A study of the Gothic tradition in literature since 1760. Drawing on texts such as Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, and Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, this course will consider how the notion of the "Gothic" has developed across historical periods and how Gothic texts represent the supernatural, the uncanny, and the nightmares of the unconscious mind.
Pre-1900 course

An examination of twentieth-century literature, especially fiction, written out of the experience of people who leave one society to come to another already made by others. We will compare the literatures of several ethnic communities in at least three nations, the United States, Britain, and Canada.

A continuation of ENGC70H3, focusing on texts written since 1980.

This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of rhetoric, the art of persuasive writing and speech. Students will study several concepts at the core of rhetorical studies and sample thought-provoking work currently being done on disability rhetorics, feminist rhetorics, ethnic rhetorics, and visual rhetorics. A guiding principle of this course is that studying rhetoric helps one to develop or refine one’s effectiveness in speaking and writing. Toward those ends and through a 20-hour community-engaged learning opportunity in an organization of their choice, students will reflect on how this community-based writing project shapes or was shaped by their understanding of some key rhetorical concept. Students should leave the course, then, with a “rhetorical toolbox” from which they can draw key theories and concepts as they pursue future work in academic, civic, or professional contexts.

This course will explore the literary history and evolution of the superhero, from its roots in the works of thinkers such as Thomas Carlyle and Friedrich Nietzsche to the wartime birth of the modern comic book superhero to the contemporary pop culture dominance of transmedia experiments like the “universes” created by Marvel and DC. We will explore the superhero in various media, from prose to comics to film and television, and we will track the superhero alongside societal and cultural changes from the late 19th century to the present.

Advanced study of a crucial period for the development of new forms of narrative and the beginnings of formal narrative theory, in the context of accelerating modernity.

An intensive study of the writing of poetry through a selected theme, topic, or author. The course will undertake its study through discussions, readings, and workshop sessions.

An intensive study of the writing of fiction through a selected theme, topic, or author. The course will undertake its study through discussions, readings, and workshop sessions.

An advanced study of the craft of creative non-fiction. Through in-depth discussion, close reading of exceptional texts and constructive workshop sessions, students will explore special topics in the genre such as: fact versus fiction, writing real people, the moral role of the author, the interview process, and how to get published. Students will also produce, workshop and rewrite an original piece of long-form creative non-fiction and prepare it for potential publication.

This course connects writers of poetry and fiction, through discussion and workshop sessions, with artists from other disciplines in an interdisciplinary creative process, with the aim of having students perform their work.

This course pursues the in-depth study of a small set of myths. We will explore how a myth or mythological figure is rendered in a range of literary texts ancient and modern, and examine each text as both an individual work of art and a strand that makes up the fabric of each given myth.
Pre-1900 course

An exploration of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American realism and naturalism in literary and visual culture. This course will explore the work of writers such as Henry James, William Dean Howells, Edith Wharton, Charles Chesnutt, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Kate Chopin, and Theodore Dreiser alongside early motion pictures, photographs, and other images from the period.

This course explores the theories and practices of teaching academic writing, mostly in middle and secondary school contexts as well as university writing instruction and/or tutoring in writing. Through its 60-hour service-learning component, the course also provides student educators with the practical opportunities for the planning and delivering of these instruction techniques in different teaching contexts.

A study of selected topics in recent literary theory. Emphasis may be placed on the oeuvre of a particular theorist or on the impact of a given theoretical movement; in either case, the relation of theory to literary critical practice will be considered , as will the claims made by theory across a range of aesthetic and political discourses and in response to real world demands. Recommended for students planning to pursue graduate study in English literature.

In this course we consider the possibilities opened up by literature for thinking about the historical and ongoing relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on the northern part of Turtle Island (the Iroquois, Anishinabek and Lenape name for North America). How does literature written by both diasporic and Indigenous writers call upon readers to act, identify, empathize and become responsible to history, to relating, and to what effect? Students will have the opportunity to consider how literature can help address histories of colonial violence by helping us to think differently about questions about land, justice, memory, community, the environment, and the future of living together, in greater balance, on Turtle Island.

