ENGL 2700 - Introduction to Critical Theory

Credits: (3)
Typically Taught Summer Semester: Full Sem-Online
Typically Taught Fall Semester: Full Sem, Full Sem-ONL
Typically Taught Spring Semester: Full Sem. Full Sem-ONL
Description: Students will study and practice critical approaches to literature. This course introduces theories, interpretive frameworks, and central questions about literature and literary media. What do we mean by “literature” itself? How might we compare and evaluate literary interpretations? Why do we read? What assumptions do we take for granted when we read? How does the historical, social and cultural context of a text shape its meanings and its effects? Combining major critical and theoretical writings with literary works, the course investigates how textual production and interpretation are informed by philosophical and aesthetic traditions, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, national and postcolonial identities, and the material forms in which literature circulates. Students will not only learn the theoretical premises behind these theories, but also practice explicating various texts from a particular critical perspective.