This spring, we will discover and propose questions fundamental to the study of literature, and we will explore how each of us might address those questions in ways that are not only thoughtfully calibrated to the prose, poetry, and drama we read but that also matter in our own lives. We will be studying techniques for reading and writing about a variety of literature (from the English Renaissance and the early American period to the 21st century). We will also consider fundamental questions about the nature of literary texts: why and how they are made, and what kinds of work writing can and should try to do in the world.

This gateway course for the English major and minor introduces students to college-level literary analysis. It is designed to increase your ability to interpret a range of literary texts and to foster your skill in presenting that interpretation as a written argument. Our three primary learning goals will be: first, to hone foundational skills of literary analysis including “close reading” and the ability to use key analytical categories (such as genre, form, audience, medium, metaphor) to develop an interpretation. Second, to explore why you interpret texts as you do and discover ways of approaching literature that yield new interpretations.  The third goal is to develop your ability to write about literature, building on the academic writing skills that you have begun to master in your first few semesters at Michigan.

Course Requirements:

Attentive reading and participation in class discussions; 1-2 short essays; informal writing assignments; a final essay.