ENG 101 Composition
Ten sections will be offered in the fall semester. Each section is limited
to fifteen students. While instructors may use different approaches, all
are concerned with developing every student’s use of clear and appropriate
English prose in course papers and on examinations. All instructors have
the common goal of encouraging the student to write with accuracy of
expression, as well as with logical and coherent organization. Students
will be responsible for writing at least one in-class essay and a series
of longer, out-of-class essays. In both full-course and half-course
versions, students must develop an awareness of the strengths and
weaknesses in their writing and must acquire the necessary skill to revise
and rewrite what they thought were final drafts of essays. They must, in
other words, become editors of their own writing. Past experience has
shown the Department and the College that writing well in high school does
not necessarily assure the same in college. On the basis of the English
proficiency examination performance, the Department will require some
first-year students to register for this course. (Three of the fall
semester half-courses begin mid-semester. Students who have experienced
difficulty in writing during the first several weeks may wish to consider
late registration in these sections.) English 101 is NOT a remedial
writing course. Special tutorial help within the department and at the
Writing Center is available for students with more fundamental problems in
writing. One-half or one course credit. This course is offered in the fall
semester.
Credits: 1/2
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Course Descriptions—Language Studies
Language Studies courses in English include both writing (English 101, 201, 212, 213, 410, 411, 412, 413) and language (English 121, 122, 150, 221). Students with an interest in Creative Writing might wish to speak with Professors Hudson or Castro about appropriate course selections.
ENG 121 Introduction to Language: Language Diversity Reflected in Literature
Readings in the history and culture of English through historical texts in Anglo-Saxon, Middle and Early Modern English, and American English, with particular attention to the diversity of our language. First half of fall smeester, not offered, 2005-2006.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 122 Introduction to Language: Modern Linguistics
An introduction to the basic principles and methods of linguistic
analysis, with emphasis on Modern English grammar. This course is offerd
in the first half, fall semester.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 123 History of the English Language
This course draws upon archaeology, literature, linguistics and social
history in order to familiarize you with the development of the English
language. We will examine texts written in Old, Middle, and Early Modern
English, placing them in their cultural contexts to explore how
environment shapes language and language shapes environment. In this class
we will consider the political and social aspects of language from
prehistory to the present and engage with primary sources in their
original languages. We will discuss current political and social issues
like Ebonics, pidgins, and English-only "nativism" movements. Students
will present a final project that address current, language-related
debates such as English as a global language, the impact language has upon
power structures or how language and cultural authority are linked. This
course is offered in the second half, spring semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 150 Introduction to Mass Communication
An undergraduate introduction to the print and electronic media
(communication theory, advertising, newsgathering, media effects, and
investigative journalism) in which students analyze the special languages
of the media, examine the economics of the communications industry, and
evaluate the media as a reflection of the ideas and preoccupations of
society. The goal of the course is to develop students into informed and
discriminating listeners, readers, and viewers. This course is offered
inth spring semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 201 Composition: The Essay
English 201 concentrates exclusively upon the essay as a vehicle of prose
communication. Students will read the works of several modern essayists
(for example, E.M. Forster, George Orwell, Alice Walker, Lewis Thomas,
Joan Didion) and write essays based upon thematic and rhetorical methods
discovered in the texts. Limited enrollment. This course is offered in the
first half, spring semester.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 212 Creative Writing: Poetry
This course includes composition, presentation, and considered discussion
of original poems in a workshop atmosphere. Experimentation with various
poetic forms will be encouraged and craftsmanship emphasized. A strong
commitment to poetry will be expected, not only in writing and rewriting
throughout the semester, but also in careful criticism of fellow students'
work. Supplementary readings in contemporary poetry will be used as models
for writing and as impetus for discussion. This course is offered in the
fall semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 213 Creative Writing: Short Fiction
Students will write about 12,000 words of short fiction, which will be
read and discussed in workshop sessions. The course pre-supposes a serious
interest in creative writing. It requires strict self discipline, devotion
to craftsmanship, and active critical analysis. Supplementary readings in
short fiction, past and contemporary, are assigned. This course is offered
in the fall semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 221 Studies in Language: American Dialects
An introduction to the study of dialects in America, with a particular
focus on the diversity of American speech as reflected in its many
cultural variations. Students will read about the varieties of American
speech, study their historical, sociological, and linguistic background,
and conduct original research in describing a cultural dialect. The course
is offered in the second half, spring semester.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 387 Independent Study in Lanaguage
Any student in good standing academically and interested in pursuing a
topic in language studies in English not normally available through
departmental course offerings is encouraged to apply to the Department for
permission to do independent work in English language studies. Such study
usually involves not more than one course credit a semester, and entails a
significant academic project submitted to a department member for a letter
grade. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal
from a department member before registering for the course. One-half or
one course credit each semester.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor and approval of the Department
chair.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 410 Advanced Composition: Academic and Professional Writing
The goal of this course is for the student to gain greater awareness and
control over his writing for a variety of academic and professional
purposes. Students who wish to improve their college writing and those who
plan to attend law or graduate school, teach, or write professionally
would be well served by the course. We will focus in particular on clarity
in writing, argumentative techniques, the demands of different genres, and
developing a personal voice. Limited enrollment. This course is offered in
the spring semester. Not offered 2005-2006).
