This course provides students with the opportunity to analyze, interpret, and respond to multiple genres of contemporary literature including short stories, novels, poetry, drama, memoirs, film, non-fiction, and visual texts. Students will be introduced to analytical writing, writing in response to texts, and writing based on audience and purpose instead of structure. Contemporary literature will be defined as texts composed during and after 1960. Students will examine these texts as a reflection of the past, a mirror of the present and an indicator of the future. Areas of exploration will include the following: Social Responsibility, Relationships, and Individual Empowerment. Prerequisites: None