Undergraduate Program
Courses
English
Search by Levels: 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000
0100 - Basic College Writing (3 credits)
This course studies the process of writing as well as sentence arrangements and punctuation patterns in Edited American English. Credits do not count towards graduation.
1000 - Writing Skills Workshop (1 credit)
An intensive study of the basic writing skills. This course cannot be taken simultaneously with Basic College Writing (ENGL 0100), Writing I or II (ENGL 1100, 1200). The class may be taken three times for one credit per semester.
1010 - Reading Improvement I (1 credit)
Individualized reading programs are tailored to meet the particular needs of each student. Students experiencing difficulty in understanding what they read engage in programs stressing comprehension skills. Students with good comprehension but with slow reading rates receive assistance in acquiring skills to at least double their speed. Additionally, all students are given instruction in reading at different rates for different purposes.
1030 - Reading Improvement II (1 credit)
This course is a continuation of Reading Improvement
1030 - Advanced Topics in Reading (1 credit)
A continuing third-semester reading enhancement course.
1100 - Writing I (3 credits)
This course explores writing as process and product. Practice, both oral and written, in expressing ideas with precision, clarity, and economy, the development of research skills and critical reading are emphasized.
1200 - Writing II (3 credits)
This course is a continuation of ENGL 1100 with an emphasis on writing as a thinking and learning process. Careful reading, critical and creative thinking, and writing, using analysis and synthesis, is promoted with the assignment of five writing projects on a range of subjects. A research essay is required. Course options incorporate various styles and formats related to different situations and audiences.
1300 - Dimensions of Literature (3 credits)
Students are introduced to the three principal literary genres: poetry, fiction, and drama. In this course, students will read a number of poems, plays, stories, and novels. These works will cover a broad historical range, and will include both Western and non-Western examples. The emphasis in this course will be the formal conventions of each genre. That is, we will not be concerned with any given period in literary history, but rather with the specific ways in which literary forms and technique create meaning.
PREREQUISITE FOR ALL ENGLISH ELECTIVES: ENGL 1100 Writing I and ENGL 1200 Writing II
2000 - American Literature I: Age of Exploration to the Civil War (3 credits)
This course surveys recurring themes and images in early American literature. From Columbian narratives to Civil War texts, we trace the development of new forms of fiction and poetry as well as experiments with traditional forms.
2100 - American Literature II: Civil War to the Present (3 credits)
This course surveys all genres of American writing from 1865 to the present, tracing the effects of social, economic, scientific and artistic turmoil on authors and their works. We explore the interconnections among succeeding eras of American literature: Realism, Modernism and Post-Modernism.
2200 - English Literature I: Beowulf to Milton (3 credits)
This course surveys English literature from the first extant manuscript materials through the early 17th century. We trace themes, images and literary forms that concerned British writers for half a millennium.
2210 - English Literature II: Pepys to Shelley (3 credits)
This course explores the changing faces of English literature during the most tumultuous period of English history, encompassing the Civil War and leading up to the Industrial Revolution. Selections may include Swift's satiric prose, Pope's caustic poetry, Gay's The Beggar's Opera, Behn's comedies, Equiano's narrative of escape from slavery, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the romantic poets including Byron, creator of the Byronic hero.
2220 - English Literature III: Brönte to Rushdie (3 credits)
This course surveys British writers from the Victorian era to the present, tracing their responses to the revolutionary changes in art, music, science and social and economic classes. Representative authors include Dickens, Eliot, Trollope, Barrett-Browning, Wilde, Shaw, Woolf, Joyce and Beckett, authors whose depiction of human nature challenged contemporary concepts of self and society.
2300 - Literature and Disability (3 credits)
This course examines individual, family and societal images of disability through autobiography, biography, fiction, poetry and children's literature. Students will explore themes around the disability experience using reflective writings, class discussions and activities.
2320 - Script Writing: Film (3 credits)
This basic course in script writing for film, television and multi-image productions includes information on the preparation of proposals, treatments, storyboards and scripts. Script formats include documentary, educational, corporate and dramatic film/video writing.
(Credit is not given for both ENGL 2320 and COMM 2320.)
