Focuses on the work of a single author. Examples might include Chaucer or Zora Neale Hurston. A study of a selection of Shakespeare's plays. Some attention is given to questions of biography, theatrical production, and textual problems, but the primary focus is analysis and interpretation of the plays. Shakespeare's non-dramatic works, particularly the sonnets, may be included in the readings and discussions.
Films frequently supplement lectures and discussions.
Focuses on literature from a single historical or literary-historical era. Examples might include Modernism or Renaissance Literature. Focuses on Western ideas about the writing, reading, and interpretation of literary texts. Typically the course will provide a historical overview from the ancient Greeks to the present, and it will include attention to theory and criticism of ethnic literatures and problems of canon formation. Focuses on a single issue or movement in literary theory and criticism.