Summer 2026 - ENGL 112W D100
Literature Now (3)
Class Number: 2024
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
May 11 – Aug 10, 2026: Mon, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Michelle Levy
mnl@sfu.ca
1 778 782-5393
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:
In this course we will read five works by women, all published during the last decade. The works we read are international best-sellers and prize winners, and will take us across space and time, from ancient Greece to Northern Ireland during the troubles of the 1980s, from the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square protests in China, to a series of imagined poems by Phillis Wheatley Peters, the African American poet who was enslaved and brought to America as a young girl. Throughout, we find a preoccupation with womanhood and feminism, as the works explore the experiences of women with different sexual, class, religious, racial and national identities. We will address the experimental nature of this writing and think critically about what it means to read books by women now. Attention will also be paid to how we read; to the embodied practices of reading and to becoming readers. You will be asked to read to at least one book aurally, as an audiobook.
Grading
- Participation and Attendance 20%
- Writing Journals (5 entries, one per work we read, @ 350-500 words each) 25%
- Essay (outline and draft with thesis statement) 10%
- Essay (final version of essay, up to 2000 words) 20%
- Final comparative essay (up to 3000 words) 25%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Anna Burns, Milkman (2018)
Rachel Cusk, Outline (2015)
Madeline Miller, Circe (2018)
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
At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.
To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit:
- SFU’s Academic Integrity Policy: S10-01 Policy
- SFU’s Academic Integrity website, which includes helpful videos and tips in plain language: Academic Integrity at SFU
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.