Thinking about Literature: Criticism and Theory (ENGL2405)

Course overview

ENGL2405 builds on the introduction to literary texts and the skills of close reading that you've received in the first-year course, ENGL1800. In ENGL2405 we start to explore some more general ideas about how literary texts work: how they're constructed, what they do, the questions they raise, how they circulate and function, and the ways in which they're cultural and social phenomena. ENGL2405 will familiarize you with some of the main themes, thinkers, and currents of literary criticism and theory, and give you scope in your research essay to explore issues of particular interest to you. It will also enrich any of the second-level courses you choose to do, and prepare you for the major's third-level options and Honours study.

In your first-level courses in English Literature, you have been developing skills of close reading and using these to analyse a range of literary works from various eras and places.

In this course we take a slightly different approach to English Literature: we start thinking critically about the discipline itself.ﾠ This course poses eight questions that are integral to thinking about literature, and concludes with a brief survey of some major critical approaches to literature. The selected readings provides some ways that literary theory and criticism have answered these questions. They are not definitive answers, but rather starting points for you to formulate your own answers and to expand your understanding of literary texts and literary criticism as a practice.

Seminars operate as workshops: using your skills of close reading on these theoretical and critical texts, we place them in conjunction with literary texts to see how they work together. Workshops encourage you to debate a range of topics. And you also get to read some great literary works along the way. By course end, you will be more self-reflexive and insightful about what it means to read, write, and study literature.

Course requirements

Assumed background

If you are studying for a single or extended major in English Literature, then we very strongly recommend that, in order to get the best experience of ENGL2405 and what it offers, you:

• take ENGL2405 only after you've completed at least all the first-level courses you need for the major. English Extension atﾠhigh school is notﾠin any way a substitute for this.
• take ENGL2405 before you start on the third-level courses.

If you are not studying for a single or extended major in English Literature, we recommend that you:

• take ENGL2405 only once you've completed the prerequisite #4 of Arts courses; and
• consider making the English Literature core course ENGL1800 (Literary Classics: Texts and Traditions) as one of these.

ENGL2405 assumes that:

• You are able to write in clear and precise English.ﾠ If you're not sure of how to write clear academic English, or if you just want a refresher, we recommend that you consider doing ﾠWRIT1005ﾠ(Fundamentals of Academic Writing).
• You are familiar with presenting assignments in MLA style, 9th edition.ﾠ For details of MLAﾠstyle, see the Library's "How To" guide, at http://www.library.uq.edu.auﾠﾠ : Explore UQ Library: Help:ﾠ Referencing Style Guides

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

ENGL1800 (Literary Classics: Texts and Traditions) or ENGL1500 (Contemporary Literature: Reading and Writing).

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

Whilst every effort is made to place students in their preferred activity, it is not always possible for a student to be enrolled in their tutorial of choice. If you require assistance, please ensure that you email timetabling.commarts@enquire.uq.edu.au from your UQ student email with: 

• Your name 
• Your student ID 
• The course code 
• A list of three tutorial preferences (in order of preference) 
• Reason for the change – e.g. timetable clash, elite athlete status, SAP 

Teaching staff do not have access to change tutorials or help with timetables; all timetabling changes must be processed through the Timetabling Team. 

Aims and outcomes

ENGL2405 aims to:

• provide a critical insight into the operations of literary criticism, literary texts, and literature as an institution;
• introduce students to some key theoretical works of literary studies;
• provide students with a basic ability to apply literary theory and criticism to the reading of literary works;
• improve reading skills of critical and theoretical texts;
• improve oral and written argumentation skills; and
• encourage behaviours that make you more employable, namely, attending workshops regularly, producing work in a timely fashion, persevering with learning new and challenging material, and valuing a work ethic.

In addition, as a course in the single and extended majors in English Literature, ENGL2405 seeks to:

• build on the knowledge of literary texts and the skills of reading them that have been developed in the first-level courses of the major, and in particular ENGL1800;
• echo and comment on issues that arise throughout the second-level courses in the major, without requiring students to have done any particular one of them;
• prepare students for the critical thought and ways of dealing with the critical literature that will be developed further in the third-level courses.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

Seminar Preparation, Writing, and Participation

Mode

Oral, Written

Category

Participation/ Student contribution

Weight

15%

Due date

24/02/2025 - 18/04/2025

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L05, L06

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit a writing task of passable standard to your tutor via the link found in the week's "Resources" folder on Blackboard before the first class of each week.

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Please note: this is a class assessment item and students are NOT able to apply for an extension via the Unitask portal. Please contact your course coordinator directly to see if alternative arrangements are available.

