Course Instructor: Dr Peter Lowe - peter.lowe@queensu.ca
In Summary:
An introduction to literary study, with an emphasis on the formal analysis of a diverse range of poetry and prose. Specific content and approach vary from section to section, but all sections share the goals of developing sensitivity to genre, cultivating writing skills, and providing students with a set of literary terms and critical techniques as a foundation for further literary study.
Course Highlights: 
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This course looks at writers and texts quite literally from Ancient Greece to the present day. It will cover as diverse and varied a range of material as it possibly can with the time allowed, so there really should be something for everyone!
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You will examine ideas and language to better understand form and content.
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Be active in your learning! Course ELOs allow you to visit locations connected to the course content and meet writers and practitioners to discuss their work, ideas and creative processes.
Course Information:
An introduction to literary study, with an emphasis on the formal analysis of a diverse range of poetry and prose. Specific content and approach vary from section to section, but all sections share the goals of developing sensitivity to genre, cultivating writing skills, and providing students with a set of literary terms and critical techniques as a foundation for further literary study.
Learning Outcomes:
This course supplies a foundation for further courses in English, and draws upon a range of texts and genres to explore English literature. Novels, plays, and poems will be studied, with a focus on developing ‘close reading’ skills that will enhance your enjoyment of a text and give you the tools to analyse and critique the works you read in future, whether for academic study or your own pleasure. By reading carefully, thinking at length about the formal properties and content of the texts, and learning how to draft and edit written work students will acquire skills that are held in high regard not just in academic circles but in the workplace as well.
Alongside some of the most famous names in the English canon – Shakespeare, the Romantic poets, Dickens, Oscar Wilde, and T. S. Eliot – we will look at some lesser-known authors to see how the richness of the English literary tradition has developed over the centuries. Making use of our location in the southern part of England, topics such as the nature of ‘Englishness’, Imperialism and Colonialism, the threat of invasion from overseas, and the relationship between the modern city and the natural landscape will be explored. The course is not a strictly chronological survey of English literature, but texts have been selected both to compliment each other and to address particular aspects of their respective genres and historical periods
Experiential and Active Learning Opportunities:
Examples of previous EAL opportunities include a walking tour of Paris to study 19th century writers such as Charles Baudelaire while walking the same boulevards he would have frequented, guest presentations by authors Laura Elkin and Amanda Craig and a visit to nearby Charleston House for their short story festival.
Prerequisites and Exclusions:
Prerequisite None. Note Priority enrolment is given to first-year students.
Course applicable to the following Majors/Medials/Minors:
ENGL (core) / MDVL (supporting) / Con-Ed Teaching Subject (English).
