Studies in Canadian Literature

Upon completion of any second-year English literature course, the student should be able to

1. use with increased proficiency the skills of literary analysis taught in first-year English courses;
2. recognize the significance of literary and non-literary or cultural context of a work being studied, such as the biographical, historical, mythological or philosophical context;
3. read critically and use in essays secondary sources, such as criticism and other texts by the same author, as an aid to comprehending the primary text(s) being studied;
4. read critically and independently works or aspects of works not discussed in class; and
5. formulate a thesis on a given subject in one or more specific works, and to develop this thesis using suitable textual evidence.

Upon completion of English 2101, the student should also have a deeper understanding of

1. some of the wide variety of themes and focuses in Canadian writing, such as immigrant experiences, multiculturalism, hybridity and ethnicity, postcolonialism, regional diversity, and relationships with the natural environment;
2. some of the wide variety of critical approaches to Canadian writing, such as postcolonial, gender/queer theoretical, ecocritical, postmodern, and critical race approaches;
3. the shifting nature of Canadian identity and of the Canadian literary canon; and
4. the positioning of Canadian literary culture(s) in global contexts.