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing or permission of the instructor.
Credits: 1
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ENG 411 Advanced Composition: Business & Technical Writing
The emphasis in this course will be on technical, business, and other
forms of career-oriented writing. Topics include audience analysis, style
analysis, grammar, punctuation, and research. Assignments adapted to fit
the background and interests of each student include business
correspondence, mechanism description, process description, formal
proposal, magazine article, and formal report. Limited enrollment. This
course is offered in the spring semester.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing or permission of the instructor.
Credits: 1
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STUDENTS MAY TAKE EITHER ENGLISH 410 or 411, BUT NOT BOTH.
ENG 412 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry
This course will be conducted as a workshop. Besides writing steadily and much, the student will be expected to read carefully and criticize his peers’ work. This course is offered in the spring semester. Not offered 2005-2006.
Credits: 1
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ENG 413 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction
This course will be conducted as a workshop. Besides writing steadily and
much, the student will be expected to read carefully and criticize his
peers’ work. The course is offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1
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Course Descriptions—Literature
Introductory Courses
These courses, numbered 105-160, introduce students to English, American, and World literature in translation. Two half-semester courses, English 105 and 106, introduce students to the ways of reading poetry and short stories. English 107 and 108 emphasize history as a subject matter in literature. English 109 and 160, as well as English 107 and 108, focus on world and multicultural literature.
English 215-220, offered yearly, are designated “Core” courses because they are central to our conception of an English major. They introduce the student to basic literary and cultural history, to significant writers, works, and themes, and to useful critical modes. Students will be expected to participate in classroom discussion and write several short papers. These courses also serve as the foundation for more advanced literary study.
ENG 105 Introduction to Poetry
This course introduces students to the study of poetry. The approach will be mainly formalist—close readings of a wide range of poetry, from the sixteenth century through the contemporary. Students will study essential aspects of the poem—image, symbol, diction, syntax, meter, rhythm, and form. Writing assignments for the course will focus on the explication of particular poems. This course is offered first half, semester semester. Not offered 2005-2006.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 106 Fictions of Women
This course examines the ways in which important British, U.S., Canadian,
and Caribbean writers of fiction have depicted the roles, issues,
struggles, triumphs, and pleasures of women in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Drawing upon the theoretical and critical work of
feminist thinkers, we will explore such issues as work, voice, gender,
power, ethnicity, sexuality, and the body in novels and short fiction by
such writers as Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Virginia
Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, Edith Wharton, Margery Latimer, Zora Neale
Hurston, Jean Rhys, Nella Larsen, Tillie Olsen, Meridel Le Seur, Doris
Lessing, Paule Marshall, Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter,
Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, A. S. Byatt, Sandra Cisneros, Alice Munro,
Lorrie Moore, and Jamaica Kincaid. This course is offered in the spring
semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 107-1 History & Drama: (Introduction to Dramatic Literature)
An introduction to drama itself, with conversations about the long
standing tradition of reading texts aloud, whether poetry, novels, or
drama. We will review and pose reasonable and helpful questions of any
drama, as well as special ones appropriate for historical drama. Using
Pirandello's Henry IV as a paradoxical warning about the dangers of
historical fictions, we will look at the varieties of ways American and
European dramatists use history, with special emphasis on playwrights'
manipulation and education of audiences and the “truth” created by merging
fact with fiction. A cautious, careful reader who delights in discovering
truth and identifying lies in fiction: an admirable course goal. Texts
include Shakespeare and Ionesco's plays about Macbeth, and Shaw and
Brecht's approaches to the Joan of Arc story. This course is offered first
half, fall semester.
