Literary Analysis

LIT 2341, Section 501

Fall 2008, Thursdays 7-9:45 PM, MC 2.410

Instructor: Sharon Duncan

Office: JO 4.134
Office Hours: Thursdays 12:45-1:45 PM and by appointment
Office Phone: (972) 883-2713 (please email first)
E-mail: smd018300@utdallas.edu

All matters associated with this course are subject to change at the instructor's discretion. Changes
will be communicated to students in class and in writing.

Course Description:

This course serves as a foundation for all other literature courses at UTD. This is a skills-oriented
class where students will practice close reading and interpretation of the three primary genres of
literature: poetry, drama, and narrative fiction. Students will become familiar with literary traditions
and terminology and will develop their own scholarly viewpoints through the writing of interpretive
essays. The goal is to initiate budding literature scholars into the major.

Required Texts:

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 3rd ed. W.W. Norton. (ISBN 0393975428)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner (ISBN 0743273567)
Gwynn, R.S. ed. Literature: A Pocket Anthology. 3rd ed. (ISBN 0321366298)
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. (any edition)

Recommended:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. (ISBN 0873529863)
Note: Students MUST use the most recent edition.

Written Assignments:

1. Eight brief (1-2 page) response papers to be turned in at the beginning of class on the days
readings are due, except for Gatsby on 12/4. All work completed outside of class is to be
typed and double spaced (11-12 pt. font and 1-inch margins) with no cover sheet. These
papers cannot be made up after the due date.
2. One 4-5 page formal essay. This will be a “close reading” of a text with no outside research.
3. One 8-10 page critical research paper.

Grading Policy:

Class Participation 10%

Reading Responses/other homework 10%
Essay 1 (draft and final) 15%
Essay 2 (draft and final) 20%
Reading Quizzes, other in-class work 10%
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 20%

Please note that there are no “excused absences” for this class. Each student is simply allowed TWO
missed classes, no questions asked. You are still responsible to turn in assignments on time and for
the material that is covered in class. Each additional absence beyond two will result in a grade
deduction off your FINAL grade for the semester.

Course Expectations:
• First, treat the literature with the respect it deserves. This means reading at a workable pace and not
racing through everything the night before. Keep up with your reading.
• Attend all class sessions and please arrive on time. Class discussions will proceed on the assumption
that you have read the material, and I will feel free to call on students to speak.
• Participate in class discussions with attention, thoughtfulness, and respect for others. You are learning to
play a part in an academic community.
• Jot down paper ideas as they come to you in class. Do not make your essays or other out-of-class
work a recycling of discussions from class.
• Plan your writing in advance and hand in assignments on time. Late work will suffer grade
deductions.
• Write competent prose. I rarely spend class time on “grammar and stuff.” I will assume that
everyone knows how to avoid mechanical errors in their writing. If you need help with these
skills, make an appointment with the UTD Writing Center or see me during office hours.
• Understand and avoid plagiarism. I dislike detecting and prosecuting plagiarists but I am
committed to doing so. If you have questions about citation, ask me or consult your MLA
Handbook. Both major essays must be submitted to turnitin.com before the class period in
which it is due. I will not grade essays that have not been submitted to turnitin.com.
• Take responsibility for your own success. This course will give you an opportunity to develop
strong work habits that will serve you well in your major.

Course Schedule
LPA=Literature: A Pocket Anthology
All poetry and short story selections are from LPA unless otherwise noted.

(This schedule is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion. Students will be informed of major
changes in writing.)

Week One: August 21 Introduction to the Course and Literary Analysis:

How do we experience literature?
Literary Timeline, Introduction to Genre
Essay 1 assignment (handout)
Week Two: August 28 Formal Elements of Literature
Jane Eyre Volume 1 (Chapters 1-15)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown”

Week Three: September 4 Literature as Representation

Jane Eyre Volume 2 (Chapters 16-26)
Shakespeare: Sonnets 18 and 130
Lord Byron: “She Walks in Beauty”
Plath, Sylvia. “Metaphors”

Week Four: September 11 Literature and Authorial Intention

Jane Eyre Volume 3 (Chapters 27-end)
Blake, William. “The Chimney Sweeper”
Shelley, Percy. “Ozymandias”
O’Connor, Flannery. “Good Country People”

Week Five: September 18 Literature and Authorial Intention

Essay 1 Rough Draft due
In-class Peer Editing and Instructor Conferences

Week Six: September 25 Essay 1 due

Making Historical/Cultural Arguments about Literature
Essay 2 assignment (handout)

