English

Offers a study of grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and usage. Writing from the sentence to the paragraph level and short essays. Does not count in the major, minor, education concentration, or gen ed. Prerequisite: Placement or permission of instructor.

Requires students to write between five and six thousand words, applying rhetorical principles of literate discourse—principles as demonstrated in samples of effective writing by writers of diverse backgrounds. Includes grammar, levels of usage, the purposes of language, writing for different purposes, and audiences. Does not satisfy hours for the major or minor. Prerequisite: Placement or completion of ENGL 110. ENGL 121 is a prerequisite for all ENGL courses except 110.

Explores common topics and themes as expressed in various literary genres. Students read, respond to, and analyze works of literature, and learn how to find connections between literature, our culture, ourselves, and the human condition. Emphasis is on the western tradition of literature. Either ENGL 123 or 124 may be used to count toward the English major/minor, but not both. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Explores common topics and themes as expressed in notable works of literature from around the world. Students read, respond to, and analyze works of literature, and learn how to find connections between literature, various cultures, ourselves, and the human condition. Emphasis is on the non-western tradition of literature. Either ENGL 123 or 124 may be used to count toward the English major/minor, but not both. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Includes study and practice in the methods of organization and use of evidence to help students write more effectively and persuasively. Students read essays by writers of diverse backgrounds and learn to write for different purposes and audiences. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Concentrates on clarity and orderliness in preparing business correspondence, studies, reports, and proposals. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Provides an introduction to the principles and concepts of writing and reporting for print media and the web. It involves reporting, interviewing, doing background research, writing, and analyzing news stories, and introduces students to journalistic ethics and codes of conduct. Cross listed as JOURN 207. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Studies the major literary movements and figures of British culture from Anglo-Saxon writings through the Neo-Classic Period. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Examines the development of poetry and prose in Britain from the Romantic writers to the present.  The political and intellectual contexts, as well as the subjects and styles of selected authors of both genders, are studied. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Surveys American literature from the Colonial Era through the age of Romanticism. Genres include essays, Native American legends, captivity narratives, slave narratives, short fiction, the novel and lyric poetry. Intellectual and historical contexts, as well as key authors, are covered. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Surveys American literature from the Age of Realism to the present day. Genres include essays, short fiction, drama, poetry, and the novel. Intellectual and historical contexts, as well as key authors, are covered. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Examines the major trends in African-American literature, using historical, political, and social contexts. Genres include poetry, fiction, the slave narrative, and drama. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

This course explores the interrelationship between the Bible and various selections of literature to provide students ways of understanding how authors were motivated by, reacted to, or otherwise engaged in a dialogue with sacred texts.  Furthermore, students can investigate ways in which these works, inspired by Biblical readings, intervened in or otherwise inspired individual, interpersonal, social, or political engagements.

Provides for study of a certain topic through works of literature, supplemented by film or other art forms. Possible topics include fantasy literature, science fiction, or something more broad such as war, love, or the family. May be repeated with topic change. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Explores various genres and helps students to develop their individual perspectives and voices. The course involves writing exercises and prompts, group discussions of creative work, and many opportunities for feedback and revision. Enrollment preference to sophomores and above. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Is a critical study of literature intended for adolescent and pre-adolescent readers. Themes include coming of age, formation of identity, community and society, the journey, and other common themes in YA literature. Students become familiar with a variety of YA genres, which may include dystopian fiction, sci fi and fantasy literature, contemporary realistic fiction, non-fiction, and multimodal texts. Attention is given to issues of censorship of YA literature and pedagogical resources for the use of YA literature in the classroom and how the identity formation process is affected when adolescents encounter people from different racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, and/or economic backgrounds. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Is a study of the current methods of writing copy for agencies, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations. Focuses on the writing of press releases, with an analysis of their purpose, value, and content. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Studies ethical problems and issues in mass communication with a framework of basic theories and social roles of mass media. Surveys the major ethical issues that concern journalism. Describes ethical dilemmas that confront broadcast and print journalists. Matters of journalistic morality, codes of ethics, codes of conduct, taste, libel, shield laws, and photo guidelines are covered. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Provides students the opportunity to explore the principles and practice of creative nonfiction writing. Topics may include memoir, personal essay, travel, food, humor, science, or others. May be repeated once with topic change. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Explores the theoretical principles and the critical viewpoints based on them which underlie the thoughtful, purposeful study of literature and applies these principles to key literary works. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Is an intensive study of Shakespeare’s writings, including selected sonnets, comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances, with special attention to the major themes and to the Elizabethan and Jacobean contexts of his plays. The course covers the practices and conventions of theatrical performance in Shakespeare’s time and his development as a dramatist. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Explores the relation of nature to culture in major Romantic and Victorian poetry and representative prose sections, the position of art, and the process of myth and metaphor in nature/culture relations.  Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Studies the novel as an important literary and social development in Britain and follows some of the important changes in the structure, purpose, and audience of the novel through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Included: Defoe, Austen, Dickens, Eliot, and Hardy).  Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Examines the directions British fiction has taken in response to a changing social and literary scene: two world wars, the decline of the British Empire, the rise of working class, women, and minority writers. The course considers experimental and traditional writers from Joyce to the present, including Joyce, Woolf, Lawrence, and Forster. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Studies the works of the American romantics, then moves to the realism, regionalism, and naturalism of the later part of the century. Authors studied may include Irving, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Chopin, Chesnutt, Crane, and Jewett.

