This course looks at selected works of literature with particular reference to their cultural contexts and thematic developments. Students will continue to practice writing critical essays.
To pass English 103 at Dawson College, students must be able to do the following:
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| 603-103-MQ |
20th Century Themes: Displaced Persons |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The 20th century brought change in many forms, and with change comes displacement. In this course we look at various works of literature from the 20th century that involve some form of displacement — be it physical, psychological, technological, social or cultural. While the main focus of the course will be the development of close readings and thematic interpretations of these texts, which will include poems, short stories and a novel, we will also consider the historical contexts out of which the texts were generated. In this way, the course helps us understand how 20th century literature can be seen as both a response to displacement as well as an effort to find a new place in the challenging new world we find ourselves in now. Class-time will include some background lectures, group analysis and discussion activities and general discussions. Note-taking is strongly recommended, as is coming to class prepared. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Abandoned Children in Fiction |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will consider a range of texts that feature abandoned children, including traditional fairystories, excerpts from Victorian novels, J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Wendy, and Heather O’Neill’s Lullabies for Little Criminals. Through close analysis of these literary works, students will recognize the recurring motifs and conventions in the depiction of abandoned children. We will consider different types of abandonment - such as physical, emotional, temporary, permanent - to explore the position and purpose of the abandoned child in these texts. In particular, we will explore how authors use the abandoned child to critique social issues such as racism, poverty, and parenting. Students will also develop skills in literary analysis by examining techniques and devices used by authors, such as plot, setting, conflict, characterization, symbolism, metaphor, and various other common elements in literature. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
African and Asian Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Montreal is proud of its blend of languages, religions and ethnicities, and Dawson College reflects that reflects that mix – and pride. This course is all about that happens when different communities and cultural worlds collide: misunderstandings, conflicts, wars, accommodations... Students will read short stories by a native Canadian (Margaret Laurence) and by an immigrant Canadian of Indian descent from East Africa (M.G. Vassanji); a novel by a Nigerian (Chinua Achebe); and some haiku by various Japanese poets. Introductory lectures and class discussion on the readings make up a major part the course. Maps, charts and diagrams help to provide historical, political and cultural context. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Anna Karenina |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Often considered among the best novels ever written, Anna Karenina is a phenomenal introduction to the art and themes of the novel and to the works of the one of the world’s great writers, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. With the astonishing realism of Tolstoy’s art, we come to feel his characters are as real as people we know, as we marvel at his development of several key themes: the nature and complexity of love, marriage, and individual identity; the tension between artificial life and natural life; death (and the coincidence of life and death); the search for meaning and purpose in life. The novel is a brick – 800 pages (approx.). Students should be prepared for a reading challenge. But if you put in the effort, it becomes a page turner, and reading it can be a memorable life experience. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Archetype and Meme: Literature and the Internet |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Augustan Satire |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course will examine themes of the satirists of the Augustan period. Through an examination of the work of Swift, Wycherley, and Pope, we will see how and why these satirists reacted with moral outrage to the encroaching of what has become the modern world, with its love of individualism, democracy, business, and science. The course will limit itself to the genre of satire in the period; so the study of that genre and its history, as well as the study of the broader historical period and the cultural context these authors were writing in, will be our concern. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Being Blitzed: British Literature of World War II |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course explores the various representations of the Second World War in British literature. While the focus falls on the literature of the blitz, many other thematic preoccupations (borders, propaganda, patriotism, love, the domestic and the foreign, the public and the private, reconstruction and damage) emerge that speak to the wide variety of writings and perspectives on the war. The Second World War was the most momentous set of events in the twentieth century, and inspired a wealth of writing: factual and fictional texts that explore an immense range of experiences. In addition to conveying different aspects of the war’s actuality, these works also raise important questions about the relation of art to life, the relationship between individual and the nation or state, the role of women in otherwise male-dominated narratives of war, and about politics and culture. Course readings include poems, stories, essays, radio broadcasts, documentary and feature films, and a short novel. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Book Club |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course looks at selected works of contemporary literature from a student-directed perspective. Although students will examine texts with reference to their cultural contexts and thematic developments, the goal of the course is to have open discussions of the books based on the students’ initial responses and thoughts about the readings, and then have them work toward an understanding of the books as literature. Major assessments will be based on critical analyses of the texts. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Confessional Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course introduces students to the concept of confessional literature. The texts we will study are diverse, ranging from letters to poetry, canonical to experimental. They are all linked, however, by the core thematic content that runs through each of them: in a word, confession. We will discuss the nature of confession, but for a basic definition from which to start, confession means an outpouring of intimate expression, testifying to both personal trial and social unrest. Our course texts range in time from the early-19th century to the present. Each one is autobiographical in nature (sometimes obviously, sometimes less so) and documents personal struggles against the backdrop of a tumultuous social context. Throughout the course, we’ll discuss the texts both as unique works of art in themselves as well as in the context of their creation. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Contemporary Women Writers |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Early in the 20th century, Virginia Woolf said that in order to write, a woman needed “a room of her own” plus a steady income. If women had such resources, they would be free to write about themes previously unexplored in literature. Now that more women have their own space and money, how do they treat their contemporary reality? This is the question we will pose in this course as we explore a series of themes as portrayed in women’s fiction, essays and memoirs. Themes discussed will include: coming of age; sexuality; marriage; family dynamics; work, women’s friendships; women’s creativity, and other issues related to gender. We will look at a range of texts from several different cultures and attempt to identify both commonalities and differences. Evaluation will be based on writing and revising essays, participation in class discussion and group work, brief informal writing, quizzes, and oral presentations. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Cultural Paradigms |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Certain cultural paradigms, or patterns, are worth studying because of what they show about cultural expectations. These paradigms are easy to find; their natural habitat is folktales. Folktales are more than bedtime stories. They teach their audiences how to view and survive a world full of threats, how to behave and succeed. This course will examine one old and very popular folktale, “Cinderella” (variations on its plot exist in almost every age and culture.) It will review the history and analyze the messages of the Cinderella story, and explore the aspects that have made it so appealing, so durable, and (so critics say) so dangerous. Students will go beyond the Disney version of the tale, looking for Cinderella in three literary genres in order to understand not only the rags-to-riches protagonist but the underlying plots and themes. There will be no films (and no talking mice); the course will include lectures, class discussions, essays, tests, and oral presentations. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Drama: The Tragic to the Absurd |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Encounters with Death |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will try to answer some questions we usually avoid considering. Why do we have to die? Does death give life meaning? How have attitudes about death changed over time? How do these attitudes relate to cultural context? Above all, how can reflecting on death help us to live better? We will address these and other questions through a close examination of an eclectic selection of texts representing diverse approaches to this grim topic: myth, allegory, satire, gallows humour, ratiocination, and others. Authors include John Milton, Edgar Allan Poe, John Donne, Emily Dickinson, Donald Barthelme, Sylvia Plath, Leo Tolstoy, and Amy Hempel. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Family Dramas |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Family Dramas will explore contemporary plays written in or translated into English that have as their primary focus family in all its various forms. Dark themes such as the corrosive effect of secrets, the potentially suffocating burden of parental expectations and the soul-destroying effect of emotional and physical violence will mingle alongside the more hopeful, though often quite complicated, themes of loving parental sacrifice and familial affection. Playwrights are from different countries and are of varying races, ethnicities and genders so we can appreciate differences and overlapping concerns. All of these plays are critically acclaimed and have enjoyed long runs and, in some cases, adaptation into film. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
First Peoples Perspectives |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Literature by aboriginal North American writers will be the focus of this course, with and emphasis on Canadian authors. The works to be studied will be considered in their historical and cultural contexts. Themes such as identity, cultural values, spirituality, community, political conflict, colonialism, and representation will be discussed. Students are expected to be prepared for class discussion by reading the assigned materials. In-class written responses will be assigned on a regular basis in preparation for discussion and for the tests and essays. Group work (oral and written) as well as informal presentations will be expected of everyone. Background information will be provided in lecture format and with the aid of audio-visual materials. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Fool for Love |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
