These are the readings that need to be chosen from You can find them online via Google The first one has already been pasted for you Week One: Identity and Post - Civil War Poetry 1. Emily Dickinson," I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too? Then there's a pair of us — don't tell! They'd banish us, you know. How dreary to be somebody! How public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog! 2. Walt Whitman: Author Bio 3. Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself" 4. Walt Whitman, "A Noiseless Patient Spider" Week Two: Social Realism, gendered/feminist criticism, and how to write about literature. Mark Twain: Author Bio Mark Twain, War Prayer Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Author Bio Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper: Robert Frost: Author Bio Robert Frost: "Mending Wall" Edwin Arlington Robinson: Author Bio Edwin Arlington Robinson: Richard Cory Edwin Arlington Robinson, Miniver Cheevy Edith Wharton: Author Bio Edith Wharton, Roman Fever PLUS: Mark Twain The Story of the Bad Little Boy APUS Assignment Rubric Lower Level U/G 100-200 Courses EXEMPLARY LEVEL A 18-20 ACCOMPLISHED LEVEL B 16-17 DEVELOPING LEVEL C 14-15 BEGINNING LEVEL D 11-13 Points Earned Purpose and Audience (20 Points) The writing engages the reader with an original approach to the subject. It may encompass conflicting ideas and inspires the reader to contemplate the relationship of complex ideas. The writing clearly goes beyond the minimum requirements of the assignment. It attempts to engage the reader through originality and presentation of complex ideas. The writing meets the minimum requirements of the assignment. It offers insight into the subject through basic logic and the presentation of ideas based on some evidence. The writing fails to meet the minimum requirements of the assignment. It offers little insight into the subject and has serious flaws in logic and omissions in evidence. /20 Thesis and Support (20 Points) The writing has a clearly articulated original thesis and subordinate ideas supported by reliable and relevant evidence based on original research. Main ideas are not lost in surrounding supporting evidence. The writing has a clearly articulated thesis supported by appropriate evidence and sound logic. Minor gaps in logic and argument may appear. Main ideas can be distinguished from supporting evidence with some effort. The writing has a clear thesis and related subordinate ideas supported by clear thinking and appropriate evidence. Logical arguments may be one-sided or incomplete. The writing may need a more clearly articulated thesis and/or appropriate related subordinate ideas. Fuzzy logic may be evident and adequate supporting evidence is lacking. /20 Organization (20 Points) The writing flows ...

1. These are the readings that need to be chosen from
You can find them online via Google
The first one has already been pasted for you
Week One: Identity and Post - Civil War Poetry
1. Emily Dickinson," I'm Nobody! Who Are You?"
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us — don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
2. Walt Whitman: Author Bio
3. Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself"
4. Walt Whitman, "A Noiseless Patient Spider"
Week Two: Social Realism, gendered/feminist criticism, and
how to write about literature.
Mark Twain: Author Bio
Mark Twain, War Prayer
Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Author Bio
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper:
Robert Frost: Author Bio
Robert Frost: "Mending Wall"
Edwin Arlington Robinson: Author Bio

2. Edwin Arlington Robinson: Richard Cory
Edwin Arlington Robinson, Miniver Cheevy
Edith Wharton: Author Bio
Edith Wharton, Roman Fever
PLUS:
Mark Twain The Story of the Bad Little Boy
APUS
Assignment
Rubric
Lower Level
U/G
100-200
Courses
EXEMPLARY
LEVEL
A
18-20
ACCOMPLISHED
LEVEL
B

3. 16-17
DEVELOPING
LEVEL
C
14-15
BEGINNING
LEVEL
D
11-13
Points
Earned
Purpose and
Audience
(20 Points)
The writing
engages the
reader with an
original approach
to the subject. It
may encompass
conflicting ideas
and inspires the
reader to

4. contemplate the
relationship of
complex ideas.
The writing
clearly goes
beyond the
minimum
requirements of
the assignment.
It attempts to
engage the
reader through
originality and
presentation of
complex ideas.
The writing
meets the
minimum
requirements of
the assignment.
It offers insight
into the subject
through basic
logic and the
presentation of
ideas based on
some evidence.
The writing fails
to meet the
minimum
requirements of
the assignment.
It offers little

5. insight into the
subject and has
serious flaws in
logic and
omissions in
evidence.
/20
Thesis and
Support
(20 Points)
The writing has a
clearly articulated
original thesis
and subordinate
ideas supported
by reliable and
relevant evidence
based on original
research. Main
ideas are not lost
in surrounding
supporting
evidence.
The writing has a
clearly articulated
thesis supported
by appropriate
evidence and
sound logic.

