Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism
Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Missouri Western State College English 220-01: Introduction to Reading Texts
Fall, 2000 Dr. Mike Cadden
Class time: 2:00-3:20 pm, T, Th
Class place: 303 Murphy Hall
Office: 309-J Murphy Hall
Hours: W 10:00 am-noon ; T & Th. 12:30-2:00 pm; and by appointment.
Phone: 271-4576 e-mail: cadden@missouriwestern.edu
URL: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/faculty/cadden.asp Course Description: The process of reading literary texts involves skills and raises particular issues specific to the reading process. Even if we aren't aware of "how" we are reading, we nonetheless end up with a "what"--or a response--at the end of the experience, whether that "effect" is boredom, inspiration, thought, or confusion. It is my goal that through this introduction to both literature in general (and the major of English in specific) that you will be more conscious of the approaches we take when reading. We will, in Robert Scholes' words, learn how to "read closely and carefully, how to situate a text in relation to other texts (intertextuality), [and] how to situate a text in relation to culture, society, [and] the world (extratextuality)" (The Rise and Fall of English 166).
As a rule, English 220 is a course which gives students an introduction to ways to read and write about different genres of literature. We'll be doing that, but in ways particluar to this section.
This class introduces students to literary textuality. In the course of our reading and talking and writing, we will consider various issues related to literary texts:
o What is the vocabulary of literature? What can we say about such elements as plot, character, narrative, setting, dialogue, voice, point of view, and other issues as they change from text to text , version to version, and genre to genre? Who cares?
o How do sequels or imitations rely on original texts? Do they? How? Do sequels or imitations ever take over? What might be the difference between a sequel and an imitation? Is there a fine line between flattery (homage) and a rip-off? Is there a way to "cite" the original in a new version? Who Cares?
o Why are so happy with our own cleverness when we figure out an allusion made to A Streetcar Named Desire on "The Simpsons"? When is it important to get the allusion? When isn't it? Who cares?
o In what ways to stories change when we change the genre or medium? What happens to a folktale when it gets turned into a novel or a film or a t-shirt? How do we regard the same information when we switch from prose to poetry to drama? Who cares?
o How does history matter in the issue of versions? Is there a literary statute of limitations that makes it okay to retell a tale as one's own after X years? How do we read a text that is several hundred years old differently than we read one written yesterday? Do we? Who cares?
o Who cares?
Well, admittedly, I do. I think that how we tell stories and share songs and package experiences all has a lot to do with how we are trained to see the world, either formally or accidentally. We see this in the act of interpretation, after all--and not just in terms of "literary interpretation," but in how we "read" all sorts of texts around us all our lives.
I hope that by the end of the term that you will have not only some more exposure to texts classical, "classic," and contemporary, but that (more important, I think) you will leave with a repertoire of skills for making sense of texts (literary and otherwise) that you encounter in courses and years and lives ahead. Prerequisite for ENG 220: ENG 108 or 112. Required Books:
Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. Seventh ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.
McKinley, Robin. Beauty.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet.
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Reserve Material (designated on the calendar) can be found in the library under my name or the course name. Evaluation:
Participation: 10%
Concept Presentation: 10%
Final Exam: 20%
Four Short Papers on Critical Approaches (2 pp.): 60% Attendance: Be here. If you miss a week of class, you begin to drop in your final grade. Tuition guarantees you admission, not success. Your presence is expected, not rewarded. Late and Missing Work: I reserve the right to refuse any late work. "Late" will refer to any work that is turned in after I have collected it in class or by the time I designate in cases where work is to be turned in to my departmental mailbox. Policy on Students with Disabilities: Any student in this course who has a disability which requires different contexts for either evaluation or expression should contact me in the first few days of the course so that those contexts can be considered.
Calendar (Subject to Constant, Inexplicable, and Disorienting Change): Aug. 22 T- Introduction to the course.
24 H- Critical Approaches to Texts--introduction and examples. 29 T- Critical Approaches continued.
31 H- Critical Approaches case study: Peter Rabbit Sept. 5 T- Intertextuality terms and examples.
7 T- Intertextuality continued. 12 T- The story of Icarus (Reserve).
14 H- Icarus Poems (Reserve); Essay #1 Due. 19 T- Icarus Poems (Reserve).
21 H- Icarus On-line. 26 T- "Beauty and the Beast," "Cupid and Psyche," and "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (Reserve).
28 H- Beauty stories Continued. Oct. 3 T- Beauty.
5 H- Beauty; Essay #2 Due. 10 T- Beauty
12 H- Disney's Beauty and the Beast. 17 T- Hamlet; Midterm Grades Due.
19 H- Hamlet. 24 T- Hamlet.
26 H- Hamlet; Last Week to Drop. 31 T- Hamlet.
Nov. 2 H-Conference visit (no class); Essay #3 Due. 7 T- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
9 H- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. 14 T- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
16 H- Other "Hamlets." 21 T- Other other "Hamlets"; Essay #4 Due. Thanksgiving Holiday 28 T- Disney's The Lion King.
30 H- Evaluations; All Revisions Due. Final Exam: Tuesday, December 5, 2:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
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