Literary Analysis

Course Themes Guide

The English 112 course will focus on a central theme that runs throughout the course. Students will choose a theme, and then use this theme when completing assignments under modules 2-4.

Course Themes:

o Addiction o Aging, death, and dying o Body image/eating disorders o Coming of Age o Heterosexual gender roles: equality and civil rights o Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender roles: equality and civil rights o Mental illness: schizophrenia, OCD, bipolar disorder o Physical disability, impairment, and disfigurement o Psychosis and violence o War and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Module Two: Course Theme Literary Analysis

In Module Two, students will work on a literary analysis. To complete the analysis, course theme will have to be paired with a fictional work (such as a fictional short story, poem, play, or film).

Below are some suggested fictional works listed under their corresponding course themes. Author names are provided parenthetically. Most of the suggested stories/poems/plays can be found through a quick web search. If a story is unavailable, inform the instructor so he or she may assist you.

Addiction: “Babylon Revisited” (F. Scott Fitzgerald) “Sonny’s Blues” (James Baldwin)

Aging, death, and dying “Thanatopsis” (William Cullen Bryant) “Midterm Break” (Seamus Heaney); “Death Be Not Proud” (John Donne) Time Flies (David Ives)

Body image/eating disorders “Barbie Doll” (Marge Piercy) Wasted (Marya Hornbacher)

Coming of Age

“A&P” (John Updike) “How Far She Went” (Mary Hood) “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (Joyce Carol Oates)

Heterosexual gender roles: equality and civil rights “A Work of Artifice” (Marge Piercy) “The Curse” (Andre Dubus) “Yellow Wallpaper” (Charlotte Perkins Gilman) Trifles (Susan Glaspell)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender roles: equality and civil rights

“Life After High School” (Joyce Carol Oates) “Paul’s Case” (Willa Cather) A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams)

Mental illness: schizophrenia, OCD, bipolar disorder “A Rose for Emily” (William Faulkner) “The Tale-Tell Heart” (Edgar Allan Poe) “Bartleby” (Herman Melville)

Physical disability, impairment, and disfigurement “Everyday Use” (Alice Walker) “Good Country People” (Flannery O’Connor) “The Birthmark” (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

Psychosis and violence

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (Flannery O’Connor) “The Curse” (Andre Dubus) “The Cask of Amontillado” (Edgar Allan Poe) “Hunters in the Snow” (Tobias Wolff)

War and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane) “Soldiers Home” (Ernest Hemingway) “The Things They Carried” (Tim O’Brien) “The Thing in the Forest” (A.S. Byatt)

Modules Three and Four: Course Theme Research

In Modules Three and Four, you will research your course themes in the social and natural sciences. Keywords will help limit searches to the appropriate discipline. Below are course themes and useful keywords.

Addiction

Keywords Social Sciences—drinking of alcoholic beverages; drinking customs; social context

Keywords Natural Sciences—medical science and addiction; drug addiction

Aging, death, and dying

Keywords Social Sciences—death attitudes; social support; psychological aspects

Keywords Natural Sciences—death attitudes; palliative treatment; physicians

Body image/eating disorders

Keywords Social Sciences—body image, eating disorders; psychological aspects; social support; social disabilities

Keyword Natural Sciences—eating disorders; research; anorexia nervosa; bulimia; compulsive eating; causes and theories

Coming of Age

Keywords Social Sciences—age studies; social emotions; sexual development; puberty

Keywords Natural Sciences—puberty; sexual development; biological

Heterosexual gender roles: equality and civil rights

Keyword search terms in the social sciences: feminism; equality; women -- social conditions; women’s rights; social movements

Keyword search terms in the sciences: feminism; women's rights; biological sciences; Neuroscience

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender roles: equality and civil rights

Keywords Social Sciences—lesbian; gay; bisexual; transgender roles; equality; civil rights

Keywords Natural Sciences—lesbian; gay; bisexual; transgender roles; medical sciences; neuroscience

Mental illness: schizophrenia, OCD, bipolar disorder

Keyword Social Sciences: obsessive-compulsive disorder; neuroses; compulsive behavior; schizophrenia; psychoses; social sciences

Keyword Natural Sciences: obsessive-compulsive disorder; neuroses; compulsive behavior; schizophrenia; psychoses; medical science; neuroscience

Physical disability, impairment, and disfigurement

Keyword search terms in the social sciences: physical disability; disfigurement; social sciences; amputee

Keyword search terms in the sciences: physical disability; disfigurement; medical sciences; amputee; psychiatry

Psychosis and violence

Keyword search terms in the social sciences: psychosis; violence; sociology; criminal justice

Keyword search terms in the sciences: psychosis; violence; medical sciences; neuroscience; psychiatry

War and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Keyword search terms in the social sciences: war; post-traumatic stress disorder; social factors; social effects

Keyword search terms in the sciences: war; post-traumatic stress disorder; medical sciences; Neuroscience