Credits: 1/2
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First, a brief review of how the general reader can become a critical
reader of dramatic literature—and still find the experience delightful and
enriching. Then, using Pirandello's Each in His Own Way as a reminder of
the challenge of plays about contemporary issues and personalities, we
will discuss some works from the last sixty years that have addressed
concerns of science and scientists. It may be just as interesting to
discover that some dramatists have little insight about this kind of
subject as it is to realize that humanists and scientists can speak the
same language. Texts will include Brecht's Galileo, Kipphardt's
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer, as well as more recent efforts
to present Heisenberg, Bohr, Kepler, and Feynman. This course is offered
second half, fall semester.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 108 History and the Novel
An introduction to the novel itself in which we try to sustain the joy of
first readings and attempt to understand how authors invite us to
co-create this “other world,” and how historical events and individuals
are a part of this creative process. Our texts may range in length from
Dicken's Tale of Two Cities to Tolstoy's War and Peace, in
subject from politics in Warren's All the King's Men, and Garcia
Marquez' The General in His Labyrinth to debates about historical
sources like Yourcenar's The Memoirs of Hadrian and Vargas Llosa's
The War of the End of the World. Selections from Latin American novelists
like Garcia Marques, Fuentes, and Vargas Llosa may help us understand why
the historical novel has been such a prominent literary mode in Central
and South America. This course is offered in the spring semester. Not
offered 2005-2006.
Credits: 1
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ENG 109 World Literature in Translation
The course will focus on literature in translation from Europe, Japan,
India, and Mexico from the seventh through the seventeenth centuries.
Thematically, the course will address conquest, spirituality, and love
with the aim of cultivating the student’s ability to consider critically
class, gender, religion, and the idea of the “other” in medieval Europe
and beyond. Texts will include Beowulf, The Tale of the Genji
, Dante’s Inferno and the poetry of Rumi. This course is
offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 160 Multicultural Literature in America
The richness of American culture is a result of the contributions made by
individuals from a variety of groups, each expanding our definition of
what it means to be American. In this course we will study the writing and
cultures of a number of groups, among them Native American, Hispanic, Gay,
African American, European American, and Asian American. We will try to
hear individual voices through a variety of literary forms (including
film), while exploring commonalities. This course is offered in the spring
semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 196 Religion and Literature
A study of religious themes and theological issues in diverse literary works. Each week will focus on a single text. Authors represent various religious traditions (like Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Hinduism) and raise particular religious questions (like the problem of evil, the question of atheism, the role of tradition, and the nature of redemption). Enrollment limited to 15 students.
Credits: 1
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ENG 215 Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
The study of English literature from its beginnings to the end of the
Renaissance. Readings will include Beowulf; selections from
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; Elizabethan poetry, drama and
prose; and Milton’s Paradise Lost. This course is offered in
the fall semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 216 Introduction to Shakespeare
A study of the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare. Analyzing Shakespeare's
dramatic and poetic techniques, we will examine some of the comedies,
histories, and tragedies of the greatest dramatist in English. We will
also look at the plays' major themes, styles, and sources. This course is
offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 217 English Literature, 1660-1800
This course examines works by some of the best-known poets, essayists, and
novelists from the Restoration and Eighteenth Century in Great Britain,
including Dryden, Swift, Pope, Fielding, and Johnson. The responses of
different authors to ongoing cultural conflicts will help structure our
survey. Rhetorical techniques and the development of genres will be
ongoing concerns. There will be special emphasis on the comedies of the
time by Wycherly, Etherege, Behn, Congreve, Gay, Steele, and Sheridan, not
only as texts for performance and reading, but also as objects the
authors' contemporaries reviewed with vigor and used to construct theories
about comedy and satire. This course is offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 218 Introduction to English Literature, 1800-1900
A study of the life and literature of the early and middle 19th century as
reflected in the poetry, fiction and essays of this period. Texts will
vary from year to year but will be drawn from the works of major poets
(Wordsworth, Keats, Tennyson, Browning, Arnold and Hardy), novelists
(Austen, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Eliot and Hardy) and essayists
(Wordsworth, Carlyle, Macaulay, Ruskin, Arnold, Huxley and Pater). This
course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 219 Introduction to American Literature before 1900
A survey of major writers and literary trends from the period of
exploration to the Naturalists. We will study the forging of the American
literary and social consciousness in the writings of the early explorers,
through the Native American oral tradition, and in works by Bradstreet,
Edwards, Franklin, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Jacobs, Melville,
Douglass, Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, James, Crane, and Chopin. Guiding our
study will be questions like “What is ‘American' about American
literature?” and “In what ways do myths generated by our formative
literature continue to shape our personal and national identities?” This
course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 220 Introduction to American Literature after 1900
This survey introduces the writers and trends of our century, from realism
and naturalism through modernism to the rich, fragmented energy of
postmodernism and multiculturalism. Writers covered vary from year to year
but may include Henry James, James Weldon Johnson, Edith Wharton, Robert
Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, William Carlos Williams, E. E. Cummings,
Ernest Hemingway, Margery Latimer, William Faulkner, Langston Hughes,
Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J. D. Salinger, Allen Ginsberg, Gary
Snyder, Amiri Baraka, John Barth, Raymond Carver, Galway Kinnell, Sharon
Olds, Louise Erdrich, Sandra Cisneros, Toni Morrison, and Don DeLillo.