2330 - Literature and Film (3 credits) (Attributes: L, IDIS)
This course involves the critical study of literature and film as means to convey narratives. The conventions of various literary genres and types of films will be considered. Special attention is paid to the adaptation of novels and stories for the screen. Students study a dozen or more motion pictures in depth and compose six to eight critical essays.
2400 - World Literature I
This course examines masterpieces from the ancient world through the middle of the 17th century.
2500 - World Literature II (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
This course examines masterpieces from the mid-17th century to the present.
2600 - The Bible as Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
The course examines the style, narrative techniques, symbols and historical setting of the Old Testament and New Testament writers.
2620 - Classical Mythology (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
This course examines pre-Homeric stirrings of symbol and story, then moves on to study Virgil and Ovid and Roman traditions.
2650 - Ethnic American Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
This course presents works by significant ethnic writers, such as James Baldwin, Maxine Hong Kingston, Zora Neale Hurston, M. Scott Momoday, Toni Morrison and Leslie Marmon Silko
2660 - 19th Century African American Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
This course is an introduction to the literature, thought and literary practice of African-American writers throughout the 19th century. Close reading and analysis of such representative authors as Frederick Douglass, Frances E.W. Harper, Harriet Jacobs and Sojourner Truth are part of the class.
2670 - 20th Century African American Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
This course is an introduction to the literature, thought and literary practice of African-American writers from the turn of the century to the present.
2700 - The Short Story (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
Significant stories by some of the world's great writers are read and analyzed to show the evolution of the short story form.
2720 - Reading Poetry (3 credits) (Attributes: None)
In this course, we will develop techniques to read, understand, perform and appreciate poetry. Through exposure to a wide variety of poetry, we will examine the mechanics of poetic form and also consider the function of poetry in the world, its future and the formation of personal identities through language.
2730 - History of the Theater I (3 credits)
See THEA 2730
2740 - History of the Theater II (3 credits)
See THEA 2740
2750 - Detective Fiction (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
The mystery novel/crime story genre is explored through a range of authors and time periods, including stories from Poe to Conan Doyle, classic British fiction, and its distinctively American counterparts, and significant contemporary works.
2800 - Journalism (3 credits)
This course studies the press through individualized writing assignments. Emphasis is placed on ethics in news, treatment of contemporary issues and structuring the news story.
Credit is not given for both ENGL 2800 and COMM 2800)
2810 Editing and Publishing (3 credits)
This class explores the mechanics of editing, issues of attribution, use of sources, balanced coverage and libel laws. In addition, the relationship between editor and writer with reference to agents, the submission and selection process and collaborating are explored. Students also gain an understanding of writing for special markets, such as education or medicine and getting a track record.
2860 - Introduction to Secondary School Teaching (3 credits)
This course is required of all students preparing for the initial license at the secondary level. A sophomore level course for full-time undergraduates and a first course for transfer students, it is taught at the local high school and is a clinical laboratory experience. The course includes a 25 hour prepracticum requirement and is a prerequisite for other certification courses. Students become familiar with the complexities of secondary school teaching and its demands. The course gives faculty the opportunity to screen students and gives students the opportunity to test their commitment to teaching.
2870 - The Structure and Nature of Language (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This course studies language systems and grammatical theories, including the history of the English language, theories of language acquisition and psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic topics.
2890 - Storytelling and the Oral Tradition (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
The course studies the oral tradition in European and non-Western contexts. Students examine the oral tradition in classic works as well as its continuance in fairy tales, popular music, story theater and performance art. Students will consider the structure and presentation of traditional, individually composed and family narratives. Each student will give at least two oral presentations before an audience.
2900 - Children's Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
The course serves as an introductory survey of both classic and contemporary children's literature. Texts are studied from a variety of perspectives in the contexts of both childhood and society.
2910 - Literature for Young Adults (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
The course is a survey of current books written for readers ages 12 to 18. The emphasis is on the best new books available in paperback. Students develop skill in evaluating young adult books in terms of literary quality, reader interest and social or political perspective. Realistic fiction, young adult classics, historical novels, science fiction, and poetry are some types of books examined.
