English
256—Literary Theory & Criticism
Fall 2025
Meetings: Tuesday and Thursday, 1-2:15
Argyros Forum 207
Professor Richard Ruppel (ruppel@chapman.edu)
Office & Office Hours: 8:30-10:00, Mondays & Tuesday & by
appointment.
Updated July 31, 2025
Assignments
Useful Links
Canvas
Course
Description & Purpose:
ENG
256 introduces many of the basic ideas, questions, and thinkers in recent
(twentieth- and twenty-first century) literary theory. We will read a selection
of theoretical essays in the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
and apply what we learn to short stories.
Why
should we study literary theory?
Isn’t it enough to read stories, novels, plays, and poetry closely and
carefully? You have been learning to
read more closely and accurately since you started to read, and you are
probably pretty good at it, but studying these different theories will open
literature for you in new ways. When you
apply queer theory to “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” for example, you gain not only
a better understanding of the story itself, of a subtext that explores the
seamy side of London life in the late 19th century, you also gain knowledge
about that late-19th century world.
When you apply post-colonial, feminist, new historical, and cognitive
literary theories to Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” you see how different
theories lead to different readings, and you understand some of the dark
consequences of colonialism, both for the colonizers and the colonized. Studying theory helps you to think critically
– a multifaceted skill that can be applied to virtually every challenge you will
face at Chapman and in the world beyond.
Theory helps you understand cultural and historical contexts, enriching
your understanding of various histories and cultures. And, I hope, the study of theory can increase
our empathy by helping us see the world of fiction, theater, and poetry from a
variety of different, human perspectives.
Required
Text:
English
Literature Program Learning Objectives: English 256 is required before
students may take upper-level English literature courses, and it is a
requirement for the English Literature major, as well as one of the electives
for English BFA majors and for English minors.
In the discussion board responses, formal essays, and essay exams, you
will have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate the English Literature
Program Learning Objectives listed below:
1. Skill
in critical reading, or the practice of identifying and interpreting the
formal, rhetorical, and stylistic features of a text
2. Ability
to identify and compare key literary movements and genres
3. Ability
to explain and apply significant theoretical and critical approaches in the
field of English studies
4. Skill
in writing grammatically, coherently, and persuasively
5. Skill
in finding, analyzing, and utilizing secondary sources (including the
appropriate methods of citation)
6. Skill
in crafting a compelling thesis-driven essay, with substantiating evidence
Course Student Learning Outcomes:
On
completion of this course, you will be able to
Chapman University Academic Integrity Policy:
Chapman
University is a community of scholars that emphasizes the mutual responsibility
of all members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith. Students are
responsible for doing their own work, and academic dishonesty of any kind will
be subject to sanction by the instructor and referral to the university's
Academic Integrity Committee, which may impose additional sanctions up to and
including dismissal. (See the "Undergraduate Catalog" for the
full policy.) Though I am not requiring you to submit your essays via
Turnitin, I am an expert at finding online and other sources, so I will notice
if you make unacknowledged use of someone else’s work or make improper use of
an LLM. If I have doubts, I will submit your work to Turnitin myself
or use an AI detector to confirm my suspicion. So please
save both of us from trauma and write your Canvas Discussion posts
and essays yourself.
ChatGPT
and other Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots:
1. Typing a
prompt into an LLM chatbot, copying the response, and then submitting that
response for an assignment is an obvious form of academic
misconduct. Don’t do it.
2. Chatbots
are often inaccurate. When I asked ChatGPT for a biography of
Richard Ruppel, a Chapman English professor, two years ago, I found that I was
born in Fairview (false), had been an expert on the Holocaust (mostly false), had
graduated from Yale and Harvard (false), and was now dead (demonstrably, I
hope, false). People in the field describe these errors as
“hallucinations,” but they are presented with supreme self-confidence.
Hallucinations are not uncommon. ChatGPT has improved – a more recent
search provided more accurate information, but all LLMs continue to
hallucinate. If I suspect that you have pasted in a
response produced by an LLM, I will check the various services designed to detect
this. If those services confirm my suspicion, I will call you in for
a conference. If I am convinced you made improper use of an LLM, I am
required to report the case to our Academic Integrity Committee.
3. Chatbots can
be inaccurate, but they do offer clear, useful information which users
should check. These are early times, but through this semester
(and through your academic career) we will all discover ways to help you use
them to enhance your learning.
The
following discussion of the use of LLMs in academic settings was developed by
Dr. Nora Rivera, a former professor in Chapman’s English department:
|
Acceptable Uses of LLMs |
Not Acceptable Uses of LLMs |
|
· To
improve your work · To
brainstorm · To
explore potential counterarguments · To
fine-tune research questions · To
draft an outline to organize your thoughts · To
check grammar and style · To
check format · To
translate words and phrases |
· To
replace your work · To
cheat on the writing & research process · To
obtain answers to assessments · To
generate a full draft of your work · To
generate large chunks of text with little or no input from you as an author |
· Students
must cite AI technologies when appropriate (e.g., when using images generated
by AI technologies, when referencing an answer provided by AI technologies,
etc.)
· Copying
works entirely generated by AI technologies and submitting them as original
content is considered an academic
integrity violation
· Always
revise your work before submitting it. You are responsible for any inaccurate,
biased, offensive, or otherwise unethical content you submit regardless of
whether it originally comes from you or an AI model.
