ENGLISH 2030: The Experience of Literature

Course Description

English 2030, The Experience of Literature, consists of the reading of a variety of literary types which illuminate themes and experiences common to human existence. The Experience of Literature provides a broad overview of literature primarily in the Western tradition, but with selections from other cultures. Students read poems, short stories, plays, and (perhaps) a novel, considering and analyzing literary conventions, individual writer’s styles and strategies, as well as historical contexts for work and reception history.  The aim is that we will all come to gain a better appreciation for literature and ENJOY our reading and discussion of particular works.

Prerequisites are English 1010 and 1020. Additionally, this course fulfills part of the requirements for the General Education category of Humanities and Fine Arts.

There are different ways to organize ENGL2030, including topically, chronologically, and by genre. The method of organizing by genre is detailed below.

Course Objectives

Here are the course objectives for ENGL 2030:

• 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 2030 course must feature one Signature Assignment that incorporates each ENGL 2030 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.

Textbooks

The recommended, default textbook for ENGL 2030 is The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature 12^th ed.. Other good options include the following texts: The Norton Introduction to Literature Portable 13/e (New Edition), The Norton Introduction to Literature Shorter 13/e.

Unit One: Short Story

The purpose of this unit is to help students understand and develop an appreciation for the short story genre through a study of different authors, across time and place.

Faculty often ask students to read short fiction by Morrison, Updike, Faulkner, and others.

Objectives Emphasized:

• Students will improve their ability to read, think, and write critically and analytically about a wide variety of texts.
• Students will be able to identify basic structural and/or technical elements and strategies and to discuss how those elements contribute to the overall effect of a literary work.

Deliverable Variations:

Any combination of the following:

• Short Fiction Literary Analysis (3-4 pages)
• Compose Brief Summaries that link the works to contemporary concerns
• Multimodal Project
• Creative Writing Adaptation
• Responses to discussion questions
• Unit Quiz or Exam that includes short answer and quote identifications

Unit Two: Poetry

The purpose of this unit is to help students understand and develop an appreciation for poetry through a study of different authors, across time and place.

Faculty often ask students to read short fiction by Frost, Hughes, Eliot, Pastan, and others.

Objectives Emphasized

Each unit invites students to gain myriad skills and attend to multiple objectives, but the following are emphasized in particular:

• Students will improve their ability to read, think, and write critically and analytically about a wide variety of texts.
• Students will gain a greater sense of the range and sorts of texts that are available to them as readers and, hopefully, of the sorts of texts that they most enjoy and wish to continue reading.
• Students will gain a greater sense of the “conversations” between texts; that is, they will have a sense of the ways in which texts respond to earlier texts, develop ongoing cultural conversations about key issues, develop genres and style, etc.

Deliverable Variations:

Any combination of the following:

• Poetry Literary Analysis
• Compose Brief Summaries that link the works to contemporary concerns
• Multimodal Project
• Creative Writing Adaptation
• Responses to discussion questions
• Midterm Exam

Unit Three: Drama

The purpose of this unit is to help students understand and develop an appreciation for drama through a study of different authors, across time and place.

Faculty often ask students to read plays by Hansberry, Williams,  Glaspell, and others.

Objectives Emphasized

• Students will improve their ability to read, think, and write critically and analytically about a wide variety of texts.
• Students will gain a greater sense of the ways in which texts function within culture(s), of the ways in which texts can be used to understand and gain insight into cultures/historical movements, and of the ways in which cultural context shapes both the production and reading of texts.
• Students will develop a sense of themselves as readers; they will gain greater independence in their interpretations and become more aware of their own approaches, assumptions, and interpretive strategies.  Conversely, they will become aware of the range of possible reading strategies, encounter and test out new ways of working with texts, and increase their interpretive repertoire.

Deliverable Variations:

Any combination of the following:

• Drama Literary Analysis
• Compose Brief Summaries that link the works to contemporary concerns
• Multimodal Project
• Creative Writing Adaptation
• Responses to discussion questions
• Quiz

Unit Four: Novel

The purpose of this unit is to help students understand and develop an appreciation for novels through close reading of a novel.

Objectives Emphasized

• Students will improve their ability to read, think, and write critically and analytically about a wide variety of texts.
• Students will develop a sense of themselves as readers; they will gain greater independence in their interpretations and become more aware of their own approaches, assumptions, and interpretive strategies.  Conversely, they will become aware of the range of possible reading strategies, encounter and test out new ways of working with texts, and increase their interpretive repertoire.
• Students will, through their reading, gain a greater appreciation of their own experiences in relation to others’ experiences, as displayed in literary texts, and a deeper sense of what it means to be a global citizen.

Deliverable Variations:

Any combination of the following:

• Literary Analysis
• Compose Brief Summaries that link the works to contemporary concerns
• Multimodal Project
• Creative Writing Adaptation
• Responses to discussion questions
• Final Exam