English 256—Literary Theory & Criticism
Fall 2026
Meetings: Tuesday and Thursday,
2:30-3:45. Argyros Forum, 206A
Professor Richard Ruppel (ruppel@chapman.edu)
Office Hours: Monday (Smith 07) & Thursday (Smith 203), 8-9:30 am
& by appointment
Updated August 26, 2026
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 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:
Large language models such as ChatGPT
can be useful tools, but they can also undermine your learning and create
serious problems of academic integrity. The basic rules for this course are simple:
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. This remains
true even if you revise, paraphrase, or lightly edit the AI-generated material.
Don’t do it.
If I suspect that you
have pasted in a response produced by an LLM, 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.
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 about me, but all LLMs continue to
hallucinate.
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. I have added some material:
|
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.) For example, you might consult ChatGPT when you are responding to a
discussion board question. You might
need help understanding a concept introduced in the essay you read, and the
discussion board prompt asks you to respond to that essay in some way. You might write something like this: “The
essay uses the French word, différance, and I consulted ChatGPT to help
me understand its meaning.”
· 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: 40% (20% each)
Final: 30%
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 Syllabus*:
Week 1: August
25-27 – Course business, an introduction to literary theory, and “Heart of
Darkness” (1899).
Week 2: September 1-3 – “Heart of
Darkness,” Chinua Achebe and Edward Said (postcolonial
theory) essays.
Week 3: September 8-10
– Discussion of Stephen Greenblatt (new
historicism) and Richard Ruppel (cognitive
literary studies) essays.
Week 4: September 15-17 – Exam Thursday.
Week 5: September 22-24 - “A White
Heron,” Sarah Orne Jewett (1886). Simone
de Beauvoir, Judith Butler (feminism).
Week 6: September 29-October 1 –Susan
Bordo (feminism) Sigmund Freud, (psychoanalytical criticism)
Week 7: October 6-8 – Jacques Lacan (psychoanalytical criticism), Timothy Morton (eco-criticism).
Week 8: October 13-15 – Exam Tuesday. “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” Herman
Melville (1853).
Week 9: October 20-22: Jacques Derrida (deconstruction), Wolfgang Iser (reader-response).
Week 10: October 27-29 – Michel
Foucault (post-structuralism)
Week 11: November 3-5 – Foucault. Begin group meetings.
Week 12: November 10-12 – Group
meetings Tuesday. Group Projects begin Thursday.
Week 13: November 17-19 – Group
Projects.
THANKSGIVING BREAK!
Week 14:
December 1-3 – Last groups. Wrap-up and preparation for final.
Week 15: Final Exam: Friday, December
11, 8-10:30am.
*We may decide to alter this schedule. I will make any
changes online and give you plenty of notice.
Thursday, August 27: 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 1: Read
17-33 in the Norton Anthology.
Finish “Heart of Darkness,” and respond to the first Discussion Board
prompt. Bring a device to play the first
Kahoot! game, which is based on your reading in the Norton Anthology.
Thursday,
September 3: Read the introduction to Chinua Achebe
and his “An Image of Africa,” 1534-46, in the Norton Anthology.
Tuesday,
September 8: 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 10: Read Ruppel’s chapter on “Heart of
Darkness,” in the Modules section of Canvas.
Tuesday,
September 15: No new reading.
Thursday,
September 17: First
exam.
Useful Links
Chinua Achebe
· Brief video
tribute after his death, from Brown University.
· New York University interview with Achebe. 26 minutes.
Concerned with “An Image of Africa,” his definition of what it means to
be an African, and other matters.
Jacques Derrida
· A
defense and explanation of Derrida, arguing that he was not a nihilist who attacked
reason and truth but actually a liberating philosopher. The video also
summarizes his philosophical, linguistic positions. 17 minutes.
· An introduction
to Derrida via the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
· Another video,
by Gavin Young, on Dissemination.
64 minutes.
· A brief,
snappy, and amusing video discussion of the meaning of differance,
which, in French, means both “difference” (in our English sense) and deferral. From the Overthink Podcast. 12.5 minutes.