English 441: Major Critics

Prof. Jim Garrett

Office: E & T A608
Office Hours: Monday 5:00pm-6:00pm, Tuesday 11:30am-1:20pm, and by appointment
Phone: (323) 343-4163
Email: jgarret@calstatela.edu
Course web site: http://www.calstatela.edu/jgarret/441
Description: English 441 provides a general introduction to the theories and methods of literary criticism
through an overview of major historical figures and significant contemporary trends.
Objectives: The main objective of the course is to provide each student with a basic understanding of the
major figures in literary critical theory from Plato to the present. In addition, we will work on becoming
better readers, writers and thinkers through frequent discussions, examinations and writing tasks.
Ultimately our goal is to work on improving our ability to think critically about texts (in whatever form we
encounter them) and to communicate clearly our ideas. Each of us must consider the acts of reading and
writing as ways of making the world, of making it cohere or come apart, of inscribing it with purpose and
meaning.
Course Requirements: While the amount of reading in this class is not particularly great, much of it is
difficult and will require not merely reading but re-reading. You will need to be diligent about planning
ahead and completing your tasks on time. Listed below are the required assignments for this course:
1. Attendance and participation (discussion, pop quizzes, in-class writing, presentations). (25 points
—10%)
2. Two short quizzes (12.5 points each—10% of total)
3. Two short papers (4-5 pages or 1500+ words) (50 points each—40% of total)
4. A midterm (short answers, short answer identification questions, and one essay question) (50 points
—20% of total)
5. A final exam (short answers, short answer identification questions, and one essay question). (50
points—20% of total)
In order to pass this course all assignments (responses, papers, exams) must be legitimately
attempted. Plagiarism (see description below) does NOT constitute a legitimate attempt of the
assignment.
Policies: Grading Policy: The distribution of points for the individual assignments in this course is listed in
“Requirements” above. For the quarter, 250 points are possible. Course grades are based on standard
percentages (i.e. 90% and greater is some version of an A, 80%-89% is some version of a B and so on).
Plus and minus grades are used in the class.
Electronic Devices: Please turn off all computers, cell phones, pagers, portable radios, televisions,
computers, MP3/CD/Disc/Mini-disc players, and any other electronic communication and/or entertainment
devices before coming to class.
Contacting the Instructor: Email is the most effective way of communicating with me outside of class and
my office hours. However, be reasonable. If you email me at 2:00 AM, the morning before a paper is due,
don’t expect a response.
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. I will take attendance at the start of every class. If you are not
present I will mark you absent. Arriving late will count as half of an absence. You are allowed one absence
without penalty. Each absence beyond the first one will reduce your course grade. If you miss more than
four classes you will be disqualified from taking the final and therefore will fail the class.
Please read the assigned texts before class. Often I will offer some guidelines about future reading
assignments in class. For example, I might tell you to focus on a particular text for the next class meeting.
If you are absent, you are responsible for getting the assignment from a classmate.

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Written Assignments: Please note the following carefully when preparing your written assignments for this
class:
• Written assignments must be typed following standard formatting practices for college writing—
use a readable type style (12 point type), indent paragraphs, double space between lines, and use
one inch margins. Any style guide will contain information on formatting your written assignments
for submission.
• Before handing in written assignments, edit and proofread your work carefully.
• Do not use plastic covers or report folders or title pages on your written assignments. Each
assignment, though, should have your name, the course number, the date, and my name on separate
lines (double-spaced) in the upper left corner of the first page. If the paper has a title, center it on
the first page, after the above information.
• Use page numbers and place them in the upper right corner of the page. If you are uncertain how to
have word processing software generate the correct page number in the header of your document,
ask someone in one of the labs.
• MLA format and style conventions should be followed for all written assignments (essays and
responses). For more information on MLA format and style conventions, see The MLA Handbook
for Writers of Research Papers, the appropriate section of a recent (published after 2000) writer’s
handbook, or one of the many reputable online sources.
• Late papers are not accepted. The assignment due dates are distributed on the first day of class,
and the assignments are made available often weeks before they are due.
Academic Dishonesty/Cheating: Collaborating with others is encouraged when you are planning your
papers, reviewing each other’s work, preparing for presentations or for exams. Study or reading groups can
be effective ways to study and learn. However, when you write your papers, the text needs to be your own.
• You must carefully observe the standard rules for acknowledging the sources of words and ideas. If
you make use of a phrase or a quote or if you paraphrase another writer’s words or ideas, you
must acknowledge the source of these words or ideas telling us the source of these materials. APA
and MLA style differ on the exact format of this attribution, but the simple version is the name of
the author and the page number (if appropriate) in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing
the use of the source material.
• Please note that failure to cite correctly is indistinguishable from plagiarism. If you are caught
plagiarizing, your course grade will be an F and you be reported to the Student Disciplinary
Officer for administrative sanction.
Textbooks: The following texts are required for this class:
Richter, David. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Third Edition.
New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2007.
Schedule
Reading—Page numbers refer to The Critical Tradition Assignment
T 1/6 Course Introduction
Th 1/8 Richter 1-8; Plato 25-46
T 1/13 Aristotle 55-81 (focus on parts 1-18, 23-26)
Th 1/15 Horace 82-94; Longinus 95-108
T 1/20 Augustine (handout); Dante 120-123; Christine de Pisan 124-131 First Quiz
Th 1/22 Sidney 132-159

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 Reading—Page numbers refer to The Critical Tradition Assignment
T 1/27 Johnson 210-230
Th 1/29 Hume 231-244
T 2/3 Kant 247-274
Th 2/5 Wordsworth 304-318
T 2/10 Coleridge 319-329; Keats 330-333
Th 2/12 MIDTERM First Paper Due
T 2/17 Nietzsche 435-452, 459-461
Th 2/19 Arnold 412-434; Eliot 534-541
T 2/24 Formalist 749-760; Schlovsky 774-784
Th 2/26 Structuralist 819-837; Barthes 874-877; Foucault 904-914
T 3/3 Marxist 1198-1214; Marx 397-409; Althusser 1264-1272 Second Quiz
Th 3/5 Psychoanalytic Theory 1106-1119; Freud 497-514
T 3/10 Feminist 1502-1516; Woolf 596-610; Baym 1519-1530
Th 3/12 New Historicist 1320-1339; Foucault 1357-1366 Second Paper Due
T 3/17 FINAL
1:30 PM-4:00 PM

Some Questions of Aesthetics

While technically we will not be considering aesthetic theory until later in the quarter, we might make use
of some of its assumptions as we read earlier theorists. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals
with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the fine arts. Although we might argue with the premise that
the purpose of art and specifically literature is the creation or expression of beauty, such a premise
underlies most writers on the subject well into the twentieth century and persists in many contemporary
critical formulations.
Someone interested in aesthetics would ask the following questions about each of the readings in this
course:
1. According to this theory, why do human beings make art and why are they audiences for art?
2. According to this theory, what is the difference between art and other things?
3. According to this theory, what is the difference between aesthetic experience and other kinds of
experience?
4. According to this theory, what does the artist contribute to make a thing art?
5. According to this theory, (how) is art related to the moral, social, political, economic and cultural
context in which it is created?

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