6. Minor gaps in
logic and
argument may
appear. Main
ideas can be
distinguished
from supporting
evidence with
some effort.
The writing has a
clear thesis and
related
subordinate ideas
supported by
clear thinking and
appropriate
evidence. Logical
arguments may
be one-sided or
incomplete.
The writing may
need a more
clearly articulated
thesis and/or
appropriate
related
subordinate
ideas. Fuzzy logic
may be evident
and adequate
supporting
evidence is
lacking.

7. /20
Organization
(20 Points)
The writing flows
smoothly and
logically from a
well-defined
thesis. It contains
an appropriate
introduction,
conclusion, and
smooth
transitions.
The writing is
organized
logically and
flows well. An
introduction and
conclusion are
evident, but
transitions may
be smoother.
The writing
demonstrates
rudimentary
organization and
logical structure,
but ideas may be
more fully

8. developed and
supported by
more appropriate
evidence.
The writing is
noticeably lacking
in organization.
There is no clear
introduction nor
conclusion and
ideas are neither
carefully nor fully
developed.
Supporting
evidence is
clearly lacking.
/20
Style
(10 Points)
The writing
engages the
reader through
an original prose
style appropriate
to the subject.
Language is
The writing keeps

9. the reader’s
attention through
a carefully
crafted prose
style. Language
chosen is
The writing is
clear but could be
expressed in a
style more
appropriate to
the subject. It is
jargon-free but
The writing lacks
clarity and is
sometimes
confusing. The
language chosen
is not appropriate
to the subject nor
/10
precise.
Sentences are
varied but not
noticeably so.
Active voice is
apparent. All
quoted or
paraphrased
material is

10. properly
documented and
cited in MLA
style.
Annotations are
included, when
appropriate.
appropriate to
the subject, but
may call
attention to itself
in minor ways.
Most quoted and
paraphrased
material is
properly
documented and
cited in MLA
style.
Annotations are
included, when
appropriate.
may require a
more complete
explanation of
some terms
used. Sources
are documented
and cited but
need to show
greater
consistency in
use of MLA style.
Annotations

11. missing or
completed
incorrectly.
the assignment.
Sources are
overly quoted or
paraphrased and
not adequately
documented nor
cited in MLA
style.
Annotations
missing.
Grammar and
Mechanics
(20 Points)
The writing is
free of
proofreading
errors. The
writing contains
sentences that
are always
complete and
grammatically
correct, and free
of confusion and
ambiguity.

12. The writing may
exhibit a few
minor errors in
proofreading, but
they do not
impair the flow of
the reading. The
writing contains
sentences that
are complete or
which imply
unstated
connections
and/or
conclusions.
The writing could
benefit from
additional
proofreading, as
some errors
impede the flow
of the reading.
The writing
contains some
grammatical
errors easily
corrected.
Additional
proofreading
would help
eliminate errors.
The writing
exhibits
substantial errors

13. in proofreading.
The writing is
confusing and
ambiguous owing
to substantial
errors of
grammar and
syntax. There is
no evidence of
proofreading,
editing, or
rewriting.
/20
Formatting
(10 Points)
Student provides
a high-caliber,
formatted
assignment in
proper MLA style.
Assignment
presents an
above-average
use of formatting
skills with few
errors in MLA
style.
Appearance of

14. final assignment
demonstrates the
student's limited
ability to use MLA
style formatting.
Appearance of
the final
assignment is
distracting. The
number of MLA
style formatting
errors impedes
easy reading.
/10
English 200, Section 8:
Introduction to Literature
HANDOUTS
CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE
Described below are nine common critical approaches to the
literature.
Quotations are from X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia's _Literature:
An Introduction
to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama_, Sixth Edition (New York:
HarperCollins, 1995),
pages 1790-1818.
* Formalist Criticism: This approach regards literature as "a
unique form of

