Introduction to Literature

Critical Thinking Skills To include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information.

Communication Skills To include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas though written, oral, and visual communication.

Empirical and Quantitative Skills To include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.

Teamwork To include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal.

Personal Responsibility To include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decisionmaking.

Social Responsibility To include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities

Correctly define commonly used literary terms and concepts used to discuss and analyze works of literature. 

Identify structural elements of works of poetry, fiction, and drama,

• analyze how those elements help create specific meanings and effects.
• Identify literary elements such as plot, character, point of view, setting, imagery, irony, tone, and symbols

Compare works of literature in terms of theme, structure, and use of literary devices.

• Identify and describe distinct characteristics of literary texts
• identifying key writers and works of literature from different historical periods
• identifying different literary movements

Discuss and analyze works of poetry, fiction, and drama based on close reading of the texts.

• Discuss the connections between literature and its historical, cultural, ethical, or political content.
• Analyze literary works for their structure and meaning
• Interpret a literary text and support that interpretation with evidence gained from close reading

Sample works from genres of fiction, poetry, and drama by writers from various cultures and historical eras

 Interpret selected readings by:

• identifying and discussing relevant themes
• analyzing and discussing particular conflicts, ideas, and experiences present in the literary
• works

Identify issues and questions raised by literary texts that might be addressed by literary analysis.

• analyzing the literary works’ societal contexts
• Analyze the interactions of reader and writer to discern meaning.
•  Demonstrate an awareness of the complexity and diversity of human experience as expressed through literature.

Write effective literary analyses defending arguable theses based on close reading of texts and incorporating relevant literary terms and concepts:

• thesis-driven,
• evidence-based literary arguments,
• using literature as a primary source and
• relying on textual support.

