ENGLISH 110.

02
INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY STUDIES
MW 2:30-3:50 // Tisch 202
Spring 2015

Dr. Andrew Bozio

abozio@skidmore.edu
TTh 2:30-4:00 // PMH 317

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to the practice of literary studies, with a particular emphasis on the
skills involved in close reading. The course aims to foster a way of thinking critically and with
sophistication about language, texts, and literary production. We will ask such questions as how and
why we read, what it means to read as students of literature, what writing can teach us about reading,
and what reading can teach us about writing. The goal overall is to make the words on the page
thrillingly rich and complicated, while also recognizing the ways in which those words have been
informed by their social, political, aesthetic, psychological, and religious contexts. This course is
writing intensive and will include some attention to critical perspective and appropriate research
skills. (Fulfills all-college requirement in expository writing; prospective English majors are
encouraged to take EN 110 prior to enrolling in 200-level courses.)

LEARNING GOALS
Through this course, you will learn to
frame questions about how we read and write within the discipline of literary studies
read closely, attending to the complexity of language
formulate questions about the formal qualities of a text
craft and support a thesis
engage with secondary readings that are relevant to the primary text
recognize the historical and cultural contexts of a work and their bearing upon literary
significance
advance discussion in class through active listening and appropriately informed contributions

TEXTS
William Shakespeare, Sonnets, ed. Stephen Booth (ISBN 978-0300085068)
Vladimir Nabokov, The Annotated Lolita, ed. Alfred Appel, Jr. (ISBN 978-0679727293)
Tony Kushner, Angels in America (ISBN 978-1559362313)
Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (ISBN 978-0199691340)
The Bedford St. Martins LitGloss (http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/litgloss/)

GRADE DISTRIBUTION
Participation
Essay One
Essay Two

Bozio // EN 110 Syllabus

20%
15% [1/3 workshop draft, 2/3 final draft]
20% [1/3 workshop draft, 2/3 final draft]

Essay Three
Blog Posts
Quizzes

25% [1/3 workshop draft, 2/3 final draft]

15%
5%

COURSE POLICIES
Participation
Because this course is a collaborative effort, participation will be essential to your success. By
participation, I mean both active listening and thoughtful contributions to class discussion that show
your preparation for class, your willingness to engage your peers in conversation, and your ability to
be respectful. In other words, come to class ready to discuss the reading, with ideas to share or
questions to pose. It helps tremendously to take notes while you are preparing for class, using the
writing process to develop your thoughts about the material. In this course, our aim is not only to
learn more about the nature of literary studies; it is also to develop your skills as a critical thinker and
writer, and engaged participation is one of the most direct ways of ensuring that development. For
this reason, I would also encourage you to take notes during class.
You are allowed two absences with no questions asked. For each subsequent absence, your final
grade will drop one-third of a letter, and excessive absences may result in failure of the course.
Repeated lateness will also be construed as absence, so please come to class on time and stay for the
duration.
Digital Etiquette
You are encouraged to bring laptops and tablets to class, provided that they are used for referencing
the assigned material and/or for taking notes. To minimize distractions, I would encourage you to
turn off your WI-FI while in class. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in being counted as
absent for the day, and I reserve the right to ban laptops and tablets if they become a distraction to
you or to your classmates. Use of cellphones is not permitted.
Submission of Work
All written work should be presented professionally: typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New
Roman or Garamond, and with one-inch margins. Be sure to include your last name and the page
number in the footer.
Submit your essay by uploading it to Blackboard prior to the deadline (generally, Sunday afternoon
at 2:30 pm). Late essays will lose one-third of a letter grade each day until they are submitted, and,
after a week, I will no longer accept your work.
Workshop drafts should be posted to the Workshops folder, and final drafts should be submitted
through Assignments. When uploading your file, be sure to submit it as a Word Document, using
this format for the title: [Your last name], Essay [One, Two, or Three].docx

Bozio // EN 110 Syllabus

Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is the representation of another persons words or ideas as your own. It is not only
counter to the ethics of the academic culture in which you participate, but it is also detrimental to
the goals of this course, insofar as it does nothing to develop your own skills as a thinker and a
writer. You must give proper credit, according to your chosen citation guidelines, to all words or
ideas that are not your own. In cases of a serious violation of academic integrity, you will fail the
assignment. Visit http://www.skidmore.edu/advising/integrity/index.php for more information.
Accessibility
Anyone who anticipates difficulties with the content or the format of this course should arrange to
meet with me so we can create a workable plan for your success. Skidmore College also offers
several forms of academic and non-academic accommodation through the Office of Student
Academic Services. Visit http://www.skidmore.edu/accessibility/index.php for more information.

