English Course Descriptions
Fall 2008
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English 2003 Section 001 CRN 90653
Abella
Creative Writing: Poetry 1200-1250 MWFTo write well, you must read well, pay close attention to what affects you as you make meaning of words and pauses, to how writers shape thoughts and feelings into pictures that stir your imagination. And to write poetry well you must also be committed to the idea of working and reworking your thoughts, ideas and emotions into images that others can perceive and shape into their own understanding. In this class you will read poems by modern and contemporary writers and discuss and examine how their voices reach you. You will need to keep a journal in response to the poems you read and to some assignments I will give you. The main part of this class will be the poems you create. Some will be responses to exercises I will assign, but the majority will be from your own inspiration. You will share these poems in a workshop format with the class to receive feedback that will help you establish a greater sense of voice, audience, imagery, and form. At the end you will be graded on a portfolio of your poems, your journals, and a paper in which you examine the poetry of a writer of your choice. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 2003 Section 002 CRN 90654
Nonaka
Creative Writing: Poetry 1400-1450 MWFThe goal of this workshop is to become a more conscious reader and writer of poetry. We will begin by reading the works of established poets and investigating their methods and motivations from the practitioner’s point of view. We will then move onto discussing the poems by class members. Requirements include weekly writing assignments, individual conference, a mid-term, active class participation and a final portfolio. Since this is a workshop, attendance is extremely important. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 2007 Section 001 CRN 90655
Moffitt
Creative Writing: Fiction 1100-1150 MWFThis course will explore the possibilities of the written world through short stories, with a focus on aspects of craft including character, plot, narration, language, and voice. Class time will be devoted to writing exercises and workshop discussion, as well as an examination of various contemporary short works of fiction. Requirements include three stories, a revision, a portfolio, and active participation. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 2007 Section 002 CRN 90656
Carpenter
Creative Writing: Fiction 1100-1215 TRAn introduction to the reading and writing of fiction with class time devoted to various principles of the genre through writing exercises and workshop discussion. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 2009G Section 001 CRN 90657
Sylvia
Literature and Human Values: Labor, Class, Power 0800-0915 TRMany important – and entertaining – 19th and 20th century storytellers – both British and American – chronicle problems related to labor, class and power. Readings in this course will be from Dickens, Hardy, Fitzgerald, Yezierska, Hurston, and others. Requirements: frequent in-class writing; two brief papers; two exams. (General Education)
English 2009G Section 002 CRN 90658
Suksang
Literature and Human Values: Faith, Survival, Progress 1100-1150 MWFIn this class we will examine human experiences by addressing the issues of faith, survival and progress as represented in a variety of literary texts. We will read, discuss and write about fiction and nonfictional prose. Course requirements include reading responses, two formal papers, quizzes, a midterm exam and a final exam. Each student will lead class discussion, and there will also be group presentations. (General Education)
English 2009G Section 003 CRN 90659
Bredesen
Literature and Human Values: Love, Hate, Obsession 1500-1615 MWThis class entails the study of some of the universal, recurring issues facing the individual, as they are dealt with in a selection of literary texts from diverse cultures and times. This section deals with the issues of "Love, Hate, Obsession" in a number of different genres: poetry, drama, short stories and novels. Texts will include Othello by William Shakespeare, Julius Winsome by Gerard Donovan, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and others. Assignments include: two papers, a mid-term and a final exam. Please be prepared to read, think, write and discuss. (General Education)
English 2009G Section 004 CRN 90660
Staff
Literature and Human Values: Race, Age, Gender 1400-1450 MWFA study of some of the universal, recurring issues facing the individual, as they are dealt with in a selection of literary texts from diverse cultures. (General Education)
English 2011G Section 001 CRN 90662
Kory