2950 - Survey of English Grammar (1 credit)
The course studies traditional and transformational systems of English grammar as a basis for understanding conventions of English usage.
2990 - The Grammar Dilemma: Grammar Instruction in the Middle and Secondary School (3 credits)
Designed for prospective English teachers, students will develop a comprehensive knowledge of English grammar and the pedagogical strategies for helping secondary students develop necessary proficiency in English grammar.
2999 - Approaches to English Studies (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
An introduction to the academic study of English and the different ways readers can connect to, think about and experience literature. The course provides an overview of the discipline's issues and theories and gives students experience in writing practical criticism and using research tools and methods.
3000 - World Drama (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
The course examines significant and representative plays from the beginning to the modern period.
3010 - American Drama (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This is a survey of American Dramatic Literature from its beginnings in the prerevolutionary British Colonies to the present. The course involves critical reading of dramatic texts. Students will attend productions of plays on and off campus studied in the class. Students will engage in active discussion and analysis of these plays and will be required to write papers on particular authors.
3020 - Modern Drama (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
The course examines the works of such playwrights as Ibsen, Chekhov, Sartre, Brecht, Ionesco, Beckett and Pinter.
3030 - The Middle Ages (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
The course examines literature of the British Isles and Europe to the year 1500.
3040 British Literature Since World War II (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This course examines fiction, drama and poetry written in Britain and its former Commonwealth since World War II. Special emphasis is placed on the role imperialism and decolonization has had in literature. Authors examined include A.S. Byatt, Derek Walcott, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie and Michael Ondaatje.
3050 - 20th-Century Irish Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
Students will study Irish fiction from James Joyce through Brian Moore, including O'Faolain, O'Connor, O'Brien, O'Flaherty and McGahem
3060 - Modern Poetry (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
Chief modern poets of America and England are introduced and close reading is encouraged in the lyric form of writers such as Eliot through Lowell, Plath and other end-of-century writers. Emphasis is on these creators as precursors in a tradition.
3100 The World Novel to 1914 (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
The course investigates significant novels such as Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina representing various countries and periods, as well as stages in the development of this literary form.
3110 - The World Novel Since 1914 (3 credits) (Attributes: L, C)
Students read and discuss modern novels both as aesthetic artifacts and as human documents. Representative authors include Kafka, Kundera, Naipaul and Marque
3120 - Golden Age of English Renaissance Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This course focuses on the poetry, prose and drama of the English Renaissance's Golden Age, roughly 1530-1625, beginning with poetry of the Tudor period and ending with drama from the reign of the Stuarts. This period encompasses the work of some of the greatest and best-known English authors, lays the foundation for many genres of literature, and encompasses many political reigns and social and cultural developments. The course will examine major literary forms and genres and topical/thematic concerns of writers, linking these to key social, political, and historical developments.
3210 - Major American Writers of the 20th Century
(3 credits) (Attributes: L)
The varied creativity of American writers in this century is explored through the study of fiction, drama, poetry, criticism and the essay.
3220 - American Novel to 1950 (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This course provides a close examination of several representative works by major American novelists between 1800 and 1950.
3300 - Women and Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
Literature by and about women is examined in light of their roles in society, at work and in relationships.
3400 - From Fact to Fiction (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This class explores the stylistic and professional development of distinguished American writers who began their careers as reporters.
3470 - Technical Documentation (3 credits)
This course gives students the opportunity to study and write the basic forms of technical documentation found in business and industry, including end-user manuals and training guides. Examination of graphics, typography and desktop publishing is considered as they apply to hardcopy production.
(Credit is not given for both ENGL 3470 and COMM 3470.)
3480 - Writing for the Web (3 credits)
This course combines theory and practice as it outlines the challenges inherent in writing for the World Wide Web, and examines the practical solutions that are evolving to meet those challenges. Students learn the conventions and ethics of Internet writing, apply these to critiques of Web pages, and create original content for the Web.
3500 - Creative Writing (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
Students write and edit fiction and poetry in a workshop setting. Junior standing or approval of the instructor is required to enroll in this class.
