Introduction to Literature

Course Number(s): L493501
Length: 1 Semester (2 Credits)
Prerequisits: Top 25% of Class; teacher recommendation
Grade: 12

College in the Schools: Introduction to Literature, English 1001, is a University of Minnesota course that is taught in high school. It is offered for high school students who have demonstrated exceptional abilities in reading and writing. This course is nearly identical to the courses taught on campus at the University of Minnesota. Each Semester, students read seven or eight stimulating books of 20th Century Fiction, ranging from the traditional to the unconventional, by authors such as Rudolfo Anaya, Kate Chopin, Toni Morrison, and William Faulkner.

In this course, students read, interpret, discuss, and write about substantial examples of literature. Students will learn to apply literary theories in their reading experiences, theories that connect with race, sexuality, religion, gender, and colonialism. Students will expand their awareness of themselves and others through the literature they read, class discussions, and writing assignments.

Since College in the Schools: Introduction to Literature is not a high school course, students have more freedom than in other courses taught in high school – but they also have more responsibility for their own progress and work in this course. Upon successful completion of this course students receive four semester credits from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.