In-Class
use of laptops, tablets, and phones:
Laptops
and tablets must remain closed, and you may not consult your phone
during class. I will give you five minutes at some point during class to
check your phones or to leave class. If you have a reason to consult one of
these devices during class, you must receive my permission to do so beforehand. If
I see you consulting your phone or using a laptop for any unauthorized reason
during class, I will mark you absent.
Chapman's Students with Disabilities Policy:
In
compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any condition, either
permanent or temporary, that might affect their ability to perform in this
class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the beginning of the term. The
University, through the Disability Services Office, will work with the
appropriate faculty member who is asked to provide the accommodations for a
student in determining what accommodations are suitable based on the
documentation and the individual student needs. The granting of any
accommodation will not be retroactive and cannot jeopardize the academic
standards or integrity of the course.
Please see me if you have ANY concerns about completing any of the
requirements of this course.
Chapman Equity and Diversity Policy:
Chapman
University is committed to ensuring equality and valuing
diversity. Students and professors are reminded to show respect at
all times as outlined in Chapman’s Harassment
and Discrimination Policy. Any violations of this policy
should be discussed with the professor, the Dean of Students and/or otherwise
reported in accordance with this policy.
Course Requirements:
Attendance: Please make
every effort to attend our classes. Missing more than three sessions will
adversely affect your grade, if you miss five or more classes you will fail the
course unless you provide a compelling reason for excessive absences.
Communication: Whether
online or in class, please be courteous and constructive. I receive a
large number of emails, so when emailing, please identify the course (256),
your last name, and the subject in the subject line. I will respond
promptly to your emails; please respond promptly to mine.
Grades:
*Participation: 15%
Group Project: 15%
Exams: 45% (15% each)
Final: 25%
The *Participation grade is primarily your
grade on responses to the Canvas Discussion assignments. Here are my
criteria for evaluating your responses:
1. The
response should respond as specifically as possible to the prompt (or you
should indicate why you’re modifying the prompt).
2. The response should reveal close engagement with the work(s) under
discussion.
3. The posting
should contribute to the discussion, so later postings should not simply repeat
earlier postings, and they should reflect some engagement with earlier
postings.
4. Responses should be substantive.
One final note on
grades: I
will post grades in Canvas, but I keep the official grades in my gradebook and
average your grades based on a four-point scale (A= 4.0, A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3,
etc.). I calculate your final grades; the Canvas final grades are not official
grades. If you have any questions about your grades, don’t hesitate to ask
me.
Course Outline*:
Week
1: August
26-28 – Course business, an introduction to literary theory, and “Heart of
Darkness” (1899).
Week 2: September 2-4 – “Heart of
Darkness,” Chinua Achebe and Edward Said (postcolonial
theory) essays.
Week 3: September 9-11
– Discussion of Stephen Greenblatt (new
historicism) and Richard Ruppel (cognitive
literary studies) essays. Exam Thursday.
Week 4: September 16-18 – No Class Tuesday, group Discussion Board work
Thursday.
Week 5: September 23-25 - “A White
Heron,” Sarah Orne Jewett (1886). Simone
de Beauvoir, Judith Butler (feminism).
Week 6: September 30-October 2 –Susan
Bordo (feminism) Sigmund Freud, Jacques
Lacan (psychoanalytical)
Week 7: October 7-9 – Timothy Morton (eco-criticism). Exam Thursday.
Week 8: October 14-16 – “Bartleby, the
Scrivener,” Herman Melville (1853). Jacques Derrida (deconstruction).
Week 9: October 21-23: Wolfgang Iser (reader-response),
Roland Barthes (post-structuralism).
Week 10: October 28-30– Michel Foucault
(post-structuralism) Exam Thursday.
Week 11: November 4-6 – Group
Projects.
Week 12: November 11-13 – Group
Projects.
Week 13: November 18-20 – Group
Projects.
THANKSGIVING BREAK!
Week
14:
December 2-4 – Wrap-up and preparation for final.
Week 15: Final Exam: December 10,
1:30-4pm.
*We
may decide to alter this schedule. I will make any changes online and
give you plenty of notice.
Thursday, August 28: Read over the syllabus and bring questions, comments,
and concerns to class. Read 1-17 in the Norton Anthology.
Begin reading “Heart of Darkness,” Joseph Conrad
(1899).
Tuesday, September 2: Read 17-33 in
the Norton
Anthology. Finish “Heart of
Darkness,” and respond to the first Discussion Board prompt.
Thursday, September 4: Read the
introduction to Chinua Achebe and his “An Image of Africa,” 1534-46, in the Norton
Anthology.
Tuesday, September 9: Read the
introduction to Edward Said and his introduction to Orientalism,
1780-1805, and the introduction to Stephen Greenblatt and the excerpt from
“Resonance and Wonder,” 2027-40, in the Norton.
Thursday, September 11: Read Ruppel’s
chapter on “Heart of Darkness,” in the Modules section of Canvas. First exam.
Tuesday, September 16: No class.
Thursday, September 18: Work in class
with your group to respond to the second Discussion Board prompt.
Tuesday, September 23: Read “A
White Heron,” Sarah Orne Jewett (1886).