Literature, the Self and the World: Fiction 1000-1050 MWFThis semester we will read and discuss a wide variety of modern and contemporary short stories and novels. We will use these fictions and our discussions of them as a basis for talking about—and writing about—reading and fiction. Some books will be assigned and we will read and talk about them as a class. But some of your reading will be self-selected and you will discuss these works (at least at first) in smaller groups, sometimes presenting the results of your collaboration in an oral presentation. Writing assignments will include short analytic responses (posted on WebCT) and more fully developed works in which, for example, you explore the role of reading in your life or evaluate a particular book in the form of a book review. (General Education)
English 2011G Section 002 CRN 90663
Wixson
Literature, the Self and the World: Drama 1100-1215 TRThis course surveys dramatic literature with the aims of sharpening appreciation for the art form and using great plays as an opportunity to engage cultural, existential, and personal issues. The selection of primary texts will be wide-ranging to represent a number of different dramatic forms and perspectives, from the "greats" of earlier periods (Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, and Tennessee Williams) to contemporary writers like Edward Albee, August Wilson, and Patrick Marber. The course approaches these plays as both literary *and* theatrical texts, discussing not only their political, historical, and aesthetic implications but also their potential for acting, directorial, and technical choices. Toward that end, we will also be analyzing videotaped productions as well as live performances where possible. Enrollment in the course necessitates a commitment to class discussion (beyond merely showing up) and courageous consideration of ideas about art, interpretation, culture, existence, and desire. Other requirements include short response papers, a critical paper, a midterm, and a final exam. (General Education)
English 2011G Section 003 CRN 90664
McGregor
Literature, the Self and the World: Fiction 1200-1250 MWFStudy of significant works of literature from diverse cultures and of the ways in which they depict meaning, identity, and action in the world. (General Education)
English 2011G Section 004 CRN 90665
Leddy
Literature, the Self and the World: Poetry 1200-1250 MWF“Poetry is life to me,” wrote the poet Frank O’Hara. But for many students, poetry has been reduced to themes and symbols that are seldom true to the real challenges and pleasures that poetry (and life) can offer. This course is an introduction to those real challenges and pleasures. We’ll start with two assumptions: (1) that poets arrange words for the same reasons that painters arrange colors and composers arrange notes—to make works of art that are intellectually, aesthetically, and emotionally compelling and (2) that readers need time to begin to understand a poem. We’ll read “pomes all sizes” (as Jack Kerouac said and spelled it). In our culture of “continuous partial attention,” as it’s been called, we’ll give continuous full attention to what we’re reading, one or two poems per class.
Requirements: Some short pieces of writing, dedicated participation in the work of the class (reading and talking), midterm and final examinations. (General Education)
English 2099G Section 099 CRN 90667
Buck
Literature & Human Values: Love, Hate, Obsession (Honors) 1100-1150-MWFLove, Hate, Obsession – fuzzy abstract concepts, difficult to define, yet some of the most powerful human experiences we can have. In this course, we will examine boundaries (i.e., when does a passion turn into an obsession?), relations (i.e., what do desire, control, and power have to do with love?), categories (how is love of one’s friends different from other types of love including love of oneself, one’s body, one’s work, one’s possessions, one’s art, one’s religion), and consequences (when do loving emotions turn into hatred, adulterous acts, jealousy, divorce, fanaticism).
We will read, discuss, and write about short stories, essays, poems, and a few novels. Our focus will be on language (how we talk about these experiences) and on gender differences (how men and women talk about these experiences in different ways).
Requirements will include reading responses, a few papers, and a final exam. (General Education)
English 2205 Section 001 CRN 90732
Raybin
Introduction to Literary Studies 0800-0915 TRWe read for the sheer pleasure of it. One studies literature for a variety of reasons: to read more skillfully; to learn how writers work and books are created; to sharpen one’s intellect; to make better sense of the factors underlying one’s response to a text; to situate a text in its place and time; to understand how a fictional creation can move one’s mind and heart. This course will introduce the questions trained readers ask of books and the kinds of answers that have been offered through the years. My goal is that students leave the course prepared to approach their future literary study with increased critical acumen, greater cultural sophistication, enhanced skill in communicating their understanding, and a heightened appreciation of particular works in poetry, drama, and prose fiction.
