ENG 199 - The Text, the World, and the Critic: Narrative and Form

This course offers a two-pronged introduction the study of literature and the English major. Students will develop the core skills necessary to the discipline of literature criticism, including-close reading of primary texts; persuasive and elegant argumentation; comprehension and application of theoretical lenses to primary texts; strategic review of scholarship; incorporation of relevant theory, scholarship, and other critical approaches into a seminar paper. While developing these fundamental skills of literary criticism through a series of shorter essays and other assignments, students will also engage the “big picture” questions central to the discipline. What compels us to read? What draws us to particular texts? How and why to texts become canonical, and how does canon change over time? How does literature as a social institution enable us to better understand the connections between our imaginations and the world around us? How does literature help to shape and define the worlds in which we live. Students will leave this course with questions and skills to pursue critical analysis not only of literary works but and number of modes of expression, from popular culture to political discourse. This course is strongly recommended for students who have recently declared a major in English, or who are planning to declare an English major in their sophomore year.  The course is required for all English majors and fulfills the A requirement.

Special Topic for Spring 2020: Literary Conversations:  This semester we will use pairings of literature that re-visit, re-imagine, and re-voice earlier works while moving across place, time, canon, and genre.

Prerequisites: No coursework, but a decision to declare a major in English.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Every spring semester.

Prerequisites: No coursework, but a decision to delcare a major in English.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Every spring semester.