3510 - Fiction Writing (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This course teaches the basics of fiction writing, encouraging students to explore the writing processes in a supportive workshop. Students will draft, revise, and complete two short fictional pieces, either short stories or segments of longer works. Course work is designed to encourage and assist writers to refine their use of various fictional techniques and to explore a range of voice and theme to create effective short stories and novels. Students work with writing partners and peer editing groups to improve their abilities to give and receive useful and compassionate editorial feedback.
3520 - Writing Poetry (3 credits)
In this workshop-driven creative writing course, students grapple seriously with poetic technique and, in the process, discover their own voices as poets. Students will immerse themselves in the traditions of formal verse in English and write their own poems in a variety of closed and open forms. Students will revise and assemble a selection of their best work for a final portfolio, and will be encouraged to submit revised work for publication.
3530 Fiction Writing II: Time, tone and Technique (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
In this continuation of Fiction Writing (ENGL 3510), students will further develop their skills as creative writers by exploring techniques for writing short stories and novellas. Technical knowledge of the basics of fiction writing will be expanded. More advanced techniques studied in this class include image patterning, compaction, splicing of narrative modes and various concepts of character, control of narrative pacing, increased control of voice and narrative distance, a sophisticated understanding of time manipulation and creating a credible narrative consciousness within a work.
3620 - The Classical Tradition in Western Literature (3 credits) (Attributes: L)
This course is an examination of some of the most influential texts of classical antiquity and the subsequent literary traditionthat arose in the West as a result of those texts. Students will read examples of ancient and modern epic in the first portion of the course, ancient and modern lyric poetry in the middle weeks of the semester, and ancient and modern drama in the final third of the course.
3810 - Journalism Practicum: I and II (3 credits)
These practica are open to members of The Point and other students interested in obtaining hands-on training in journalism with the goal of having works published in student and community newspapers. (P1 and P2 may be taken separately for a total of six credits).
3840 - The American Magazine (3 credits)
This course provides a close study of major American online magazine, including editorial policies, submissions, layouts and publication on the Internet.
3860 - Writing for Business and Technology (3 credits)
The course is for students interested in writing in the business, industry and management context. Topics covered include business correspondence, description of process and mechanisms, sets of instructions, proposals, abstracts and reports.
(Credit is not given for both ENGL 3860 and COMM 3860.)
3870 - Feature and Magazine Writing (3 credits)
This course explores writing feature articles for newspapers, magazines and trade journals.
(Credit is not given for both ENGL 3870 and COMM 3870.)
Prerequisite: ENGL or COMM 2800.
3880 - Folklore in America and the Cultures of Everyday Life (3 credits) (Atributes: L, C, IDIS)
Students will be introduced to the academic discipline of folklore - its principle organizing methods and theories. Folklore includes traditions that are informally propagated, adaptable to individual innovations and common to cultures around the world. It emerges from occupational, regional, and ethnic contexts and it's ours. Emphasis will be on verbal forms and oral traditions studied through textual analysis as a form of literature.
Prerequisite: COMM 2800.
3890 - Creative Nonfiction Writing (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course is an upper-level writing workshop that investigates the linguistic, social, persuasive and literary dimensions of creative nonfiction. Students read and gain experience writing its various sub-genres, which may include memoir, cultural criticism and literary analysis.
Prerequisite for all 4000-level literature courses is satisfactory completion of one 3-credit literature course at the 2000-or 3000-level, or permission of instructor.
4010 - Chaucer and His World (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course emphasizes the Canterbury Tales in its medieval context.
4020 - Shakespeare's Drama: Text and Performance (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course studies several of Shakespeare's dramas with a focus on the thematic issues raised by the plays in the texts and in performance. Examination involves not only reading and critical interpretation, but also attention to performance traditions and recent interpretations/adaptation of these works on stage and screen.
4030 - Interpreting Shakespeare's Work (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course will study selected poems and plays from Shakespeare's canon, examining particularly his treatment of power, love, gender, and the other. We will consider: Who and what is Shakespeare? Why is Shakespeare considered the world's greatest author? To what purposes have Shakespeare and Shakespeare's texts been put in literary, historical, ideological, education and cultural terms? How do contemporary readings, films, and production of Shakespeare (re)present Shakespeare?
