English 100/6.0: Introduction to Literary Study

This course is available to both Queen’s and non-Queen’s students. Non-Queen’s students (including interest students, visiting students, and new online degree students) must first apply for admission. The following course description is presented for informational purposes only and is subject to change.

Instructor

Dr. Robert Morrison Learn more about the instructor...
Office: 425 Watson Hall
Phone: 533-6000, ex. 78219
E-mail: robert.morrison@queensu.ca

Course Description

This online English course introduces you to the four main literary genres: fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay. It is also designed to improve your writing skills, and to develop your knowledge of literary terms and critical techniques as a foundation for further literary study. Why study literary genre? “We need poems and stories and novels and plays, as well as essays,” replies the great American writer Scott Russell Sanders. “Each genre offers us paths through the dark woods of this life, and we need all the paths we can find.”

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to do the following:

• Identify and explain the hallmarks of the four main literary genres;
• Identify, analyze, and employ the language of literary analysis when discussing texts (this language includes terms such as metaphor, irony, pathos, parody, rhetoric, and ideology);
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of key critical theories (such as psychoanalysis, Marxism, feminism, and queer theory);
• Evaluate the importance of gender, class, race, and geographical location such as categories for literary analysis;
• Show a sound knowledge of grammar, punctuation, diction, and syntax;
• Compose original arguments that evaluate, analyze, and synthesize primary and secondary texts, and that do so within a structural framework that includes a thesis statement, strong topic sentences, textual evidence, and a compelling conclusion.

Weekly Reading Schedule

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More information:

• Computer Requirements and Internet Access
• Moodle, Our Online Learning Environment 
• Academic Integrity
• Evaluation
• Suggested Time Commitment
• Required Material