Core Course Review Documentation
Foundational Component Area: LANGUAGE, PHILOSOPHY, & CULTURE
Component Area Option?
No
Proposed Course: English 2613: Survey of American Literature I
Credit Hours: 3
Proposed by: Greg Giddings, Department of English
Date: February 11, 2013 (Resubmit)
Please document how the proposed course meets each of the following requirements. (You
may provide a written explanation or copy and paste the appropriate information from the
syllabus.)
Content:
Courses in this category focus on how ideas, values, beliefs, and other aspects of culture
express and affect human experience.
Literature survey courses at Midwestern State University include the following content:
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Literary works by major authors representing different time periods and cultures
Critical analysis of literary works to determine how they reflect the values and beliefs of
the culture and time period in which they were written, with special attention to how
literature reflects social, political, religious, and aesthetic values and beliefs.
The ways in which literary works shape cultural norms, including the influence of literature
on the ideas, values, and aesthetic preferences of future cultures
The ways in which literature reflects cultural diversity, including the representation of
minorities in different time periods and cultures
The value and meaning that literature from other times and cultures can have for us today
Attention to literary genres and styles, with special attention to how literary forms can
complement the ideas that they convey
Critical approaches to literature, including historical, biographical, and more theoretical
approaches
SKILLS: Courses involve the exploration of ideas that foster aesthetic and intellectual creation in
order to understand the human condition across cultures.
Literature survey courses at Midwestern State University help students develop the following skills:
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The ability to analyze texts through close reading and attention to detail
The ability to integrate various works through discussions of common themes, especially
those themes that reach across cultural boundaries
The ability to engage with themes and ideas through writing, including a major research
project, and class discussion
The ability to do literary research using standard reference works, databases, and electronic
sources
The ability to construct a logical argument in support of a thesis for a research paper, an
argument that will show awareness of cultural differences while remaining free of cultural
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bias
The ability to write a unified and coherent research paper that demonstrates proficiency in
Standard English and that follows the Modern Language Association’s guidelines for form
and style.
ASSESSMENT OF CORE OBJECTIVES: Assessments should be authentic, intentional and
direct. The following four Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this
category requirement:
Critical Thinking Skills - to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation
and synthesis of information
Learning Activities: Students will read and discuss the various canonical texts composed in the
periods generally know as the Colonial Period, Revolutionary Period, and Romantic Period. In
particular, students will examine how authors in these periods interact with, as well as react to,
one another. Special attention will be given to authors who were previously marginalized by
earlier anthologies and scholars. For instance, at least one section of each semester should focus
on indigenous voices, and each class shall also study female authors who have only recently been
accepted into the American literature canon. A unifying theme of the course will be the
discussion of how each author, through creative literary works, demonstrated his and her
respective aesthetic concerns, as well as civic and social engagement.
Assessment: Each student will compose an end-of-semester 3-5 paper that will demonstrate the
four core objectives: critical thinking and communication skills, as well as personal and social
responsibility.
In composing the paper, each student must meet the following standards:
 critically read a primary text, noting the connections between contemporary society and
early American literary traditions and thoughts;
 evaluate how social, cultural, and/or political ideologies informed authors’ ethical
perspectives as expressed through published writings;
 utilize MLA form, while implementing and evaluating secondary sources into a scholarly
paper.
The paper will be assessed using the attached English 2613 essay rubric.
Communication Skills - to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas
through written, oral, and visual communication
Learning Activities: Students will read and discuss the various canonical texts composed in the
periods generally know as the Colonial Period, Revolutionary Period, and Romantic Period. In
particular, students will examine how authors in these periods interact with, as well as react to,
one another. Special attention will be given to authors who were previously marginalized by
earlier anthologies and scholars. For instance, at least one section of each semester should focus
on indigenous voices, and each class shall also study female authors who have only recently been
accepted into the American literature canon. A unifying theme of the course will be the
discussion of how each author, through creative literary works, demonstrated his and her
respective aesthetic concerns, as well as civic and social engagement.
Assessment: Each student will compose an end-of-semester 3-5 paper that will demonstrate the
four core objectives: critical thinking and communication skills, as well as personal and social
responsibility.
In composing the paper, each student must meet the following standards:
 critically read a primary text, noting the connections between contemporary society and
early American literary traditions and thoughts;
 evaluate how social, cultural, and/or political ideologies informed authors’ ethical
perspectives as expressed through published writings;
 utilize MLA form, while implementing and evaluating secondary sources into a scholarly
paper.
The paper will be assessed using the attached English 2613 essay rubric.
Personal Responsibility - to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to
ethical decision-making
Learning Activities: Students will read and discuss the various canonical texts composed in the
periods generally know as the Colonial Period, Revolutionary Period, and Romantic Period. In
particular, students will examine how authors in these periods interact with, as well as react to,
one another. Special attention will be given to authors who were previously marginalized by
earlier anthologies and scholars. For instance, at least one section of each semester should focus
on indigenous voices, and each class shall also study female authors who have only recently been
accepted into the American literature canon. A unifying theme of the course will be the
discussion of how each author, through creative literary works, demonstrated his and her
respective aesthetic and ideological concerns, as well as civic and social engagement.
Assessment: Each student will compose an end-of-semester 3-5 paper that will demonstrate the
four core objectives: critical thinking and communication skills, as well as personal and social
responsibility.
In composing the paper, each student must meet the following standards:
 critically read a primary text, noting the connections between contemporary society and
early American literary traditions and thoughts;
 evaluate how social, cultural, and/or political ideologies informed authors’ ethical
perspectives as expressed through published writings;
 utilize MLA form, while implementing and evaluating secondary sources into a scholarly
paper.
The paper will be assessed using the attached English 2613 essay rubric.
Social Responsibility - to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the
ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
Learning Activities: Students will read and discuss the various canonical texts composed in the
periods generally know as the Colonial Period, Revolutionary Period, and Romantic Period. In
particular, students will examine how authors in these periods interact with, as well as react to,
one another. Special attention will be given to authors who were previously marginalized by
earlier anthologies and scholars. For instance, at least one section of each semester should focus
on indigenous voices, and each class shall also study female authors who have only recently been
accepted into the American literature canon. A unifying theme of the course will be the
discussion of how each author, through creative literary works, demonstrated his and her
respective aesthetic concerns, as well as civic and social engagement.
Assessment: Each student will compose an end-of-semester 3-5 paper that will demonstrate the
four core objectives: critical thinking and communication skills, as well as personal and social
responsibility.
In composing the paper, each student must meet the following standards:
 critically read a primary text, noting the connections between contemporary society and
early American literary traditions and thoughts;
 evaluate how social, cultural, and/or political ideologies informed authors’ ethical
perspectives as expressed through published writings;
 utilize MLA form, while implementing and evaluating secondary sources into a scholarly
paper.
The paper will be assessed using the attached English 2613 essay rubric.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Provide any additional information supporting course
inclusion in the core (optional).
PLEASE ATTACH THE FOLLOWING
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Syllabus
Assessment for Critical Thinking Skills
Assessment for Communication Skills
Assessment for Personal Responsibility
Assessment for Social Responsibility