Week Seven: October 2 Traditions of Western Literature/Drama

Hamlet due

Week Eight: October 9 Midterm Exam

Traditions of Western Literature/Drama
Hamlet continued—Hamlet and Hollywood

Week Nine: October 16 Essay 2 Proposal due

Traditions of Western Literature/Lyric Poetry
Donne, John. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”
Wordsworth, William. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
Keats, John. “La Belle Dame sans Merci”
Browning, Elizabeth. “Sonnets/Portuguese, 43”
Tennyson, Alfred Lord. “The Lady of Shalott”
Browning, Robert. “My Last Duchess”
Arnold, Matthew. “Dover Beach”
Rosetti, Christina. “Up-Hill”
 Yeats, William Butler. “The Second Coming”
Auden, W.H. “Musee des Beaux Arts”
Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
Larkin, Philip. “Aubade”
Walcott, Derek. “Midsummer” on WebCT
Heaney, Seamus. “Digging” on WebCT

Week Ten: October 23 Traditions of Western Literature/Lyric Poetry

Bradstreet, Anne. “The Author to Her Book”
Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself, 6”
Dickinson, Emily. “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass”
Frost, Robert. “After Apple-Picking” and “Stopping
by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
Eliot, T.S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock”
Stevens, Wallace. “The Emperor of Ice Cream”
Williams, William Carlos. “The Red Wheelbarrow”
and “This is Just to Say”
Hughes, Langston. “The Weary Blues”
Bishop, Elizabeth. “Sestina”
Brooks, Gwendolyn. “We Real Cool”
Rich, Adrienne. “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”
Dove, Rita. “Adolescence—III”

Week Eleven: October 30 Traditions of Western Literature/Narrative Fiction

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Joyce, James. “Araby”
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily”

Week Twelve: November 6 Essay 2 Rough Draft Due

Traditions of Western Literature/Narrative Fiction
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going . . .?”
Mason, Bobbie Ann. “Shiloh”
Erdrich, Louise. “The Red Convertible”

Week Thirteen: November 13 Instructor/Student Conferences for Essay 2

(you need only be present for your conference)

Week Fourteen: November 20 Essay 2 due

Traditions of Western Literature/Narrative Fiction
The Great Gatsby Introduction

(November 27: Thanksgiving/NO CLASS)

Week Fifteen: December 4 The Great Gatsby due (no response paper required)
Student Presentations or Student-Led Discussion: Gatsby
Course Wrap-up and Exam Review
Course Evaluations

Final Exam: December 11

* Final drafts of the two major essays must be submitted electronically to turnitin.com BEFORE
class in addition to the hard copy submission at the beginning of class.
1. Go to turnitin.com
2. Create an account. All you need is an email address and a password. Make sure you write
down your password.
3. Enroll in LIT 2341-501 (Class ID# 2352758, password is Bronte)
4. Upload final drafts of essays on 9/25 and 11/20 before class.

Class and University Policies

Attendance Policy
Because each class period will consist of a mixture of lecture, discussion, group work and writing,
your thoughtful, attentive, and active participation is essential. Class will start promptly at 7 PM and
two tardies will count as one absence. Leaving early will also count as an absence.

Class Participation
Your success in this course is a result of your level of engagement. I am interested in the quality of
your remarks more than the quantity. Please use your analysis of the readings, your weekly
responses, and prior research and/or study when responding orally in class.

Late Work
All drafts must be submitted when and as required in order to successfully complete this course.
Late assignments will suffer grade deductions for each day they are late.

Personal Communication Devices

Turn off all cell phones, pagers, and other personal communication devices before the start of class.
Do not use them during class. This is bad manners and will make your instructor breathe fire.

Student Conduct and Discipline

A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of citizenship. He
or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the Regents' Rules, university
regulations, and administrative rules. Students are subject to discipline for violating the standards of
conduct whether such conduct takes place on or off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties
are also imposed for such conduct.

Academic Integrity
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions related to
applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as one's own work or
material that is not one's own. As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty involves one of the following
acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying academic records. Students suspected of
academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary proceedings.

Email Use
The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of communication between
faculty/staff and students through email. At the same time, email raises some issues concerning
security and the identity of students. The university asks that all official student email
correspondence be sent only to their U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and staff consider
email from students’ official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This allows the
university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of all individuals and the security of
the transmitted information. UTD furnishes each student with a free email account that is to be used
in all communications. The Department of Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method
for students to have their U.T. Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.

Withdrawal from Class

The school administration has set deadlines for withdrawal from any college-level courses. It is the
student's responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I cannot
drop or withdraw any student. YOU must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will not
receive a final grade of "F" in the course if you stop attending class.

Incomplete Grade Policy

As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably missed at the
semester's end and only if 70% of the course work has already been completed. An incomplete
grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the next long semester. If the
required work to complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by this
deadline, the incomplete grade will be changed to a grade of F.

Disability Services
The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational opportunities equal
to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is located in room 1.610 in the Student
Union. Office hours are Monday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday,
8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

It is the student's responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for accommodations.
Disability Services provides students with letters to present to faculty members to verify that the
student has a disability and needs accommodations. Individuals requiring special accommodation
should contact the professor after class or during office hours.

Religious Holy Days

UTD’s policy regarding religious holy days can be found at
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/catalog/undergrad04/policies.html

Writing/Research Assistance
UTD Writing Center: McDermott Library, 2nd floor, Room 2.402
972-883-6707