4040 - Major English Writers of the 17th Century (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course will survey one or more genres, for example, the dramas of Jonson, Webster, Behn and Congreve; the poetry of Milton, Donne, Herbert, Herrick, Marvell, Dryden, Wroth and Phillips; and prose work by Browne, Fell, Astell and Pepys.
4050 - The Novel in the 18th Century (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course studies the origins of the novel in England as it reflects the tastes of a rising middle class. Readings include Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Burney, Johnson, Austen, Edgeworth, Heywood and others.
4070 - From Classic to Romantic: 1750-1800 (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course explores the revolution in manners, philosophy, science and gender as reflected in literature, art and music from the late 18th century. Major genres include drama, poetry, fiction, prose, paintings and engravings
4080 - Romanticism (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
The poetry, prose, and art representative of the political, social and artistic upheaval called Romanticism is considered. Readings include Romanticism's outcasts, alternative voices and anti-Romantic writers
4090 - The 19th-Century English Novel (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
Significant novels demonstrating the changing cultural milieu and varying approaches of the genre during this period are examined and discussed.
4095 - The Age of Dickens (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
Students read and study the works of Dickens - the literary craftsman, the reporter of his age, the social reformer - as a foundation for examining the 19th century in prose, poetry, and/or drama.
4100 - Victorian Literature (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
The individual's relationship to a changing society in the face of 19th-century industrialization and scientific progress is studied through the major writers of the period.
4115 - British Modernism (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course examines the major texts and trends of what is now called High Modernism. Authors studied include Ford Madox Ford, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot.
4150 - Mark Twain and American Humor (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course explores the writings and career of Mark Twain, and humorists who share the Twain legacy, including American film comedy and stand-up comics.
4200 - The Romantic Movement in U.S. Literature 1810 - 1860 (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
This course explores concepts of nature, idealism, and community in the works of Hawthorne, Poe and others.
4230 - American Novel Since World War II (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
The class provides a close analysis of seven or eight major novels.
4400 - Seminar (3 credits) (Atributes: L)
The seminar examines topics for literary analysis and research as selected by the instructor. The seminar is required for English majors taking the literature track. Others are admitted by permission of the instructor.
4500 - Literary Criticism (3 credits)
Theories about literature are examined, and their practical application in the classroom and in one's own reading is discussed. Approaches to different forms of literature as well as a survey of changing historical perspectives are also explored.
4700 (EDUC 4700) Teaching Reading and Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools (3 credits)
This course provides practice and research in alternatives for teaching writing in secondary schools. Different approaches are explored through experiments for the teacher and opportunities to test these approaches are available in prepracticum experiences. A prepracticum is required.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2860, or HIST 2860, or MATH 2860, or SCED 2860 or SEED.
4850 - Special Methods in English (3 credits)
The approach in this course for the Initial Licensure Track provides a holistic framework for teaching secondary English emphasizing the interrelatedness of all language abilities: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We experiment with and evaluate a variety of teaching strategies for creating responsive, reflective, and responsible readers, writers, and speakers as well as methods for the assessment of student performance. A prepracticum is required.
Prerequisite: ENGL 2860 and ENGL 4700 or equivalent.
4860 - English Practicum in a Secondary School I and II (6 credits)
Students are assigned to cooperating schools for a half-semester of student teaching in the student teaching practicum.
4865 - Practicum Seminar in Secondary English (3 credits)
The historical perspectives and philosophical orientations in the field of English secondary education are examined. Specific attention is given to analysis of current issues and programs. This course is reserved for senior practicum students only.
4903 - Independent Study
The Independent Study is for English majors excelling in scholarship and can be taken upon approval of both department chair and advising instructor. Course of study, meetings, and credit are arranged with advisor.
4940 - Internships (3 credits)
4950 - Internships (6 credits)
4960 - Internship (9 credits)
4970 - Internship (12 credits)
The Internship provides an opportunity to gain valuable on-the-job experience for college credit by spending one semester (full-time) in business or industry. Students select field placement where they can use their abilities as communicators, learn new skills, and sample a potential job market. The Internship is a recommended component of the English Department Writing Track. Department approval and junior/senior standing required.
4975 - Directed Study (1-6 credits)
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