Practical Criticism

Practical Criticism is an introduction to literary study, designed for English majors and minors. Because no single course can cover the wide range of interpretive strategies employed in literary criticism today, much less survey its object of study, Practical Criticism offers a systematic smorgasbord of approaches and genres, designed to meet the following goals:

• to develop your vocabulary for talking about literature and your strategies for interpreting it;
• to give you practice in reading and writing about a variety of literary genres, in particular fiction, poetry, and drama;
• to introduce you to the use of secondary sources; and
• to engage you in the extended conversation of critical discourse.

Required Texts

• Ann and Samuel Charters, Literature and Its Writers (4th Edition)
• Molière, Tartuffe (trans. Richard Wilbur)
• Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Norton Critical Edition only, ed. Paul J. Hunter)
• M.H. Abrams, Glossary of Literary Terms (9th ed.)
• Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th Edition)
• Attendance of at least one performance of Tartuffe at MacPherson Theatre, 2/14 - 2/19. Attendance of a second performance is strongly recommended.

Course Requirements

Four essays (one of them in-class), a mid-term exam and a final exam are required. These will be weighted according to the following scale:

• essays 1, 2, and 3 - 54% (17% each)
  • assignment for paper 1
  • assignment for paper 2
• essay 4 - 15%
• library search component for paper 4 - 4%
• mid-term - 15%
• final - 15%

The micro essay and the paper should be handed in via Moodle in .doc or .docx format. If you don't use Microsoft Word, talk to me and we'll work out a different arrangement.

All of the tests or papers will be graded on or converted to a 0-100 scale, where 90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D, and 0-59 = F. The highest three numbers in a range are equivalent to a plus grade (e.g. 87-89 = B+); the lowest three are equivalent to a minus (e.g. 90-92 = A-). Letter grade designations align with their descriptions in the IWU Catalog: A- and A indicate work of superior quality; B-, B and B+ indicate work of good to very good quality; C and C+ indicate work of acceptable but not distinguished quality; C- indicates work of marginal quality; D indicates work of poor quality; F indicates failure.

You may revise any of the essays for a higher grade if time permits. (There is nearly always time to revise the first two papers, and usually enough time to revise the third. The fourth, an in-class essay completed during the second hour of the final exam time, cannot be revised. ) The higher of the two grades (original or revision) will count, but any late penalties attached to the original paper will also be attached to the revision. Ordinarily, I will not write comments on revisions. Due dates for revisions will be announced when the first drafts are returned.

In accordance with the policy set forth in the IWU Catalog, this course is designed to demand two to three hours of work outside of class for every hour spent in class. As the Catalog cautions, however, the actual time any one student will need to spend "will inevitably vary greatly according to a student's ability, aptitude, and motivation with respect to the given subject matter."

Attendance: No more than 4 absences for any reason, including illness and university sponsored events, are allowed. I will deal with attendance problems on a case-by-case basis, but I reserve the right to lower your final grade by 4 points for each class missed beyond the 4 course limit. Extremely poor attendance will result in a failing grade regardless of your grades on papers and exams.

Late Work will be penalized as follows. Your grade on a paper will be lowered by 3 points (out of 100) for every calendar day it is late, up to a maximum of 20 points. Because an F at, say, 50 (a mediocre paper with a 20-point late penalty) is much less damaging to a grade than a 0 for a missed paper, it is nearly always better to turn in a paper late than it is not to turn in a paper at all. Unless I announce otherwise, papers are always due in my mailbox before English House closes (around 4:30 PM, sometimes earlier) on the dates listed below.

Participation in discussion is important in this class. Although there is no separate grade rubric for participation, active and thoughtful participation in class may raise a borderline grade, while passive or disruptive participation may lower one. (A borderline grade is defined as a grade within .5 of a point of the cutoff between two grades. For example, 90 is the cutoff between B+ and A-; 89.5 - 90.5 is the borderline range between the two grades.)

Plagiarism will affect your grade in one of two ways. If you turn in a paper which is plagiarized in minor or unintentional ways (e.g. you use the language of the source you are writing about without quotes, but in only a brief passage and clearly without any intention to represent someone else's work as your own), the paper will receive an F, and we will discuss plagiarism until it is clear that you understand what it is and how to avoid it. You may be able to rewrite such a paper for a higher grade if there is enough time left in the term. However, if you turn in a paper which is plagiarized blatantly, at length or with apparent intent to deceive, you will receive an F in the course regardless of any other grades you have received, and I will file an Academic Dishonesty Report with the Associate Provost.