This course is offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1
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ENG 296 Religion and Literature
A study of religious themes and theological issues in literary works.
Credits: 1
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Intermediate Courses
COURSES NUMBERED 300-370 HAVE THE PREREQUISITE OF ANY ONE ENGLISH LITERATURE COURSE AT WABASH. They are designed to complement and develop historical and cultural awareness, and the knowledge of authors, themes, topics, genres, modes, and critical approaches encountered in Introductory and Core courses. Students in Intermediate courses take initiative in class discussion, write several analytical papers, and become familiar with the use of secondary critical sources. Topics for Intermediate courses are generally repeated every two or three years.
ENG 300 Studies in Historical Contexts: The Literature of the American 1920's
“Here was a generation,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in the aftermath of the Great War, “grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in mankind shaken.” This course examines the literature and culture of the 1920's in America and, in passing, the American civilization that produced an extraordinary number of talented writers. We will focus upon major writers and significant texts of this decade—the Roaring Twenties, the jazz age, the great age of sport, the age of leisure, the plastic age. The Twenties produced great literature and great literary figures. We will choose from among the best of the period. Writers may include Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Sinclair Lewis, Eugene O'Neill, T.S. Eliot, John Dos Passos, Robert Frost, William Faulkner (and perhaps others of lesser renown). This course is offered in the fall semester. Not offered 2005-2006.
Credits: 1
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Though Ginsberg is dead and Snyder is seventy, the Beat movement still has
a charisma and a living energy. Its writers professed the ecstatic moment
and the revolt of the imagination against the chafing strictures of
Eisenhower's America. We'll read Jack Kerouac's On the Road, but otherwise
stay with the remarkable poetry of several key writers—Allen Ginsberg,
Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Greg Corso. Our
focus will be the poetry itself—its techniques and themes of liberation
and transcendence—and its relationship to American culture of the Fifties.
The course will include the class production of a performance of the
famous Six Gallery Reading in which Ginsberg, Snyder, McClure, and others
participated. This course is offered in the second half, spring semester.
(Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1/2
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What was the medieval chivalric code? How did it define the knight’s
relationship to his lord or his lady? How closely does Arthurian
literature reflect actual medieval behavior? We wil explore these kinds of
questions by examining texts such as The Art of Courtly Love, Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight, and Malory’s Morte D’Arthur. Finally, this class
will consider idealized codes for living embedded in contemporary culture
to see how (and if) chivalry operates in the world today.
Credits: 1
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ENG 310 Studies in Literary Genres: British Drama: Medieval and Tudor
A survey of early English drama from the first plays in the English church
through the medieval mystery, morality, and miracle dramas, to the early
Renaissance entertainments and histories. In addition to reading the texts
of plays, we will also look at the contexts in which they were presented
and the sources of their success. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1/2
|
A survey of non-Shakespearean drama of the English Renaissance, through
the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. We will read tragedies, histories,
and comedies by several of Shakespeare's contemporaries, including
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson, Thomas Dekker, and John Webster. We will
also consider the actual conditions of acting, producing, and audience
reception for early English drama plays. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1/2
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In this course we will consider the development and variety of science
fiction literature, particularly as it has reflected concurrent societal
anxieties. We will begin with early classics, such as H.G. Well's The
Time Machine and Ray Bradbury's R is for Rocket, as well as
works from more contemporary authors such as Phillip K. Dick, Ursula
LeGuin, Harlan Ellison, and Dan Simmons. Since any study of science
fiction is incomplete without films, readings will be coordinated with
public screenings of important science fiction films. This course is
offered in the spring semester. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
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Even in the twenty-first century, Americans remain haunted by the power
and beauty of their landscapes and by the idea of wilderness. Thoreau’s
gnomic statement, “In wilderness is the preservation of the world,” still
has some currency in our culture. While Americans are far from forging a
common environmental ethic, the attempt continues, especially in the face
of our growing awareness of the fragility of earth’s ecosystems, and the
power of our technologies to subdue and destroy them. In this course, we
will read a few essential classic texts--Thoreau’s “Walking” and Aldo
Leopold’s Sand County Almanac to get our bearings, but the
focus will be on texts of the late twentieth century to the present. We
will read such nonfiction works as Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire
and Terry Tempest Williams’ Refuge; fictions such as Seth
Kantner’s 2004 novel, Ordinary Wolves, and various stories by
Rick Bass; and Gary Snyder’s poetry collection, Turtle Island
. We will also read some poetry and fiction by Nicaraguan writers, Ernesto
Cardenal and Gioconda Belli. The course will also introduce students to
the practice of ecocriticism. We will read the texts as literary works of
art, but also as explorations of the connections between humans and the
natural world, of nature and spirit, of environmental ethics and justice,
and of arguments for the preservation of the natural world. Writer Terry
Tempest Williams will visit our class as part of her presence at Wabash in
March.