Requirements: several short writing assignments, an exam, a final, and thoughtful reading. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2205 Section 002 CRN 90734
McGregor
Introduction to Literary Studies 0900-0950 MWFIn this course we'll consider some of the questions most fundamental to studying literature: What is literature, and why do we consider it worth reading? What questions do we ask as we read, and in what ways do those questions effect how we read? What, in short, is literary criticism, and where does our practice of it place us in relation to the texts we study? As we pursue these questions, we'll also be compiling a working vocabulary with which to discuss literature and exploring several of the most influential theoretical approaches informing contemporary literary criticism. The goals of the course are to introduce you to some of the practices fundamental to literary study while providing a forum in which you can experiment with, reflect on, and further develop your own critical perspectives. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2205 Section 003 CRN 90736
Worthington
Introduction to Literary Studies 1530-1645 TRWe often say that different texts can mean different things to different people. Part of being an English major involves examining HOW and WHY texts mean these different things by studying literature through a variety of lenses, hoping to gain a deeper and more complete understanding. In this course, we will explore different avenues of literary analysis in order to discuss the ways they can illuminate the study of various texts. We will look at works in terms of their structural, historical, political and theoretical contexts. It is my hope students will leave the course with a sense that there are inexhaustible possibilities for literary interpretation. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2601 Section 001 CRN 90750
Hoberman
Backgrounds of Western Literature 0800-0850 MWFThe course covers European literature from Homer to Don Quixote and includes the works of Sappho, Sophocles, Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch, among others. These are among the greatest writers ever, so the first priority will be to enjoy them for their own sakes. But we'll also talk about them in context: as glimpses into past epochs and as contemporary forces that still have the power to stimulate controversy and shape our values. Recurring themes include heroism, love, suffering, and death--issues you can sink your teeth into. Requirements include weekly responses, 2-3 short papers, and 2 exams. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2601 Section 002 CRN 90751
Searle
Backgrounds of Western Literature 1200-1250 MWFEnglish 2601 will survey the thoughts and ideals illustrated in Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance literature. The names of the authors we will examine read like a list of Who's Who in western European literature before 1650: Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Virgil, Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Erasmus, Castiglione, Machiavelli, Rabelais, Montaigne, and Cervantes. The explicit and implicit concerns of these writers--heroism, sacrifice, kingship, gender, religion, courtliness, humanism, skepticism, love, etc.--reveal our cultural legacy and influence English and American literature. What they have written has endured. We will see why.
Basic class procedure will be informal lecture (to establish context) and discussion (to explore the content of the selections). The final grade will be based on quizzes, two one-hour exams, a final, and a 6 to 8 page typewritten paper due during the last week of class. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2601 Section 003 CRN 90754
Campbell
Backgrounds of Western Literature 1230-1345 TRThis course is designed to provide an introduction to literary works considered central to the development of western literature. Writers throughout the centuries have responded to and incorporated aspects of works by their predecessors and their contemporaries into their own “new” creations. In this course we will especially explore various lines of artistic and topical influence that stretch from classical origins through literary works of the Renaissance. We will observe how ideas are adopted and adapted to suit the cultural and political times of the writers. Furthermore, we will discuss our own early twenty-first-century impressions of these works, addressing such questions as the following: What seems familiar or contemporary to us about these writers regarding their social milieux, their historical moments, and their texts? Why have these texts been so influential for so long? Why do they still fascinate? How should we, reading several of these texts in translation, think about the transitions they have gone through regarding the practices of translating and editing? Above all, by the end of the course you should have a greater understanding of the literary periods and genres of the western literary canon, as well as a sense of the historical shaping of some of your own ideas and values. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2705 Section 001 CRN 90756
Loudon
African-American Literature 0930-1045 TRThis course provides an overview of African-American literature, using selected representative works of fiction, poetry and drama. We shall begin with a brief consideration of the oral tradition and slave narratives, then we shall move rapidly to the reading of several modern and contemporary authors. While I shall introduce primary literary concerns and suggest issues of thematic consequences, class discussions will determine the direction of our analytical focus from text to text. Finally, one central course objective will be to discover and to define the patterns which constitute the development of a cohesive literary tradition that is rich in cultural heritage and diverse in literary innovation. The course format will be lecture and discussion.