Studies the variety and richness of American fiction since the turn of the twentieth century.  Topics may include novels of the 1920s, war novels, and the works of women and minority writers.

This course covers a range of moral and ethical issues associated with literature: its content, its production, and its study.  For example, works of literature may be analyzed for its moral content or form the perspective of moral and ethical criticism.  In addition, the course will study broader, literature-related issues such as censorship, plagiarism, diversity in representation, or the line between fiction and nonfiction.

Studies the life of poetry in recent American culture, from the early twentieth century through today. The course attempts to answer the question, “Why does poetry matter?” The emphasis is on close reading along with an exploration of diverse methods of literary criticism, such as historical and biographical. Poets are looked at in context (e.g. the celebrity of Frost and Hughes; the notoriety of Ginsberg; posthumous responses to Plath), and poetic form will be considered as well, from iambic pentameter to spoken word and Slam. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Studies the theoretical views and methodological tools for an accurate understanding of language, its structure, and usage. Emphasis is on the English language, covering topics such as language acquisition and development, the history of the English language, grammar, dialects, sentence analysis and levels of usage. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Provides for study of significant writers, genres, and themes. Possible subjects include Chaucer, Poe, gender and film, postmodernism, as well as other topics devised by faculty or requested by students. May be repeated with topic change. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Explores specific topics in film and literature. Students will view selected films, read selected texts, and apply theoretical approaches, close reading, and film analysis techniques. Topics may include cinematic adaptations of authors (e.g., Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen), genres (e.g., anime, comedy, sci-fi), or themes (e.g., gender in film and literature, dystopias in film and literature, sports in film and literature). May be repeated with topic change. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Gives students the opportunity to explore literary texts through the lens of gender. Students learn principles of gender theory and analysis, and how to use these principles to understand and interpret texts. Topics may include LGBT literature, women's literature, the literature of masculinity, marriage in the 19th-century novel, sexuality in science fiction, or others according to instructor interest and research area. May be repeated with topic change. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Provides students with practice in a variety of forms, increasing in complexity. Individual style and voice in students’ work as well as in contemporary authors are explored. Prerequisite: ENGL 306 or permission of instructor.

Emphasizes Greek and Roman mythology and its influence on English and American writers. Various examples of Greek and Roman literature are read in translation. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.

Designed to offer students supervised English-related work experience.  The aim is to allow students to use and develop knowledge of
the English language in professional contexts involving editing and publication.  The course number sequence allows for internships covering up to two semesters, consecutive or non-consecutive. Up to six hours may count toward the English major or minor.  Must be approved and supervised by instructor with relevant content background to the internship.  Students must have taken appropriate courses relevant to the internship. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

Designed to offer students supervised English-related work experience.  The aim is to allow students to use and develop knowledge of
the English language in professional contexts involving editing and publication.  The course number sequence allows for internships covering up to two semesters, consecutive or non-consecutive. Up to six hours may count toward the English major or minor.  Must be approved and supervised by instructor with relevant content background to the internship.  Students must have taken appropriate courses relevant to the internship. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

Is the capstone course for English majors; students share in intensive study of a major literary work and write a paper of suitable length, applying the theoretical principles of literary criticism to that work. Discussions focus on analyzing literature, critical reading, and research methods. Students are expected to make a brief oral presentation at the end of the semester, summarizing their work. Offered each semester on a subject selected by the instructor. Prerequisite or co-requisite: ENGL 320; senior status or permission of department chair.