Critical Essay

Mode

Written

Category

Essay/ Critique

Weight

45% 2000 words (incl. quotations)

Due date

24/04/2025

Submit via TurnItIn through Blackboard

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07, L08, L09

Task description

Submission guidelines

TurnItIn Receipts: 

Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial. 

When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can: 

• View the name of the submitted file 
• View date and time of the upload 
• Resubmit your paper (if necessary) 
• Download your submitted paper 
• Download digital receipt. 

If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work). 

If the submission was not successful: 

• Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).  
• Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again. 
• If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached. 

Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Final Examination

• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

40%

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L05, L06, L07, L08

Task description

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

• Where fractional marks occur in the calculation of the final grade, a mark of x.5% or greater will be rounded up to (x+1)%. A percentage mark of less than x.5% will be rounded down to x%.  
• Where no assessable work is received, a Grade of X will apply.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

• Referencing Style: Essays in English and English Literature submitted to the School of Communication and Artsﾠmust use the MLA (Modern Language Association) referencing style.ﾠ
• Further information regarding the assessment, including marking criteria and/or marking rubrics are available in the ‘Assessment’ folder in Blackboard for this course. 
• Marks Cannot Be Changed After Being Released: Marks are not open to negotiation with course staff. If you wish to discuss the feedback you have received, you should make an appointment to speak with the Course Coordinator. 
• Assessment Re-mark: If you are considering an Assessment Re-mark, please follow the link to important information you should consider before submitting a request. 
• Integrity Pledge: Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin. Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Modules.ﾠIn uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university. 
• Withholding marks prior to finalisation of grades: Per UQ Assessment Procedures – Release of Assessment Item Marks and Grades: The final assessment item and the marks for the assessment item are to be released only after the final grade for the course has been released.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Own copy required

You'll need to have your own copy of the following reading resources. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Additional learning resources information

WEEKLY READING LIST:

NB: Both List A and List B texts are compulsory reading and print copies should be brought to the relevant class. Using print copies keeps pagination consistent and helps us avoid social media distraction.

The Norton Anthology refers to the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, 3rd edition, unless otherwise noted.

Suggestions for further reading are provided. These are not compulsory and will not be examined. They allow you to pursue topics of particular interest and to encounter other ways of thinking about the particular topic.

MODULE ONE: SOME CRITICAL QUESTIONS

• Begin reading J.M. Coetzee, Foe and Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. Aim to have these read ASAP.

Week 1: What is Literature? (Which leads us to some other questions, including “What is Literary Value?”)

Required Reading:

List A:

• Bourdieu, Pierre. From “Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.” Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, edited by Vincent B. Leitch et al, WW Norton & Co, 2018, pp. 1586-92. ﾠﾠ
• Bloom, Harold. “Preface and Prelude.” The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages, Riverhead Books, 1995, pp. 1-11. (Available via Library Course Reading List)
• Leavis, Frank Raymond (F.R) . From The Great Tradition: George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Norton Anthology, pp.1052-1057.
• Williams, Raymond. “Literature.” Keywords, Flamingo, 1987, pp. 183-188. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

List B:

• ENGL1800 2023 Course Reading List (Available via blackboard)

Further Reading:

• Herrnstein Smith, Barbara. “Contingencies of Value.”ﾠ Norton Anthology.
• Hume, David. “Of the Standard of Taste.” Norton Anthology.ﾠ
• Kant, Immanuel. “Critique of the Power of Judgement.” Norton Anthology.

Week 2: What is Literary Criticism?

Required Reading:

List A:

• Hayles, N. Katherine. "How We Read: Close, Hyper, Machine." Norton Anthology, pp. 2071-2094.
• Crowe Ransom, John. “Criticism Inc.” Norton Anthology, 2010, pp. 901-911.
• Kolodny, Annette. “Dancing through the Minefield: Some Observations on the Theory, Practice, and Politics of a Feminist Literary Criticism.” Norton Anthology, 2nd edition, pp. 2048-66. (Available via Library Course Reading List).

List B:

• Anne Sexton, “After Auschwitz.” The Complete Poems, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981, pp. 432-433. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

Further Reading:

• Bhabha, Homi.K. ”The Commitment to Theory.” Norton Anthology.
• Christian, Barbara. “The Race for Theory.” Norton Anthology.
• Graff, Gerald. “Taking Cover in Coverage.” Norton Anthology.
• Pater, Walter. From ”Studies in the History of the Renaissance.” Norton Anthology.
• Smith, Barbara. “Toward a Black Feminist Criticism.” Norton Anthology.

Week 3: What is it to be an Author?