Requirements: two 6-8 page critical essays (40%), midterm essay examination (15%), final essay examination (25%) and participation (20%). (old curriculum Group 2; new curriculum Group 2)
English 2760 Section 001 CRN 90757
Fredrick
Introduction to Professional Writing 0800-0850 MWFThis course introduces concepts and practices of communication (written, oral, and visual) and communicators in professional settings. As part of the class, you will complete two types of projects: those that require you to research common communication issues in a field of your interest and those that require you to practice common professional communication skills. Other topics for the course include an introduction to editing, collaboration, and document design. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2760 Section 002 CRN 93840
Taylor
Introduction to Professional Writing 1000-1050 MWFThis course introduces concepts and practices of communication (written, oral, and visual) and communicators in professional settings. As part of the class, you will complete two types of projects: those that require you to research common communication issues in a field of your interest and those that require you to practice common professional communication skills. Other topics for the course include an introduction to editing, collaboration, and document design. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2901 Sections 001 & 003 CRN 93600 & 90761
Suksang
Structure of English 0800-0850 MWF & 1000-1050 MWFThis section of 2901 is designed to help students learn to analyze the basic components of the English language (i.e., words, phrases and sentences) and to understand the rules that govern their internal structure. We will also discuss the issue of language variation and learn to diagram phrases and sentences. Students are expected to participate in class discussion and take several tests. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2901 Section 002 CRN 90760
Buck
Structure of English 1300-1350 MWFThis course offers a description and analysis of the Standard American English grammatical system. We will describe the difference between the grammar of speech and the grammar of writing from a cognitive perspective, so the class will focus on how the study of grammar reveals much about the workings of the human mind. In our discussion, we will integrate the effect of language attitudes on our understanding of grammatical systems. The main purpose of the course is to provide you with analytical tools that will allow you to think critically and independently about language and linguistic structures, and to help dispel myths about language and the study of grammar.
Course format will be informal lecture and discussion. The final grade for the course will be based on in-class exams (around 5). Daily homework assignments will be required. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 2901 Section 004 CRN 90762
Shonk
Structure of English 1500-1615 MWThis course is a study of grammar quite different from what most students undertook in high school. Rather than merely memorizing some rules and circling the correct words on exams, students will be required to understand the system behind our grammar, the forms and patterns of our language. Students will not stop at merely identifying the appropriate forms on exams. Rather, they will explain the choices in rather exact and concrete language, define the key aspects of the forms in question, and apply the principles at hand in their own writing. This course is a rigorous and demanding study of grammar, but it is one that future teachers, writers, and editors will find invaluable. By the end of the semester, students will become quite familiar with those terms they have often heard but little understood, such as dangling participles, subjective mood, elliptical constructions, direct objects, and so on. And they will be able to employ appropriate forms and avoid the inappropriate in their own writing while being able to explain those forms to others. In short, students will come to understand English grammar. For the course grade, students will complete a number of brief quizzes (some in-class, some take-home) and take five exams. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3001 Section 001 CRN 90764
Moore
Advanced Composition 0800-0915 TRThis course aims to build on and refine existing writing skills. Students will pursue a number of sequenced writing projects and exercises (project proposals, peer reviews, literature review, planning notes, etc.). The semester's work will culminate in a research assignment in each student's major area. The course design assumes students will be self motivated, and work independently as well as with others by assisting classmates in their work and accepting their commentary in the process of prewriting, writing and revision. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3001 Section 002 CRN 90765
Kory
Advanced Composition 0900-0950 MWFWe will be doing some reading, lots of writing, and a lot of talking about what “good writing” looks like and how successful writers go about producing it. Writing assignments will designate a purpose for writing (exploration of an idea vs. presentation of information, for example) and a type of audience (personal, public, academic, professional). You will decide the focus or topic of each piece of writing and designate a more specific audience. Assessment will focus on the appropriateness of the strategies you use to reach that audience, the quality of the information you present to them, clarity and logical development of ideas, effectiveness of sentence-level stylistic choices and attention to details of presentation. Class grades will reflect scores for participation (attendance plus contributions to peer groups and discussion), WebCT posts, and formal papers plus any pre-writing associated with them. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3001 Sections 003 & 007 CRN 90766 & CRN 90770
Coleman
Advanced Composition 0900-0950 MWF & 1300-1350 MWFThis course will focus on academic and professional writing and is intended to refine and extend existing writing skills and interests. The semester’s work will consist of a sequence of several writing projects, culminating in a research assignment in each student’s major area. In addition to readings and class discussions, students will take part in peer editing groups, where extensive support and criticism should help writers in their prewriting, drafting and revision activities. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3001 Section 004 CRN 90767
Worthington
Advanced Composition 0930-1045 TRThis course will examine different forms of writing for and about work. We will focus on employment history, do research about current states of professional opportunity and on the kinds of writing that would be expected in many workplaces. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3001 Section 005 CRN 93601
Park
Advanced Composition 1100-1215 TRThis course emphasizes practice in two things: the clear exposition of ideas and the grammatical and stylistic command of writing. You will exercise your skills in effectively communicating through writing. You will apply problem-solving skills, provide peer-review criticism, and determine the division of labor within groups to construct projects related to your academic and professional interests.
