Goals for English Majors

Rigorous readers. Students learn to become careful, questioning readers of a wide range of texts hailing from different time periods and social circumstances and produced in different media, such as Old English manuscripts, sermons, printed books, staged theatre, film, or electronic texts. 

Critical thinkers. Students follow diverse critical and theoretical paths as they explore the complexities of literary texts. The literary-critical skills they learn include close reading, the use of technical vocabulary to describe formal and aesthetic qualities of literature, genre analysis, as well as theories about the relationship of texts to history, culture and literary value, politics and social change, and forms of identity (gender, race, class, sexuality).

Effective speakers. Students share with others their understanding of language and literature in all its artistic and cultural complexity. In our classes, students are encouraged to formulate thoughtful questions, to express their opinions, to be receptive to the opinions of others, and to work collaboratively as class members sift through diverse, even contradictory opinions about literature and the issues each text raises. 

Compelling writers. Students also learn how to communicate effectively through the great variety of written work required by different classes. These assignments may range from informal commentaries to creative writing to essay exam questions to power-point class presentations and web writing to analytical studies of a particular text to research papers and community projects. Students thus learn to develop a compelling topic, to assert a perspective, to cite evidence to support claims about a text, and to write in a clear, well-organized, and lively manner.

Engaged world citizens. As they encounter literatures and cultures of diverse historical periods, cultures, and geographical regions, students reflect on ethical and political as well as aesthetic issues.  Having learned to be effective readers, speakers, and writers, students are well prepared to explore the challenges posed in literature through social engagement.