A close reading and formal analysis of the themes of the ideal of romantic love and eros and thanatos in three works of prose fiction and one play. Students will study a wide range of voices and techniques, from the detached, comic irony of Austen to the feverish Romanticism of 18th century German literature. Theoretical work will consist primarily of lectures and class discussion based on the primary texts as well as relevant secondary sources, including film adaptations. Practical work will include extensive reading from the texts, written responses in class to set questions, and longer, written analyses of the material. All written assignments completed outside the classroom must be typed and, where applicable, documented according to the MLA format. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Gender and Utopia |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will read various science fiction texts (novels and short stories) that share the goal of analyzing and re-imagining the role of gender in society. We will take as a starting point the feminist assumption that gender is socially constructed and that the meaning of sexual differences is never natural, essential, or self-evident, but is always a matter of (social) interpretation. We will be particularly interested in later writers of science fiction who, beginning in the 1960s, interrogate and challenge the male dominance of earlier examples of the genre and their (mis)representations of women and other sexual nonconformists including gay or bisexual men and women and transgender individuals. Key authors include Ursula K. LeGuin, James Tiptree Jr., Joanna Russ, Samuel R. Delany, Octavia Butler, and John Varley, among others. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Gender Issues in Drama |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course examines the various gender issues that are addressed in four or five highly acclaimed plays that challenge gender role constructs and stereotyping. Plays will be selected from the modern and contemporary periods and students will be encouraged to explore their historical and social contexts. The class will read aloud from the plays and act out a scene in a group. Attendance at a relevant play is mandatory as well as a written review of it. Personal opinions and insights are welcome. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Gender Issues in Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In 1955, James Baldwin wrote that “our passion for categorization” was, paradoxically, leading us into chaos and leaving us “clutching the straws of our definitions.” Modern theorists have posed challenges to most of our conceptualizations of gender and sexuality, yet we cling to those definitions even as they are transformed and multiplied. This course, through the investigation of challenging literary and theoretical works, asks you to consider how we (should) conceptualize gender and sexuality? Students will learn to understand, appreciate, and analyze works of literature, and to write critically about these works by developing their own ideas in the form of the literary essay. Class time will be divided between lectures, class discussion, group work, in-class assignments, and oral presentations. Assignments include reading quizzes, in-class writing exercises, a short answer test, three literary essays, and a group presentation. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Going Viral: Transmission and Containment from Fiction to Philosophy |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Grief, Loss, and Magic |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
“‘Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all.” (Tennyson) “Between grief and nothing, I will take grief.” (Faulkner) Losing something or someone important, and grieving that loss are universal, unavoidable and formative human experiences. The map of a lifetime can be traced through the intricate series of losses, small and big: we can lose other people, we can lose ideals, relationships, friendships, countries, identity, youth, dignity, freedom, beliefs, and all kinds of metaphoric battles. How do we deal with this? How do we grieve, do we talk about it, and how do we talk about it? What is it that allows Tennyson and Faulkner to proclaim the above confidently? What kinds of magic are humans capable of conjuring (and turning into a reality) in order to make sense of their losses? In this class, we’ll speculate on these and other questions with the help of a novella, a few short stories and poems, and a couple of films. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Heroism and Culture |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course emphasizes the study and consideration of the literary, cultural and human significance of selected works of the Western and non-Western literary traditions from Antiquity to Modern period. An important goal of the class is to promote an understanding of the works in their cultural, historical and political contexts and of the enduring human values which unite the different literary traditions. As we move through the texts, we will pay particular attention to the question of the kinds of values that these foundational works were meant to instill in their audiences. We will consider what, for each culture, constitutes the exemplary person, often known as the “hero” or “heroine,” and what each work has to say about human nature and ethics, gender issues, and the ‘Other.’ The format of the course will include class discussions, short lectures, group work, writing assignments and essays, reading quizzes, and film screening. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Identity in American Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course examines how different methods of storytelling contribute to our understanding and expression of individual identity and how (or whether) such an identity is relevant to a larger society. In our treatment of the question of identity, we will focus on American stories written in the nineteenth century and onwards and take into consideration their cultural and historical contexts. The reading list is both diverse and representative: It includes frequently anthologized pieces, lesser known tales of famous authors, stories by previously unfairly neglected voices, and works by emergent writers. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Immigration |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course explores immigration and its repercussions as a recurring theme in contemporary literature. Course readings revolve around ideas of displacement, refuge, alienation, re-invention and belonging, as well as family, tradition and language. Classes involve brief lectures, animated discussion, writing assignments, oral presentations and an engaging range of activities that will develop critical reading, thinking and writing skills. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Insights, Glimpses, Epiphanies |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