ASSIGNMENTS
Essays
Over the course of the semester, you will write three essays of approximately five pages in length. In
your first essay, draw upon the skills of close reading that you will have developed thus far to make a
cogent argument about the language of Shakespeares Sonnets. Be sure to cite some of the literary
terms that we discuss in class, as well as one or more of the scholarly works that we read to support
your claims. In your second essay, build upon these skills by making a sustained argument about
some facet of Lolita (you may wish to analyze the unreliability of the narrator, the gender politics of
the novel, or another topic of your choice). Develop your argument by citing and responding to
several other scholarly works, whether criticism or theory. In your third essay, craft an argument
about the way that Angels in America responds to its historical or cultural contexts, drawing upon
your skills in research and in close reading to do so. I will circulate more detailed prompts well in
advance of the due date of each essay.
Workshops
To grow as writers and as thinkers, we will spend a significant portion of the course revising your
essays in workshops. On days when workshops are scheduled, I will begin class with a brief lesson
that particular issues in your drafts, and we will spend the rest of class workshopping your essays in
small groups.
Accordingly, you need to upload a full draft of your essay to Blackboard twenty-four hours before
the first workshop of the week (meaning that the deadline is Sunday at 2:30 pm). The version that
you upload should be a full draft of five pages, with a thesis, properly cited sources, and a wellsupported argument, and the grade that you receive on this draft will represent one-third of your
final grade for the essay. Failure to upload a full draft by the deadline will reduce your final grade in
the course by one-third of a letter.

Bozio // EN 110 Syllabus

Blog Posts
To gain experience thinking and writing about literature, you will write three posts on the course
blog, each responding to a specific prompt. Blog posts should be between 250 and 500 words, and
they are due at 2:30 pm on the day before we are scheduled to meet. For each post, you should also
comment twice on the posts of your peers; comments are due by the time we meet in class. Because
the course blog is designed to inform our discussion of the material in class, late posts and
comments will receive no credit.
To access the course site, you will need to create a WordPress account and then accept my invitation
to join the site. I would encourage you to use a pseudonym that does not reveal your identity. Your
posts will be visible to the entire class, as well as to the wider public, and using a pseudonym will
allow you to practice writing public-facing documents without the concern that your posts will
always be a part of your online identity.
Quizzes
Over the course of the semester, you will take three quizzes that will determine how effectively you
have mastered the skills of literary analysis.

SCHEDULE
Reading that are not available in the required texts can be found on the course site
[EN110Spring2015.WordPress.com] or on Course Reserves.
Jan.

Feb.

21

Introduction to the course // Diagnostic Essay

26
28

Shakespeares Sonnets: 1, 3, 4, 17, 20, 24, 29-30, 39

Shakespeares Sonnets: 41-42, 54-55, 71, 73, 78-80

Shakespeares Sonnets: 116-119, 122-123, 126 and Jonathan Culler, Rhetoric,

poetics, and poetry
First blog post due
Shakespeares Sonnets: 127, 129-131, 133-134, 136, 138, 142, 144, 145, 147

4
9
11
12

Jonathan Culler, What is theory? and Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author
and From Work to Text [Course Reserves]
Heather Dubrow, Incertainties now crown themselves assurd: The Politics of
Plotting Shakespeares Sonnets [Course Reserves]
Michael Brub Visit // Coffee 11:00-12:00 and 4:00-5:00, Lecture at 8:00 pm

Draft of Essay One due on Sunday, February 15 at 2:30 pm

16
18

Workshop
Workshop

Essay One due on Sunday, February 22 at 2:30 pm

Bozio // EN 110 Syllabus

Mar.

23
25

Lolita, 3-56 and Jonathan Culler, Narrative

Lolita, 57-109

2
4

Lolita, 109-142 and Sigmund Freud, Mourning and Melancholia [Course Reserves]
Second blog post due
Lolita, 145-193

9
11

Library Session // Lolita, 193-258

Lolita, 258-309

16
18

Spring Vacation
Spring Vacation

Draft of Essay Two due on Sunday, March 22 at 2:30 pm

23
25

Workshop
Workshop

Essay Two due on Sunday, March 29 at 2:30 pm

Apr.

30
1

Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches

SAA

Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches

Third blog post due
Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika

8
13
15

Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika

Jonathan Culler, Performative language and Judith Butler, Performative Acts and
Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory [Course
Reserves]

Draft of Essay Three due on Sunday, April 19 at 2:30 pm

20
22

Workshop
Workshop

Essay Three due on Sunday, April 26 at 2:30 pm

27

Franco Moretti, Graphs [Course Reserves]

Bozio // EN 110 Syllabus