ENGL 608
Introduction to Critical and Research Methods
Fall 2017 M 7-9:30 pm
Professor Betsy
Klimasmith Classroom:
Wheatley 6/047
Office Hours: M 4-6
and by appointment Email:
betsy.klimasmith@umb.edu
Office: Wheatley
6/089 Office
Phone: 617.287.6760
Class Blog: https://english608fall2017.blogspot.com/
COURSE DESCRIPTION
English 608 is
designed to orient beginning graduate students to the characteristic concerns
and practices of academic literary studies. We will explore the contours and
boundaries of contemporary literary scholarship and examine the histories that
have formed it. Working with literary criticism—and a number of local literary
critics—we will investigate scholars’ intellectual paths while forging our own
through several shared literary texts. Along the way we will also consider some
of the current debates and conflicts over the proper objects, goals, and stakes
of English scholarship and English departments, and the prospects for literary
scholarship in the coming decades. The course aims to prepare students to
participate in the theories and practices of the field. More broadly, it aims
to both cultivate and critically reflect upon the practices, modes of
attention, and habits of mind that characterize contemporary work in
English. And most immediately, English
608 offers students an opportunity to analyze, explore, and experiment with
different forms of scholarly discourse as they encounter these forms in their
other courses. Course work will include four short critical/bibliographical
exercises, several oral presentations, and three longer, linked investigations
into a focused author, approach, or topic of the student’s choice.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Mary Klages, Literary Theory: The Complete Guide (Bloomsbury)
Rita Felski, The Uses of Literature (Blackwell)
Toni Morrison, Playing in the Dark (Harvard)
Bruce McComiskey, English Studies: An Introduction to
the Discipline (NCTE)
Cindy
Moore and Hildy Miller, A Guide to Professional Development for Graduate
Students in English (NCTE)
Nathaniel Hawthorne,
The Scarlet Letter (Any)
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Any)
Poetry by Phillis
Wheatley, Emily Dickinson, Alice Dunbar Nelson (handouts)
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (Any)
Recommended: Ross C.
Murfin, The Bedford Glossary of Critical
and Literary Terms
Plus selected articles/chapters on e-reserve through
the Healey Library and/or linked to the course blog: https://english608fall2017.blogspot.com/
You must have a Healey Library barcode and a
class password to Healey e-reserves.
§
All of
the required texts are available at the UMB bookstore. Most of them should also be available (new or
used) at other area bookstores or online.
§
You need
to have an active email account that you can access at least twice a week.
§
You will
also be responsible for printing multiple copies of several assignments to
distribute to the class.
§
I may
hand out additional readings in class or upload them to the course website.
WORK: There will be times when I or my colleagues
will lecture or perform a bit of show-and-tell. But graduate education relies
upon and builds your capacity for both independent and cooperative
learning. Everyone in a 600-level course must carry their weight: they
prepare all assigned reading thoughtfully and scrupulously, they hand in work
on time, and they show up with something to say, with or without explicit
prompting from an instructor. These are your most basic responsibilities.
Thus, I expect you
to have done your reading and/or written work by the time you get to class (often
you will need to email written work to be BEFORE class starts). I expect that you will be prepared to discuss
the work you have done. If you are confused by the reading or feel that you are
in over your head, be prepared to ask questions or come to see me during my
office hours. I do not expect or assume
that you will buy every required book (though I strongly advise you to acquire
your own copies of Klages, McComiskey, and Moore/Miller, since we will be
referring to them regularly). You must
attend class in order to participate in the semester. Some absences are
unavoidable, and I will allow one absence without penalty. If you miss more
than one class, your grade will drop by 1/3 of a letter grade for each missed
class. If you miss more than two classes before the deadline to withdraw, I
will suggest that you drop the course.
An educational institution is a
unique cultural space: here, the open sharing of ideas is not only possible,
but valued above all else. Intellectual exchange depends on showing respect for
your instructor and peers, taking responsibility for your own course
contributions, and demonstrating a mature understanding that learning can
involve disagreement over ideas and assessment. If you engage in uncivil
behavior, such as making inappropriate comments to your professor or fellow
students in the classroom, out of the classroom, or via email or social
networking sites, you can be referred to the Chair of the English Department.
You can also be referred to the Dean of Students.