Required Reading:

List A:

• Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author.” Norton Anthology, pp. 1268-72.
• Coetzee, J. M. Foe.
• Foucault, Michel. “What is an Author?” Norton Anthology, pp. 1394-1404; p.1408-1409.

List B:

• Four "anonymous" poems (Available via blackboard)

Further Reading:

• Sartre, Jean Paul.ﾠ From “What is Literature? (Why Write?)” Norton Anthology.
• Woolf, Virginia. “A Room of One’s Own.” Norton Anthology.ﾠ

Week 4: How do We Read Literary Texts, and Why?

Required Reading:

List A:

• Coetzee, J. M.ﾠ Foe.
• Fish, Stanley. From Is There a Text in this Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Norton Anthology, pp. 1898-1909.
• Iser, Wolfgang.ﾠ “Interaction between Text and Reader.” Norton Anthology, pp. 1452-1460.

List B:

• Angela Carter. “The Snow Child.” The Bloody Chamber, Vintage Books, pp. 105-106.
• ---. "Wolf-Alice. "The Bloody Chamber, Vintage Books, pp. 140-49.

Further Reading:

• Sartre, Jean Paul. “What is Literature?” Norton Anthology.
• Jauss, Hans Robert. “Literary History as a Challenge to Literary Theory.” Norton Anthology.

Week 5: What is Literary Language, and How does it Work?

Required Reading:

List A:

• Bakhtin, Mikhail M. From “Discourse in the Novel.” Norton Anthology. pp.1011-1014; pp.1018-1030.
• Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Vintage Books.
• Coetzee, J. M. Foe.
• Shklovsky, Viktor “Art as Technique.” ﾠRussian Formalist Criticism, edited by Lee T. Lemon and Marion J. Reis, U of Nebraska, 1965, pp. 15-29. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

List B:

• Bukowski, Charles. “Hell is a Lonely Place.”ﾠ The Pleasures of the Damned, edited by John Martin, Canongate, 2007, pp. 111-113. (Available via Library Course Reading List)
• Cummings, E. E. “O Sweet Spontaneous.” Complete Poems: 1904-1962, edited by George J. Firmage, Liveright, 1994, pp. 58. (Available via Library Course Reading List)
• --- “ygUDUH.” Complete Poems: 1904-1962, pp. 547. (Available via Library Course Reading List)
• Wordsworth, William. “Daffodils.” Romanticism: An Anthology, pp. 558. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

Further Reading:

• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “Biographia Literaria.” Norton Anthology.
• Heidegger, Martin. “Language.” Norton Anthology.
• Jakobson, Roman. From “Linguistics and Poetics.” Norton Anthology.
• --- “Two Aspects of Language of Two Types of Aphasic Disturbances.” Norton Anthology.

Week 6: Where do Literary Texts Come from? The Heavens? The Imagination? Somewhere Else?

Required Reading:

List A:

• Barthes, Roland. “From Work to Text.” Norton Anthology, 2010. pp.1277-1282.
• Freud, Sigmund. From “The Interpretation of Dreams”. Norton Anthology. pp.789-799.
• Williams, Raymond. “Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory.” Norton Anthology. pp.1337-1350.

List B:

• Carter, Angela. “The Werewolf.” The Bloody Chamber, pp. 126-28.ﾠ
• --- “The Erl-King.” The Bloody Chamber, pp. 96-104.ﾠ

Further Reading:

• Bloom, Harold. From “The Anxiety of Influence.” Norton Anthology.
• Elliot, T. S. “The Metaphysical Poets.” Norton Anthology.ﾠ
• Freud, Sigmund. From “The Uncanny.” Norton Anthology.
• Howe, Irving. “History and the Novel.” Norton Anthology.
• Kristeva, Julia. Norton. From “Revolution in Poetic Language.” Norton Anthology.
• Lacan, Jacques. “ The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience.” Norton Anthology.

Week 7: What does it mean to say that Literature is an Institution?

Required Reading:

List A:

• Eagleton, Terry. From “Literary Theory: An Introduction. Chapter 1. The Rise of English.” Norton Anthology, pp. 2015-2021.
• Thiong’o, Ngũgĩ wa; Taban Lo Liyong; and Henry Owyor-Anyumba. “On the Abolition of the English Department.”ﾠ Norton Anthology, pp. 1912-1916.

