ENG 220 - Literary Analysis

This section of English 220 is specifically designed to meet the requirements for students thinking of majoring in English or in Africana Studies. It should also be of interest to students who simply wish to learn how to engage in critical analyses of novels, poems, short fiction, plays or film. The course is an introduction to the tools critics utilize when they engage in literary analyses and the differences in approaches to literatures written by writers from dissimilar backgrounds. For example, we’ll explore the most appropriate tools for dissecting a novel by James Baldwin, and how the critical implements might differ for an interrogation of a text by Charlotte Bronte, or a play by William Shakespeare and one by Aime Césaire.

Writing, reading, and substantive discussion are all required.

Students who major in English should complete English 220 by the end of the sophomore year. Those who do not meet this deadline must make special arrangements with the Chairperson of the English Department.

Fall 2024

220-A
Fackler
This section of English 220 is specifically designed to meet the requirements for students thinking of majoring in English or in Africana Studies. It should also be of interest to students who simply wish to learn how to engage in critical analyses of novels, poems, short fiction, plays or film. The course is an introduction to the tools critics utilize when they engage in  literary analyses and the differences in approaches to literatures written by writers from dissimilar backgrounds. For example, we’ll explore the most appropriate tools for dissecting a novel by James Baldwin, and how the critical implements might differ for an interrogation of a text by Charlotte Bronte, or a play by William Shakespeare and one by Aime Césaire.

Writing, reading, and substantive discussion are all required.

220-B
Vaz
ENG 220 will introduce you to the critical study of literature in English and will equip you with the tools and vocabulary you will need to be competent in literary analysis. We will foreground the formal study of poetry, fiction, drama, and film - in other words, we will pay extra-careful attention to how we read, think about, and evaluate texts in specific genres. In addition to studying generic conventions, we will also focus on a variety of critical and theoretical frameworks that enrich literary study, so we can develop original and sophisticated interpretations of texts. This is a discussion-based and writing-intensive course.

Satisfies the LTRQ Ways of Knowing requirement.
Satisfies major requirements in Africana Studies, and the Literary and Cultural Representations track of Gender Studies.