Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2024 - WL 200 D100

How to Do Things with World Literature (3)

Class Number: 5808

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 8 – Apr 12, 2024: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Apr 23, 2024
    Tue, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    six units in World Literature, including one W course.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduces major theoretical approaches to literature and fundamental techniques of literary analysis. Develops students' critical skills for analytical writing about literature in comparative, cross-cultural contexts.

COURSE DETAILS:

To succeed in any field, it is becoming clear that one must be able to adapt, and no skill will be more useful in adapting to new situations than that of grasping how we understand texts and contexts. This course will begin by tracing the fundamental features of reading that are crucial to making meaning out of texts and our experiences in the world. It will then explore several ways of framing texts and the contemporary world, paying attention to their assumptions and goals. Students will have the opportunity to explore an interpretive frame of their choice – new historicist, feminist, psychoanalytic, postcolonial, etc. – in a final paper.  

The course is intended for students with little or no prior experience in literary or cultural theory.  

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Understanding how meaning is made, not given 
  • Gaining familiarity with several interpretive framings of literature   
  • Kindling awareness of texts’ and readers’ situatedness  
  • Expressing ideas and arguments orally and in writing 

Grading

  • Weekly Written & Oral Responses to Texts 25%
  • Midterm Exam 15%
  • Final Essay 25%
  • Oral Report on Final Essay 10%
  • Final Exam 25%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Macmillan, 1992. 

MLA Guide to Undergraduate Research in Literature. Modern Language Association of America. 

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. Third edition., Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. 

Zimmermann, Jens. Hermeneutics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2015. 

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.

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