Learning Goals:

• Students will be able to engage with significant works of literature and make rich sense of them by employing the fundamental techniques of literary analysis.
• Students will be able to explain the history of English and American literature in general and several periods, genres, or movements in more detail.
• Students will be able to write articulate and well-organized essays about literature and culture.

Assessment Criteria:

Analysis and Interpretation

• Students will be able to pay close attention to significant textual details, listen to the suggestions and implications of words, and understand figurative language, thereby producing interpretations that are grounded in the text. 
• Students will be able to explain how historical, literary, and cultural contexts inform their understanding of individual texts.
• Students will be able to acknowledge the underlying assumptions of their interpretations and to identify developments in literary theory that have shaped these assumptions.

Literary History

• Students will be able to identify representative texts and authors from at least four standard periods in British literary history and to explain their significance in relation to the social, intellectual, and literary aspects of the periods. 
• Students will be able to identify American texts and authors and to explain their significance in relation to pertinent literary, historical, and cultural contexts, including contexts that highlight the cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity of America.
• Students will be able to explain the significance of works by Shakespeare, including their relation to the social, intellectual, and literary aspects of the period.

Writing

• Students will be able to write in a prose style that is clearer and more graceful than when they entered the program. 
• Students will be able to manage complex critical and interpretive arguments.
• Students will be able to frame, quote, summarize, and respond to other critical voices as they develop their arguments.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Distribution Requirements: of the 300-level and 400-level courses, one must be in American literature, and one must be in British literature. For students who take ENG 251H to satisfy the British Texts and Contexts requirement, the advanced British course must be post-1798. For students who take ENG 252H to satisfy the British Texts and Contexts requirement, the advanced British course must be pre-1798. Each semester at pre-registration, an official list of courses meeting these distribution requirements will be circulated to advisors and students.

Note: A creative writing course may be substituted for the open literature elective.

Total Credits for the Major: 40

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Intermediate Proficiency in a Foreign Language 12

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

For specific information about general education requirements and expectations, see the General Education Requirements in the Academic Programs section of this catalog.

MINIMUM TOTAL CREDITS FOR THE DEGREE: 128

An additional requirement of the major is completion of assessment activities in ENG 181, 400-level ENG literature courses, and annual reflections that students compose in their sophomore and subsequent years. These activities are crucial in students' attainment of a well-rounded and complete education because they help faculty to plan courses that meet the educational needs of students, help advisors to guide students in the selection of courses, and help students to play an active role in developing their knowledge of literature.