Course goals and learning outcomes support the Foundational Component Areas defined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Course goals are linked to the respective Core Curriculum Competencies: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Social Responsibility, and Personal Responsibility. Specific competencies are identified in designated course goals and learning outcomes.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

Identify key ideas, representative authors and works, significant historical or cultural events, and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in the literature of different periods or regions by
1. tracing historic literary time line;
2. identifying contextual literary influences;
3. distinguishing sociological forces;
4. pointing out literary genres.
Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the social, political, cultural, or religious contexts of different literary periods by
1. distinguishing universal and period themes;
2. identifying literary movements;
3. categorizing works by movements;
4. giving examples of multi-cultural traits;
5. differentiating among cultural elements;
6. inferring minority voice.
Demonstrate knowledge of the development of characteristic forms or styles of expression during different historical periods or in different regions by
1. identifying themes and other literary devices;
2. interpreting function of literary elements;
3. explaining authorial style;
4. distinguishing period traits.
Articulate the aesthetic principles that guide the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities by
1. comparing works for variance and similitude.
Write research-based critical papers about the assigned readings in clear and grammatically correct prose, using various critical approaches to literature by
1. devising appropriate writing objective;
2. compiling pertinent scholarly materials;
3. integrating secondary sources;
4. citing written material correctly;
5. generating supported literary interpretation;
6. demonstrating awareness of audience, purpose, and tone;
7. composing accurate literary analysis.
Critical Thinking Skills: Demonstrate critical thinking skills by
1. differentiating between broad, general topics and narrow, focused topics;
2. identifying purpose or rhetorical occasion;
3. reading and responding to course materials in a way that demonstrates ability to apply, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize material effectively;
4. discerning the validity, value, and strengths and weaknesses of information, assessments, statements, or evidence provided, and providing a solid, evidence-based explanation of such a critique.
Communication Skills: Demonstrate communication skills by
1. selecting appropriate topics for essays;
2. utilizing various technologies as they relate to competent communication;
3. demonstrating ability to analyze audience and writing appropriately for that audience;
4. using appropriate diction, including precise word choice and varied vocabulary.
Personal Responsibility: Demonstrate personal responsibility by
1. demonstrating effective listening skills when evaluating and analyzing information in the classroom setting;
2. demonstrating the ability to consider differing points of view;
3. demonstrating audience sensitivity in regard to scope, content, language level, tone, and word choice.
Social Responsibility: Demonstrate the ability to place selected works in historical context by intercultural competency, civic knowledge, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities by
1. demonstrating an understanding of the impact of arts and literature on culture by analyzing art and literature in terms of their role in society and culture;
2. examining artists’ lives and philosophies in terms of their impact on art, literature, and culture.

ENGL 2327

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ENGL 2327 - American Literature I