20801204Introduction to Literature
Course Information
Description
Introduction to Literature gives students the tools necessary to understand, analyze, and appreciate literature by exploring a variety of literary genres and periods. The course also considers broader conversations about the significance of literature and its historical and cultural contexts. Individual sections may focus on a particular literary theme or emphasis.
Total Credits
3
Course Competencies
  1. Analyze fundamental elements of literature, such as plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, and tone
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Define elements of literature
    Identify elements of literature within literary texts
    Recognize how elements of literature contribute to the broader significance and structure of literary works

  2. Differentiate between literary genres (e.g., short stories, poetry, plays, and novels)
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Explain how a text reflects the formal conventions of a genre
    Identify distinguishing characteristics of literary genres
    Recognize experimental departures from genres
    Describe the importance of experimental departures to text, genre, and literary historical context

  3. Analyze literary and cultural texts that offer diverse gender, class, ethnic, environmental, disability or other relevant perspectives.
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Identify and recognize attributes that make a literary text diverse
    Compare different perspectives from literary texts
    Discuss how texts utilize literary techniques and devices to express diverse points of view

  4. Interpret layers of meaning within literary works
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Apply interpretive strategies such as figurative language, subtext, and ambiguity to the text
    Recognize explicit and implicit meanings within a literary text
    Analyze relationships between layers of meaning in literary texts

  5. Assess how authors use literary techniques, such as diction, syntax, or narrative structure, to achieve specific effects
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Describe stylistic, rhetorical, and narrative techniques adopted by authors
    Recognize the effects that literary techniques have on audience, content, and message
    Assess authorial intention and its limitations for understanding the effectiveness of a literary work

  6. Characterize the importance of literature
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Compare definitions of literature
    Discuss claims about the importance of literature, such as its capacity to create joy, please aesthetically, make arguments, and evoke empathy
    Articulate persuasive opinions about the significance of literature

  7. Develop arguments about literary texts supported by specific textual evidence
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Use quotes and details from the text in support of claims
    Synthesize opinions, questions, and responses that arise from readings of literary texts
    Develop evidence-based descriptions of the assumptions and implications within works of literature

  8. Discuss how literary works are influenced by historical, cultural, or other contexts
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Compare literary works from different periods, cultures, and authors
    Analyze texts within their historical contexts
    Apply knowledge of literary canons and their limitations to works of literature
    Describe how literary texts engage social issues
    Recognize historical, social, and cultural developments within texts

  9. Perform close readings that examine the relationship of details within a text to its larger significance and effect
    Assessment Strategies
    Presentations, Papers, Creative Reflections, Discussions, Creative Writing, and/or Tests
    Criteria
    Apply literary concepts such as symbolism, perspective, and thematic structure to the analysis of literary texts
    Support diverse interpretations using textual evidence
    Construct meaning and significance from the literary text
    Develop analyses that recognize interplay between content and style
    Relate the product of close textual analysis to the text as a whole