English: Intro to Literary Studies (A)

About ENGL 1500 A

Introduction to the critical work of close reading across literary genres, understanding of key terms and concepts, and writing in the discipline. Required for English majors and minors. Topics vary by section.

Notes

Junior and senior ENGL, SEE majors and ENGL minors only until Wednesday, April 9th; then ENGL SEE majors and ENGL minors only during the first week registration

Section Description

In this gateway course for English majors/minors, we’ll cover the Epic, Drama, Poetry, the Novel and the Short Story. Students will read Maria Dahvana Headley’s new translation of Beowulf. We’ll study and see productions of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. We’ll cover poetry across the centuries, considering variations in style from closed forms to free verse (with readings from Donne, Behn, Bradstreet, Blake, Frost, Hughes, Brooks, Whitman, Dickinson, Eliot, Bishop, Giovanni, Erdrich, Lee, Brown, among others). In the second half of the course, we’ll read Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon and several great short stories by Poe, Hemingway, Carver, Lahiri, Saunders and Machado (and maybe others, time permitting). Along the way, we’ll be practicing with critical tools you'll need for literary analysis both in class discussion and in your writing. We'll consider the shifting relationships among literary forms, cultural history and politics. Scholarly essays, literary theory, primary documents and other supplemental readings will be used to introduce and invite students into the ongoing conversations about human experience expressed in the literature.

Section Expectation

The required work will include attendance, participation, a minimum of three out of five Reflection essays (1000 words), and a longer final essay (one of your short essays or projects revised and expanded to a minimum of 1800 words). Other possible tasks for points may include: poetry memorization and/or recitation, a radio play, fishbowl discussion participation, class presentation of annotations, and more.

Evaluation

See above.

Important Dates

Resources

• Parking
• PACE Course Pricing
• Textbooks

Other Sections