Textual Analysis and Argumentation

Textual Analysis and Argumentation is a survey of American literature in a global context. Working with diverse texts, students master close reading for form and rhetoric. Students will consider thematically related clusters of texts (such as the captivity narrative) and pay close attention to how writing constructs authorial and even cultural identity. Students move far beyond summary and comprehension to write essays with precise, developed arguments about the texts that we read. They learn to develop their essay topics with increasing independence and are introduced to, and become competent in, MLA style.