this section of Narrative and Interpretation,
it is mandatory. Otherwise, you are allowed three cuts
this semester (hereby defined as an "unexcused absence") without
penalty. But absence beyond this three-cut maximum can lower your
overall course grade--and, in some cases, be grounds for failing
the course altogether. If there is a good reason why you have had
to miss a class, please don't hesitate to tell me. Medical excuses
should be accompanied by a doctor's note. After the first week, we'll
probably be using an attendance sheet sign-in to save time. No one
should miss his or her panel presentation.
2. Class participation will normally account for
about 25% of your grade. Generally, I try to use your class
participation (including your work on panels or in-class presentations)
as a measure of how well you have read and understood the assignments.
My main goal is to encourage strong class participation--and to teach
each of you how to present yourself successfully in oral presentations--but
not to penalize unduly those who are temperamentally quiet or feel
uncomfortable speaking. If your participation reflects strong reading
skills, consideration for others' viewpoints, and frequent contributions
to the flow of discussion, the "average" based solely on your writing
efforts can be boosted considerably. Conversely, infrequent or
poor class participation can make your overall grade more dependent
on your writing performances.
3. When you submit a paper, it should be neatly typed or word- processed and double-spaced, and--if you can--on both sides of the paper so that we can save a few trees. In addition, you are required to keep either a xerox or carbon copy. That way, if your paper is lost, you can simply re-submit your copy. Because of virus and formatting issues between different email servers, I cannot accept final papers via email except in the most dire of emergencies (e.g. a family obligation or illness).
4. Hard Copy versions of your papers are due on the assigned dates. On penalties, my rule is that I allow 24 hours leeway without penalty; after that, you will be penalized about 1/3 grade for every part of 24 hours the paper is late. The idea of this "leeway" period is that you should never miss a class in order to type a paper; come to class, and turn the paper in later. And since the leeway period is there, all other excuses (e.g. "the computer center was closed," "my roomate didn't turn in my paper," etc.) are irrelevant. If you turn in any paper late, please also attach a note identifying the exact time you turned it in (e.g. under my office door).
5. In a class like this, it isn't uncommon for students to feel, alternately, "over their head," unprepared--or, conversely, bored or unchallenged. Different students, in particular, have different ambitions regarding criticism, "theory," or their writing. The first remedy for any of these situations is to come to my office for a conference, and to come early in the semester. There are easy ways to invididualize class assignments, formats, and discussions to better suit your needs. If my office hours don't fit your schedule, just talk to me in class about setting up another time. Please note: my "voice mailbox" on my phone extension (617- 552-3719) really operates more like a mailbox than a "phone machine"--that is, I will try to respond to calls when I come into my office hours. But email conversations are very much encouraged, particularly as "follow ups" to class discussions.
6. Boston College values the academic integrity of
its faculty and its students. It should go without saying, simply
as a matter of fairness to everyone who participates in this class, that
I take such matters quite seriously. All students are required to familiarize
themselves with the university guidelines on integrity at the start
of the course. And if you have any questions, please don't hesitate
to ask me for clarification, even if you are right in the middle of
an assignment. Violations of academic integrity
are adjudicated according to the guidelines and the academic integrity
committee of your school. If you are found in violation, penalties
may include a failing grade as well as possible suspension, probation,
or expulsion, depending on the seriousness and circumstances of the
violation. To see those guidelines,
click
here.
7. This course emphasizes improving your writing. To that end, I use a "correction guide" adapted from the handbook by Diana Hacker, entitled A Pocket Style Manual. I will hand out a sheet explaining these symbols if you can't easily access the WWW links above. If you're confused by some of the symbols I use in the margins to correct your papers, you can also consult Hacker (which can also be bought in the Bookstore). It goes without saying I would also be happy to discuss your writing with you in conference.