ENG 265 - Literary and Cultural Criticism

1.00

A course in literary and cultural criticism written for the public sphere. Beginning with the book review and extending to profiles, trend pieces, and other critical forms, this course builds on those readerly and interpretive skills essential to academic literary criticism—especially close reading and contextual analysis—
and examines how they may be effectively deployed in popular publications and for general readers. It also examines how literary-critical modes of analysis can be extended, repurposed, and applied to non-literary works, such as films, television shows, and video games, as well as other aesthetic and cultural phenomena.
Throughout our focus will be on learning to manipulate voice and rhetorical stance by considering the variables of venue, speaker, subject, audience, and purpose. Prerequisite: instructor permission. Spring. Gen Ed Competency: Write and Speak Effectively.