The study of a poet or poets writing in English after 1950. Topics may include the use and abuse of tradition, the art and politics of form, the transformations of an oeuvre, and the relationship of poetry to the individual person and to the culture at large.

This advanced seminar will provide intensive study of a selected topic in African literature written in English; for example, a single national literature, one or more authors, or a literary movement.

A detailed study of some aspect or aspects of life-writing. Topics may include life-writing and fiction, theory, criticism, self, and/or gender.
Can count as a pre-1900 course depending on the topic.

An intensive study of rhetoric, genre, meaning, and form in rap lyrics. The three-decade-plus recorded history of this popular poetry will be discussed in rough chronological order. Aspects of African-American poetics, as well as folk and popular song, germane to the development of rap will be considered, as will narrative and vernacular strategies in lyric more generally; poetry's role in responding to personal need and to social reality will also prove relevant.

An advanced inquiry into critical questions relating to the development of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature and culture. Focus may include the intensive study of an author, genre, or body of work.
Pre-1900 course

Topics in the literature and culture of the long eighteenth century. Topics vary from year to year and might include a study of one or more authors, or the study of a specific literary or theatrical phenomenon.
Pre-1900 course

An in-depth study of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature together with intensive study of the theoretical and critical perspectives that have transformed our understanding of this literature.
Pre-1900 course

This multi-genre creative writing course, designed around a specific theme or topic, will encourage interdisciplinary practice, experiential adventuring, and rigorous theoretical reflection through readings, exercises, field trips, projects, etc.

Advanced study of the writing of poetry for students who have excelled at the introductory and intermediate levels. Admission by portfolio. The portfolio should contain 15-25 pages of your best poetry and a 500-word description of your project. Please email your portfolio to creative-writing@utsc.utoronto.ca by the last Friday of April (for Independent Studies beginning in either the Fall or Winter semesters).

Advanced study of the writing of fiction or creative nonfiction for students who have excelled at the introductory and intermediate levels. Admission by portfolio. The portfolio should contain 30-40 pages of your best fiction or creative nonfiction and a 500-word description of your project. Please email your portfolio to creative-writing@utsc.utoronto.ca by the last Friday of April (for Independent Studies beginning in either the Fall or Winter semesters).

Advanced study of the writing of a non poetry/prose genre (for example, screenwriting, comics, etc.), or a multi-genre/multi-media project, for students who have excelled at the introductory and intermediate levels. Admission by portfolio. The portfolio should contain 20-30 pages of your best work composed in your genre of choice and a 500-word description of your project. Please email your portfolio to creative-writing@utsc.utoronto.ca by the last Friday of April (for Independent Studies beginning in either the Fall or Winter semesters).

Advanced study of Chaucer’s early writings, from The Book of the Duchess to Troilus and Criseyde. Consisting of dream visions, fantastic journeys, and historical fictions, these works all push beyond the boundaries of everyday experience, depicting everything from the lifestyles of ancient Trojans to a flight through the stars. This course will explore the forms and literary genres that Chaucer uses to mediate between the everyday and the extraordinary. We will also consider related problems in literary theory and criticism, considering how scholars bridge the gap between our own time and the medieval past. Texts will be read in Middle English.

Pre-1900 course.

Topics in the literature and culture of the medieval period. Topics vary from year to year and might include a study of one or more authors.
Pre-1900 course

Medieval authors answer the question “what happens after we die?” in great detail. This course explores medieval representations of heaven, hell, and the afterlife. Texts under discussion will include: Dante’s Inferno, with its creative punishments; the Book of Muhammad’s Ladder, an adaptation of Islamic tradition for Christian readers; the otherworldly visions of female mystics such as Julian of Norwich; and Pearl, the story of a father who meets his daughter in heaven and immediately starts bickering with her. Throughout we will consider the political, spiritual, and creative significance of writing about the afterlife.

Pre-1900 course.

An advanced study of games as interactive storytelling vehicles. Possible topics and approaches might include: a sustained look at a single video game or closely related set of games; tracing a thematic or structural element across different games; or exploring collaborative storytelling formats like table-top roleplaying games. Note: This is a highly interactive course, in which students will play a variety of different game forms – while no gaming skill is expected or required, presence and willingness is.