15. human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own
terms." All the
elements necessary for understanding the work are contained
within the
work itself. Of particular interest to the formalist critic are
the
elements of form-style, structure, tone, imagery, etc.-that are
found
within the text. A primary goal for formalist critics is to
determine how
such elements work together with the text's content to shape
its effects
upon readers.
* Biographical Criticism: This approach "begins with the
simple but central
insight that literature is written by actual people and that
understanding
an author's life can help readers more thoroughly
comprehend the work."
Hence, it often affords a practical method by which readers
can better
understand a text. However, a biographical critic must be
careful not to
take the biographical facts of a writer's life too far in
criticizing the
works of that writer: the biographical critic "focuses on
explicating the
literary work by using the insight provided by knowledge of
the author's
life.... [B]iographical data should amplify the meaning of the
text, not
drown it out with irrelevant material."
* Historical Criticism: This approach "seeks to understand a
literary work

16. by investigating the social, cultural, and intellectual context
that
produced it-a context that necessarily includes the artist's
biography and
milieu." A key goal for historical critics is to understand the
effect of
a literary work upon its original readers.
* Gender Criticism: This approach "examines how sexual
identity influences
the creation and reception of literary works." Originally an
offshoot of
feminist movements, gender criticism today includes a
number of
approaches, including the so-called "masculinist" approach
recently
advocated by poet Robert Bly. The bulk of gender criticism,
however, is
feminist and takes as a central precept that the patriarchal
attitudes
that have dominated western thought have resulted,
consciously or
unconsciously, in literature "full of unexamined 'male-
produced'
assumptions." Feminist criticism attempts to correct this
imbalance by
analyzing and combatting such attitudes-by questioning, for
example, why
none of the characters in Shakespeare's play Othello ever
challenge the
right of a husband to murder a wife accused of adultery.
Other goals of
feminist critics include "analyzing how sexual identity
influences the
reader of a text" and "examin[ing] how the images of men
and women in

17. imaginative literature reflect or reject the social forces that
have
historically kept the sexes from achieving total equality."
* Psychological Criticism: This approach reflects the effect
that modern
psychology has had upon both literature and literary
criticism.
Fundamental figures in psychological criticism include
Sigmund Freud,
whose "psychoanalytic theories changed our notions of
human behavior by
exploring new or controversial areas like wish-fulfillment,
sexuality, the
unconscious, and repression" as well as expanding our
understanding of how
"language and symbols operate by demonstrating their
ability to reflect
unconscious fears or desires"; and Carl Jung, whose theories
about the
unconscious are also a key foundation of mythological
criticism (see
below). Psychological criticism has a number of approaches,
but in
general, it usually employs one (or more) of three
approaches:
1. An investigation of "the creative process of the
artist: what is the
nature of literary genius and how does it relate to
normal mental
functions?"
2. The psychological study of a particular artist,
usually noting how
an author's biographical circumstances affect or
influence their
motivations and/or behavior.

18. 3. The analysis of fictional characters using the
language and methods
of psychology.
* Sociological Criticism: This approach "examines literature
in the
cultural, economic and political context in which it is
written or
received," exploring the relationships between the artist and
society.
Sometimes it examines the artist's society to better
understand the
author's literary works; other times, it may examine the
representation of
such societal elements within the literature itself. One
influential type
of sociological criticism is Marxist criticism, which focuses
on the
economic and political elements of art, often emphasizing
the ideological
content of literature; because Marxist criticism often argues
that all art
is political, either challenging or endorsing (by silence) the
status quo,
it is frequently evaluative and judgmental, a tendency that
"can lead to
reductive judgment, as when Soviet critics rated Jack
London better than
William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton, and
Henry James,
because he illustrated the principles of class struggle more
clearly."
Nonetheless, Marxist criticism "can illuminate political
and economic
dimensions of literature other approaches overlook."

19. * Mythological Criticism: This approach emphasizes "the
recurrent universal
patterns underlying most literary works." Combining the
insights from
anthropology, psychology, history, and comparative religion,
mythological
criticism "explores the artist's common humanity by tracing
how the
individual imagination uses myths and symbols common to
different cultures
and epochs." One key concept in mythological criticism is
the archetype, "a
symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep
universal
response," which entered literary criticism from Swiss
psychologist Carl
Jung. According to Jung, all individuals share a "`collective
unconscious,' a set of primal memories common to the
human race, existing
below each person's conscious mind"-often deriving from
primordial
phenomena such as the sun, moon, fire, night, and blood,
archetypes
according to Jung "trigger the collective unconscious."
Another critic,
Northrop Frye, defined archetype in a more limited way as
"a symbol,
usually an image, which recurs often enough in literature to
be
recognizable as an element of one's literary experience as a
whole."
Regardless of the definition of archetype they use,
mythological critics
tend to view literary works in the broader context of works
sharing a
similar pattern.

