American Literature - ENG 246 at Virginia Highlands Community College
https://courses.vccs.edu/colleges/vhcc/courses/ENG246-AmericanLiterature
Effective: 2022-03-31
Course Description
Examines American literary traditions and texts from diverse time periods, genres, and authors. Analyzes literary works within their historical, cultural, social, and/or literary contexts. Emphasizes skills of close reading. Develops critical thinking and interpretive skills through discussion, interpretation, and analysis of these texts. This is a UCGS transfer course.
Lecture 3 hours. Total 3 hours per week.
3 credits
The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.
General Course Purpose
ENG 246 introduces students to texts and traditions within American literature. This course requires close reading, interpretation, and analysis.
Course Prerequisites/Corequisites
Prerequisites: ENG 112, ENG 113, or departmental approval.
Course Objectives
- Critical Thinking
- Evaluate and interpret information, ideas and arguments from a variety of perspectives (including the written arguments of others) to analyze complex issues related to literature
- Interpret and combine information to reach and/or evaluate well-reasoned conclusions about literature
- Communication
- Explain the complex ideas of others, as they relate to literature and its traditions
- Develop, convey, and exchange ideas in writing that focuses on literary analysis
- Develop writing that is appropriate to a given context and for a specific audience
- Cultural and Civic Engagement
- Assess the impact of culture across local, national, and global literary communities
- Develop knowledge and civic values, within a humanities framework, that are necessary for contributing to civic life and the well-being of local, national, and global literary communities
- Literary Traditions
- Describe salient features of writers, literary movements, genres and/or texts within the American literary tradition.
- Inquiry
- Construct and explore meaningful questions about diverse human experiences through literary study
- Historical and social contexts
- Explain connections between literary texts and related historical, social, and literary contexts
- Close Reading and Literary Analysis
- Analyze literary texts using appropriate vocabulary and a variety of methodological approaches and perspectives, exploring the ways literary texts reflect and challenge cultural values and beliefs
- Support interpretations of literary texts with valid textual evidence and use scholarly sources as appropriate to inform inquiry into literary texts
- Writing
- Compose literary analysis that is well-organized and features substantial, logical, and concrete development of ideas with appropriate documentation
Major Topics to be Included
- Literary Traditions
- Inquiry
- Historical and social contexts
- Close Reading and Literary Analysis
- Writing