As in all writing classes, the written word rules here. We will examine how good writing looks (grammar), how it sounds (style), and where it goes (audience-oriented rhetoric). Over the course of the semester, you will produce essays through stages of brainstorming, drafting, and fleshing out theses. You will not do this alone, of course. This is a workshop course, which means that, much as in the world outside the university, you will be writing for an audience larger than your professor. You will receive and offer feedback on fellow students’ work. In these feedback loops, you will be encouraged to keep an eye on your own growth as a writer of clear, effective, persuasive, and citation-savvy arguments.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a writing-centered, writing-intensive course. You will do a lot of writing and responding. If you foresee difficulty in attending class or meeting within groups regularly this semester, you should reconsider taking this course. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3001 Section 006 CRN 90769
J. Smith
Advanced Composition 1230-1345 TRThis advanced course covers a range of academic and professional writing, and requires the development of skills in the following areas: analysis and critical thinking; review of scholarly literature in a discipline; collaboration and peer review; oral and visual communication; résumé and letter writing; and portfolio construction. Students will be expected to complete a variety of writing tasks; to give oral presentations; to read and discuss challenging academic texts, as well as take mid-term and final exams. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3001 Section 008 CRN 93602
Swords
Advanced Composition 1530-1645 TR"You write the best you can, and you take your chances," Raymond Carver has written. This class will explore the truth and challenge of that statement, with an emphasis on developing voice, thematic and rhetorical focus, and a sense of audience in your writing. The work will involve a series of short papers, and the class will run as a workshop. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3002 Section 001 CRN 92833
Hanlon
Writing About Literature 0930-1045 TRENG 3002 is a course that develops skills related, in Harold Bloom’s phrase, to why we read and how. For all kinds of reasons, English majors are better equipped than others to read texts closely, against the grain, with a sense of historical knowingness. Students in this course will spend a significant amount of time working on skills related to the examination of form, to cultivating a healthy skepticism about the perspectives texts and their authors elaborate, to reading outside the historical vacuum enclosing so much of our intellectual culture. Students will also learn why the point of literary criticism is not to make texts easier but precisely to make them harder, and they will also learn to spearhead research projects and write more lucid, smarter texts about the texts they read. Three major papers, presentations, shorter writing and research assignments throughout the semester. (new curriculum Group 1)
English 3005 Section 001 CRN 90774
Vietto
Technical Communication 0800-0850 MWFPractice and instruction in technical writing and creating documents used in professional settings. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3005 Section 002 CRN 90775
Beebe
Technical Communication 0800-0915 TRPractice and instruction in technical writing and creating documents used in professional settings. Focus on increasing proficiency in effective writing and developing strategies for document design, accommodating specialized and non-specialized audiences, visual rhetoric, and web publishing. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3009G Sections 001 & 003 CRN 93603 & 90778
Searle
Myth and Culture 0900-0950 MWF & 1400-1450 MWF"Myth is a past with a future, exercising itself in the present," writes contemporary Mexican author Carlos Fuentes. A constant among all peoples, a shared legacy of ancestral memories, perhaps a part of our very fiber, myth is, in part, the thread that binds a society (and societies) together, that which informs national identities and codes of moral conduct. So crucial are they, in fact, that people, even today, are willing to die for their myths.