Credits: 1
|
ENG 320 Studies in Literary Modes: English Romanticism
Romanticism in all of its aspects and manifestations roared across Europe
and America in the latter years of the 18th and first half of the 19th
centuries. This course examines the poetry and prose of the major English
Romantic writers and the development and elaboration of the romantic
movement in England roughly during the years 1790 to 1840. We will read
widely in the works of Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and
Keats with some attention to the shift from neo-classic to romantic poetic
forms and critical premises and particular emphasis on the romantic
imagination and its legacy, including its relevance to the contemporary
world. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1
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This course explores the literature and culture of the United States in
the early part of the twentieth century, with its overlapping milieu of
high modernists, Harlem Renaissance writers, young bohemians, and
political radicals. We will examine the profound redefinitions of the self
catalyzed by the rise of psychology, rapid urbanization and mechanization,
and the Great War, and we'll discuss the public's response to the varied
artistic movements of the period, from Primitivism's allure to the
impersonal promise of Futurism. From painting to film, from Gertrude
Stein's Three Lives to Langston Hughes's poetry and Meridel Le
Sueur's reportage, this course will examine a variety of texts that
contributed to the literary experimentation and extraordinary achievement
of the period. Other readings may include but are not limited to Sherwood
Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, Zona Gale's Miss Lulu Bett, T.
S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Other Poems, Willa Cather's The
Professor's House, Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time, William
Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Nella Larsen's Passing,
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and poetry by Williams,
Taggard, Stevens, Frost, Cummings, Moore, and Millay. This course is
offered in the fall semester. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
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In this course we will explore the production of British fiction from the
turn of the twentieth century to World War II. Our attention will focus on
the relationship between the disintegration of traditional moral, social,
and intellectual values and the development of new literary forms. We will
read and discuss works that illustrate a variety of cultural concerns,
paying particular attention to those texts which use experimental,
audience challenging, and language-focused narrative strategies to
foreground the relationship of individuals to economic, political, and
cultural forces. We will explore various traditions and innovations in
literature as they reflect and incorporate shifting attitudes toward love,
marriage, family, social institutions, nature, technology, and war. The
metaphor of voyage, of travel to the unknown—whether to a physical, a
social, or a psychological wilderness—will provide a unifying point of
reference for our discussions of the texts by Conrad, Forster, Joyce,
Lawrence, Mansfield, Rhys and Woolf. This course is offered in the spring
semester. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
|
ENG 330 Studies in Special Topics: Literature of War: Classics of VietNam War Literature
In this intermediate seminar, we will explore prize-winning plays, novels,
and poetry about the Viet Nam War written by journalists, soldiers, and
concerned citizens, Perspectives of the war will include those of
Americans, Vietnamese, British, men, women, and minorities. Readings will
place characters within contexts that include Viet Nam in the early 1950s
and 1960s, combat from 1965 to 1975, and the war's aftermath for Americans
and the Vietnamese. Some of our texts will include Graham Greene's The
Quiet American, Robert Olen Butler's A Good Scent from a Strange
Mountain, Bao Ninh's The Sorrows of War, Tim O'Brien's Going
After Cacciato, Larry Heinemann's Paco's Story, David Rabe's
Sticks and Stones, Bobbie Anne Mason's In Country, and the
poetry of W.D. Ehrhart and Yusef Komunyakaa. This course is offered in the
fall semester. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
|
ENG 340 Studies in Individual Authors: Herman Melville
Although a major writer in the American literary canon, Melville seems
almost non-canonical in his constant experimentation with literary form
and questioning of societal conventions of race, gender, and class. In
this course we will study a number of Melville's major works—Typee,
Redburn, Moby Dick, Billy Budd-—and several lesser known texts,
particularly the poetry. In addition to enjoying the variety of stories
Melville tells, meeting his distinctive characters, and exploring his
unconventional ideas, we will consider Melville's life and times as well
as the history of his literary reputation. This course is offered in the
spring semester.
