LITERARY CRITICSM

ENG 453
JOY D. PECONADA
0000-0002-7925-2555
joydelacruzpeconada@yahoo.com
University of the Philippines Mindanao (BA COMMUNICATION ARTS)
Brokenshire College of Soccsargen
(BSED)
University of SouthEastern Philippines (ME APPLIED LINGUISTICS)
University of Southern Mindanao KCC (INSTRUCTOR)
I NEVER STOP LEARNING
NOT TO BECOME THIS NATIONS INTELLECTUAL ELITE, BUT THIS NATIONS HOPE..
NOT TO BE LOOK UP BY MY STUDENTS, BUT TO BE A STUDENTS ROLE MODEL..
I STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE IN EVERY ENDEAVOR I HAVE
NOT BECAUSE I HAVE A REPUTATION TO KEEP, BUT BECAUSE I HAVE A COUNTRY TO
SERVE.
NOT BECAUSE I WANT TO BE ON TOP BUT BECAUSE I HAVE STUDENTS TO PRESIDE
Peconada 16
Office: EAS
Office hours: 8:00am 4:30 pm, after class, and by appointment
Phone: 09079614641
(PLEASE do not send any group message; any inquiries should be sent not beyond 10pm to
5am unless its and EMERGENCY; make sure to cite your name because I dont usually save a
students number; make sure to text your instructors with manners)
Website: www.mspeconada.weebly.com
Goal of the College:
1. To pursue academic excellence and provide quality education in engineering,
technology, and education
2. To procure and upgrade laboratory equipment and reference books and other
necessary facilities.
3. To intensity income generating projects.
4. To strengthen the research extension, instruction programs and external linkages.
5. To repair and maintain classrooms, laboratory rooms and surrounding areas.
6. To create new curricular programs to jibe with the job market and make curricular
revisions of existing programs.
7. To provide continuous in-service training for faculty and staff.
8. To improve placement and on-the-job training programs for students.
9. To implement best practices of human resource development programs.
10. To be cost efficient in the use of meager resources.
Lecture hours = 3, Lab hours = 0
Semester Credit Hours: 3
Lecture Hours per Week: 3 hours
Contact Hours per Semester: 48
Course Description:
The course focuses on critical theory as it applies to literature and culture. Review of
classical Greek origins of issues concerning the nature of literature and criticism. Study of

major twentieth-century theories and applications: historical, formalist, archetypal,

psychoanalytic, Marxist, reader-response, New Historicist, feminist, postcolonial, American
multicultural, structuralist and various post-structuralist perspectives.
Course Objectives*:
1. Students will be able to articulate the broader ways in which literary theory applies to
their own culture, global culture, and their own lives;
2. Students will demonstrate through written work and in-class comments their ability
to apply various theories to works of literature and aspects of contemporary culture;
3. Students will write a substantive paper (5+ pages) that demonstrates their ability to
compare and synthesize the theories presented;
4. Students will demonstrate their ability to articulate theoretical concepts orally by
their class participation and formal presentation of their final paper; and
5. Students will locate, cite, and intelligently incorporate several sources (including print
materials) into their final paper and shorter essays.
Course Content:
Co n t e n t s
1 Everything you wanted to know about critical theory but were
afraid to ask 1
2 Psychoanalytic criticism 11
The origins of the unconscious 12
The defenses, anxiety, and core issues 15
Dreams and dream symbols 18
The meaning of death 21
The meaning of sexuality 24
Lacanian psychoanalysis 26
Classical psychoanalysis and literature 34
Some questions psychoanalytic critics ask about literary texts 37
Whats Love Got to Do with It?: a psychoanalytic reading of The Great Gatsby 39
Questions for further practice: psychoanalytic approaches to other literary works 49
For further reading 50
For advanced readers 50
3 Marxist criticism 53
The fundamental premises of Marxism 53
The class system in America 55
The role of ideology 56
Human behavior, the commodity, and the family 61
Marxism and literature 64
Some questions Marxist critics ask about literary texts 68
You are what you own: a Marxist reading of The Great Gatsby 69
Questions for further practice: Marxist approaches to other literary works 79