List B:

• Forrest, Stephanie. “The Fall of Literature.” IPA Review, 2014, pp.43-45. (Available via Library Course Reading List)
• Lamond, Julieanne. “Franklin vs Miles: Women Writers and Literary Value in Australia.” Meanjin, 70.3, 2011, pp. 32-39. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

Further Reading:

• Fanon, Frantz. “The Wretched of the Earth.” Norton Anthology.
• Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. From The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Norton Anthology.
• Graff, Gerald.ﾠ “Taking Cover in Coverage.” Norton Anthology.
• Ohmann, Richard. From “The Shaping of the Canon: U.S Fiction 1960—1975.” Norton Anthology.
• Williams, Raymond. Norton. “Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory.” Norton Anthology.
• Woolf, Virginia. “A Room of One’s Own.” Norton Anthology.

Week 8: Does Literature have anything to do with Politics?

Required Reading:

List A:

• Cixous, H￩l￨ne. “The Laugh of the Medusa.” Norton Anthology, pp. 1869-1876.ﾠ
• Coetzee, J. M. Foe.
• Nussbaum, Martha C. From “Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education.” Norton Anthology, pp. 2138-2150.
• Said, Edward. From “ Orientalism.” Norton Anthology, pp.1783-1790; p.1795.

List B:

• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “Kubla Khan.” Romanticism: An Anthology, edited by Duncan Wu, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, pp. 641-643. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

Further Reading:

• Althusser, Louis. From “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation.” Norton Anthology.ﾠ
• Gates (Junior), Henry Louis. “Talking Black: Critical Signs of the Times.” Norton Anthology.
• Howe, Irving. “History and the Novel.” Norton Anthology.
• Williams, Raymond. “Base and Superstructure on Marxist Cultural Theory.” Norton Anthology.ﾠ

MODULE TWO: CRITICAL APPROACHES

Week 9: Critical Approaches: Feminism

Required Reading:

List A:

• Carter, Angela. “The Lady of the House of Love.” The Bloody Chamber, pp. 107-25.ﾠ
• ---. “The Werewolf.” The Bloody Chamber, pp. 126-28.
• Duncker, Patricia. “Re-imagining the Fairy Tales: Angela Carter’s Bloody Chambers.” Literature and History, vol.10, no.1, 1984, pp. 3-14. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

Week 11: Critical Approaches: Psychoanalysis

Required Reading:

List A:

• Carter, Angela. "Wolf-Alice." The Bloody Chamber, pp. 140-49.
• ---. "The Erl King." The Bloody Chamber, pp.96-104.
• ﾠJennings, Kristine. “Moonlit Mirrors, Bloody Chambers, and Tender Wolves: Identity and Sexuality in Angela Carter’s 'Wolf-Alice'.” Studies in the Literary Imagination, vol.47, no.1, 2014, pp. 89-110. (Available via Library Course Reading List)ﾠ

Week 12: Critical Approaches: Postcolonialism

Required Reading:

List A:

• J. M Coetzee, Foe.
• Roberts, Sheila. "'Post-colonialism, or the House of Friday'--J.M. Coetzee's Foe." World Literature Written in English, vol.31, no.1, 1991, pp.87-92. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

Week 13: Critical Approaches: Marxism

Required Reading:

List A:

• Carter, Angela. "The Bloody Chamber." The Bloody Chamber, pp. 1-42.
• Harrison, Tony. "Heredity."ﾠ In Selected Poems. London: Penguin, 1987, p.111. (Available via Library Course Reading List).
• Harrison, Tony. "Marked with D."ﾠ In Selected Poems, London: Penguin, 1987, p.155. (Available via Library Course Reading List).
• Harrison, Tony. "Wordlists."ﾠ In Selected Poems. London: Penguin, 1987, p.117-19. (Available via Library Course Reading List).
• Harrison, Tony. "Classics Society."ﾠ In Selected Poems. London: Penguin, 1987, p.120. (Available via Library Course Reading List).
• Regan, Christine.ﾠ "The Politics of Sentiment in Tony Harrison's The School of Eloquence." Critical Survey, vol. 30, no.4 (2018): pp.54-66. (Available via Library Course Reading List)

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.

Course guidelines

Communication Expectations 

While you are a student at UQ, all communication must be conducted according to the UQ Student Code of Conduct. The UQ Library has a helpful Communicate and collaborate online module.  

• Email is the primary way for you to send messages to, and receive information from, the School and our staff.  
• You must use your UQ email address (not a private address) to communicate with staff.   
• You should add a clear subject line, including course code, and a 2-3 word statement.  
• You can send email at any time, however please do not expect responses outside normal working hours (Monday to Friday from ~8am to ~5pm).  
• Emails that constitute bullying, harassment or discrimination against staff contravene the Student Code of Conduct. Emails like this will be reported to the University, and the matter will be pursued as misconduct.