Also: Be aware that assignments for this class will require you to go
beyond the assigned reading for the course, and will almost certainly require
you to look beyond the resources available in the Healey Library. At the Healey,
you can get a Boston Library Consortium card, which will give you access and
borrowing privileges at many of the major research libraries in the Boston
area. I highly recommend that you take
advantage of this resource. Also, get
familiar with Inter-Library Loan and the Virtual Catalog. For more information
on such resources, speak with me or with a librarian at Healey.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Generally, you will submit assignments via email on the
Tuesday before class meets, which gives me time to assemble your responses
before our class meets on Thursday. I
will respond to most of your assignments electronically.
§
Final Project: The semester will culminate in a multi-part
research project that will require you to investigate and annotate a critical article
or book chapter of your choice, retracing, through notes and bibliographical
references, the intellectual path the scholar took as his or her inquiry
developed. An 8-10 page analytical Footsteps
Essay will detail your findings. It will be supplemented by an 8-10 page Field Statement that looks more broadly
at the field to which your Footsteps Essay contributes. An Annotated Bibliography will accompany these essays. You will also
be required to deliver a Conference-style
Presentation on your project during panel presentations scheduled for the
last two weeks of the term. Further details of this project will follow. The
Final Project will account for 50 percent of your grade.
§
Exercises/Short Writing Assignments: I will assign a series of shorter critical
exercises and reflective writing assignments over the course of the semester
(many of these will help prepare you for your final project). Together, these
will account for 30 percent of your grade. You will need to distribute your
responses to several of these exercises to the class via email. Details will follow.
§
In-Class Presentations and Participation: The remaining 20 percent of your grade will
be determined by my assessment of your class participation over the course of
the term. In assigning your grade I will pay attention to your performance in
the following components of the course:
1) Active, thoughtful, and regular participation in seminar discussion
2) Taking responsibility, in pairs, for leading discussion of one of the required
course texts during a portion of one of our class meetings (I will pass out
a sign-up sheet for this exercise. Leaders
must submit questions and/or an outline of your plan to me via email by 7 pm on
the Tuesday BEFORE you lead discussion. I will post your handout to the course
blog and distribute via email, so that your classmates may engage in discussion
before class. Schedule to follow.)
3) Preparation for and participation in panel
discussions of our work (especially in the final two classes).
Incompletes:
Incompletes
are rarely offered, as they are reserved for students who are unable to
complete a small portion of the course at the end of the term due to an extreme
circumstance such as illness. Incompletes are not allowed to replace a
significant amount of coursework or absences. If you are awarded an Incomplete,
you must complete a formal Incomplete Contract with your instructor and have
that contract approved by the department and submitted to the Registrar. The
contract outlines the work to be done and due dates. An INC automatically turns
into an F after a year. Incomplete work will be due before the year’s end.
Incomplete policy:
http://www.umb.edu/registrar/academic_policies/incomplete_policy/
Assignment Distribution: We will read and discuss your responses to course assignments
frequently this semester. Sometimes distribution of responses will happen via
WISER; other assignments will be posted on the class blog. Do pay attention to the specific instructions
for each written assignment as they will vary over the course of the semester.
Communicating:
· I look forward to meeting with you to discuss
your work in the seminar. I am available to meet with you during my scheduled
office hours and by appointment. You can
schedule an appointment with me via the English MA wiki: http://english-ma-program.wikispaces.umb.edu/Appointments. I am on campus on most Mondays, Wednesdays
and Thursdays, though this may change as the semester progresses.
· Email is generally the most convenient way to
reach me, especially over a weekend. Please let me know if you will be unable
to attend a class. If you miss several
classes and/or assignments by midterm, I will suggest that you drop the course.
· I will post any announcements or changes to
the assignment calendar on the class blog and via email. Emails will come to you through WISER, which
mails to your umb.edu account. If you don’t check your umb.edu account
regularly, you should set up forwarding from the umb.edu account to the account
you actually use. You should also sign
yourself up for updates (text, phone etc) from the University regarding campus
closures—just in case!
Disability Accommodations:
If you have a disability that may affect your performance in
this class, UMass Boston has resources that can help you succeed in your
coursework. Please contact the Ross Center for Disabilities (Campus Center
UL211) to receive official university services and accommodations; they will
provide you with documentation that you then bring to your instructor.
