ENGL 201What is Literature

3 credits · English · Penn State

ENGL 201 What is Literature acquaints students with theory and practice relevant to studies of narrative, lyric poetry, and drama. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. English 201 will familiarize students with theories and practices that are foundational for thinking about literature, and for studying narrative fiction, poetry, and drama. The course will pose such questions as what is narrative fiction?; what is poetry?; what is drama?; It will introduce students to how conventions of literary genres operate, how they generate meaning, and how they require and manipulate reader's responses. English 201 will also encourage students to explore whether or not literary discourse, as instanced in the genres that have been named, can be distinguished from other written or spoken discourses. While asking such questions, the course will acquaint students with technical vocabularies used by literary scholars and literary historians, and will provide students with sample scholarly rationales for hypothesizing the singularity of literary discourse, for constructing literary history, and for understanding literature's relation to life. It will teach students close analytic practices of reading, both those that have shaped the discipline of English studies and those emerging currently. The course will be required of all English majors and will be a part of their 36 credit degree requirement.