English (ENGL) 316
Approaches to Literary Theory and Criticism (Revision 1)
Delivery Mode: Individualized study online
Credits: 3
Area of Study: Humanities
Prerequisite: ENGL 211 and ENGL 212 or equivalent first year English course(s).
Faculty: Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
ENGL 316 is not available for challenge.
Overview
ENGL 316 is an introductory level course designed to familiarize you with a variety of critical perspectives and help you understand literary works more profoundly by integrating literary theory in your response to these works. ENGL 316 also aims to prepare English program students for ENGL 423, which deals with some of the more contemporary literary theories covered in English 316 in more depth.
Outline
Chapter 1: Defining Criticism, Theory, and Literature
Chapter 2: A Historical Survey of Literary Criticism
Chapter 3: Russian Formalism and New Criticism
Chapter 4: Reader-Oriented Criticism
Chapter 5: Modernity and Postmodernism: Structuralism and Deconstruction
Chapter 6: Psychoanalytic Criticism
Chapter 7: Feminism
Chapter 8: Marxism
Chapter 9: Cultural Poetics or New Historicism
Chapter 10: Cultural Studies: Postcolonialism, African-American Criticism, and Queer Theory
Evaluation
To receive credit for ENGL 316, you must complete two essay assignments, two discussion forum posts, and a final examination. In order to receive credit for the course, you must achieve a minimum grade of “D” (50 percent) on the final exam and a passing grade for each assignment is 50 percent.
| First discussion forum post | First Essay | Second discussion forum post | Second Essay | Final Exam | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 20% | 5% | 20% | 50% | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Course Materials
Textbooks
Abrams, M. H. and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 10th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012.
Bressler, Charles, E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
Lodge, David and Nigel Wood, eds. Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader. 3rd ed. London: Pearson Longman, 2008.
Stott, Jon C., Raymond E. Jones, and Rick Bowers, eds. The Harbrace Anthology of Short Fiction. 4th ed. Toronto: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2006.
Other Materials
The course materials also include a student manual/study guide.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
Opened in Revision 1, February 23, 2010.
Last updated by SAS 02/14/2013 14:49:42
