Students majoring in the Literature program are trained in the study of literature from a variety of perspectives. Our majors have gone on to careers in law, teaching, writing, editing and publishing, nonprofit development, arts administration, politics, entertainment, new media, and public relations, as well as graduate work in English literature, rhetoric and composition, and creative writing. Literature courses focus on the study of historical periods, individual authors, movements, themes, and genres. Our courses emphasize the diversity of literature in English and consider literary works in their social and historical contexts, with particular emphasis on the literature of underrepresented groups. Requirements and electives provide a broad exposure to a literary tradition extending from Beowulf and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to the plays and poems of Shakespeare to modern and contemporary works of poetry, fiction, drama, and memoir. The major emphasizes the development of skills in oral and written analysis and the critical study of literary form and language and includes the option of electives in writing or linguistics. Introductory courses emphasize analytic and writing skills and offer an overview of literary history, while upper-level courses focus on advanced critical analysis and research.<br>Students will be able to:<br>analyze the development of different genres from the medieval period to the present and explain their distinctive features.<br>write lucid, well-constructed arguments analyzing and interpreting texts.<br>analyze a literary work in its cultural and historical contexts.<br>articulate the premises and assumptions of different critical approaches and apply them to literature texts using literary-critical vocabulary effectively.<br>demonstrate the relevance of linguistic principles and the history of language to the study of literature.