English 161

Other Readings and Media

See below.

Description

This course will offer an introduction to literary theory with a focus on twentieth- and twenty-first-century political approaches to the study of literature, including theories of Marxism, feminism, sexuality, race, post-colonialism, and ecocriticism. The course will strive to provide students with an understanding of the basic concepts, methods, and vocabulary employed in these various theoretical systems, as well as the similarities and differences between them. We will ground our study of literary theory by reading and discussing selected works of short fiction or poems. The course will require a substantial amount of reading and writing. You will need to purchase two course readers: one will include theoretical/critical works, and the other will include literary works.