Using a historical perspective, students study the role of the reader, the surrounding culture, and the language of the text. The course offers students the tools of critical analysis and encourages the pleasures of close reading and exchange of ideas. An introductory course exploring multiple perspectives on a selected global theme or issue as expressed in literature. Attending to the pleasures of literature, the role of the reader, the language of the text, and the social context of literature, the course includes both historical and contemporary texts in traditional and non-traditional forms. It explores the contact zone between Anglo European perspectives and disparate world cultures outside Western Europe and North America.
Specific topics vary.
An introduction to the rewarding complexities of reading literature. The course introduces students to literary theory and its applications, offers a framework for understanding the historical evolution of literary studies, and introduces students to a range of approaches to the study of texts. The course includes practice in writing commentary on literature. Required for the English major. Practice in writing, reporting, editing, and laying out various kinds of news stories.