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 |
A Meaningful Life |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will read works that ask the question: what constitutes a meaningful life? The answers to this question found in literary history are, of course, varied, and given the diversity of human experience, even asking the question itself can be problematic. The texts we focus on will be discussed and analyzed using concepts from philosophy and psychology. Possible authors covered in the course include George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, E. M. Forster, Graham Greene, Richard Yates, Richard Wright, Kazuo Ishiguro and Joan Didion. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
African and Asian Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Archetype and Meme: Literature and the Internet |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Augustan Satire |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Banned Books |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Book censorship has been and continues to be a contentious issue in the literary world, raising questions of governmental control over literature and freedom of expression. Book banning usually occurs with political, religious or moral motives but, ironically, often has the effect of popularizing the text, causing people to go to great lengths to seek it out for its forbidden wisdom or pleasure (Eve's apple comes to mind). In this course, we will be looking at "challenged" modern and contemporary literature, including poetry, graphic novels, and literature for children and young adults, in order to address questions of censorship and the way banned or challenged texts have shaped and continue to shape our social and literary landscape. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Being Blitzed: British Literature of World War II |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
Canada and the First World War |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Climate Narratives |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The overall goal of this course is to examine human relations and climate. We will start by examining climate change in relation to the fossil fuel industry with a focus on their climate ramifications (in the present and in future imaginaries). We will continue by exploring the link between evolving societies, and fossil fuel consumption. In essence, the course is concerned with ‘mapping’ the links between ecosystems and (several possible) future(s) of humanity. Texts will include a combination of literature, poetry, film, nonfiction, speculative fiction and science fiction. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Confessional Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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. The class will explore a range of texts from several different cultures and attempt to identify commonalities and differences. Teaching methods will include: lectures, discussions, group exercises, formal and informal writing assignments. Emphasis in writing assignments will be on revision of first drafts through peer editing and conferences. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Crime and Punishment |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Often considered among the best novels ever written, Crime and Punishment is a phenomenal introduction to the art and themes of the novel and to the works of one of the world’s great writers, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. His hero Raskolnikov commits what he believes is a fully rational murder, but is unprepared for the consequences. A murder story told from the point of view of the murderer, it’s a harrowing psychological portrait and an intense experience for any reader, as we journey with Raskolnikov through the depths of human depravity. The novel is a brick – 550 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. We will finish the course by reading a shorter book by a second Russian novelist, Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons. |
|
| 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 |
Displaced Persons: 20th Century Themes |
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 |
Drama: The Tragic to the Absurd |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Family Dramas |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Family in Literature |
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 North America. To do so, we will analyze various narratives (both written and visual) to see how such an apparently simple 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 |
First Peoples Perspectives |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Identity in American Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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 |
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 |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This interdisciplinary 103 English course is paired with a Phys Ed outdoor education intensive, permitting students to combine outdoor experiences with reflective reading and writing about nature. We explore a range of challenging questions: How have the concepts nature, wilderness and environment evolved within the North American collective imagination? 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? How can we create and practice for the long term a healthier and more sustainable relationship to the natural world? THIS IS A "LEARNING COMMUNITY" COURSE. STUDENTS MUST ALSO ENROLL IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 103 NATURE RETREAT (INTENSIVE) TAUGHT BY DOUG SMYTH. CONSULT ONLINE REGISTRATION GUIDE FOR SCHEDULE DETAILS. CONTACT THE REGISTRAR'S OFFICE TO PRE-REGISTER. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Into the Wild: Writing about Nature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Jane Austen and her World |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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 the Law |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Metamorphosis in Literature |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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 |
Moby Dick and the Buddhist Tradition |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Myths and Fairies |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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). |
|
