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Introduction to Literary Study

ENGL 100.001
instructor(s):
TR 3-4:30

English 100 fulfills the Arts & Letters sector requirement within the General Requirement.

This course is designed with three aims in mind: 1) to introduce students to a variety of literary works and genres; 2) to give students some grounding in the basic methodology of literary studies: i.e., a sense of how to read attentively and how to write about literary and cultural texts; and 3) to introduce students to some of the important issues in literary and cultural theory.  This is, in short, a course with both a literary and a theoretical component. Because of the latter, the course will not be easy, exactly; but it will not assume any special background or training. The readings will be organized around the following issues: literariness, genre, authorship, ideology, race, gender, and evaluation. Texts may include: Lentricchia, "Critical Terms for Literary Study"; Paul Auster, "City of Glass"; J.M. Coetzee, "Foe"; John Fowles, "The French Lieutenant's Woman"; Umberto Eco, "The Name of the Rose"; Margaret Atwood, "The Handmaid's Tale"; John Fowles, "Flaubert's Parrot." There will also be a bulkpack with selected essays, stories, and poems.  Requirements: two papers (6-8 pages) and a few worksheets.

Note: Students considering English as a major are urged to consider this course a "gateway" to the major. But this is *not* a course for majors--but an introduction meant for all Penn students.

fulfills requirements