ENGLISH 2020: Themes in Literature and Culture

Course Description

ENGL 2020: Themes in Literature and Culture provides students the opportunity to trace a specific theme or idea through a number of literary texts that reflect different historical and cultural contexts. Each ENGL 2020 course is themed with a unified topic and focus. Examples of previous ENGL 2020 courses include “The Serial Killer in American Fiction,” “Gay and Lesbian Literature,” “Southern Drama and Film,” and “The Grotesque.” The aim is that we will all come to gain a better appreciation for literature, enjoy our reading and discussion of literary works, and develop intercultural appreciation and understanding.

Prerequisites are English 1010 and 1020.

Creativity and Cultural Expression (CCE)

(Legacy) Literature Requirement

True Blue Core Knowledge Domain: Creativity and Cultural Expression (CCE) (9 hours)

• For all catalogs 2024-2025 and beyond, this course may be used to satisfy the True Blue Core Literature requirement (CCE) (3 hours). If you have already fulfilled the literature requirement for CCE, this course may be used in either Discovery or Explorations in the CCE category. To learn more about TBC requirements: https://w1.mtsu.edu/truebluecore/core.php.
• For all catalogs prior to 2024-2025, this course may be used to satisfy the literature requirement in the Humanities/Fine Arts category. To learn more about general education requirements for catalogs prior to 2024-2025: https://w1.mtsu.edu/gen_ed/requirements.php.
• The TBC outcome for Literature (CCE): Students demonstrate intercultural understanding by building knowledge, self-awareness, and conceptions of global and intercultural perspectives, values, systems, and attitudes.

Course Objectives

Here are the True Blue Course Objectives for ENGL 2020:

• Explore how literature reflects, informs, and shapes both personal and collective experience
• Articulate cogent responses to literature that demonstrate cultural awareness and understanding
• Reflect on how reading, writing, and interpreting literature initiates and contributes to cultural and social conversations
• Examine how the production and interpretation of literature is shaped by historical, cultural, and social contexts
• Analyze how literature from different cultures, movements, and time periods employ narrative and stylistic strategies to convey complex ideas and meanings
• Compose projects (written, digital, or audio) that utilize critical thinking, analysis, and research to situate literature within diverse cultural and conceptual frameworks
• Identify connections between literature and the values, experiences, and practices of multiple cultures
• Develop an approach to reading, writing, and interpretation that demonstrates an understanding of human experience from multiple cultural vantage points

Each ENGL 2020 course must feature one Signature Assignment that incorporates each ENGL 2020 True Blue Course Objective. For an in-depth exploration of creating Signature Assignments that meet the True Blue Core Course Objectives for ENGL 2020/2030, check out this helpful guide from Dr. Elyce Rae Helford.

Curriculum Overview

English 2020: Themes in Literature and Culture includes four major assignments, including a combination of written examinations, formal essays, and multimodal projects. Students receive feedback and engage in an iterative composition process when producing their formal essays and multimodal projects, each encompassing multiple drafts and opportunities for revision. Each major assignment helps assess student progress toward the course objectives.

Major assignments will vary per instructor. Representative examples are outlined below. Every instructor will be expected to have, at least, one major assignment that meets all of the SLOs. For instance, the PowerPoint Research Project and Reflection Essay in the sample course outline meets all of the SLOs and will be appropriate for True Blue Core Assessment.

SAMPLE COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Midterm and Final Exams
Students are administered a midterm and final exam. These two exams are composed of a combination of multiple choice, matching, true/false, short answer questions, and/or formal essay questions.

Topic Proposal and Annotated Bibliography for Analytical Essay
Students compose a formal topic proposal and an annotated bibliography outlining secondary source material for their analytical essay, which must be approved by the instructor before they can commence with the assignment.

Analytical Essay
Students compose a formal essay analyzing a significant theme or concept that they see demonstrated in two or more of the literary texts (defined broadly to include novels, poems, plays, short stories, films, and/or popular culture artifacts) studied in the course. This project must demonstrate the skills of close reading, cultural analysis, and library research.

Footnote PowerPoint Project and Reflection Essay
Students compose and design a PowerPoint project that elucidates one artistic, historical, or cultural reference within one of the literary texts (defined broadly to include novels, poems, plays, short stories, films, and/or popular culture artifacts) studied in the course. Not only are students asked to design a PowerPoint that explains the reference with the help of outside academic research, but they are also expected to employ the skills of close reading and cultural analysis to analyze how knowledge of this reference enables audiences to better understand the text and its broader cultural implications.

Writing Activities
Writing Activities are administered either in class or outside of class every week. These brief writing assignments may cover material from the literary texts, supplemental readings, and/or in-class discussion.

Reading Quizzes
Reading/viewing quizzes are administered every week. Quizzes are composed of a combination of multiple choice, matching, true/false, and/or short answer questions (based on the literary texts, supplemental readings, and/or in-class discussion)

Class Participation
Students are expected to complete course readings, as well as regularly attend and be attentive in class to earn an A or B for participation. Substantive contribution to discussions, active listening, and thought-provoking questions are all considered forms of participation.