English 362, Survey of Literary Criticism

King Saud University	Course Syllabus
College of Arts	Semester: II
Academic Year: 1436/1437 (2015/2016)
Instructor’s information:
Instructor’s name	Mohrah AlOtaibi
Office Hours	Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday 10:00- 11:00  Wednesday 12:00-01:00
Office number	Building 1, Floor 3, Office #90
Email address	[e-mail]
Website	http://fac.ksu.edu.sa/mohrah/home
Course information:
Course Title	Literary Criticism
Course Number	362
Course description	This survey course introduces major literary critical theories and
	critics: Classical, Renaissance, Neoclassical, Romantics and early
	20th century New Criticism. Critics include Plato, Aristotle,
	Horace, Longinus, Sidney, Coreneille, Dryden (the Italians,
	Castelvetro and Mazzoni, are mentioned but not emphasized),.
	Johnson and the Romantics: Shelley, Wordsworth, and Coleridge.
	The major themes are traced, and specific orientations are
	emphasized (the mimetic, the expressive, the pragmatic, and
	objective as highlighted by Abrams).Walter Pater and Matthew
	Arnold will serve as transition to the 20th century. Highlighting
	the main position of the New Critics, the course ends at the
	threshold of modernism and postmodernism.
Course Objectives (i.e.	1. Identify and explain the fundamental concepts pertinent to each
Learning Outcomes as	literary theory
specified in the Course	2. Use concise critical vocabulary to describe critical orientations
Specifications)	3.Identify the major critics and assign them to their respective theories
	4.Demonstrate awareness of the major differences between the main
	theories (the mimetic, the expressive, the pragmatic, and the objective)

 
 

Textbook	Abrams, M H. The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the
	Critical Tradition. Unknown.
	2009.
	Barry, P. Beginning theory (third edition): An Introduction to
	Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester UP. 2009
	Instructor’s copy of Handouts
	A handbook of selected texts is available at the copy centre in your
	instructor’s name.
	Lecture notes will be posted online on LMS Blackboard.
Supplementary Reading	Makaryk, Irina R., gen ed.  Encyclopedia of
	Contemporary Literary Theory:Approaches,
	Scholars, Terms. Toronto: University of Toronto
	Press, 1993. Mikics, David. A New Handbook of
	Literary Terms. New Haven: Yale UP, 2007.
	Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature:
	Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies.
	New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
	Schmitz, Thomas A.  Modern Literary Theory and Ancient Texts: An
	Introduction.
	Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2007

 
 
 
 
Methods of assessment:

Type	Distribution of Marks	Date of Administration	Date of Feed-back
			(approximate)*
	15 % 5 each	1st Quiz Thursday, Feb 18th	Next class
Quizzes (3)		2nd Quiz Thursday, March 31st
		3rd Quiz Thursday, April 14th
	30% 15 each	1st Midterm Thursday,	Two weeks
		March 3rd
Midterms (2)		2nd Midterm Thursday, April 21st
Presentation (1)	5 %	Revision Week	Immediate feedback
Research Paper (1)	10 %	Sunday, April 14th	Two weeks
Final Exam	40%

Additional notes: No make-ups will be offered for quizzes with or without an excuse. Late submissions of assignments will be penalized with a one-point-deduction each late day.
 
Students who miss a midterm are supposed to provide me with an excuse for their absence. Only students with valid excuses will take a make-up exam. The exam will cover the entire syllabus and will take place during the review week.