Encountering Texts: An Introduction to Practical Criticism

Dr Bridget Vincent

This course offers students training in a subject which is specific to Cambridge English but which develops skills relevant to the humanities and social sciences more broadly. ‘Practical Criticism’ is a method of analysing texts which was developed in Cambridge in the early twentieth century and which is still a central part of today’s curriculum in the English Faculty. The classes teaches students to examine literary texts in perceptive and detailed ways, and equips them with the skills to engage more productively with any kind of writing – whether this be a poem, a newspaper article, or an historical or sociological source.

Students will familiarise themselves with the wide variety of categories used to describe and anatomise texts, mastering terms as diverse as: poetic forms (what’s the difference between an ode and an elegy? A villanelle and a sestina?); tone and register (what’s the difference between a caricature and a burlesque? Can we ever define irony?); sentence composition (when is a text asyndetic? polysyndetic? anaphoric?); narrative structure (is the plot the same as the story? When is a fable also a parable?) and rhetorical figures (what is it about Obama’s sentences? What does Cicero have to do with it?). The ultimate aim of learning these technical structures extends beyond the ability to anatomise and describe; Practical Criticism helps us to approach the question which underlies all courses in English – what makes writing valuable? How, and on what grounds, can we argue that one piece of writing is more aesthetically successful than another? What is aesthetic value, and who decides? To enrich our discussion of these more foundational questions, students will read key texts in the theory of literary criticism.

Each lecture presents a different kind of text and introduces tools to help participants work with this specific form. Each session will have a significant interactive dimension, as a workshop section will be built into each lecture. In addition, students will participate in small-group tutorials which allow for the close and careful discussion necessary for progress in Practical Criticism. Students will learn to develop close readings individually and collectively, and practice the skill of formulating and qualifying (and sometimes abandoning!) arguments in the course of class debate.

This course is aimed at: The careful and curious reader from any discipline. While the course is particularly relevant to English majors, it is of interest to humanities students more broadly, and so its intended audience might include sociologists, historians, art historians, philosophers, political scientists, anthropologists, and economists.

Pre-requisite knowledge required: None. While there are no specific subject prerequisites, familiarity with the writing of argumentative essays is assumed.

Transferable knowledge and skills: Students will gain stills in textual analysis, literary evaluation, argument construction (oral and written) and a grounding in interpretative theory.

Pre-arrival reading:

• Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem (2007)
• Richards, I. A., Practical Criticism (1929)

Recommended additional pre-arrival reading:

• Abrams, M. H., A Glossary of Literary Terms (1971)
• Chris Baldick, Criticism and Literary Theory 1890 to the Present (1996)
• Empson, William, Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930);
• Fish, Stanley, Is There a Text in This Class? (1980)
• Williams, Raymond, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (1974)

Assessment:

• 1 Final Exam: 45%
• 1 Final Essay: 45%
• Participation, progress and attendance: 10%

Lecture Hours: 12 x 1 hour 15 minutes (total 15 hours)

Seminar Hours: 8 x 1 hour 15 minutes (total 10 hours)