- Instructor
- Ivan Kreilkamp
- Course Description
- This class serves as a gateway to the English major by introducing you to a range of sophisticated strategies for analyzing and interpreting literature. Goals include fostering: a close attention to language, both literal and figurative; an ability to analyze a variety of genres; an appreciation of the impact of historical contexts; an awareness of traditional and contemporary literary theories; and the development of skills of written analysis and interpretation. Our readings will be organized around the theme of “Classic and Revision.” In some cases, this will refer to a particular literary form—as with Shakespeare’s sonnets considered with Terrance Hayes’ American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, and Victorian British dramatic monologues by Robert Browning and Alfred Lord Tennyson along with 20th-century examples of the form by Robert Hayden, Anne Sexton, Louise Glück, and Carol Ann Duffy. We’ll also consider more literal revisions, as with Shakespeare’s King Lear and two contemporary novels that in different ways “revise” or draw on its content, Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres and Emily St. John Mandel’s dystopian novel Station Eleven. We’ll also read a few works of literary theory and criticism that will help us develop a shared vocabulary and set of concepts useful for a
sophisticated and nuanced interpretation and analysis of literature. Assignments will likely include two papers, an in-class midterm test, and a take-home final essay exam, along with reading quizzes and/or short Canvas responses.
Interested in this course?
The full details of this course are available on the Office of the Registrar website.
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The College of Arts