Summer 2025 - ENGL 112W D100

Literature Now (3)

Class Number: 2269

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 12 – Aug 8, 2025: Wed, Fri, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Instructor:

    Yiwen Liu
    yiwen.liu@sfu.ca
    Office: AQ6102
    Office Hours: Fridays, 1-2 PM

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduces students to contemporary works of literature in English and/or contemporary approaches to interpreting literature. May focus on one or multiple genres. Includes attention to writing skills. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

How to live a city life in contemporary times? What kind of work can literature do for and with us? In this course, we will critically engage with a diverse range of literary texts in order to ask how stories can help us navigate the voluntary and forced transformations that constantly take place in the urban spaces which we call home. By examining stories about Indigenous representation, gentrification, refugee lifeworlds, second-generation Canadians, and personal and political revolutions, we will ask what it means to live together as fellow city dwellers and citizens. These texts invite us to investigate broader issues such as race, settler colonialism, imperial wars, migration, and neoliberalism from the perspectives of cities in the West (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal), the Middle East/North Africa (Cairo), and Asia (Phnom Penh, Shenyang). Our course materials will consist of three novels, a short story, a collection of novellas, and one graphic novel.

Grading

  • Participation and Tutorial Assignment 15%
  • First Essay Draft (1000 words) 10%
  • First Essay Revision (1000 words) 15%
  • Final Essay (1500 words) 30%
  • Final Exam 30%

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Please acquire the required texts on your own. They are available at the SFU Bookstore for purchase. Other course materials, including Lee Maracle’s short story “Goodbye, Snauq” will be made available through Canvas.

REQUIRED READING:

Dionne Brand, Love Enough.


ISBN: 978-0345808899

Madeleine Thien. Dogs at the Perimeter.


ISBN: 978-0345811233

Hamdy, Sherine and Coleman Nye. Lissa: A Story about Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution.


ISBN: 978-1487593476

Mohsin Hamid, Exit West


ISBN: 978-0735212206

Shuang Xuetao. Rouge Street.


ISBN: 978-1250871145

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Department Undergraduate Notes:

IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.

For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.