Literary Criticism

Catalog description

This course introduces the major literary genres of poetry, fiction, and drama and focuses upon a variety of critical approaches to literature, such as the sociological, the psychological, and the formalist approaches. Emphasis is also placed upon the history of criticism. Prerequisite: ENG 1002 ENG-2015 Black Critical Theory 4 credits This course introduces students to the major literary genres of poetry and fiction and focuses upon a variety of Black diasporic critical approaches to literature, such as the sociological, psychological, and gender/sexuality frameworks. Students read and analyze critical essays, poetry, short stories, and novels through these critical lenses, with a focus on themes of memory, violence, and liberation. Prerequisite: ENG 1002 ENG-2021 African American Novel 4 credits In her critical essay, "Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation" (1987), Toni Morrison discusses the necessity for an art form that provides healing for Black Americans. Morrison ultimately lands at the novel being the contemporary art form that provides healing, because the original art form that was, music, is not exclusively African Americans' anymore. Through an examination and analysis of novels and critical, scholarly texts, this course will trace the history and utility of the African American novel, its impact, critiques and methodologies employed by African American novelists. Prerequisite: ENG 1002 ENG-2022 Black Poetics 4 credits Audre Lorde writes in Sister Outsider that "poetry is not a luxury" (37). The first portion of this course explores the world of Black poetry, a world of language that affirms Black beingness, hope, anger, grief, resilience, pride, and determination in the centuries-long striving for Black freedom and futurity. The second portion serves as a poetry workshop to cultivate a radical poetic praxis in majors and non-majors with the goal to…