2140 Teaching Resources

Sample 2140 Syllabi
Use the following links to view various syllabi for 2140.

Sample Assignments

Description of the Course :

According to the English department's catalog description, ENGL 2140 covers "materials, methods, and terminology used in the discipline of literary studies" and includes "practice in effective critical writing and examination of the various critical theories available for interpretation and analysis."

This course is a required English major course and serves an important gateway function.

Texts:

Literary texts: Students should have the opportunity to read a few pieces in each of the major genres of fiction, poetry, and drama. ENGL 2140 teachers often select literary works that they have a strong familiarity with from previous teaching and research efforts. One may also opt to teach a film or other text outside of the traditionally "literary." In general, the deciding principle in choosing which literary texts to require of students should be how well any particular text or set of texts will help you get at the outcomes for the course.

On the practical side, teachers often choose to order an anthology of some sort (such as any of the various general literature anthologies available). Other possibilities, however, are to put together a course packet for students to purchase, to order several stand-alone texts, or to use some combination of the above. Each choice has its specific advantages and disadvantages.

Literary criticism/theory texts -ENGL 2140 teachers generally have their students read introductory texts in literary criticism and theory. As with the literary texts for the course, the deciding principle in choosing which critical/theoretical texts to require of students should be how well any particular text or set of texts will help you get at the outcomes for the course.

Most teachers choose a stand-alone introductory text, and there are several such texts available. A few representative titles are Charles Bressler's Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice , M. Keith Booker's Practical Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism , and Jeffrey Nealon and Susan Searls Giroux's The Theory Toolbox: Critical Concepts for the New Humanities . An anthology of critical and theoretical pieces might also be a possibility, although one should strongly consider the level of reading skill that can be expected of sophomore English majors in opting to go this route.

Organizational principles for the course :

A number of patterns for breaking up the course in the form of a calendar are possible. Whatever plan a teacher arrives at should of course be informed by the learning outcomes she hopes to achieve. A survey of departmental syllabi reveals that teachers tend to break down the course into broad units covering genre, theoretical/critical "schools," or theoretical/critical issues, with a number of combinations of the three general patterns possible as well. You will see in the three sample syllabi that follow the following patterns: an organization by theoretical/critical school; an organization into two broad units, critical theories and student applications of the theories; and, finally, an organization by theoretical issues. The sample syllabi are offered as examples of individual approaches to the subject and not as prescriptive models.