Dr. Jennifer Shaddock
Semester 
Days and Times
Room (Tentative
course model. Content may change.)
Introduction to Texts
This course is the "gateway" into the English Major. It is meant to give you a broad introductory understanding of what we call "textuality," or how texts produce meaning, as well as practical experience with the basic skills necessary to analyze many different kinds of texts, from classical drama to rap music.
The goal is to have you leave the class with a deeper understanding of four concepts fundamental to textuality:
how texts (as "rhetorical artifacts") function within a cultural context
Required Texts
Barry Brummet, Rhetoric and Popular Culture
(rental)
Scholes, Comley & Ulmer, Textbook: An Introduction to Literary
Language (rental)
Holman, et al., A Handbook to Literature
(purchase)
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (purchase)
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (purchase)