- to stimulate original thinking and critical habits of mind
- to develop the ability to construct an argument, both oral and written
- to provide an awareness of the development of English literature, thereby enabling students to understand how writers work in relation to their literary tradition
- to encourage an understanding of the relation of literary works to their historical context
- to bring the student to reflect on the relation of human creativity to divine
- to foster a sensitivity to language as a semantic vehicle and as a tool for literary criticism, and to equip students to analyse using its forms and strategies
- to encourage interdisciplinary perspectives upon the study of literature in English such as philosophy which handles ideas in a non-literary mode
- to encourage a critical awareness of literary criticism as an activity with its own history, which has changed according to differing assumptions about the nature and function of literature