Credits: 1
|
In this half-course, we will study several of the six novels completed by
Austen (1775-1817), paying particular attention to their reception by her
contemporaries. We will continue by researching the print and electronic
information about her reputation over the next two hundred years, focusing
finally on a few of the fifteen or so film adaptations (and how they were
reviewed) during the last thirty years of the 20th century. Throughout the
half-course, we will be interested in finding out what her novels tell us
about the craft of fiction, as well as what is either appealing or
off-putting (or both) about her work at the beginning of a new century.
This course is offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1/2
|
In this half-course, we will study six plays or more by Shaw (1857-1950),
each of which provides a different answer to his recurring question: what
is wrong with civilization? Shaw's wit and satire make his frequently
disagreeable answers both provocative and entertaining. Texts will include
three major works, Man and Superman (1903), Heartbreak House
(1917), St. Joan (1923). This course is offered in the spring
semester.
Credits: 1/2
|
ENG 350 Studies in Media: Literature and Film
Is the novel always better than its film adaptation? After an introduction
to the art of film and a theoretical consideration of the similarities and
differences between fiction and film, we will compare four or five novels
with their film adaptations. This year’s course will focus on literature
and film that represents New York City. A Spring Break trip to ‘the Big
Apple’ will be part of the course. Course enrollment will be limited to 15
students. This course is offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1
|
ENG 360 Studies in Multicultural/National Literatures: Pen and Protest: Literature and Civil Rights
This course takes a literary approach to the study of the civil rights
movement. Students will examine the autobiographies, plays, novels, and
other various artistic expressions of the mid-1950s through 1980. The aim
of the course is to explore the use of literature and art as means of
political, cultural, and religious expression. Students are introduced to
critical theory as well as black studies. This course is offered in the
fall semester. Not offered in 2005-2006.
Credits: 1
|
This course explores various genres of African American Literature.
Emphasis is placed on works that reflect the socio-historical development
of African American life. Poetry, Slave narratives, autobiographies,
novels, plays, musical lyrics, and spoken word form the subject of study
in the course. Special attention is given to works of fiction that become
motion pictures and the emerging area of audiobooks. The aim of the course
is to provide students with a sense of the historical and contemporary
developments within African American literature. Students are introduced
to African American critical theory as will as African American history.
Not offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1
|
The contributions of Jewish American writers and filmmakers have been
pervasive and significant. We will read selected fiction, poetry and
plays, and see films that focus on the Jewish American experience. Authors
and filmmakers may include Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, Cynthia Ozick,
David Mamet, Allen Ginsberg, and Woody Allen. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1/2
|
African Americans have employed the novel form in a variety of ways. In
this course we will sample this rich tradition in works by F.E.W. Harper,
Charles Chessnutt, James Weldon Johnson, Jean Toomer, Nella Larsen, Zora
Neal Hurston, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison,
and Charles Johnson. We will consider how each work reflects its
particular historical/cultural moment as well as how it participates in
the American literary tradition. This course is offered in the fall
semester. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
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ENG 370 Studies in Special Topics: Medieval/Modern Literature
Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot, arguably the greatest Modernists
of twentieth century literature in English, drew deep inspiration from the
Middle Ages. C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams, a literary
group known as the Inklings, drew even more directly on the Middle Ages in
their rich fantasies. In this course, we'll read and study some medieval
texts—Beowulf, Chretien's romance, Yvain, some troubadour poetry—and
consider their refractions in one major twentieth-century text, Personae
(Pound), as well as in more popular works, such as Tolkien's The Hobbit
and John Gardner's Grendel. In the process, we will examine the
literary relations between the medieval world and modernism and the
diverse medieval worlds “invented” by several interesting
twentieth-century writers. (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
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ENG 388 Independent Study in Literature
Any student who has completed at least one literature course, is in good
standing academically, and is interested in pursuing a topic in English
not normally available through departmental course offerings, is
encouraged to apply to the department for permission to do independent
study in literature. Such study usually involves not more than one course
credit a semester, and entails a significant academic project submitted to
a department member for a letter grade. Students must receive written
approval of their project proposal from a department member before
registering for the course. One-half or one course credit each semester.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor and approval of the department
chair.
Credits: 1/2
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ENG 390 Studies in Special Topics: Language Studies
Credits: 0
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ENG 397 Studies in Critical Reading
This course introduces English majors and minors to a number of literary
genres, makes available to them systematic critical approaches, and gives
them practice in scholarly and critical disciplines. Frequent written
exercises. All members of the English Department will occasionally assist
in classroom work. This course is offered in the fall and spring semester.
