• An inquiry into what constitutes contemporary literary and film study: its subject matter and its underlying goals and methods.
  

• Students study literary and film texts of various genres, as well as literary/film criticism and theory; inquire into the nature of authorship and of texts; examine and expand their ways of reading, interpreting, and writing about texts; trace the relation of literary/film criticism to theory; consider the relation of literary and film study to issues of power; and develop independent habits of thought, research, discussion and analytic writing that are informed by literary theory and criticism.

Course Objectives

• To learn various ways to read a wide range of texts (and to understand the meaning of that term), including a poem, an American novella (Bloodchild), a British novel (Frankenstein), a French play (The Maids), and a French film (Caché);
  

• To gain mastery over 3 major critical approaches to reading literature (class, gender, and race)--Unit I: Bloodchild;

• To learn how to research and dissect discourses pertinent to understanding literature, and to understand different approaches to understanding debates about authorship--Unit II: Frankenstein;

• To deconstruct a literary text, and become conversant with queer theory--Unit III: The Maids;
  

• To analyze film and its narratives, and appreciate the role of post-colonialism in shaping current debates about identity--Unit IV: Caché;

• And to show competency in editing and revising an analytical essay--Final.
  

Free Write on Texts: What text that you have studied in a class (or outside of one) so far demonstrates, for you, the merits of pursuing English? What qualities about this text do you admire?

From Dictionary.com:

science fiction   1. A literary or cinematic genre in which fantasy,

typically based on speculative scientific discoveries or developments,

environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background.

2. literary fantasy involving the imagined impact of science on society

From OED: Imaginative fiction based on postulated scientific discoveries

or spectacular environmental changes, freq. set in the future or on other planets

and involving space or time travel. (first used in 1851)

Close Reading of William Blake's poem, "The Chimney Sweeper," from Songs of Innocence and Experience (1789)

In a group of 2-5 people, closely analyze Blake's poem. Consider the role that literary elements including (but not limited to) irony, word choice, symbolism, tone, rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia, repetition, homonym, juxtaposition, metaphor, and/or simile play in creating interpretations of it.

Student Introduction  Day 2

Interview in groups of 3 to 4, and be prepared to introduce someone else you talked to about their: