Course Syllabus

ENGL 2210 Folklore and Literature

Course Description

This course surveys literary texts that draw on oral traditions in their plots, characters, or language. The emphasis is on canonical and multicultural American literature, and the course also asks students to examine artistic aspects of oral storytelling and to learn foundational principles of the discipline of folklore.

Justification

References to folklore (the beliefs, customs, and traditional art forms of specific groups) can be found in all literature, and folkloric elements often contribute to the core of the literary work. Thus, the study of folklore and literature provides students with a helpful critical lens with which to analyze both literary works and the process of literary creation. Folklore classes are offered at many Utah colleges and universities, and this course has value for both general education and English major students. This course is similar to ENGL 2210 offered at Utah State University.

The Humanities are a group of academic disciplines that study the many ways by which humans have attempted to understand themselves and their world. At Snow College, the Humanities focus on cultural traditions that are expressed largely through text or which have a strong textual component: languages, literature, and philosophy. The methods by which the Humanities study culture are at once analytical and interpretive, objective and subjective, historical and aesthetic.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Students will be able to explain, on an introductory level, the fields of folklore and of literature, and they will read literature that depicts a variety of cultures, time periods, and ways of life. They will demonstrate their understanding of culture and literature through class discussions, reading journals, and/or quizzes/exams.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students will be able to closely read a variety of fiction, poetry, and non-fictional texts and use this reading as the basis for analysis. Students will demonstrate their close reading skills through class discussions, reading journals, and/or quizzes/exams, and semester projects/papers.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. The study of folklore and literature is inherently interdiscipinary because it connects verbal art and the lived realities of social groups. Students will use insights from geography, history, sociology, gender studies, and other fields to read and analyze literature and to document folklore. They will demonstrate this learning through class discussions, reading journals, and/or quizzes/exams, and semester projects/papers.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Students will perform analysis of live folklore performances and written literary (and other) texts to form conclusions about artistic excellence, the formation of literature, and cultural norms. They will demonstrate this analysis on exams and/or quizzes, class discussions, and reading journals.
5. A student who completes the GE curriculum can communicate effectively through writing and speaking. Students will write both to respond and to create arguments. They will use effective writing processes to write about course readings and class discussions, and they will demonstrate these skills through reading journals, critical thinking questions on quizzes, folklore collection assignments, and on a writing-based semester project that includes revision and peer review. They will also demonstrate writing skills by responding to instructor feedback while revising.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Ask and explore a variety of philosophical and theoretical questions about human thought and experience.
   Students will be able to discuss core questions about the interplay of oral and written texts, about widespread patterns of traditional human communication, and about thematic questions concerning the human experiences that arise out of selections from world and American literature. Students will demonstrate their insights on these questions through class discussions, reading journals, and quizzes/exams. Ask and explore a variety of philosophical and theoretical questions about human thought and experience.
   Students will be able to discuss core questions about the interplay of oral and written texts, about widespread patterns of traditional human communication, and about thematic questions concerning the human experiences that arise out of selections from world and American literature. Students will demonstrate their insights on these questions through class discussions, reading journals, and quizzes/exams.
2. Understand how knowledge is created through the study of language systems, literature, and/or philosophy. Understand how knowledge is created through the study of language systems, literature, and/or philosophy.
   Students will be able to read texts closely to examine how verbal art and literature influence one another and how literature's system of signs create complicated and imaginative messages for readers. Students will demonstrate close reading through class discussions and other assessment measures and will be asked to explain how storytelling is both an act of creating new and unique texts as well as repurposing and recombining existing texts.
3. Understand cultural traditions within an historical context and make connections with the present. Understand cultural traditions within an historical context and make connections with the present.
   Students will deepen their understanding of widespread cultural traditions manifested in folklore. These traditions date back centuries at times and also can be found in the contemporary traditions the students themselves perform. Students will demonstrate ability to explain and analyze these traditions through class discussions, reading journals, and quizzes/exams.
4. Critically read and respond to primary texts (original, uninterpreted) from a Humanities’ perspective. Critically read and respond to primary texts (original, uninterpreted) from a Humanities' perspective.
   Students will be able to closely read a variety of fiction, poetry, and non-fictional texts and use this reading as the basis for analysis. Students will demonstrate their close reading skills through class discussions, reading journals, quizzes/exams, and written semester projects/papers.
5. Write effectively within the Humanities discipline to analyze and form critical and aesthetic judgments. Write effectively within the Humanities discipline to analyze and form critical and aesthetic judgments.
   Students will write both to respond to and to create arguments. They will write about course readings and class discussions, and they will demonstrate these skills through reading journals, critical thinking questions on quizzes, folklore collection assignments, and on a writing-based semester project that includes revision and peer review. They will also demonstrate writing skills by responding to instructor feedback while revising.

Course Content

English 2210 covers a selection of literary texts (chosen at the discretion of the instructor) that illustrate how folklore can come to be accepted as literature (i.e. Beowulf), how folklore can be the frame for a literary work (i.e. "Rip Van Winkle), and how folklore can be depicted in the imaginative worlds within literature. Course content (readings and the art of folk groups) will offer students the opportunity to see various ethnic, national, gender, regional, economic, and other perspectives.

The class will also include discussions of what folklore is, assign folklore collection assignments (to be deposited in the Snow College Folklore Archive), and explore times when literature inspires folklore. Students will read novels, memoirs, poetry, and other forms of literature.