The following are the course objectives of English 125:

1. Learning basic literary terms: Students will be taught the language they need to approach literature meaningfully. By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• use the standard terms of plot development;
• use the standard terms that describe figurative language;
• identify varieties of point of view; and
• understand and apply a vocabulary of basic conventions.

2. Recognizing conventions of genre: Students will be taught to recognize significant similarities between texts. By the end of the course students will be able to:

• define major dramatic types, such as tragedy and comedy
• recognize the development of themes;
• recognize a variety of poetic techniques and forms; and
• understand the relationship between structure and meaning.

3. Using interpretive methods: Students will be introduced to different ways of reading and interpreting literature. By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• examine a single work from a variety of interpretive methods;
• engage in discussions using interpretive methods
• write an analysis using some or all of these methods
• recognize the validity of different perspectives as representing human diversity and universal themes.

4. Writing skills: Students will continue to improve their writing skills. By the end of the course, students will have:

• written a minimum of 3500 words of graded text, in the form of discussion forums, weekly assignments, creative writing, a midterm exam essay, and a final exam essay;
• engaged in all forms of the writing process;
• employed a clear focus that guides their choice of evidence, language, and organization.