Required Texts:
David Madden, Ed., A Pocketful of Contemporary Short Fiction
David Madden, Ed., A Pocketful of Plays
David Madden, Ed., A Pocketful of Poetry
Course pack to be paid for at the Bookstore

Philosophy of the Course:
This course has a series of interrelated objectives:
1. an understanding of the formal elements of fiction, drama, and poetry (e.g., plot, setting, character, point of view) that help you construct meaning in a literary text
2. an awareness of how literature affects and is affected by cultural values and historical realities
3. a working knowledge of research methods, both text-based and electronic
3. a working knowledge of critical theory--it methods, purposes, and goals--and how such knowledge deepens our understanding of literature's value in our world.

• Papers: 2 short (3-4 pages) critical papers
• Library: 2 research assignments
• Exams: 2 exams, midterm and final
• On-line discussion questions: on-line discussion questions and answers will be an integral part of the course; you will need to open your Lotus Notes account immediately and to check your e-mail frequently in order to participate
• Quizzes: there will be frequent unannounced quizzes on the assigned readings. No quiz may be made up but you may drop your lowest quiz grade
• Attendance: you are expected to be present and to actively participate in class discussion. Because you cannot participate if you are not present, one point will be deducted from your final grade for each unexcused absence. I have voice mail and 2 e-mail addresses, so I can always be reached
• Academic Honesty: You are required to fully and accurately document any research you use for this course. I will provide writing instruction and information on MLA style for documentation. For definitions of plagiarism see: http://www.dc.peachnet.edu/~shale/humanities/composition/handouts/plagiarism.html
• Grades: Here is how I will calculate your grade:

Aug. 31: Introduction to the course, its purposes and goals
Sept. 1: Electronic discussion groups and how they will function in this course
Sept. 3: The Precritical Approach, from A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, ed. Guerin et al, 3-9

Sept. 7: Labor Day Holiday
Sept. 8: Setting: John McCluskey, "Lush Life"
Sept. 10: Leslie Marmon Silko, "Where Mountain Lion Lay Down with Deer"; Ezra Pound, "In a Station of the Metro"

Sept. 14: Plot/conflict: Susan Glaspell, Trifles
Sept. 15: Madison Smart Bell, "Dragon's Seed"
Sept. 17: Kazuo Ishiguro, "Family Supper"

Sept. 21: Assignment for Paper #1
Sept. 22: Character / Point of View: Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"; Alfred Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"
Sept. 24: Langston Hughes, "Dream Deferred"; Carolyn Forché, "The Colonel"; Galway Kinnell, "Blackberry Eating"; Denise Levertov, "What Were They Like?"

Sept. 28: Edna O'Brien, "Brother"
Sept. 29: Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House
Oct. 1: Paper #1 due; Ibsen cont'd.

Oct. 5: Research/goals and purposes; Assignment for Library Research #1
Oct. 6: Library I: Research Assignment #1
Oct. 8: No class

Oct. 12: Library Research Assignment #1 due; Style: Gwendolyn Brooks, "We Real Cool"; Marge Piercy, "The Secretary Chant"; Sharon Olds, "Sex Without Love"; Allen Ginsburg, "A Supermarket in California"
Oct. 13: Poetry cont'd.
Oct. 15: Allen Wier, "Texas Wedding Party"

Oct. 19: Library II
Oct. 20: Assignment for Library Research #2
Oct. 22: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I

Oct. 26: Hamlet, Acts II, III
Oct. 27: Hamlet, Acts IV, V
Oct. 29: Hamlet, excerpts from Mel Gibson and Kenneth Branagh films

Nov. 2: Pregones Theater Presentation: Improvisation with Pregones's Scripts; Library Research Assignment #2 due
Nov. 3: Improvisation with Trifles script
Nov. 5: Midterm Exam

Nov. 9: Imagery: Rick Bass, "Fires"
Nov. 10: Richard Ford, "Electric City"
Nov. 12: Terry Bisson, "Bears Discover Fire"

Nov. 16: Critical Worlds; A Selective Tour, from Texts and Contexts, ed. Stephen Lynn, 11, 12-21; Reader Response Criticism, from A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, ed. Guerin et al., 41-48
Nov. 17: Tim O'Brien, "Field Trip"
Nov. 19: O'Brien cont'd.; Wilfred Owen. "Dulce et Decorum Est

Nov. 23: Feminism and Feminist Literary Criticisms: Definitions, from Guerin, 22-26
Nov. 24-26: No Class (Thanksgiving holidays)

Nov. 30: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper," 50-59
Dec. 1: Margaret Atwood, "Kat"
Dec. 3: The Marxist Approach, from Guerin, 32-35; Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

Dec. 7: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
Dec. 8: Hansberry cont'd.
Dec. 10: Conclusions; Paper #2 due: Course Evaluations