EGL 302 - Jr. Seminar: Literary Theory

Course Units: 1

(Winter; Bracken) (Offered every year in Winter term) Reading involves more than just the reader and the text; when we read, our cultural and personal experiences inform our reading. This course considers different critical approaches to literature-from the history of English as a discipline onward - in an attempt to help contextualize reading practices. We will read primary critical texts, primary literary texts, and examples of literary criticism. We will discuss various schools of literary criticism, including (but not limited to) Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Marxism, Psychoanalysis, Feminism, Queer Theory, Disability Studies, Postcolonial Theory, and Critical Race Theory. By the end of the semester, students will be able to use appropriate terminology, produce critically informed readings, and speak authoritatively about different critical approaches to literature. Prerequisite(s): This course prepares majors and IDs to write Honors theses. It is strongly recommended that petitioning students have GPAs of 3.3 or above. Students must have completed one 100-level and two 200-level English courses before enrolling in a 300-level Seminar. CC: HUL, HUM, WAC