Link to video:

As the LIL 420 Arts & Humanities Capstone course comes to a close, I will take this moment to examine my experiences as an English major as they relate to the core learning outcomes for this discpline. While the central focus of this framing statement will be on my work within English, as a double major in Political Science and minoring in Writing and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, I will also offer a few connections that illustrate the interdisciplinary work I have done.

The four core learning outcomes for English are as follows:

Read texts closely and think critically https://eohara.uneportfolio.org/2024/11/23/close-reading-thinking-critically/

  • Comprehend a text’s literal/factual content
  • Distinguish between a passage’s literal/factual content and its figurative/symbolic/interpretive content
  • Analyze a text closely and identify rhetorical strategies therein
  • Connect a passage’s formal structure and thematic content with the text as a whole
  • Extrapolate the larger implications (social, philosophical, ethical, argumentative) of these patterns. 

Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of literature in English https://eohara.uneportfolio.org/2024/11/23/comprehensive-understanding-of-literature/

  • Demonstrate familiarity with specified content areas in literature, literary history, theory, and criticism
  • Understand literature as a culturally and historically embedded practice
  • Relate literature to other fields of inquiry

Communicate effectively https://eohara.uneportfolio.org/2024/11/23/effective-communication-in-written-oral-forms/

  • Approach writing as a recursive process
  • Develop and support claims about literary texts; Articulate claims in conceptually coherent essays
  • Use conventions of standard written English
  • Present research findings orally within the conventions of the discipline

Conduct research in literary and cultural studies https://eohara.uneportfolio.org/2024/11/23/engaging-in-literary-cultural-research/

  • Use bibliographic tools to find source material
  • Employ appropriate critical approaches in their research
  • Contribute to scholarly conversations about literary and cultural texts and phenomena
  • Incorporate and document source material using MLA style
  • Communicate in accordance with standards of academic integrity

Personal Outcome… https://eohara.uneportfolio.org/2024/11/23/personal-outcome-taking-an-active-role-in-pursuing-creative-ways-to-engage-in-personal-academic-interests-within-different-courses-and-disciplines/

In personalizing these definitions I have briefly translated them in my own words within each sub category that falls under this page. As you will hear, I will then connect my understanding of these outcomes by providing a selection of evidence from my coursework over the past three years to show both the variety of courses that these outcomes apply to and the evolution of my skills from earlier courses to more recent exemplars.