ENGL 200

Fall 2016 All Classes

All Classes

Credit: 3 hours.

Introduction to the study of literature, with an emphasis on interpretive theories and methods as well as the formal distinctions between the major literary genres. For majors only.

Enrollment in all sections of ENGL 200 is open only to English and Teaching of English Majors.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2022 for:

Humanities – Lit & Arts
ENGL 200 class schedule data for fall 2016
CRN Type Section Time Day Location Instructor Section Details
41879
Lecture-Discussion
D
11:00AM -11:50AM
MWF
English Building
Pollock, A
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/22/16-12/07/16
Degree Notes:
Literature and the Arts course.
Section Info:
This course is designed to help students develop analytical skills that will be crucial to their success in 300- and 400-level courses in literary and cultural studies. We will spend several weeks on each of the three primary literary genres taught in the English Department—poetry, prose fiction, and drama—paying close attention both to the defining characteristics that distinguish the genres from one another and to the structural elements they have in common. Throughout the semester, we will build up a critical vocabulary for articulating persuasive, detailed, and evidence-based arguments about literary texts, and we will think about interpretation itself as a form of action with political, ethical, and social-historical implications. Requirements: regular attendance and participation, informal responses, and three essays.
32277
Lecture-Discussion
E
1:00PM -1:50PM
MWF
Henry Administration Bldg
Stevens, A
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/22/16-12/07/16
Degree Notes:
Literature and the Arts course.
Section Info:
This course might be called ‘How to—and WHY—Be an English Major’ in that it will teach you the skills you will need to succeed in the study of literature. Together, we will read closely a range of poems, plays, short stories, and novels representing a range of literary styles and time periods from the early modern era to the present day; to this list you can also add film as an additional category of analysis. A more detailed syllabus will be available closer to the fall (and this list may change!), but expect to encounter such poets as John Donne and Philip Larkin; such dramatists as William Shakespeare and Annie Baker; such fiction writers as Stephen King and Francine Prose; and such filmmakers as Roger Eggers and Pedro Almodovar. By the end of the semester, students will have developed a critical vocabulary for making persuasive arguments about literary texts; practiced their research and writing skills; and have reflected on just what it is that this English major is preparing us to do. Essays will be graded portfolio-style, which means that the idea of revision is built into the course: students will have the opportunity to revise their writing after receiving instructor feedback before receiving a final grade.
41926
Lecture-Discussion
Q
12:30PM -1:45PM
TR
English Building
Cole, L
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/22/16-12/07/16
Degree Notes:
Literature and the Arts course.
32268
Lecture-Discussion
S
2:00PM -3:15PM
TR
English Building
Cole, L
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/22/16-12/07/16
Degree Notes:
Literature and the Arts course.
Section Info:
The Politics of Being Human. This course, which the English Department describes as “How To Be an English Major,” begins with the premise that literary texts are—or can be—agents of cultural change. Ideally, English majors are among those best trained to interpret the many relationships between literature and culture; in addition to being invested readers, English majors share a critical vocabulary for discussing the history, nature, meaning, and value of literary texts. In order to develop and refine these argumentative and writing skills, we’ll read in detail John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko, or The History of a Royal Slave, H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Octavia Butler’s Kindred, among others. I’ve chosen works united by a broad theme—the politics of being human—that will allow us to explore several different genres and subgenres, including comic drama, tragic drama, the realistic novel, the bildungsroman (or novel of self-development), science fiction, and fantasy.
45880
Lecture-Discussion
X
12:00PM -12:50PM
MWF
English Building
Jones, J
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/22/16-12/07/16
Degree Notes:
Literature and the Arts course.
Section Info:
What can literature tell us about history, power, the environment, and relationships? How have those forces shaped the production, circulation, and reception of literature? How has the practice of reading changed over time? And how do we even begin to ask interesting questions about the literature we read? This course, which might be called “How to be an English Major,” invites you to engage these questions by joining a variety of debates in literary studies. By reading literary texts alongside works of critical theory and literary criticism, you will begin to understand how critics make meaning out of literature. And by completing a variety of formal and informal writing assignments, you will be empowered to make meaning out of literature for yourself, and to appreciate the keen challenges and even keener pleasures of literary studies. Authors whose works we engage in class may include Junot Diaz, Karen Yamashita, Charlotte Bronte, Jean Rhys, Wallace Stevens, and others.
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