Course Syllabus

ENGL 2200 Introduction to Literature

Course Description

This course is an introduction to literary genres, to close reading of literature, and to the terminology of literature. The emphasis is on fiction, poetry, and drama. The course covers a variety of literary traditions, historical time periods, and authors. It focuses on careful reading, literary analysis, and thoughtful interpretation.

Justification

This course acquaints students with ways to think about and respond to literature. The course introduces students to literary terms, including their use and importance in discussing literary works. This course provides a solid foundation for the study of literature.

This course offers a General Education opportunity to students who would like to come to a greater intellectual and visceral appreciation of a variety of written works. This course provides a good introduction to literature for English and education majors. This course is similar to ENGL 2200 taught at Utah transfer institutions.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to closely read, discuss, and analyze a representative selection of culturally significant fictional and non-fictional short stories and novels.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to read and analyze fictional and non-fictional primary literary texts. They will also be able to effectively research the biographical, historical, and cultural context of representative texts.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to draw from relevant disciplines, which may include history, sociology, philosophy, economics, and geography to effectively understand and interpret literary works in the context of the time and place from which they were produced.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to critically analyze and evaluate the rhetorical choices authors make in order to understand and creatively interpret representative fiction and nonfiction literary texts.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Through analysis and synthesis of a representative selection of fiction and nonfiction literary texts in various mediums, Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to examine how fiction expresses and reflects the human condition. Through analysis and synthesis of a representative selection of fiction and nonfiction literary texts in various mediums, Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to examine how fiction expresses and reflects the human condition.
2. EXPLAIN: Explain how humanities artifacts take on meaning within networks or systems (such as languages, cultures, values, and worldviews) that account for the complexities and uncertainties of the human condition. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to closely read, analyze, and synthesize fiction and nonfiction texts and explain how these texts operate within a broader context of differing cultural worldviews. Students will be able to explain how factors such as history, audience, authorial choices in relation to the text, and personal biases help to better understand the complexities and uncertainties of the human condition.
3. ANALYZE: Analyze humanities artifacts according to humanities methodologies, such as a close analysis, questioning, reasoning, interpretation, and critical thinking. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate critical thinking through the methodologies of close reading, interpretation, critical inquiry, and analysis of a representative selection of fiction and nonfiction literary texts. Students may consider these texts in light of basic literary theories, such as new criticism, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, etc.
4. COMPARE AND CONTRAST: Compare and contrast diverse humanistic perspectives across cultures, communities, and/or time periods to explain how people make meaning of their lives. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to compare and contrast (synthesize) the perspectives of the various cultural traditions represented in fiction and nonfiction literary texts that span broadly across time and place. They will also be able to examine literary texts in historical and cultural context and be able to articulate how lived experience and meaning are expressed through literature.
5. APPLY: Using humanities perspectives, reflect on big questions related to aesthetics, values, meaning, and ethics and how those apply to their own lives.  Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to reflect on, and apply, fiction and nonfiction literary texts and associated ideas and questions within the contexts of their individual experiences and larger community. They will be able to examine relevant ethical complexities and values in representative texts and explore how they connect with their contemporary experiences.

Course Content

A general literature anthology and/or individual readings of the instructor’s choice are used to present and illustrate some of the following literary terms and ideas and others: novel, short story, fiction, poetry, drama, plot, point of view, character, setting, tone, style, irony, theme, symbol, diction, imagery, figures of speech, rhyme, meter, tragedy, comedy. Course content will offer students the opportunity to see various ethnic, cultural, gender, regional, economic, and other perspectives. Course may include a basic overview of major literary theories.