Anoka Ramsey Community College
English 2203: The Novel
Course Description:
Students will study novels to gain an awareness of their scope and variety. Characters, setting, plot, theme, and other elements will be discussed in order to analyze, interpret, and evaluate their significance. The course will also deal with issues of diversity and may be organized around a particular topic. (Successful completion of ENGL 1121 is recommended.)
Learner Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, you, the student / writer, should be able to:
Read, discuss, analyze, interpret, and evaluate a variety of novels which will be selected from diverse cultures and may be organized around a specific topic (e.g., women in literature, mystery and detection, gothic novels, Minnesota writers, lands and lives of a specific ethnic group or world area, etc.).
Understand how these novels reflect the characteristics and values of the people and times in which they were written.
Select and apply a critical approach (such as biographical criticism, reader-response criticism, feminist criticism, historical criticism, psychoanalytic criticism, etc.) to analyze, interpret, and evaluate selected novels.
Present, through activities such as group discussion, journals, response papers, critical essays, reviews, and examinations, a personal interpretation and evaluation of selected novels.
Use literary terminology to describe technical elements of novels including terms such as character, plot, setting, theme, style, point of view, symbol, metaphor.
Recognize how differences such as race, ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation, class, disability, or age both inform and are illustrated by literature, and how literature can be used to discuss, understand, and appreciate these differences.
Recognize how writers who have been considered "minority" or "diverse" contribute to the literary canon and how these writers are similar to and different from other writers.
Appreciate the ways in which literature helps us better understand ourselves, other people, and the world around us.