At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Interpret and analyze a variety of diverse texts.
2. Identify key elements of major literary genres (including poetry, drama, fiction) in order to analyze and interpret texts.
3. Define common literary terms and apply them to the analysis of specific texts.
4. Compose formal written analyses of texts by diverse authors that demonstrate appropriate academic discourse and the conventions of literary analysis.
5. Integrate research, including primary and secondary sources, applying documentation skills responsibly and effectively.
6. Define common critical theoretical concepts and apply these to sophisticated analysis of texts.
7. Interpret literary works within relevant racial, ethnic, gender, class, aesthetic, historical, and cultural contexts, including examination of the complex intersectionality of these categories.
8. (Honors) Compose formal literary analysis essays with the use of critical theory demonstrating appropriate academic language and scholarly rigor and integration of secondary academic sources.
9. (Honors) Explain historical and cultural contexts and critical theory, leading to more complex arguments about literary texts.

1. A minimum of 3 literary genres, including poetry, drama, and short fiction from diverse authors representing a wide range of cultures, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Other genres may include but are not limited to the novel, creative nonfiction, and essays.
2. Literary terminology, devices, and critical approaches.
3. Active and critical reading strategies.
4. Writing and thinking critically about literature, including literary analysis.
5. Minimum 5,000 words of writing which may include a combination of drafts, written peer response, and other forms of writing.
6. Active, critical reading of literary texts
   1. Denotative and connotative meaning of words and statements
   2. Structure or development of events, emotions, images, and ideas
   3. Figurative and symbolic language in relation to central theme(s) of the work
   4. Artistic synthesis of literal and figurative details with theme(s)
7. Identification of key elements of major genres
   1. Poetry
   2. Short story
   3. Novel
   4. Drama
   5. Creative nonfiction
   6. Experimental genres
8. Literary terms
   1. Poetic structures (e.g., stanza, meter)
   2. Symbolic language (e.g., metaphor, synecdoche)
   3. Narrative devices (e.g., unreliable narrator)
   4. Structural devices (e.g., epigraphs, paragraphing)
   5. Voice
9. Critical theoretical concepts, such as:
   1. Historical contexts
   2. Gender studies
   3. Queer theories
   4. Psychological theories (Freudian, Jungian)
   5. Marxian theories
   6. Ethnic and racial theories
   7. Postcolonial studies
   8. Intersectionality
   9. Critical Disabilities studies
10. Racial, ethnic, gender, class, aesthetic, historical, and cultural contexts
    1. African American, Latine, Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American, Arab/Muslim, and multiethnic representations
    2. Issues of gender, gender identity, and sexuality
    3. Socioeconomic diversity
    4. Aesthetic movements as contexts for the text
    5. Historical and cultural influences (such as religious/spiritual) upon texts
11. (Honors) Formal, scholarly literary analysis essays of greater length, complexity, and sophistication in the honors course
    1. Development and delivery of a clear literary analysis thesis
    2. Effective use of textual evidence
    3. Comparisons among texts within and across genres
    4. Stylistic conventions of literary analysis
    5. Attention to scholarly language
12. (Honors) Research in literary analysis essays
    1. Navigation of research databases and print archives
    2. Evaluation of sources and identification of those scholarly
    3. Critical reading of research sources and secondary sources
13. Formatting and documentation
    1. Modern Language Association (MLA)
    2. American Psychological Association (APA)

Not applicable.

Methods of evaluation used to observe or measure students' achievement of course outcomes are at the discretion of local faculty.
Formal writing, including essays.
Informal writing (examples include journals, discussions, annotations, reader responses, in-class writing, and responses to questions).
Minimum 5,000 words of writing which may include a combination of drafts, written peer response, and other forms of writing.
Other evaluation methods may include assignments such as quizzes, projects, presentations, and portfolios.
Class participation, student presentations.
(Honors) Additional 1,000 words, totaling 6,000 words is required for the honors course.

Reading literary texts
Lectures on texts and their historical and social contexts
Class discussion
Small group projects and presentations
Analytical writing projects

Note: Multiple texts may be necessary to fulfill the purposes of this course. Any individual text listed below may not stand alone as sufficient. Text selection should include a diverse set of authorial voices that may include a range of cultures, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Open Educational Resources (OER) may be used in place of any type of text.

Representative Literature Textbooks (most recent edition):

• Mays, Kelly. The Norton Introduction to Literature. W.W. Norton. 15th, 2024.

• Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Writing, Thinking. Bedford/St. Martins.

• Barnet, Sylvan, et al. An Introduction to Literature. Longman.

• DiYanni, Robert. Literature, Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. McGraw-Hill.

Full-length novels or other separately published works.

Representative Writing Handbooks and/or Other Support Materials:

• Gardner, Janet E. Writing About Literature: A Portable Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins (also available with MLA insert), 6th, 2025.

• Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. Prentice Hall.

Textbooks older than 7 years must be clearly labeled as classic or legacy.

Texts used by individual institutions and even individual sections will vary.

Individual instructors may select from any appropriate anthologies or single-author texts.

Although the following texts are older than the suggested "5 years or newer" standard, they remain seminal texts in this area of study. Literature is a discipline that uses both older and contemporary texts.

Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz, and Samuel Cohen, eds. Literature: The Human Experience, Reading and Writing. 2018.

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 2018.

Bronner, Stephen Eric. Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction. 2017.

Griffith, Kelley. Writing Essays about Literature. 2013.

Doerr, Anthony. The Shell Collector: Short Stories. 2011.

Marmon Silko, Leslie. Storyteller. 1981.

Wilson, August. Fences. 1986.

Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. 1988.

Morrison, Tony. Beloved. 1987.

Hernandez Cruz, Victor. Maraca: New and Selected Poems. 2001.

Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. 1994.

1. Reading and analyzing literary texts
2. Formal essays
3. Informal writing projects, such as journal entries, reader responses
4. In-class examinations
5. Class participation, student presentations