Ross Center website:
http://www.umb.edu/academics/vpass/disability
Plagiarism and Academic Honesty:
Plagiarism is defined by UMass Boston’s Code of Student Conduct
here. (http://www.umb.edu/life_on_campus/policies/code/ ). An act of academic
dishonesty, plagiarism can include actions such as presenting another writer’s
work as your own work; copying passages from print or internet sources without
proper citation; taking ideas off the internet, modifying them, and presenting
them as your own; or submitting the same work for more than one course. If you
plagiarize, you will fail this course. Also note that plagiarism can result in
further academic sanctions such as suspension.
Code of Student Conduct:
https://www.umb.edu/life_on_campus/policies/community/code
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES, READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS
What follows is a brief
outline of the term’s assignments, which I will amplify as the semester
progresses. Assignments will also be
posted/updated on our class blog: http:// https://english608fall2017.blogspot.com/.
Please be sure to check your email
before you go to class to be sure that you haven’t missed any updates.
Sep 11 Introductory
class. What to expect from English 608.
In class: Gerald Graff, “Disliking Books at an Early Age” and Donald
Marshall, “Doxology versus Theory” (emailed handouts)
Critical Exercise #1 due by 9
pm Sunday Sept 17 via email; bring a paper copy to class.
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 9am on MONDAY, Sept 18.
Sep 18 The
Field: Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory, Intro and Chapter 1
(handouts unless you have Eagleton’s book), Klages, Introduction.
McComiskey Introduction, Chapter 4; Moore and Miller, Introduction.
Discussion Leaders*:
Critical Exercise #2 due by 9
pm Sunday Sept 24 via email; bring a paper copy to class.
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion questions/outline
to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Sept 25.
Sep 25 Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Custom House Sketch)
Klages, Chapters 1, 2, 3
Discussion Leaders*:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Oct 2.
Critical Exercise #3 due by 9
pm Sunday Oct 1 via email; bring a paper copy to class.
Oct 2 Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
Klages, Chapters 4, 5
Discussion Leaders*:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Oct 16.
Critical Exercise #4 due by 9
pm Sunday Oct 15 via email; bring a paper copy to class
Oct 9 Columbus
Day Holiday. Read McComiskey Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6
Oct 16 Harriet
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave
Girl
Klages, Chapter 6
Discussion Leaders:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Oct 23.
Faculty Interview due by 9 pm
Sunday Oct 22 via email; bring a paper copy to class.
Oct 23 Harriet
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave
Girl
Klages, Chapter 7
Discussion Leaders*:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion questions/outline
to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Oct 30.
Proposal (selection and
rationale) for footsteps essay due by 9 pm Sunday Oct 29 via email; bring a
paper copy to class.
Oct 30 Phillis Wheatley, Emily Dickinson, Alice
Dunbar Nelson: selected poems
Klages, Chapter 8
Discussion Leaders*:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Nov 6.
Long List Bibliography for Field
Statement due by 9 pm Sunday Nov 5 via email.
Bring a paper copy to class.
Nov 6 Toni Morrison, Playing in the Dark/poetry tba
Discussion Leaders*:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Nov 13.
Reflections on Goals Within,
beyond Program due by 9 pm Sunday Nov 12 via email. Please bring a paper or
electronic copy to class on Nov 13.
Nov 13 Ralph
Ellison, Invisible Man
Klages, Chapter 9
Harner, “On Compiling an
Annotated Bibliography” (Healey e-reserve).
Discussion Leaders:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Nov 20.
Annotated Bibliography due by 9
pm Sunday Nov 19 via email. Bring a paper copy to class on Nov 20.
Nov 20 Ralph
Ellison, Invisible Man
Moore and Miller, 1 and 2.
Discussion Leaders:
*If you are leading discussion next class, please submit discussion
questions/outline to me via email by 7pm on MONDAY, Nov 27.
Please sign up for optional
conferences this week or next to discuss your Final Project.
Nov 23 THANKSGIVING DAY HOLIDAY. If you
would like to submit a draft of your Field Statement, please email it to me by
Friday, November 24h. I will
return it to you with comments and a preliminary grade.
Nov 27 Felski,
Uses of Literature
Moore and Miller 4, 6.
Discussion Leaders:
Footsteps Essay due via email
by 9 am Thursday, Nov 30. I will email comments and a preliminary grade to you.
Dec 4 Final
presentations: panels 1 and 2.
Dec 11 Final
presentations: panels 3 and 4; Course Evaluations.
Final Projects (Revised Footsteps Essay,
Revised Field Statement, and Bibliography) are due by Wednesday, December 13. You may email them to me or drop off a hard
copy at my office on the 13h.
No comments:
Post a Comment