Introduction to Literature

The introductory course can be used as a catch-all for nearly everything first-year students may need to learn as they begin academic study. There is a difference between streamlining an approach to an Introduction to Literature course and dumbing down the material. Practical considerations are important when developing any course, and they certainly are in an introductory course. Instructors may need to deal with diverse, inexperienced students in short blocks of class time, possibly within contexts of high departmental expectations, even as they are cognisant of a need to preserve personal well being while balancing the daily demands of course delivery and marking. We learned over time to select topics and works carefully, and then to pack their presentation with rich and important elements relevant and interesting to a variety of students.