20. * Reader-Response Criticism: This approach takes as a
fundamental tenet that
"literature" exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but
as a
transaction between the physical text and the mind of a
reader. It
attempts "to describe what happens in the reader's mind
while interpreting
a text" and reflects that reading, like writing, is a creative
process.
According to reader-response critics, literary texts do not
"contain" a
meaning; meanings derive only from the act of individual
readings. Hence,
two different readers may derive completely different
interpretations of
the same literary text; likewise, a reader who re-reads a
work years later
may find the work shockingly different. Reader-response
criticism, then,
emphasizes how "religious, cultural, and social values affect
readings; it
also overlaps with gender criticism in exploring how men
and women read
the same text with different assumptions." Though this
approach rejects
the notion that a single "correct" reading exists for a literary
work, it
does not consider all readings permissible: "Each text
creates limits to
its possible interpretations."
* Deconstructionist Criticism: This approach "rejects the
traditional
assumption that language can accurately represent reality."

21. Deconstructionist critics regard language as a fundamentally
unstable
medium-the words "tree" or "dog," for instance, undoubtedly
conjure up
different mental images for different people-and therefore,
because
literature is made up of words, literature possesses no fixed,
single
meaning. According to critic Paul de Man,
deconstructionists insist on
"the impossibility of making the actual expression coincide
with what has
to be expressed, of making the actual signs [i.e., words]
coincide with
what is signified." As a result, deconstructionist critics tend
to
emphasize not what is being said but how language is used
in a text. The
methods of this approach tend to resemble those of formalist
criticism,
but whereas formalists' primary goal is to locate unity within
a text,
"how the diverse elements of a text cohere into meaning,"
deconstructionists try to show how the text "deconstructs,"
"how it can be
broken down ... into mutually irreconcilable positions."
Other goals of
deconstructionists include (1) challenging the notion of
authors'
"ownership" of texts they create (and their ability to control
the meaning
of their texts) and (2) focusing on how language is used to
achieve power,
as when they try to understand how some interpretations of a
literary
work come to be regarded as "truth."

22. Prepared for English 200, Section 8, at the University of
Mississippi
Send questions or comments to John B. Padgett,
[email protected]
This document can be located on the World Wide Web at
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/courses/web/fall96/litcrit.
txt
Assignment Instructions
Write a 500-750 word essay on one of the following topics. The
word count does not include formatting or the works cited page.
· Write a critical analysis of one of the works from weeks 1 or
2. An overview of approaches can be found here,
(http://home.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/spring97/litcrit.html) but many
are quite straightforward. Psychological, gender, sociological,
biographical, and historical are all approaches that many use
naturally in viewing a work. However, if your interest lies
elsewhere, feel free to choose another approach.
· Compare and contrast two of the stories from weeks 1 and 2.
Be sure that you have isolated a strong and debatable thesis on
which to build the essay. Simply pointing out the differences is
not analysis. Toward that end, you may want to focus on a
specific element of the stories
· If there's an aspect of the stories from these two weeks that
particularly interests you, you may choose your own topic, but
you must run it by me first to be sure it is headed in an
analytical direction.
Your essay should be formatted in MLA style, including double
spacing throughout. All sources should be properly cited both in

23. the text and on a works cited page. As with most academic
writing, this essay should be written in third person. Please
avoid both first person (I, we, our, etc.) and second person (you,
your).
In the upper left-hand corner of the paper, place your name, the
professor’s name, the course name, and the due date for the
assignment on consecutive lines. Double space your information
from your name onward, and don't forget a title. All papers
should be in Times New Roman font with 12-point type with
one-inch margins all the way around your paper. All paragraph
indentations should be indented five spaces (use the tab key)
from the left margin. All work is to be left justified. When
quoting lines in literature, please research the proper way to
cite short stories, plays, or poems.
You should use the online APUS library to look for scholarly
sources. Be careful that you don’t create a "cut and paste" paper
of information from your various sources. Your ideas are to be
new and freshly constructed. Also, take great care not to
plagiarize.
Whatever topic you choose you will need a debatable thesis.
A thesis is not a fact, a quote, or a question. It is your position
on the topic. The reader already knows the story; you are to
offer him a new perspective based on your observations.
Since the reader is familiar with the story, summary is
unnecessary. Rather than tell him what happened, tell him what
specific portions of the story support your thesis.
Supporting Materials