Please note: in future years this course will only be offered in the
spring semester.
Credits: 1
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Advanced (Seminar) Courses
Two sections of English 497 are the two Advanced Courses offered every fall. These are seminars designed primarily for English majors (although occasionally English minors enroll in them). The topics vary depending upon the research and teaching interests of the faculty. They demand a high level of student involvement in research and discussion. Several short papers and a long critical essay are required. Please Note: the two seminars are only offered in the fall semester.
ENG 497 Seminar in English Literature: Ecocriticism and the Reading and Writing of News
The Greek philosopher Protagoras wrote, “Man is the measure of all things.” The past half century has brought that assumption into question. A whole body of literature and a science, ecology, have come into being, suggesting humans are not the measure, but that the earth is. In the past twenty years or so, a body of criticism has evolved to think about these earth-oriented texts as well as to ponder how our reading of literature and culture is, or should be, affected by our awareness of the fragility of earth's ecosystem's and the power of our technologies to subdue and destroy them. In this seminar, we will read widely in this criticism and consider how it illumines our interpretations of literary texts. Writing assignments will include several short essays and a final seminar paper. Our texts may be drawn from among the following: Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous, Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Robert Pogue Harrison's Forests, Linda Hogan's The Book of Medicines, Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac, Gary Snyder's Backcountry and The Practice of the Wild , Terry Tempest Williams's Red and Refuge and selections from Glotfelty's Ecocriticism Reader. This course is offered in the fall semester. Not offered 2005-2006.
Credits: 1
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Once upon a time, according to the historians of life-writing, only the
Great wrote autobiographies and memoirs: great kings and leaders, great
artists, great geniuses. But toward the end of the twentieth century, the
Freudian/Modernist inquiry into subjectivity, the Marxist valorization of
the common person's role in history, and poststructuralism's interest in
social location as a (or the) determinant of identity all conspired to lay
the groundwork for a burgeoning of the genre. At the turn of the
millennium, the field includes dozens of permutations, but, in this
seminar, we will concentrate on coming-of-age memoirs, using the insights
of narrative theory to explore the choices writers have made (of incident,
of persona, of chronological revelation, of tone). To understand first
hand the demands of such choices, students will compose and workshop a
ten-page work of life-writing in addition to completing a linked series of
short scholarly essays that will prepare them to write their final seminar
paper. Our texts may be drawn from among the following: Tobias Wolff's
This Boy's Life, Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a Face, Mary
Karr's The Liar's Club, Li Young Lee's The Winged Seed, Kim
Barnes's In the Wilderness, Peter Balakian's Black Dog of Fate
, Kathryn Harrison's The Kiss, Mark Doty's Firebird, Greg
Bottom's Angelhead, Antwone Fisher's Finding Fish, Marie
Arana's American Chica, Jimmy Santiago Baca's A Place to Stand
, Dave Eggers's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Linda
Hogan's The Woman Who Watches Over the World, and Nasdijj's The
Blood Runs Like A River Through My Dreams. This course is offered in
the fall semester. Not offered 2005-2006.
Credits: 1
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This seminar will focus on the kinds of comedy and satire that Shaw
developed (and sometimes created) over the 56 years of his career as a
playwright. It will also focus on the different but complementary ways
Shaw devised to reach his public: performance and publication. Seminar
members will research initial productions as well as revivals and how they
were received by the public; seminar members will also research the
reception of printed versions of plays with specially written prefaces.
(Shaw was the first dramatist to assume readers could understand his plays
as well or better than performance audiences.) Texts for the seminar will
include works like Arms and the Man, Man and Superman,
The Doctor's Dilemma, Heartbreak House, Back to Methuselah
, Saint Joan, and In King Charles' Golden Days. Looking back
over Shaw's career, his contemporary Thomas Mann affirmed: “Convinced that
the aesthetic element creative joy is the most effective instrument of
enlightened teaching, he tirelessly wielded the shining sword of his word
and wit against the most appalling power threatening the triumph of the
experiment stupidity.” (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
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The focus of this seminar will be Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The
first part of the course will be devoted to close reading and analysis of
many well- known tales, such as those by the Miller, the Reeve, the
Merchant, the Wife of Bath, the Friar, the Summoner, the Clerk, and the
Merchant. We will consider the effect of modern critical perspectives on
our readings: what can we learn from historical, psychological, gendered,
and structural approaches? In the second half of the course, each student
will select a particular Canterbury Tale which will become the subject of
a class presentation and a substantial critical essay. The best essays
will be nominated for competition at a national Medieval conference. Not
offered 2005-2006.