All literature and even art in general can be seen as the result of a moment of revelation, a glimpse into a truth, or an insight into a reality that goes beyond our “default” comprehension. Art can equally be understood as an effort to recreate and explore these moments in different fictional scenarios. In this course, we’ll be identifying, analyzing, and interpreting such epiphanies – explicit or implicit – as phenomena often arising from inconspicuous ordinary situations in a number of short stories, poems, and films. What are the contexts in which these epiphanies occur, and what do they bring to the text as a whole? Are they positive, negative or even absent moments? Whose epiphany is it: the author’s/narrator’s/speaker’s, the character’s, or the reader’s? These are some of the questions we’ll discuss in this course. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Into the Wild: Writing about Nature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
How have the concepts nature, wilderness and environment evolved within the ecosystem of the North American imagination? What does Henry David Thoreau mean when he asserts that "wild thought" is "more swift and beautiful than the tame"? Are our technological advances leading us to an inevitable detachment from the natural world? Or is a widening awareness of ecology fostering a new and deeper relationship to nature? In this course we pose questions related to the themes of nature and wilderness in art, film, philosophy and literature. Course work encourages students to reflect on and write about personal outdoor experiences, and to respond to readings from across the arts, sciences and social sciences. This course is taught in the active learning classroom, and uses course blogs for the development and publication of student writing. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Jane Austen and her World |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course students will be reading three novels by Jane Austen as well as excerpts from Austen’s letters and commentaries by other writers. In addition to this primary material, there will be discussions and research on the social, cultural, economic and domestic realities of her day – Austen lived between 1775 and 1817 – in order to understand Austen’s fictional universe: her characters, settings, plots, themes, and language. Of particular interest will be the protagonist and the resolution of the conflicts she experiences. Other topics for discussion include Austen’s life, the rise of the woman novelist, gender issues in her fiction, critical reaction to Austen’s work, her influence on literary history and the various film adaptations of her work. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Literary Themes with New School |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
New School is a different way of doing Humanities and English at Dawson, and you need to pre-register through Omnivox. (Visit our website for more details.) We use a critical humanistic approach where students collaborate in smaller self-directed learning circles. You step up and play an active role in shaping the course, from topics, to activities, to how you will be graded, all under the leadership of your facilitator. In these extraordinary times, we are moving New School online temporarily and we are inviting you to bring your creativity and openness to our exciting experiment. This New School English Literary Themes course explores the theme of Home and the Outside World. Through a mix of poetry, fiction and drama, both ancient and modern, as well as some creative writing of our own, we’ll examine what makes one place “home,” another “the outside world,” and how the meanings of these concepts shift across cultures and throughout history as well as in our personal lives. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Literature and Imperialism |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Imperialism, or the policy and ideology of extending a nation’s power over other nations and territories, has elicited a wide range of literary responses. For representatives of imperialism, the quest for power has been both a source of pride and of shame; for those who have been colonized, imperialist thinking and policy has caused much bitterness and trauma. In this course we will examine a selection of literary texts that directly take up the subject of imperialism. We will read imperial apologists like Rudyard Kipling, critics of imperialism like Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness), and a selection of postcolonial authors like V. S. Naupaul, Jamaica Kincaid, Salman Rushdie, and J. M. Coetzee. Throughout the course we will use literature as a way of thinking about history. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Literature and the Law |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course will examine a range of literary texts concerned with issues of law, and with moral and philosophical questions that have direct legal implications. The class will read Sophocles’ Antigone, an ancient Greek play that explores the conflict between divine law and secular law, as well as a selection of shorter works – poems, essays, and short stories – that take up diverse issues related to law. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” for instance, interrogates the notion of a “just law,” while Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” asks us to consider the influence of patriarchy on the making of laws. In the final weeks of the course, we will read J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, a politically charged novel set in post-apartheid South Africa that takes up numerous legal/moral questions, including the role that race and colonial history have played in the formation of laws and the responsibility that human beings have in upholding the rights of animals. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Metamorphosis in Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Webster’s Dictionary defines “metamorphosis” as “a transformation, as by magic or sorcery” or as “a marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.” As we will see, writers and artists throughout the centuries have been fascinated by the theme of physical and psychological change. Beginning with the ancient Roman poet Ovid’s collection of poems, written in 1 C.E. and entitled the Metamorphoses, we will analyze how this recurring theme is explored in Shakespeare’s Othello, Shaw’s Pygmalion, Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Towards the end of term, we will read Neil LaBute’s play The Shape of Things, which is the culmination of our course’s theme since it includes many references and allusions to the transformations explored in the works above. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Migrations |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course explores migration and its repercussions as a recurring theme in contemporary literature. Course readings revolve around ideas of displacement, refuge, alienation, re-invention and belonging, as well as home, family, tradition and language. The course involves brief lectures and discussion in the online forum. Students will write about the class texts and do a final assignment inspired by their own life experience. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Myths and Fairies |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Society now relies on science to explain the world, but in the days before science people relied on stories – myths and folklore – in order to try and make sense of the world around them. Many of these stories have survived to this day, though generally in forms adapted to a modern audience’s tastes and expectations. This course will focus on examining various myths and fairy tales, and how they have changed and transformed over the years to remain relevant, and interesting, to contemporary audiences. Students will read traditional myths and fairy tales by such authors as the Brothers Grimm, Straparola and Perrault; more contemporary adaptations and updates by several writers, including Gaiman and Willingham; and critical theory by Zipes and Poniewozik. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Nuturing Nature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will be examining literature that focuses on the environment and the complicated relationship between humans and the natural world. While nature has sustained humanity, we have not given back, leading to the current environmental crises we are experiencing. Most of the works we read will be from the twentieth century onwards, but we will take the occasional look back in time. We will be reading some poems, short stories and a novel, but most of the readings will be selections from memoirs and essays. The writers – people like Alice Munro, T.C. Boyle, Richard Powers, Hope Jahren, Roger Deakin, Bill McGibben, J. B. MacKinnon, Elizabeth Kolbert, Jonathan Franzen – will take us through gardens, dirt, trees, forests, waterways and wild places. We will be introduced to travellers, conservationists, ecoterrorists, loggers and people like ourselves. Through these landscapes, literary and real, we will come to understand some of the major challenges facing the earth today. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Petrocultures and the Posthuman |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
‘Petrocultures’ refers to the interpretation of ourselves in relationship to energy consumption. ‘Posthuman’ means a person existing in a state beyond being human. The overall goal of this course is to bridge these two terms ultimately asking ourselves what it means to be a human being at the end of the oil era. We will begin by examining climate change in relation to the Petrocultures industry with a focus on oil and its planetary effects (in the present and in future imaginaries). We will also explore the link between evolving societies, and fossil fuel consumption. In essence, the course is concerned with ‘mapping’ the links between ecosystems and humanity. Texts will include a combination of literature, non-fiction and speculative-fiction. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Postcolonialism and Science Fiction |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Science fiction, at least since H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, has been preoccupied with alien invasions. Even when humans from Earth are away exploring other planets, there is a recurring possibility that we are the alien invaders. These kinds of alien encounters and other science fiction scenarios provide the occasion to analyze the dynamics — and ethics — of contact between different cultures, from the abuses of colonialism to anti-colonial resistance and the postcolonial possibilities beyond it. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Reading, Writing and Eating |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course, students will explore food in relation to literature, politics, and culture. Through reading both fiction and non-fiction, students will engage in discussion, produce several written texts and participate in small group and independent projects. Although most of the emphasis in this course is on studying texts that explore the vast and universal theme of food, students will enjoy films, guest lecturers, a restaurant visit and the sampling of various foods in class. Classes will consist of short lectures, discussions, graded group work, e-journals, reading quizzes, short writing exercises, oral presentations with peer feedback and process essay writing (multiple drafts, peer-editing). |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Representations of Family |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The concept of a family is a difficult thing to define. According to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, family is “a group of people related by blood, legal or common-law marriage, or adoption” (500). Throughout the semester, we will examine the difficult concept of the family as it is practiced in the North America. To do so, we will analyze various narratives (both written and visual) to see how such an apparently simply concept is represented. Our goal is to understand how, in narrative form and through literary analysis, concepts of family are interrogated and how we, as readers, respond to the issues raised in the texts we will examine. