LTST 605: Current Issues in Literary Studies Report a Broken Link

This Digital Reading Room collects all of the online readings from Literary Studies 605 in one place. The Study Guide tells students which of these readings to complete at each stage of the course.

Literary Studies 605 allows students to examine the contemporary issues that motivate and captivate scholars in literary studies. Students will strengthen their familiarity with common approaches in literary studies, such as those focused on close reading, feminism, queer studies, postcolonial studies, the environmental humanities, Indigenous studies, and the particularities of literary studies in Canada. Students will also read a variety of short stories, novels, and poems to see what can be gained by applying theoretical questions and issues to diverse texts. What is literary studies for? Which texts should we read? How, exactly, should we understand a disturbing poem about fruit, a murder mystery in which the narrative point of view is just as important as the murder, or a novel in which the narrator believes, against all evidence, that she is a mermaid?

Course Introduction


Course Introduction

Unit 1: How to Interpret Literature, Part 1


Introduction to Unit 1

Keats, John. “If by Dull Rhymes Our English Must Be Chain’d.” Representative Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 1998.

Please read “If by Dull Rhymes Our English Must Be Chain’d” or other poems by Keats of your choice.

Rossetti, Christina. “Goblin Market.” Poetry Foundation, 2022.

Please read “Goblin Market” or other poems by Rossetti of your choice. For example, “In an Artist’s Studio” is another Rossetti poem that we recommend.

Carroll, Lewis. "The Hunting of the Snark." Representative Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2022.
Bishop, Elizabeth. “In the Waiting Room.” Poets.org, 2022.

Please read “In the Waiting Room” or other poems by Bishop of your choice. We recommend “Filling Station,” “The Moose,” and “One Art.”

Lowell, Robert. “Epilogue.” Poetry Foundation, 2022.

Please read “Epilogue” or other poems by Lowell of your choice.

Achebe, Chinua. “Flying.” AfroPoets.Net, 2023.

Please read “Flying” or other poems by Achebe of your choice. (Scroll down to find the poems.)

Ghose, Zulfikar. “View from the Observatory.” Poetry Foundation, 2022.

Note that the poem consists of two pages. To page right, click the arrow to the right of the first page.

Goodison, Lorna. “Praise to the Mother of Jamaican Art.” Bomb Magazine, vol. 82, 1 Jan. 2003.

Please read “Praise to the Mother of Jamaican Art” or other poems by Goodison of your choice. You will have to page down to the third poem on the page to find “Praise to the Mother of Jamaican Art.”

Dove, Rita. “I Have Been a Stranger in a Strange Land.” Poetry Foundation, 2022.

Please read “I Have Been a Stranger in a Strange Land” or other poems by Rita Dove of your choice.

Supplemental Reading
Poetry Foundation. “Christina Rossetti.” Poetry Foundation, 2022.

Unit 2: Literary Studies in Canada


Introduction to Unit  2

Justice, Daniel Heath. “Introduction: Stories that Wound, Stories that Heal.” Why Indigenous Literatures Matter. Wilfred Laurier UP, 2018, pp. 1–32.

Heath’s introduction is the only required reading from this book, but you may find other chapters interesting.

Please note: If you find that an ebook link doesn't work, once you have logged into the library website as requested, please try the link again.

Jones, Manina, et al. “Surveying CanLit: A Presentation-Interview Panel on Course Syllabi.” Canadian Literature, 2018.
Wah, Fred. “Untitled (2).” Canadian Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2000.

Please read “Untitled (2)” or other poems by Wah of your choice.

Wayman, Tom. “Factory Time.” Canadian Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2000.

Please read “Factory Time” or other poems by Wayman of your choice.

Steffler, John. “The Green Insect.” Canadian Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2020.

Please read “The Green Insect” or other poems by Steffler of your choice.

Brand, Dionne. “From thirsty” and “From Inventory.” Canadian Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2020.

Please read selections from Brand's collections thirsty and/or Inventory.

Ruffo, Armand Garnet. “Poem for Duncan Campbell Scott.” Canadian Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2020.

Ruffo’s “Poem for Duncan Campbell Scott” is a powerful response to Scott’s writing and to his dangerous position of authority within the Canadian government. Please read “Poem for Duncan Campbell Scott” or other poems by Ruffo of your choice.

Clarke, George Eliott. “Blank Sonnet.” Canadian Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2020.

Please read “Blank Sonnet” or other poems by Clarke of your choice.

Wong, Rita. “denim blues.” Rita Wong, 2022.

Please read “denim blues” or other poems by Wong of your choice. You will have to page down to the second poem on the page to find “denim blues.”

Bolster, Stephanie. “Many Have Written Poems About Blackberries.” Canadian Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2020.

Please read “Many Have Written Poems About Blackberries” or other poems by Bolster of your choice.

