This Area of Exploration introduces students to the nature of literature and its study. You’ll learn how authors make deliberate choices and how those choices contribute to the creation of meaning. However, the focus isn’t only on what the author does. Readers also play an important role in producing meaning. Your personal responses can develop into more informed interpretations as you engage with other readers and recognize that literary meaning can be constructed and negotiated rather than being completely fixed.

You’ll develop the ability to recognize important textual features and understand how they interact to create meaning, rather than simply identifying literary techniques one by one. The course also encourages you to move between personal and academic responses and between creative and analytical forms of writing.

In this area, you will explore key questions such as:

• Why and how do we study literature?
• How are we affected by literary texts in different ways?
• How is meaning constructed, negotiated, expressed, and interpreted?
• How does language use vary across different literary forms?
• How do the structure and style of a literary text affect meaning?
• How can literary texts offer insights while also challenging readers?