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Shakespeare |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course will examine a selection of Shakespeare’s dramas across the comic, tragic and romantic genres. The class will focus on a range of themes in Shakespeare, particularly issues of deception and trickery. Using a performance-based approach, the class will study The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, and The Winter’s Tale, paying close attention to their theatrical and historical contexts and considering the plays’ relevance to modern audiences. The course will emphasize close reading practices and sensory, as well as intellectual, engagement. Students can expect lectures, performance experiments, thoughtful class discussions, active learning with audio-visual materials, writing and comprehension exercises, short quizzes, and peer-editing workshops. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Shakespeare's Green-Eyed Monster |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Our class will examine how Shakespeare depicts jealousy in his plays Othello, The Winter’s Tale and Troilus and Cressida. Sexual jealousy in The Winter’s Tale and Othello showcase anxieties concerning female chastity that feed into the idea of the cuckold. Jealousy also plays out as intense rivalry between the soldiers who fight for status and power in Troilus and Cressida. We will look at early modern theories of emotions to understand how Shakespeare depicts jealousy. Because jealousy is mostly visual, our class will also establish how jealousy becomes a way of knowing through which characters draw false conclusions. This class will teach you about early modern theatre practices and the historical circumstances surrounding the productions of these plays. Class time will include group discussions, performing sections of the play, debates, writing assignments, lectures, close reading activities, concept mapping and games. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Shakespeare's Sonnets |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Is all the world staged or do Shakespeare’s sonnets house his loving aspirations towards two friends, neither of whom were his wife? Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets addressed to a young man and a dark lady. Together these poems tell a story of rivalry, jealousy, and ultimately unrequited love. This is definitely not another course about his plays. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Shakespearean Conversions |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
What experiences in life change us forever? Are we changed in a moment of recognition, or slowly, imperceptibly, little-by-little and day-by-day? Because of the volatile religious reformations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, these questions about conversion, identity, and an individual’s place in the community became central cultural anxieties and concerns, and these concerns have remained at the center of western culture even to today.Taking “conversion” as our theme, in this course we will examine how Shakespeare, writing at the height of the Reformation, engages with ideas about conversion in his poetry and plays, thereby bringing conversion into the imaginative realm of myth and theatre. We will study Shakespeare’s plays and narrative poems first in their historical and cultural contexts, and more broadly, we will consider how modern performances of his art, on film, stage, and even in the classroom, offer living opportunities for secularized forms of conversion. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Tell Me a Story |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course will look at the act of storytelling in modern fiction, both structurally and thematically. More precisely, we will examine the ways the creative act of story-telling becomes an act of redemption for the teller protagonist -- and sometimes for the listener as well. The course will examine the intimate, inextricable, and necessarily creative relationship between the listener/reader and the storyteller/writer. We will read 4 of the following texts: The Book of Ruth (Jane Hamilton), Jazz (Toni Morrison), Stones from the River (Ursula Hegi), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Manuel Puig), If on a Winter’s Night A Traveler (Italo Calvino), Chimera (John Barth). We make take a more somber look with The Savage Detectives (Robert Bolano) and an even darker look at the process in Little Sister Death (William Gay). We will begin with the framing story of The Arabian Nights. (This is not a course in Children’s Literature) |
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| 603-103-MQ |
The Black Canadian Experience |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Although Black Canadians are often considered to be only recent immigrants, we have been here since the early colonial era, contributing to the fabric of Canada. This thematic course shares works reflective of the Canadian experience of those of African and Afro-Caribbean descent since that time. It seeks to engage with history as well as art in genres as varied as poetry, biography, the novel, and documentary and fictional films. Topics to be covered include slavery, the world wars, postwar immigration, the 1968 Congress of Black Writers, and the 1969 Sir George Williams Protest. The objective is to give students an appreciation of Canadian citizenship from this perspective. Among the authors who works will be studied are Dionne Brand, Cecil Foster, and H. Nigel Thomas. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
The Drama of Ibsen and Strindberg |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will explore six plays by two very important yet very different figures in the history of world theatre: Henrik Ibsen, a Scandinavian dramatist whose works were produced in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, and Harold Pinter, a renowned British playwright of the mid-to-late twentieth century. Special emphasis will be devoted to their authors' choice of subjects, themes and range of dramatic styles (realism, naturalism, symbolism, theatre of the absurd) and to the social and philosophical climate in which their works were created. The written work in the course will be focused on giving clear expression to our personal reactions to these plays. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
The Immigrant Experience |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course examines short fiction, essays, and novels depicting the experiences of immigrants. We will focus on contemporary fiction exploring the lives of newcomers from places such as Latin America, South-East Asia, and the former Soviet Union. The course pursues questions of cultural adaptation, generational conflict, marginalization, racism, and the abiding dreams of political freedom and economic success in a new society. It necessarily involves some consideration of the history of immigration patterns — the forces that have induced or obliged people to migrate, the nature of the societies they leave behind, the policies and attitudes that greet them in their new countries. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