L’Abbé, Sonnet. “Poor Speaker.” Representative Poetry Online, U of Toronto Libraries, 2006.

Please read “Poor Speaker” or other poems by L’Abbé of your choice.

Supplemental Reading
Younging, Gregory. Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples. Brush, 2018.

Please consult Younging’s book as necessary for details about writing about Indigenous Peoples that go beyond the best practices summarized in the Literary Studies 605 Study Guide.

“Indigenous Peoples’ Language.” Athabasca University, 2022.

Athabasca University has published its own editorial guidelines, also drawing from Younging’s book. These guidelines are designed for AU employees rather than for students, but you may find them useful as an additional resource.

“Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory.” Canadian Association of University Teachers, 2021.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has published this “Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory,” which you may find useful, especially if you choose to write about your own home place.

“An Open Letter to UBC: Steven Galloway’s Right To Due Process.” UBC Accountable, 14 November 2016.
Elliott, Alicia. “CanLit Is a Raging Dumpster Fire.” Open Book, 7 Sep. 2017.
Barrera, Jorge. “Author Joseph Boyden’s Shape-Shifting Indigenous Identity.” APTN National News, 23 Dec. 2016.
CBC News. “Appropriation Prize a ‘Kick While You're Already Down’ Says Indigenous Author.” CBC, 15 May 2017.
The CanLit Guides Editorial Team. “‘The Onondaga Madonna’ (1898) by Duncan Campbell Scott and Racialization.” CanLit Guides, 2016.
Assignment 1
Guptill, Amy. Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. BC Campus, OpenEd, 2020.

Note that if you select "Read online," you will have to page down to find the table of contents. Please read

  • Chapter 2: What Does the Professor Want? Understanding the Assignment

Read the section “What’s Critical About Critical Thinking?” (pp. 15–18).

  • Chapter 3: Constructing the Thesis and Argument—From the Ground Up

Note: You may also wish to try some of the practice exercises in this book. On the last page of Chapter 3, for example, Exercise 2 asks you to turn simple thesis statements into more complex thesis statements—a very useful and illuminating activity.

Guptill, Amy. Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. BC Campus, OpenEd, 2020.

Note that if you select "Read online," you will have to page down to find the table of contents. Please read

  • Chapter 4: Secondary Sources in Their Natural Habitats
  • Chapter 5: Listening to Sources, Talking to Sources
Supplemental Reading for Assignment 1
Beardsworth, A. “‘This Page Faintly Stained with / Green’: Compost Aesthetics in John Steffler’s That Night We Were Ravenous.” Studies in Canadian Literature, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 238–256.
Write Site. The English Grammar Handbook. Athabasca University, 2021.

Unit 3: Moccasin Square Gardens


Introduction to Unit 3

Supplemental Reading
Van Camp, Richard, Paul Huebener, and Angie Abdou. “Interview with Richard Van Camp.” Athabasca University, Writer in Residence, 2018.
Bird, Louis. “Chapter 7: Wihtigos and Cannibal Hearts.” Spirit Lives in the Mind: Omushkego Stories, Lives, and Dreams, compiled and edited by Susan Elaine Gray, McGill-Queen’s UP, 2007, pp. 112–126.

Please note: If you find that an ebook link doesn't work, once you have logged into the library website as requested, please try the link again.

Unit 4: How to Interpret Literature, Part 2


Journals
Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review  
Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture, and Social Justice
PMLA
The Goose
ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment
Associations
Modern Language Association
ALECC: Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada
ASLE: Association for the Study of Literature and Environment

Unit 5: The Death of Ivan Oji


Supplemental Reading
Emezi, Akwaeke. “Transition: My Surgeries Were a Bridge Across Realities, a Spirit Customizing Its Vessel to Reflect Its Nature.” The Cut, 19 Jan. 2018.

Unit 6: The Seas


Conclusion to the Course

Assignment Resources


Guptill, Amy. Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. Open SUNY Textbooks, 2016.
MLA Style Essay Template and Sample Self-Reflection
Sample Essay: Dawson, Marina. “Disappearing into the Snow: The Polar Gothic in Minds of Winter.” Literary Studies 605, Athabasca University, 2019.
Sample Video Assignment: Gedak, Mark. “The Staging of Where the Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring.” 2020.
Interview About a Critical Analysis in the Form of a Comic Book: Orpana, Simon, and Caleb Wellum. Helios 1: Simon Orpana’s Gasoline Dreams. Energy Humanities, 3 May 2021.
A Guide to Academic Podcasting: Copeland, Stacey, and Hannah McGregor. A Guide to Academic Podcasting. AMPlify Podcast Network.

Video Transcripts


Course Introduction Video Transcript
Introduction to Unit 1 Video Transcript
Introduction to Unit 2 Video Transcript
Introduction to Unit 3 Video Transcript
Conclusion to the Course Video Transcript