| 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. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Revisions: New Versions of Old Stories |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course examines some of the ways that contemporary literature engages with literature of the past. We will consider strategies that authors use when they reset old stories in the modern world, and we will ask what purposes their revisions serve. How are ancient themes re-written for contemporary readers? Which of the concerns of our ancestors are still important to us? How do we see the world differently from the people of the past? We will read old stories alongside new ones that adapt or re-write or in some way engage with their precursors. Our investigations will leap across time – from the ancient world to the 21st century – in hopes of discovering both continuities and radical changes in human behaviour and storytelling. |
|
| 603-103-MQ |
Rumi and the Rose |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Who is the most read poet in the West today? The 13th century Sufi mystic Jelaluddin Rumi. We will begin by learning about Rumi’s life and go on to read a selection of his poetry filled with timeless, nourishing, life affirming wisdom. We will then turn to a contemporary work of historical fiction, “Damascena, The Tale of Roses and Rumi” by Holly Lynn Payne. Set in 13th Century Bulgaria and Turkey, this lyrically compelling, coming of age story features Damascena, an orphaned girl raised in an Eastern Orthodox monastery by a troubled young monk, who promotes her as a Christian saint for his own financial gain. One of her miracles is to grow Damascus roses on the monastery’s cold, rocky mountain. Threatened by Mongol invaders and the Inquisition, Damascena journeys to Koyna, Turkey. The aged Sufi master Jelaluddin Rumi, recognizing her gifts, takes her into his all-male, Sufi lodge, in spite of his students’ consternation. Here, Damascena learns the Mysteries of the Rose... |
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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 Sonnets |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| 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 |
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| 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. |
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| 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 |
|
| 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 Love Story |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course examines how different methods of storytelling contribute to our understanding and expression of love and individual identity, and how (or whether) such an identity is relevant to a larger society. In our treatment of the question of how love is represented in literature, we will focus on poems, plays, and stories written in different literary periods and take into consideration their cultural and historical contexts. Literary representations of issues such as “idealness” in love, false illusions of romance, obsessive desire, and “anti-love” will be explored. |
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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 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 course will explore aspects of theme in Shakespeare’s As You Like It (comedy),Othello (tragedy) and The Tempest (romance). 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. All major assignments will adhere to MLA guidelines re. format, references, and presentation |
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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 in Shakespeare: Hardcore Hamlet |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
Together as a class, we will explore the themes of Hamlet, engage in careful analysis and close reading, consider illuminating moments in performance history and in other Shakespearean plays, and compare various filmic versions of important scenes. Because Shakespeare’s plays are written in a largely unfamiliar idiom and literary form, and because they are a product of specific historical circumstances, this course will give equal emphasis to the development of analytical skills and to acquiring a working knowledge of the social, political, and theatrical milieu in which Shakespeare wrote. Historical background texts, images, and related sources will be made available online. As we read, you’ll also find valuable connections between Shakespeare’s works and ideas studied in other Liberal Arts courses, which we will usefully examine whenever possible. 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
Twentieth Century Themes |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course we will discuss a number of North American short stories and short novels that deal with ordinary people trying to adapt to the radically changing twentieth-century world. We will give particular attention to the ways in which wars and other large-scale historical events affect the lives of individuals. In addition to close thematic analysis of the texts, we will examine some of the characteristics of literary modernism and post-modernism. Throughout the course, our primary goals will be to improve critical reading, thinking and writing skills, and to develop the appreciation and understanding of serious literature. Students will continue to learn to write a formal essay of literary criticism. |
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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 |
Women With Agency |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
To have agency is to be able to exert some control over one’s life: to be an active subject rather than a passive object. Women in patriarchal societies have historically been denied equal agency to that of men, and still face barriers to fully realizing their goals for themselves, particularly if other factors such as racial prejudice, ableism, ageism, class discrimination, homophobia and/or transphobia are involved. In this course students will explore a number of themes related to women asserting their agency, often against norms of their times and places. Novels, essays, and short stories by a diversity of women and nonbinary authors (included because they were assigned female at birth and discuss that experience) are among the course's required works. The relevance of historical and cultural context will be considered in our discussion of works in the course. |
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| 603-103-MQ |
Writing the Great War |
2 - 2 - 3 |
60 |
|
| 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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