LITR - Literature
Alfred State courses are grouped into the following sections:
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The Short Story introduces the student to the study and appreciation of the short story as an art form. Reading selections will include stories by such masters as Joyce, Lawrence, Faulkner, Hemingway, and O'Connor, as well as recent works by Olson, Paley, and Barthelme. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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Children's Literature covers a broad range of literature for children from preschool to age twelve, as they encounter it through the home, the library, and the school. Picture books, the classics, folk and fairy tales, novels, and plays for children are presented in a critical context. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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Using both classic and contemporary literature, this course will explore how gender, race, class, and the influence of family and relationships affect how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others. The course will introduce the terms of literary study and analysis and include reading, discussion, papers, exams, and presentations. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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Introduction to Literature focuses on literature, thought and language. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions and lectures. Literary selections include novels, short stories, poems, and plays.
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Major representative works of science fiction are read and discussed. Works selected contain the major themes present in science fiction in the 20th century. Readings, class discussion, and lectures are the basis for oral reports and written assignments which continue training in composition and encourage a broadening of interest in science and technology. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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This course focuses on film, thought, and language through the viewing and analysis of representative fiction films. Writing is continued in assignments related to film viewing, class discussions, and lectures. From readings and lectures, the student will become acquainted with basic technical terms and film theory, thus facilitating analysis of the more complex aspects of film history and production. Permission of the instructor may supersede prerequisite. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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The student may contract for one to four credit hours of independent study through an arrangement with an instructor who agrees to direct such a study. The student must submit a plan acceptable to the instructor, and the department chair. To be substituted for the listed humanities requirements, a directed study course must be so designated by the department chair. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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Images of Women in Fiction is a reading and discussion course of significant representations of women in American and British fiction with emphasis on works that present the female in a variety of roles. Writing is continued in assignments and oral reports related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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This course focuses on a survey of the principles of poetry, the literary traditions of poetry, and the critical terminology to understand, to define, and to analyze poetry. Special attention is given to poetry written during the twentieth century. Classroom exercises and discussions emphasize the importance of close literary analysis; writing skills introduced in freshman composition and introduction to literature are reinforced.
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Survey of American Literature I is the first of two courses surveying American Literature from the time of the Puritans to the present; it stresses the development of the American voice in literature through the critical study of such authors as Edwards, Franklin, Poe, Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Melville. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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This course is a continuation of Survey of American Literature I with special attention to the works of Twain, Howells, Dickinson, James, Crane, Dreiser, Robinson, Frost, O'Neill, Eliot, Hemingway, Faulkner, Baldwin, and Updike. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.
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A student may contract for an independent study through an arrangement with an instructor who agrees to direct such a study. The student will submit a plan acceptable to the instructor and to the department chairperson. The instructor and student will confer regularly regarding the process of the study.
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This course explores the relationship between humans and the natural world expressed in the literary form of nature writing. The thematic movement from discovery and description to environment, ecology, ecocriticism, and sustainability will be emphasized. Readings will be concentrated in American Literature, but works from other countries and cultures will be included. A variety of literary genres, including poems, journals, nonfiction essays, short stories, travel narratives, and excerpts from novels and nonfiction books will be examined. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the canon of nature writing and to track this literary movement into emerging texts that examine the political, environmental, and technological themes of ecology and sustainability in contemporary culture. Students will be required to write a substantial research paper that analyzes an issue directly related to their major, and they will present their research at the end of the semester. Short writing exercises and exams will also be required. Class sessions will center on student participation and debate, and discussions and writing strategies will employ principles of sound reasoning, critical thinking, and Information Literacy skills.
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This course focuses on the experience of the theater, that is, on plays in production. Students analyze the texts of both contemporary and classic dramas and experience a selected number as actual productions in a field trip to the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Themes for exploration will be drawn from the choice of productions, so will differ each year. The goal of the course will be to expose students to the drama as it was meant to be experienced, through live productions on the stage. The course is also writing-intensive so that it further develops the writing and critical thinking skills introduced in Comp 1503 and other literature and humanities courses, in assignments related to readings, class discussion and theatrical productions, including writing analytical papers on the text or production. Information literacy is further developed through a written research paper, and students will present their findings orally.
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This course surveys the major British writers, from the medieval period to the present, in all literary genres. Students analyze the texts and respond to them in writing and in class discussion. Themes for exploration will be drawn from the reading; students will also investigate the contexts that produced the literature. The course is writing-intensive so that it develops the writing and critical thinking skills introduced in COMP 1503 and other literature and humanities courses, in assignments related to readings and discussions, including writing analytical papers on the texts. Information literacy is developed through a research paper.
