World Literature Competencies

World Literature I (ENGL 231)

World Literature II (English 232)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• explore texts of world literature – both canonical and non-canonical – that represent at least five different languages and literary traditions, and various historical periods in Western and non-Western cultures from the late 18th century to the present;

• examine themes, structural and stylistic features, cultural and historical contexts and cultural resonances of Western and non-Western literary works from the late 18th century to the present to understand human experience;

• analyze literature critically and creatively and articulate their critical and creative positions in writing and in oral presentations;

• employ the skills of close reading, interpretation, synthesis, and critical analysis to the reading of texts across multiple cultural and linguistic traditions, various historical periods and multiple genres;

• conduct independent research in literary and cultural studies and present this research in written, oral, or creative literary formats according to the professional standards of the disciplines of literary and cultural studies;

• formulate and analyze connections between texts from various cultural and linguistic traditions, different historical periods and different genres from the late 18th century to the present to become receptive and empathetic to other cultures and experiences;; and

• formulate and analyze connections between literature from the late 18th century to the present and other disciplines.

Explorations in World Literature (English 241H)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• explore texts of world literature – both canonical and non-canonical – that represent at least five different languages and literary traditions, and various historical periods in Western and non-Western cultures;

• examine themes, structural and stylistic features, cultural and historical contexts and cultural resonances of Western and non-Western literary works to understand human experience;

• analyze literature critically and creatively and articulate and articulate their critical and creative positions in writing and in oral presentations;

• employ the skills of close reading, interpretation, synthesis, and critical analysis to the reading of texts across multiple cultural and linguistic traditions, various historical periods, and multiple genres;

• conduct independent research in literary and cultural studies and present this research in written and oral formats according to the professional standards of the disciplines of literary and cultural studies;

• formulate and analyze connections between texts from various cultural and linguistic traditions, different historical periods and different genres to become receptive and empathetic to other cultures and experiences;

• formulate and analyze connections between literature and other disciplines.

Women Writers of the Middle Ages (ENGL 337)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

Comparative Literature I (English 431/631)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• identify, discriminate between, and apply comparative theoretical methods to the study of literature;

• compare and contrast the various styles, themes, and aesthetic movements represented by the carefully chosen works of drama, fiction, expository prose, and poetry, to detect both commonalities and juxtapositions in the process of textual analysis;

• explore the cultural connections among various artistic forms—literature, music, painting, artifacts of popular culture, and architecture— to probe the organic nature of culture, the interrelatedness of ideas and styles;

• critique life and culture using insights derived from the study of literature's symbols, genres, form, content, and aesthetic considerations; and

• develop aesthetic/psychological responses to literature and connect them to the over-all enrichment of human life and culture, both orally and in coherent prose.

Drama (English 442/642)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• understand the rich and far-reaching notion of drama as “imitation of life” and recognize the existence, even prominence, of drama in daily life;

• articulate key critical dramatic concepts like catharsis, hamartia, epiphany, and anagnorisis (to name only a few) and a variety of dramatic genres from a cross-section of cultures and historical periods;

• become conversant with questions of staging, acting techniques, costuming to gain an integrated vision of drama and to use this vision in critical, analytical readings of dramatic texts;

• explore a variety of genres (like tragedy, comedy, farce, comedia dell-arte, realistic, and expressionistic drama, theater of the absurd) and dramatic techniques and styles in discursive works of analysis; and

• connect the study of drama to larger social, political, and cultural endeavors for which drama can be both catalyst and expression in group sessions, digital presentations, and essays.

The Short Story (ENGL 445/645)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• contextualize the historic developments of short fiction—in its many genres—from a diversity of historical periods, cultures, and linguistic families (in translation);

• differentiate the distinctive characteristics of style among the fable, parable, fabliaux, allegory, tale (in its many varieties), romantic and realistic short stories, and the novella;

• apply a variety of critical theories to the close analysis of a wide spectrum of works of short fiction from a wide range of cultures and linguistic traditions;

• recognize and explore comparative elements of style, characterization, narrative structure, and literary techniques; and

• apply thematic and cultural insights gained from close textual analysis and discussions to every-day situations/issues illuminated by literary texts.

Literary Theory (ENGL 451)

Students who successfully complete this course should be able to:

• discuss the historical development of the intellectual realm of theory, including identifying major theorists, their works, and their main contributions to the development of theoretical discourses;

• identify and discuss key topics of literary and philosophical debate, including issues of language, literature, subjectivity/identity, aesthetics, authorship, meaning, reading, gender & sexuality,  ideology & hegemony,  and representation;

• articulate the main concepts and theoretical "moves" of schools of/approaches to/movements in modern theoretical thought, including New Criticism; Russian Formalism; Structuralism and Semiotics; Reader Response; Psychoanalysis; Marxism; Post-Structuralism and Deconstruction; Feminisms and Queer Theory; and Cultural Studies;

• use accurate critical vocabulary to describe theoretical issues and to engage in debates;

• generate critical observations and insights about a variety of literary and theory texts as well as about the cultures around you;

• evaluate the relative merits of various approaches in addressing issues under debate and in interpreting texts; and

• apply these theoretical insights and perspectives to texts to author thought-provoking analyses of literature, film, or culture.