ENGLISH 97: Sophomore Tutorial: Literary Methods

Draft syllabus below; download .pdf here. 

The enrollment for this course is limited to 15 students. English 97, Literary Methods,  satisfies a concentration requirement for the English Department, so students will be prioritized based on concentration and year. After accommodating concentrator interest, prospective English concentrators and secondary field students will be considered, followed by interested students in other concentrations. If you do not have any official affiliation with the English concentration in my.harvard, please include a “comment” with your enrollment petition explaining your interest in the class.

The deadline to petition through my.harvard for limited enrollment courses is 11:59pm ET on Tuesday, April 9. You will be notified if your petition has been approved by 5:00pm ET on Wednesday, April 10. If your petition is approved, you must finalize the enrollment process and register by Wednesday, April 17. If you do not accept your seat by that deadline, it may be reallocated to another student. You can find more information about this process here.

 

L I T E R A R Y   M E T H O D S

 

Francisco Goya, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters," Los caprichos No. 43 (1799)

 

English 97, Fall 2024

MW 3-4.15pm, room TBD 

Professor Namwali Serpell   

Office hours Tu 1-3pm, Barker 215

  

This course, taught in small groups and required for concentrators, introduces theories, interpretive frameworks, and central questions about literature and literary media. What do we do when we read? What is an author? What do we mean by “literature” itself? How might we compare and evaluate interpretations? How do the historical, social, cultural, and legal frameworks around a text shape its meanings and its effects? Combining major critical and theoretical writings with primary works, the course investigates how literary production and interpretation are informed by philosophical and aesthetic traditions, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, national and post-colonial identities, and the material forms in which literature circulates, from parchment books to the internet. Students will also practice fundamental literary research methods through close engagement with Harvard libraries.

 

Access

I encourage you to let me know how I can improve your learning, participation, and access in this course. If you have a disability, or believe you may, and would like to request accommodations, let me know and consult with your Local Student Disability Coordinator.

 

Requirements

15pts Attendance. Three ‘freebie’ absences without penalty. No need to provide reasons  for these absences in advance or after the fact. They're meant to cover everything: medical emergencies, religious holidays, family or friend crises, extracurriculars, etc. 

15pts Participation. One informed question or comment per class gives you full credit.

10pts Responses. Up to 250 pages of reading/ one film per week, monitored with responses due in class Wednesdays. All texts will be provided as .pdfs on Canvas.

10pts Library visit. Schedule at least one meeting with the librarian this semester.

30pts Three writing assignments. Each worth 10 pts, due 9/27, 10/25, and 11/22.

20pts Final paper. 10-12 pages, due 12/13.

All assignments must be in Times 12pt font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, in Word .doc, and submitted by midnight on Fridays. Weekend extensions will be granted with a week’s advance request. Otherwise, each late day is a half-step down, e.g. A- to B+.

 

Policies

• Please treat me and your fellow students with the respect you want for yourself. This includes respect for our viewpoints, for how we wish to be referred to, and for our time.
• Please silence and put away phones in class. E-readers and laptops may be used but they must remain disconnected from the internet during class. 
• I will reply to emails within 48 hours. Before you email me a question, please consult the syllabus, check the Canvas page, and ask another student in the class first. If you need an extension or to be absent beyond the parameters above, please consult with me.
• I do not allow the use of AI for any assignments. Per Harvard College Policy, any evidence of plagiarism is grounds for a failing grade in the course. See the Harvard College Student Handbook and Honor Code for more on academic integrity.

 

Schedule of Readings (may change)

W 09/04	“Frau Trude.” “Vlad the Impaler.” Enheduanna, from Hymn to Inana.
M 09/09 W 09/11	Euripides, The Bacchae. Aristotle, from Poetics. Nietzsche, from The Birth of Tragedy. Brecht, "Alienation Effects."
M 09/16 W 09/18	Beowulf to p. 113. Propp, from Morphology. Beowulf. Morrison, “Grendel & His mother,” Hass, “Ecological Epic.”
M 09/23 W 09/25 F  09/27	Shakespeare, Sonnets. Sidney, “Apology.” Empson, from Seven Types. Keats, “Grecian.” Brooks, C., “Well-Wrought.” Rossetti, “Goblin.” Exercise 1 due.
M 09/30 W 10/02     M 10/07 W 10/09	Shelley, M., Frankenstein to p. 115.   Shelley, Frankenstein. Bakhtin, from The Dialogic Imagination.     Forster, Aspects of the Novel. Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
M 10/14 T  10/15 W 10/16	NO CLASS. Optional screening: Get Out. Peele, Get Out. Benjamin, “The Work of Art.”
M 10/21 W 10/23 F  10/25     M 10/28 W 10/30	LIBRARY VISIT. Saussure, from Course. Austin, “Performative Utterances.” Exercise 2 due.     Jakobson, excerpts. Barthes, “Structuralist Activity.” Johnson, excerpt. Poe, “M. Valdemar.” Barthes, “Textual Analysis.” Derrida, excerpts.
M 11/04 T 11/05 W 11/06     M 11/11 T 11/12 W 11/13	Freud, “The Uncanny,” “Fetishism.” Lacan, “The Mirror Stage.” Optional screening: Alien. Scott, Alien. Cixous, “Laugh of the Medusa.” Creed, “Horror.”     Butler, J., "Performative Acts and Gender." Haraway, “Cyborg Manifesto.” Optional screening: The Piano. Campion, The Piano. Johnson, “Muteness Envy.”
M 11/18 W 11/20 F  11/22     M 11/25 W 11/27	Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism. Lispector, “The Smallest Woman.” Butler, O., “Bloodchild.” Fanon, from Black Skin. Spillers, “Mama’s Baby.” Exercise 3 due.     Marx, “Commodities.” Jameson, from The Political Unconscious. NO CLASS.
M 12/02 W 12/04     F  12/13	Barthes, “Death of the Author.” Foucault, “What is an Author?” Poulet, from “Phenomenology.” Miller, “The Critic as Host.”     Final paper due.