Approaches to Literary Study · English And Comparative Literature
I didn't learn much, but I probably came in at a more advanced level. Scansion and other practical formal analytical skills were the best part of the course.
Learned a variety of critical lenses and delved into major genres of literature
Evelyn was an amazing grader and helped me really improve my writing
Critical analysis from a psycho cultural perspective for stagecraft.
Different approaches to literary study, how to be in communication with different scholarly works, and how to interpret texts through different lenses.
I learned a lot about scansion and the art of reading poetry.
is course is bracketed into three sections: poetry, drama, and fiction. While each section will introduce you to particular skills (scansion is not readily applicable to the world of fiction), many of these skills are transferable. Our first section will emphasize poetry and you will be asked to close read and compare several poems. From there we will move on to drama and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I understand that many of you may have encountered this text before–that is perfectly fine. This course is not meant to give you a deep understanding of Shakespeare, but teaches you to read a text in different modes. Following our unit on drama, we will end the semester with a unit on fiction and Colson Whitehead’s The Intuitionist. Whereas many scholars have canonically written about Hamlet, Whitehead’s phenomenal text allows us to take on the role of the literary scholar and apply different schools of criticism to a more recent text.
I really enjoyed it and feel as if the class genuinely improved my writing. In terms of content I would recommend this to another student, but the grading can be a bit harsh at first. I do not need any GPA value for the type of jobs I want as an adult, but if you are a non-english major who really cares about your GPA, be wary as you may end in the B range, which is considered good for this class.
I gained a broadened vocabulary to describe the major theoretical and critical approaches in English literary scholarship. I also learned some new historical facts about specific literary forms and movements.
It is noticeably more difficult than other English classes I have taken at Columbia and involves a much higher workload. That said, I really enjoyed it. I think that it depends on the recommendee's interest in the subject 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2025 Course: ENGLUN2000_001_2025_1-ApproachestoLiteraryStudy : ENGLUN2000_001_2025_1 - Approaches to Literary Study Instructor: Eleanor Johnson