4 Feminist criticism 83
Traditional gender roles 85
A summary of feminist premises 91
Getting beyond patriarchy 93
French feminism 95
Multicultural feminism 105
Gender studies and feminism 108
Feminism and literature 117
Some questions feminist critics ask about literary texts 119
. . . next theyll throw everything overboard . . .: a feminist reading of The Great Gatsby
120
Questions for further practice: feminist approaches to other literary works 130
5 New Criticism 135
The text itself 136
Literary language and organic unity 138
A New Critical reading of There Is a Girl Inside 143
New Criticism as intrinsic, objective criticism 147
The single best interpretation 148
The question New Critics asked about literary texts 150
The deathless song of longing: a New Critical reading
of The Great Gatsby 150
Questions for further practice: New Critical approaches to otherliterary works 164
6 Reader-response criticism 169
Transactional reader-response theory 173
Affective stylistics 175
Subjective reader-response theory 178
Psychological reader-response theory 182
Social reader-response theory 185
Defining readers 187
Some questions reader-response critics ask about literary texts 188
Projecting the reader: a reader-response analysis of The Great Gatsby 190
Questions for further practice: reader-response approaches
to other literary works 202
7 Structuralist criticism 209
Structural linguistics 212
Structural anthropology 215
Semiotics 216
Structuralism and literature 219
The structure of literary genres 221
The structure of narrative (narratology) 224
The structure of literary interpretation 230
Some questions structuralist critics ask about literary texts 233
Seek and ye shall find. . . and then lose: a structuralist reading
of The Great Gatsby 234
Questions for further practice: structuralist approaches to other
literary works 244

For further reading 245

For advanced readers 246
8 Deconstructive criticism 249
Deconstructing language 250
Deconstructing our world 255
Deconstructing human identity 257
Deconstructing literature 258
A deconstructive reading of Robert Frosts Mending Wall 260
Some questions deconstructive critics ask about literary texts 265
. . . the thrilling, returning trains of my youth . . .:a deconstructive reading of The Great
Gatsby 267
Questions for further practice: deconstructive approaches to other literary works 278
9 New historical and cultural criticism 281
New historicism 282
New historicism and literature 291
Cultural criticism 295
Cultural criticism and literature 297
Some questions new historical and cultural critics ask about literary texts 299
The discourse of the self-made man: a new historical reading of The Great Gatsby 301
Questions for further practice: new historical and cultural criticism of other literary works
311
10 Lesbian, gay, and queer criticism 317
The marginalization of lesbians and gay men 318
Lesbian criticism 322
Gay criticism 329
Queer criticism 334
Some shared features of lesbian, gay, and queer criticism 338
Some questions lesbian, gay, and queer critics ask about literary texts 341
Will the real Nick Carraway please come out?: a queer reading of The Great Gatsby 342
11 African American criticism 359
Racial issues and African American literary history 360
Recent developments: critical race theory 367
African American criticism and literature 385
Some questions African American critics ask about literary texts 394
But wheres Harlem?: an African American reading of
The Great Gatsby 396
12 Postcolonial criticism 417
Postcolonial identity 419
Postcolonial debates 424
Postcolonial criticism and literature 426
Some questions postcolonial critics ask about literary texts 431
The colony within: a postcolonial reading of The Great Gatsby 433

Introduction
Discussion questions:

Why study literary theory?

Basic Questions/Basic Terms

Traditional Approaches

Biographical/Historical

Genre Criticism

Basic literary terms and overview

Literary Excursion: To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell (poetry packet)
Introduction to Aristotle and Plato

Lecture on the readings listed below:

Plato, Book X, from The Republic

Print out (online) at http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.11.x.html

Aristotle, excerpt from Poetics - print parts 1-15

Print out (online) at
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.html

Send answers to discussion questions by 6:00 pm

1. Briefly, outline specifically Platos beliefs regarding poets. Why did Plato believe poets
needed to be banished?

2. Aristotle Award In one concise paragraph of no more than 260 words, explain the
most important aspects of The Poetics. First and second place awards will be determined.

Discussion on Plato and Aristotle

Literature & the Text New Criticism and Formalism - website link

Tyson, New Criticism, 117-152

Literary Excursion: I Felt a Funeral in My Brain Emily Dickenson or

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" - Robert Frost (literature packet)
Discussion question:

Re-read Tyson's interpretation of The Great Gatsby. Identify and explain the devices
of New Criticism Tyson uses as she analyzes The Great Gatsby. Send your response
by e-mail by 6:00 pm,

Literature & Psychology - Psychoanalytic Criticism - website link Freud

Tyson, Psychoanalytic Criticism, 13-45
Literary Excursion: Once Upon a Time Nadine Gordimer (literature packet)
Jacques Lacan (brief overview)

