Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 215-2"
COURSE NAME: "Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theories"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2025

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Livia Sacchetti
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 3:00 PM 4:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Designed as an introduction to the theoretical approaches to literature, the course will stimulate students to think and write critically through the study of the principal topics of literary theory. The course will adopt both a historical approach, covering each theory in the chronological order of its appearance on the scene, and a critical approach - putting the theories to the test by applying them to a literary text. The course will also help students to move on to an advanced study of literature by introducing them to the research methods and tools for the identification, retrieval, and documentation of secondary sources.This is a reading and writing intensive course. Students in 200-level literature classes are required to produce 4-5,000 words of critical writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

Students will learn to identify and employ the cardinal literary and cultural theories that have shaped the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The range of theories studied will allow students to appreciate and evaluate the impact of different cultural waves on cultural constructs. This will highlight shifting cultural values and the way these can illuminate a text, ultimately reshaping it and changing its reception. It will also present the history of ideas and cultural theories as a reflection of shifting belief systems and ideas of order.The course will adopt both a historical approach--studying the different theories and their evolution in chronological order--and a critical approach--applying the theories to a single text. The course will also cover advanced research skills.

This is a writing and reading intensive course. Students will be required to produce 4,500-5000 words of critical writing.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By examining a single text—in this case, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye—through different lenses, born at different times and reflecting a variety of needs and agendas, students will learn to recognize interpretive angles and biases; view their own culture as transient and not definitive; appreciate the permeability of a literary text. Upon completion of the course, the students will have learned to read selectively and write papers matching a specific theory to a passage or portion of a work. They will also learn to assess theoretical and cultural biases and employ a theoretical lens.

They will learn:

-- to apply different critical approaches to a literary text;

-- to focus on form rather than context

-- to develop a reasoned and well-founded critical evaluation of a text

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number
Literary Theory an Anthology	Rivkin, Julie and Michael Ryan (eds.	Blackwell Anthologies 2017	9781118718384
The Routledge Companion to Critical and Cultural Theory	Wake, Paul and Simon Malpas	Routledge	978-0415668309
The Bluest Eye	Toni Morrison	Random House	---

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
First Essay	Each essay will apply one specific theory to either a passage or a pattern in the given text. Paper one: 1600-1900 words	20%
MIDTERM Second Paper	in class analysis of a given extract applying one of the methodologies studied	25%
Final paper	Each essay will apply one specific theory to either a passage or a pattern in the given text. Paper one: 1800-2000 words	25%
Final Exam		20%
Active involvement in class discussion	The course will be structured as a Socratic seminar. Students are invited to participate actively in the discussion in order to receive full credit for this component.	10%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance in this course is mandatory; for excused absences, please refer to the Dean of Students' communications. Unexcused absences will affect your grade. Leaving class for longer than 15 minutes will result in an absence unless this has been allowed by the Professor.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Week 1

Introduction

What is literary theory? What determines the birth of theoretical approach

Structuralist theory

· Form as content

· Order as a formal endeavor

Week 2

Structuralism and semiotics

· Form as content

· Order as a formal endeavor

Week 3

Marxist Theory

· Subalternity/ voice/ agency

Week 4

Later Marxist theory/ new historicism

· History as a theoretical lens

Week 5

New Historicism

· History as a theoretical lens

Week 6

New Historicism

· History as a theoretical lens

Week 7

Psychoanalytic theory

· Freud/ Lacan/ Jung

· The self as a field of study: layers

· Conscious/ subconscious/ unconscious

· The gaze: self and the other

Week 8

Psychoanalytic theory

· Freud/ Lacan/ Jung

· The self as a field of study: layers

· Conscious/ subconscious/ unconscious

· The gaze: self and the otherù

Week 9

Feminist theory: five waves of feminism

Week 10

Feminist theory: five waves of feminism

Queer studies and gender theory

Week 11

Post-structuralism/ postmodernism

Week 12

Postcolonial theory

Week 13

Postcolonial theory/ Ecocriticism

Week 14

Ecocriticism/ Intermediality

Week 15

Final

Examination