ENGL 201 Introduction to Literature
Why do we sit around with friends and tell stories about our days? Why do we tear up when a fictional character dies or reunites with a long-lost love? Whether we realize it or not, stories shape us and the world around us. We think in stories, we love to escape in stories, and we crave happy endings with the same fervor as our favorite foods.
In this course, you’ll get to the root of what makes stories tick by studying major literary genres such as fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction. Through readings from the earliest writings to the modern day, you’ll explore how authors develop and apply literary elements such as plot, character, motif, theme, description, imagery, figurative language, and symbolism. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to analyze these written expressions of human emotion and ingenuity and gain insight into how you can harness language in powerful and evocative ways.
Notes
Meets the general education humanities-literature requirement.