It provides students an opportunity to gain the skills to live in, understand, and appreciate the world as it is presented to them through film, literature, and the media. The emphasis is on prose study and film viewing, followed by various discussion exercises and project activities. The goal is to increase a student's ability to observe, receive and critique. This course is designed to provide a vivid, stimulating course in literary appreciation and writing. Students read, write about, and discuss at least one novel and selections of poems, essays, and short stories.
Students interpret literary works by using critical and analytic techniques.
Discussions and writing projects emphasize the human side of sports. The course stresses the relationship between sports and life, great triumphs and great disappointments. Students recognize biased reporting and editorializing as opposed to straight news. Students demonstrate through application the methods by which propaganda techniques are used in media and identify slanted media presentations. Analyzing the differences between censorship and free speech, students evaluate commercial persuasion and fraudulent advertising.