I expect the students to achieve the following objectives by the end of the course:

1. Learn to view and discuss literature via various schools of literary theory.
2. Develop a sense of how literature works and what it does.
3. Learn to think critically and synthesize information through class discussions, individual presentations, and applications of new acquired knowledge.

I expect the students to achieve the following objectives by the end of the course:

1. Learn to view and discuss literature via various schools of literature theory.
2. Develop a sense of how literature works and what it does.
3. Learn to think critically and synthesize information through class discussions, individual presentations, and applications of new acquired knowledge.

Reading a literary work is not a passive activity (simply receiving information) because we are constantly trying to make sense of it (figuring out its meaning), and in the process, we draws on ideas discussed in literary theory to justify our interpretation, with or without our awareness of it. Thus, learning about literary theory—the body of ideas about literature and methods for interpreting literature—can enhance our appreciation of literature and help us read literature from different perspectives. In this course, students will be introduced to major schools of literary theory, accompanied by a demonstration on how each theory can be applied to a reading of a literary work.

Reading a literary work is not a passive activity (simply receiving information) because we are constantly trying to make sense of it (figuring out its meaning), and in the process, we draws on ideas discussed in literary theory to justify our interpretation, with or without our awareness of it. Thus, learning about literary theory—the body of ideas about literature and methods for interpreting literature—can enhance our appreciation of literature and help us read literature from different perspectives. In this course, students will be introduced to major schools of literature theory, accompanied by a demonstration on how each theory can be applied to a reading of a literature work.

1. King Lear by William Shakespeare.
2. Literary Theory: a Practical Introduction by Michael Ryan, second Edition, 2007.

1. King Lear by William Shakespeare.
2. Literary Theory: a Practical Introduction by Michael Ryan, second Edition, 2007.