This course is designed for English majors and minors, as well any students interested in and attracted to literature and reading. Our concern will be to develop the intellectual foundations to move past our base, instinctive reactions to literature to deeper modes of reading, interpretation, and written analysis/argument. Our goal will be to develop the skills of slow-motion, skeptical reading: to savor the crafting of literary form and to explore how literary rhetoric engages our intellect and emotions; to read not simply for superficial content, but to engage and question the multi-faceted operation of literary texts.
In terms of foundational writing skills for the English major, we will work on the development of compelling written literary arguments by breaking the writing process down into various phases. We will work with the basics of argumentation: developing a strong, coherent thesis, drafting, the logic of argument, revision, proper citation and effective use of primary and secondary sources, and more.