This course will study the major schools of contemporary literary theory; comparing their principles and methods to changing definitions of literature; testing their claims and uses against differing values of readers. Theoretical debate and practical analysis combine in this course to train the student as a polemical literary critic. Selected readings represent Gender; Post-Colonial; New Historical; Feminist; Marxist; Psychoanalytic; Structuralist; Reader- Response; and Formalist criticism. Prerequisite: Full year of 200-level English.