Course Competencies
1. Demonstrate critical reading skills.
Assessment Strategies
1.1. Written Product
1.2. Written Objective Test
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
1.1. you use active reading techniques.
1.2. you identify distinct literary components while reading literary works.
1.3. you pose questions while reading.
1.4. you provide analytical responses to literary works.
Learning Objectives
1.a. Employ active reading techniques including annotation, outlining, and summary
1.b. Identify author, audience, and purpose of various literary texts
1.c. Formulate questions and opinions while reading
1.d. Identify specific textual details and patterns while reading
1.e. Explain the meaning of details and patterns identified
2. Use literary terminology effectively.
Assessment Strategies
2.1. Essay
2.2. Written Product
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
2.1. you identify literary terminology associated with each genre: poetry, fiction, and drama.
2.2. you apply knowledge of literary terminology when responding to various works.
2.3. you accurately use literary terminology when responding to works.
2.4. you incorporate literary terminology when interpreting and analyzing works.
Learning Objectives
2.a. Describe the difference between poetry, fiction, and drama
2.b. Identify literary terminology associated with each genre
2.c. Identify deviant or innovative traits of various works using literary terminology
2.d. Use knowledge of literary terminology to interpret and analyze literature
3. Analyze literature.
Assessment Strategies
3.1. Essay
3.2. Written Product
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
3.1. you divide a work into multiple literary components when developing an interpretation.
3.2. you describe how components of a work interact to create meaning.
3.3. you explain how the components of a work may be complementary and cohesive.
3.4. you explain how the components of a work may be contradictory and conflicting.
Learning Objectives
3.a. Use literary terminology to break a text into parts
3.b. Describe how the parts of a work interact
3.c. Use literary analysis in interpretative discussion and written work
3.d. Compose essays using literary analysis.
4. Interpret literature.
Assessment Strategies
Course Outcome Summary - Page 3 of 4
Friday, September 16, 2022 9:26 AM
4.1. Essay
4.2. Written Product
4.3. Written Objective Test
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
4.1. you identify a central message or important idea conveyed by a literary work.
4.2. you use textual evidence to support an interpretation.
4.3. you use separate components of a work to support an interpretation.
4.4. you articulate interpretations in discussion and written work.
4.5. you compose numerous written interpretations in essay form.
Learning Objectives
4.a. Provide responses to literature beyond simple summary and personal experience
4.b. Identify the meaning of various literary works
4.c. Use details from a work to develop an interpretation
4.d. Use analysis to develop an interpretation of a work
4.e. Identify complexities and ambiguities that challenge or undermine certain interpretations
4.f. Create multiple written interpretations that fulfill formal requirements of academic essay writing
5. Explore the reader's active role as an interpreter of literature.
Assessment Strategies
5.1. Written Product
5.2. Self Assessment
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
5.1. you explain how personal background influences the reading experience.
5.2. you self-consciously apply personal experience when reading and interpreting.
5.3. you identify certain common experiences that may influence interpretations of a work.
5.4. you acknowledge the benefits and limitations of drawing on personal experience when interpreting
literature.
Learning Objectives
5.a. Describe how the reading process is as an active exchange
5.b. Provide a personal account of the reading experience
5.c. Express self awareness of the role of personal background in interpretation
5.d. Provide examples of how an individual's experiences shape his or her encounter with literature
6. Assess the role of culture in the creation of literature.
Assessment Strategies
6.1. Written Product
6.2. Essay
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
6.1. you describe major cultural trends and historical events at the time of a work's creation.
6.2. you identify the influence of certain trends and events on a work.
6.3. you identify historical items explicitly or implicitly referenced in a work.
6.4. you incorporate knowledge of contemporaneous trends and events when interpreting a work.
Learning Objectives
6.a. List important events unfolding at or near the time a work was authored
6.b. List commonly held beliefs and attitudes contemporary to a work's creation
6.c. Describe an author's encounters with or expressed views regarding the common attitudes and important
events of the time
6.d. Identify instances in a literary work where events and beliefs of the time are referenced explicitly or
implicitly
6.e. Use cultural and historical information to develop and support interpretations
Course Outcome Summary - Page 4 of 4
Friday, September 16, 2022 9:26 AM
7. Examine how literature can create and change culture.
Assessment Strategies
7.1. Written Product
7.2. Essay
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
7.1. you describe how literature may shape a reader's attitudes and beliefs.
7.2. you demonstrate appreciation for the history of readership.
7.3. you identify audience characteristics of various works.
7.4. you apply knowledge of readership when interpreting various works.
Learning Objectives
7.a. Explain the potential influence of literature on the reader
7.b. Describe important events in the history of print and the consumption of literature
7.c. Identify the intended audience of a literary work
7.d. Describe the publication, critical reception, popularity, and longevity of a literary work
7.e. Use knowledge of readership to develop an interpretation
8. Compare various critical approaches commonly used to interpret literature.
Assessment Strategies
8.1. Written Product
8.2. Essay
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
8.1. you identify basic conventions of common critical approaches used to interpret literature (formalism,
deconstruction, Marxism, feminism, post-colonialism, etc.).
8.2. you identify advantages and limitations of common critical approaches.
8.3. you use common critical approaches when responding to literary works.
8.4. you use a certain critical approach to develop an interpretation of a work.
Learning Objectives
8.a. Describe foundational assumptions and frequent interpretive techniques of various critical theories
8.b. Identify strengths and shortcomings of particular critical approaches
8.c. Apply conventions of common critical approaches when responding to literary works
8.d. Develop an interpretation using a common critical theory
9. Characterize literature.
Assessment Strategies
9.1. Written Product
9.2. Written Objective Test
9.3. Self Assessment
Criteria
You will know you are successful when
9.1. you accurately incorporate literary terminology when characterizing literature.
9.2. you reflect on your academic encounters with literary texts when characterizing literature.
9.3. you synthesize assigned reading, writing, lecture and discussion when characterizing literature.
9.4. you recognize the complexities and challenges of characterizing literature.
Learning Objectives
9.a. Characterize literature in discussion and written exercises
9.b. Characterize literature using literary terminology
9.c. Incorporate experiences in the academic study of literature when characterizing literature
9.d. Incorporate personal reading experiences when characterizing literature