ENGL 115 - Literature and Critical Writing: Literary Genres (W)

3 Credit(s)

Writers of literature use imagination and aesthetic form to explore what it means to be human. This course introduces students to the principal categories of literary writing: poetry, fiction, drama, and creative non-fiction—their techniques and modes of presentation, ranging from the expressive to narrative to performative. Selected works may be grouped by instructors around a focused topic or theme and will feature a blend of classic and contemporary writing. Students engage with texts via close reading, class discussion, and writing assignments designed to stimulate critical thinking: e.g., analysis, synthesis, reflection, source-based writing, and multimodal composition. Students discover how literature produces meaning, how it entertains, increases empathic understandings of self and other, and exposes us to the diversity of experience as well as our common humanity.
This course contributes toward satisfying the humanities distribution requirement. All sections are writing enriched. Satisfies a humanities general education requirement for non-majors. Students pursuing majors that require ENGL 102 should register for ENGL 102, and consult with advisors to identify the theme and focus for their preferred section. Once the 102 requirement has been completed, students may register for a course from ENGL 115 to ENGL 125 to fulfill a humanities general education requirement, as long as a different theme and focus is chosen. Students whose majors do not require ENGL 102 may register for sections of ENGL 115–ENGL 125 to fulfill a humanities general education requirement.
Prerequisite(s): ENGL 101 or ENGL 103 or equivalent. Students who have taken ENGL 103 may take ENGL 115–ENGL 125 for humanities distribution credit.