The Lord of the Rings |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, has undeniably been an important influence on the imagination of readers worldwide. Its imagined world and its characters and story have been reproduced and embellished in visual art, music, poetry and on film.Tolkien’s influence on the genre of Fantasy Literature is just as important. But far from being an escape from reality, we can see that these works, set in an imaginary realm and peopled by fantastic creatures, in fact deal with very real problems and ideas confronted by the 20th and 21st centuries: war, lust for power and its corrupting influence, abuse of the natural world, and the demand upon the individual to fight injustice and evil. By examining the genre of Fantasy Literature through this fundamental example, we will try to understand how fantasy reveals truths about the real world, and how it works as storytelling, connecting with readers at a deep level through the use of archetype and folklore. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
The Quest Pattern |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will look at various European texts in English translation to trace a well-known theme in literature, that of the hero's transformative quest for a transcendent goal after having left his or her community of origin and undergone a difficult initiation. Different quests will be examined and the quest pattern will become the template for analysis. The class format will consist of brief lectures, followed by work done in class. The goal of the course will be to develop student analytical autonomy. Films will occasionally be shown. Throughout the semester, a great deal of emphasis will be placed on the writing of sound and intelligent essays and on proper citation rules. Strong note-taking skills are vital to this class. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Themes in Greek Drama |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In a recent interview, theatre director François Rochaix made the surprising assertion, “I think I could live my life now doing only [ancient] Greek plays. With Greek plays, [I feel] I’m doing the most contemporary theatre.” But how can 2,500-year-old plays be contemporary? For the ancient Greeks, drama held important social, political and religious functions; the plays were part of twice-yearly festivals in honour of the god Dionysus. Attending plays was also thought to be a healing experience for the community, offering them a means of catharsis. Over the course of the semester, we’ll examine the works of the three most important ancient Greek playwrights, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. We’ll consider how the plays functioned for the Greeks, but we’ll also explore how the plays might transcend their time and place, presenting us with characters who ask some of the same questions as we do, and whose very human struggles might offer us a means of communal healing as well. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Themes in Literature of the American South |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course students will explore major themes in the works of some of the writers who have made significant contributions to the imaginative reinvention of the American South. Students will familiarize themselves with the literary and cultural heritage of the Southern United States, and its history, from the slave narratives of the late 18th and early 19th centuries to the “Southern Renaissance” of the 20s and 30s and the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. Students will learn to recognize the major thematic elements that are central to Southern literature, particularly the burden of the past (regarding constructs of race, gender, social inequality), community, the grotesque, violence, the fierceness and solace of religious faith. Students will also learn to distinguish some of the stylistic devices that have evolved from Southern writing, such as the use of dialect, stream of consciousness, complex points of view, and jarring juxtapositions. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Themes in Poetry |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Ogden Nash channeled a popular view of poets when he wrote, "Poets aren't very useful/Because they aren't consumeful or very produceful." Some might say that's the point: a relief, even, in a world which pressures us to produce, consume, or be useful at every turn. Others may counter that poetry is deeply useful: by asking us to slow down and look carefully, poetry allows us to see the world and ourselves more clearly. Offering "language at its most distilled and powerful" (Rita Dove), poetry is the art par excellence for learning how language shapes meaning. We'll consider a variety of themes in poems ranging from the playful to the serious. You'll have the chance to develop your attention to language; to increase your understanding of how words, sound, and structure shape meaning and to try out these strategies in your own writing; and to stock your word hoard with new words as well as phrases, lines and poems that will stick with you because they say something exceptionally well. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Themes in Shakespeare |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The Liberal Arts "Themes in Shakespeare" course is an introduction to the thematic analysis of drama. As we explore some of the major themes of Shakespeare's plays, we gain an understanding of the socio-historical context of the plays' original production and staging and seek insight into the plays' enduring popularity. We explore the place of Shakespeare's drama within the western literary tradition, and make connections to many of the major philosophical ideas Liberal Arts students encounter in their philosophy courses. We look at the ways in which Shakespeare's plays intersect with the great historical movements of the early modern era - the early beginnings of our own (post-) modern world - and come to a better understanding of the ways in which Shakespeare's drama functions as a bridge between classical antiquity and modernity. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Themes in Shakespeare's Drama |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course explores aspects of theme in a selection of Shakespearean plays. We will examine thematic continuities across three dramatic subgenres: comedy (As You Like It), tragedy (Othello) and romance (The Winter’s Tale). We will study the plays in the historical context of their production/staging and with a view to understanding their enduring appeal. Historical background texts and other useful sources will be made available online. In this course we will read and discuss literature critically, closely, and sensitively and learn to develop effective spoken and written arguments. The course will include instruction in the revision and editing of texts. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Themes of the Harlem Renaissance |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
