In this course we will engage with the major arguments in the field of literary theory. Yet it is important that this is not a catch-all survey class; rather, we will be conducting a continuing debate about the nature of literary meaning and the relationship of such meaning to politics and ethics. What determines the meaning of a text? How can an interpretation of a literary work be deemed true or false? Is the relationship of literature to politics foundational or peripheral? Is criticism an ethical practice? Readings include W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, Paul De Man, Stanley Fish, Judith Butler, Jacques, Derrida, Michel, Foucalt, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Format: discussion/seminar. Requirements: several short papers amounting to 20 pages of writing and an in-class presentation. Prerequisites: a 100-level English course, except 150. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19). Preference given to first-year students, sophomores, English majors who have yet to take a Gateway, and potential Comparative Literature majors. (Criticism)