This course investigates the ways that literary texts structure and use language. Employing tools from linguistics and stylistics, we will analyze aspects of literary texts: sound, meter, lexicon, discourse structure, style, pragmatic strategies, varieties of English, and narrative orientation. Texts will be drawn from several literary genres: fiction, poetry, and drama. Over the term, we will develop and use this linguistic "toolbox" to construct sophisticated perspectives and arguments about literary texts. Course expectations include two papers, short writing assignments, and several quizzes.