English 202

ENGL 202: British and Commonwealth Literature (GE)

Credit Hours: (3)

Study of selected works in British and Commonwealth Literature with emphasis on the development of critical reading skills within an international context.

Note(s): General Education and Humanistic or Artistic Expression designated course.


Detailed Description of Content of Course

Close reading and critical analysis of selected major works from the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth partners, written in English, from the beginnings to the present day; such works to be drawn from different literary periods and to represent a variety of literary genres.


Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

ENGL 202 uses a wide variety of instructional strategies which may include any number of the following: lecture; discussion; PowerPoint or web-enhanced instruction; collaborative group work; individual or group student reports; student PowerPoint or web-enhanced presentations; informal writing-to-learn activities including in-class focused writing, readers' logs, double-entry reading journals, or discussion questions; formal writing activities including essays, reviews, critical analyses, research reports with peer writing groups on drafts; individual or group conferences with the instructor on drafts; creative writing projects including short fiction, poetry, dramatic sketches.


Goals and Objectives of Course


This course satisfies the University Core B, Global Perspectives requirement described as follows:

Goal 11: Radford University student will understand how social and cultural (for example, political, historical, economic, environmental, religious, or geographic) forces shape experiences in the global setting.

Radford University students will be able to:
    1) Identify how different perspectives shape human life around the world
    2) Recognize social and cultural forces that affect relationships between cultures in the world

In addition, English 201 has the following departmental goals:

• compare and contrast different perspectives used to explain the world or international issues,
• use material studied to explain cross-cultural issues in the world, and
• evaluate differences and similarities among world cultures that affect perceptions, beliefs, or behaviors, and thus relationships between those cultures.
This goal will be met as English 202 address the following objectives:
• that students develop an understanding of literature as an art form;
• that students develop the ability to become skillful and thoughtful readers of literature;
• that students become knowledgeable about a representative same of the major works of the world literature;
• that students develop the ability to read works of the world literature within cultural, historical, and global contexts; and
• that students learn to apply their engagement with literary texts to an examination of their own lives and the world at large.


Assessment Measures

Either alone or in collaboration with others, students will demonstrate their understanding of the art of literature and their ability to interpret thoughtfully what they have read by participating in discussion and by formulating written analyses of the reading in their journals, in their papers and on examinations. Students will demonstrate in discussion and in their writing their mastery of the texts assigned for reading. Students will be expected to make personal connections to the literature and express those connections through discussion, writing, creative projects, class presentations or performances.


Other Course Information

None


Review and Approval

Revised 2013

March 01, 2021