Prerequisite: English 497; previous experience with Chaucer's English
Credits: 1
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This senior-level seminar will begin with a scholarly study of Phillip K.
Dick, one of the most important American authors of science fiction. In
the second part of the course, each student will select a well-known
science fiction author as the subject of an intensive 15-20 page scholarly
essay. All students will be required to take responsibility for presenting
their work, both written and verbal, during each class period. There will
be frequent short writing assignments and oral reports in the early part
of the course and a series of drafts and presentations of the final essay,
during the second half. One highlight of the course will be a visit to the
offices of a major science fiction journal and a discussion with the
editors about current scholarship. Since the subject is futuristic,
students will be encouraged to draw upon digital technologies as a means
of presenting their research. Class open to junior and senior English
majors only. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1
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In what ways do conceptions of “masculinity” and “femininity” shape the
way we create and respond to texts? In this seminar, we will consider this
question, one that has been central to literary study for the past two
decades. We will also look at gender criticism in relation to other
critical currents like formalism, psychoanalysis, multiculturalism, new
historicism, gay studies, and cultural studies. During the first half of
the semester we will read and view a range of works to create a common
context for our discussions. (Writers and filmmakers might be chosen from
among Shakespeare, Austen, Melville, Dickinson, Cather, Hemingway, E.M.
Forster, John Ford, Richard Wright, Anne Sexton, Russell Banks, Jane
Campion, Toni Morrison). The second half of the semester will be devoted
to individual research projects shared with the class. This course is
offered in the spring semester (Not offered 2005-2006)
Credits: 1
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The following passage, appearing in The Country and the City by British cultural critic Raymond Williams, suggests the focus of this advanced seminar on place, space, and people in Victorian literature: “‘Country' and ‘city' are very powerful words, and this is not surprising when we remember how much they seem to stand for the experience of human communities. In English ‘country' is both a nation and a part of a ‘land'; the country can be the whole society or its rural area. In the long history of human settlements, this connection between the land from which directly or indirectly we all get our living and the achievements of human society has been deeply known. And one of these achievements has been the city: the capital, the large town, a distinctive form of civilization.”
Such a quote suggests some of the ways in which two particular places—the city and the country—influence different views of human connection, relationships with particular places and spaces, values, and ways of life. Places (buildings) and spaces...(landscapes and streetscapes) can create community as well as social division and individual isolation. They can evoke in literature images, associations, and interpretations of life that provide entry points in understanding social, political, cultural, and artistic concerns of a particular period. Two important spaces and their related buildings in Victorian England were the countryside and the large cities. The former was undergoing continued upheaval with changes in agricultural practices and the ongoing migration of people from the country to urban centers of commerce and industry. The latter—most notably London—was also undergoing upheaval as its spaces and places changed to accommodate the influx of people, continued growth as the commercial and mercantile center of the world, and emerging urban problems. Two Victorian authors are closely associated with these changing physical and social landscapes: Charles Dickens, whose life and writings were shaped by his London experiences, and Thomas Hardy, whose life and writings were shaped by his experiences of growing up and living in rural Dorset in southwest England. Each uses his relationships with space and place to establish settings and themes in his novels-especially an examination of the themes of community along with individual and class isolation. In this advanced seminar, we will examine through relevant novels, essays, art, architecture, historical documents, 19th-century periodicals, and literary/cultural criticism, the roles of rural and urban places and spaces in the novels of Charles Dickens (London in Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend) and Thomas Hardy (rural Wessex in Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd). Our critical angles of examining these texts will be cultural criticism and new historicism as we focus on major themes of community and isolation within Dickens's and Hardy's novels and within the nation's changing social, political, economic, religious, and intellectual milieus. Supplemental texts will include chapters from Raymond Williams's The Country and the City, Richard Altick's Victorian People and Ideas, Howard Newby's Country Life: A Social History of Rural England, and Peter Ackroyd's London: The Biography. Class activities will include discussion, student reports, extensive library research, short writing projects, and a major seminar paper. Also part of the class will be a seven-day Thanksgiving-Break trip to London and Dorset led by Professor Herzog and Joe Herzog, M.S. in architecture from Arizona State University. Thus, the following quote from William J. Palmer’s Dickens and New Historicism establishes a central metaphor for our class: “Part of the uneasiness Dickens felt was with the surface consensus of Victorian life, which one of Dicken’s strenuous night walks through the city--with all its poverty, crime, and confrontation--would immediately dispel. But the uneasiness that Dickens felt was also occasioned by a personal need to understand, from the bottom up, the truth of his times expressed in the voices of the streets.” As a class, we will be taking “strenuous” literal and figurative walks through the city and country. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1
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