L.ENG 468 - Thinkers, Critics, and Public Intellectuals

Credits: 3

This course introduces students to the advanced study of literature, to prepare them for civic engagement, social contribution, and professional life. Students will read works from different genres and periods. They will also learn and apply a variety of practical critical approaches, and consider the values and purposes of these approaches in various social contexts. The course introduces students to several critical schools and methods, with the aim both of familiarizing them with these methods in the work of other critics, and of enabling them to make use of these approaches in their own critical writing. By studying the influential ideas of past and present literary theorists, rhetoricians, critics, book reviewers, and public intellectuals, as well as such ethical values as intellectual integrity and the critic’s obligations to the reader, students will reflect more deeply on their own practices as readers and writers, and more fully understand the fundamental history, methods, and values of their discipline. This course is a requirement for both the Literature and Creative Writing majors.
Prerequisite: L.ENG 145
Co-requisite: None
General Education Classification: Not Applicable