This is America |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In his 1936 poem “Let America Be America Again,” African-American poet Langston Hughes writes, “America never was America to me.” Here, Hughes registers the gap between the American ideal and the America experienced by immigrants, people of colour, workers, and the poor. This gap has been visited many times since (e.g., Childish Gambino’s 2018 video, “This is America") and has come into particular focus in the spring and summer of 2020, fueling protest movements that insist Black lives must matter. This course will explore America as it appears in recent literature by African-American writers such as Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angie Thomas, and Jesmyn Ward. While our major focus will be anti-Black racism in the U.S., we won't ignore Canada. You can expect to read 2-3 novels and some shorter texts such as poetry and essays. Assignments will include quizzes and study assignments, longer forms such as essays, and a mid-term test on historical contexts relevant to the literature. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Trauma, Dream, Drama |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
There's that one special novel, or movie, that you value above all others. You re-read it, or see it, many times over. You already know the story, you know exactly what's going to happen next, yet it never fails to capture your imagination. You sit down to read, or to watch, and the outside world fades away as you enter the author's, the actor's, universe. Suspense! Thrill! Surprise! Shock! And yet you knew all along how it was going to end. What strange chemistry is this? Is there any way to explain the way a favorite work of fantasy grabs us? Infatuation? Deception? Escapism? Wish fulfillment? Therapy? Where do we start? Readings include Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Twentieth Century Themes: Displaced Persons |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The 20th century brought change in many forms, and with change comes displacement. In this course we look at various works of literature from the 20th century that involve some form of displacement—be it physical, psychological, technological, social or cultural. While the main focus of the course will be the development of close readings and thematic interpretations of these texts, which will include poems, short stories and a novel, we will also consider the historical contexts out of which the texts were generated. In this way, the course helps us understand how 20th century literature can be seen as both a response to displacement as well as an effort to find a new place in the challenging new world we find ourselves in now. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Utopia / Dystopia |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course examines the theme of utopia/dystopia in literature and its evolution and metamorphosis into fantasy, science fiction and political satire. Beginning with Thomas More’s Utopia, we will consider what the word 'utopia’ means and look at some short fiction it has inspired from writers such as H.G. Wells, Joanna Russ, and others. We will then cross over the line to dystopia, utopia’s dark and cynical underside, and consider two longer contemporary works: George Orwell’s 1984 and Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. At the conclusion of the course, students will try to determine why this theme resonates with many writers and provides inspiration for the building of fantastic imaginary worlds that are ultimately an extension of our own living dreams, while also unearthing nightmares that most immediately reveal our fear of our own time and place in history. Major works studied include 1984 and Cat’s Cradle. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Watching the Detectives |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
The objective of this course is to enable students to communicate in forms appropriate to programs. To that end, we will examine the evolution of the detective in film and fiction from many different angles. We begin with the coldly analytical Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, then the hard-nosed-gum-shoe---the disenfranchised dick (detective) of film noir, and finally, Dexter, a blood splatter analyst who is also a murderer. We will examine how the detective copes when the rules of the game change during the play. How far will the detective go (like Oedipus and Oedipa and Angel) to figure things out? And how can the detective be sure that what s/he thinks is the truth is actually true. Moreover, does looking backward at clues and reading details suggest a well-ordered universe just gone a bit wrong? Or are there graver implications? |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Writing the Great War |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course will examine how the First World War (1914-1918) transformed Western society and played a significant role in shaping the culture, values, and geography of the modern world. After a brief introduction to the concept of warfare, students will move to an examination of the Great War’s literature—primarily poetry and excerpts from memoirs. The class will focus on how soldiers responded to the physical and psychological trauma of the War but will also examine writing by non-combatants to see how the effects of the War were felt well beyond its battlefields. |
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