Lecture on archetypal criticism

Archetypal Criticism - website link

Literary Excursion: The Distance of the Moon Cosmicomics

Send response to discussion question by 6:00 pm

o Identify and discuss some of the many archetypes evident in Calvino's "The Distance
of the Moon"

Literature & Audience - Reader-Response Criticism- website link

Tyson, Reader-Response Criticism 153-191
Literary Excursion: "The Story of an Hour" - Kate Chopin
5 Stories of an Hour (video)
Using the brief handout on Reception Theory handed out in class, consider one text
(a poem, story, film, drama, etc.) that you read a long time ago and then re-read. Using
the concept Hans Robert Jauss refers to as "horizons of expectation" (which is generally
used in reference to different historical periods rather than to stages in the life of an individual
reader), as well as its reformulation by Wolfgang Iser, write a short report on how and why
you originally interpreted the text, and how--at a later date--your interpretation changed.
How did your changed "horizons of expectation" affect your interpretation?
Send your response by e-mail by 6:00 pm,
Literature & Socioeconomics Marxism- website link
Tyson, Marxist Criticism, 49-78
Film Excursion: Excerpt from The Women - 1939 film directed by George Cukor
Topic building for essay due
Literature & Culture - New Historicism
The Structures of Punishment Michel Foucault
(handout)

Discussion question: What panoptic structures can you identify in today's society? Send your
response by e-mail by 6:00 pm,

Continued discussion on Michel Foucault

Literature & Culture - Feminism - website link
Tyson, Feminist Criticism, 81-113
Brief discussion of "Little Red Riding Hood"
Literary Excursion: Without Colors - Cosmicomics
Literature & Culture Feminism
Read the material below:

"Sorties: Out and Out: Attacks/Ways Out/Forays" - Helene Cixous

"The Company of Wolves" - Angela Carter

Discussion questions: 1) We discussed the traditional version of the fairytale "Little Red Riding
Hood" in class; identify the ways in which Carter's version "re-writes" gender roles, 2) Cixous
begins her essay by citing a number of binaries - what is her point?, and 3) In the section
where Cixous quotes Joyce ("Bridebed, childbed, bed of death") what is the traditional
trajectory (life) she sees for women vs. men?
Send your responses by e-mail by 6:00 pm,
Lecture on the readings listed below; discussion questions TBA.
Literature & Culture Postcolonialism
"Orientalizing the Oriental" - Edward Said
Continued Discussion on Postcolonialism
Literature & Culture - American Multiculturalism
Tyson, 380-400 & 417
Literary Excursion: The Dinosaurs Cosmicomics
Movie clip: White Man's Burden, 1995.

Lecture on the readings listed below; discussion questions TBA.

Toni Morrison, Black Matters
Lecture on the readings listed below; discussion questions TBA.
Literature, Language & Structures of Meaning - Structuralism and Semiotics
"The World of Wrestling" - Roland Barthes

Structuralism (cont.)
Literature, Language & Its Structures of Meaning Modernism & Postmodernism - website link

"Postmodernism" (handout) - small group discussions

Literature, Language & Its Structures of Meaning Post-Structuralism & Deconstruction
- website link
Tyson, 241-274
Excerpt from film: Derrida - produced in 2002

Lecture on the readings listed below; discussion questions TBA

Jacques Derrida, Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences

Literature, Language & Its Structures of Meaning Poststructuralism & Deconstruction

Derrida (cont.)
Readings TBA
Literary Excursion: A Sign in Space Cosmicomics

Lecture on the readings listed below; discussion questions TBA.

Extensions of postmodernism Visual Culture (short readings by Jean Baudrillard and Guy
Debord)

Discussion of Visual Culture theorists

Rebuttals of Poststructuralism Neo-Pragmatism in brief
Project Day in-class work on papers (projects) and mini-conferences

No submission of late assigned task shall be accepted.

Assessment:
The following items will be assigned during the semester and used to calculate the students
final grade:
DAILY GRADES

Some assignments will require completion of selected exercises at the ends of chapters or
units or of attachments included with the assignment page. Most assignments will also
include a chapter quiz.
Caution: Passing off anothers work as your own or allowing anyone to pass off
your own work as his or her own is not tolerated. Stiff penalties apply, including
exclusion from the class with a grade of "F" assigned for the semester! Be sure all
work you submit is YOUR OWN!

Group Reporting
Paper Requirements