English 199: Methods of Literary Study
William Oram, Patricia Skarda, Richard Millington
MW 11-12:10 ; TTh 1-2:20; TTh 3-4:20

A newly designed introduction to the English major, English 199 teaches the skills one needs to study literature with understanding and pleasure. Using examples from different periods and different regions of the English-speaking world, we will develop a sense of how poetry, prose fiction, and drama work, and how they relate to one another.  All sections will practice these elements of critical analysis:

Reading closely--practice in making good sense of literary language in all its verbal and syntactic complexity;

Understanding elements basic to all literature--tone and levels of diction, point of view, figurative language, allusion, varieties of plot structure;

Scanning poetry--reading for meter, rhyme, and sound;

Understanding genre--what it means for an author to write in a given genre, how genres are related to one another, how they develop over time;

Situating literature in history--how to understand literature in the context of historical events and social forces;

Learning from others--how to read and evaluate published literary criticism. 

In short, the course seeks to help its students become perceptive readers equipped with the necessary vocabulary and techniques to take on complex texts. Readings in different sections will vary, but all will involve active discussion and frequent writing. Our goal is to convey our own joy in reading, discussing, and writing about literature to every student in the course. 

Works for Spring 2003 will include a variety of short stories and novels; Shakespeare's Othello , along with readings that provide social and historical contexts; a rich variety of poetry and song lyrics from early to recent; and possibly a film accompanied by essays modeling a variety of critical approaches.