11:15a-12:30p TR (30) 3 cr

PREREQUISITE: L202 NOTE: The English Department will strictly enforce this prerequisite. Students who have not completed L202 will have their registration in L371administratively cancelled effective Friday, 25 August.

This course introduces students to some of the contemporary critical practices that have shaped the field of English Studies, and aims to help each student develop the knowledge and skills s/he needs to become a responsible critic of literature and culture. This knowledge will, in turn, provide a basis for students to make informed choices in their future endeavors, whether it is to learn more about specific critical practices, or to bring what they have learned into the politics of everyday life. In reading classic texts from the critical tradition in the west, and attending to contemporary trends, students will explore questions fundamental to all critical practices. Through discussion, presentations, and focused reflections, we will examine a variety of positions articulated by different schools of criticism--from the reader's response, to formalist approaches to political criticisms and cultural studies--in order to understand their strengths and limitations in dealing with specific texts and issues. Texts may include William Shakespeare's Hamlet , Nella Larsen's Passing , David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly , a selection of poems and short stories, and an anthology of critical and theoretical essays. In written assignments, students will articulate and enact strategies and criteria for a responsible and effective critical practice. The final paper may focus on (a) the interpretation of a literary text, (b) the analysis of a cultural phenomenon as a social text, or (c) the teaching of either a literary text or a social issue in the secondary English classroom.