Ways of Reading: Texts and Territories
ENGL 201C
Fall 2012
| Section:
01
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"Ways of Reading" introduces students to the characteristics thought of as literary and the methods for studying them. This is a gateway course into the English major, and only one of the ENGL201 series may be taken for credit.
"Ways of Reading" courses develop strategies for careful and close reading, and techniques for the analysis of literary forms such as poetry, drama, and prose narratives such as novels and short stories. They familiarize students with some of the protocols of the literary-critical essay, examine the idea of literature as a social institution, and explore ways of connecting textual details and the world beyond the text. The ways of reading learned in the course are powerful tools for critically assessing discourses that expand far beyond the realm of literature. So while students will become adept literary critics, they also will learn quickly that to be a literary critic is to read critically and carefully all the time: in poems, novels, and plays; but also in political speech, in popular culture, and in the discourses that shape everyday life.
This "Ways of Reading" course will deal with issues of territory and land in literary texts from the 12th century to the 21st century. We will focus on questions both of how texts negotiate their places and how specific territories generate texts. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ENGL) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Béroul, THE ROMANCE OF TRISTAN (and other medieval Tristan texts)
Shakespeare, KING LEAR
Wordsworth and Coleridge, LYRICAL BALLADS
Hawthorne, THE BLITHDALE ROMANCE
Jesmyn Ward, SALVAGE THE BONES (this year's winner of the National Book Award)
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Examinations and Assignments:
A short essay (4-5 pp.) will be required for each text we read. There will also be some occasional written exercises in and out of class. |
| Instructor(s): Nisse,Ruth Times: ..T.R.. 09:00AM-10:20AM; Location: WYL110; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: 9 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 0 | SO: 15 | FR: 2 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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