Of course, we won't go to that extent in our class. Our focus will be on the intersection between myth and culture as it is illustrated in some darn good reads. Anthropologists, psychologists, theologians, philosophers, literary theorists, etc. have all grappled with the term myth. So expect some treatment of theory and where appropriate (and accessible) application to Eastern, Mediterranean, and American mythologies. Our quest (just couldn't resist that word) should reveal the essential beliefs of other cultures and at times their similarities with our own.Class procedure will consist of very informal lecture and discussion periods, group work, and, when relevant, video. Grades will be based on class participation, occasional quizzes, two short papers, a mid-term and final. (General Education Program; old curriculum Group 2; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3009G Section 002 CRN 90777
Panjwani
Myth and Culture 0930-1045 TRTopic: Asian Mythology
This course will involve an in-depth look at the myths and cultures of three Asian countries, namely, India, China, and Japan. In the Indian segment, we will read the Hindu and the Buddhist (the Hinayana or the Theravada) myths. The study of Hinduism will include (i) Vedic (Early and Later) Mythology, (ii) the Puranic (The Ramayana and The Mahabharata) Mythology, (iii) Krishna Mythology, and (iv) Shiva Mythology. The Chinese segment will include the study of Confucianism, Taoism and Mahayana (Pureland) Buddhism. Finally the Japanese segment will focus on Zen Buddhism, Shinto and Ainu Mythologies.
The primary orientation of this study will be to develop a clear understanding of (i) philosophical and religious interpretations of Indian, Chinese and Japanese myths and (ii) social systems and moral/ethical values of these cultures. Whenever possible, we will also compare the commonalities and differences among these three Asian cultures and mythologies. Course requirements include: active preparation and class-participation, one mid-term exam, one final exam, and one research paper. (General Education Program; old curriculum Group 2; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3009G Section 004 CRN 90779
Stevens
Myth and Culture 1830-2100 THow, in various cultural traditions, have people understood the world they lived in? What constitutes a mythic understanding, as contrasted with a historical, anthropological, or scientific one? We will be reading some of the oldest and most fascinating stories in the world, for myths are first of all stories. Moreover, they are stories believed at times as true by the people who told them. There will be many readings, lectures, discussions, group work, on-line postings, papers, and exams. And perhaps along the way, there will be some discovery of our own myths as well. (General Education Program; old curriculum Group 2; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3010G Section 001 CRN 90783
Campbell
Literary Masterworks 0930-1045 TR
Do sentiments or imagery from Petrarch appear in lyrics blasting from your iPod? Do television sitcoms unconsciously channel comic formulae popularized by Boccaccio? Without Shakespeare, would Kenneth Branagh have a career? We will address these questions and many others in this course that is designed to provide an in-depth look at a selection of literary masterpieces. In general, we will also explore such questions as what makes a text a literary masterwork? What gives such a piece its enduring qualities? Does our concept of what constitutes a masterwork change over time as facets of our culture shift and change? To explore the ideas inherent in these questions, we will read texts from a period especially known for its masterworks, both in the visual and the literary arts, the Renaissance. Not coincidentally, embedded in the literature of this period, we will find traces of aesthetics, patterns of debate, philosophies of love, and codes of honor that inform many of our contemporary notions in ways that you have probably never considered. There will be three exams, some short assignments, and a research project. (General Education)
English 3099G Section 099 CRN 90784
Nonaka
Myth and Culture (Honors) 1200-1250 MWFThis course will provide an in-depth look at selected motifs and themes in the cultural mythology of East Asia. Our readings will likely include but not limited to such authors as Saigyo, Shusaku Endo, Hermann Hesse, and Yukio Mishima. We will discuss the function of myth in both ancient and modern societies, the relation between state and religion, cultural identity, ritual and aesthetic practices. There will be frequent reading quizzes, group discussions, response papers, one long essay, a presentation, and mid-term and final examinations. (General Education Program; old curriculum Group 2; new curriculum Group 5)
English/Philosophy 3100G Sections 001 & 002 CRN 90785 & CRN 90786
Loudon/Otto
Cultural Foundations I 1100-1215 TR & 1400-1515 TRThis team-taught, General Education Program course centers on three five-week segments, introducing distinctive cultural foundations by studying primary texts. The first segment examines the foundations of Western culture in classical Greece and Rome. Among the themes to be discussed are the differences in mythic and rationalist world views, relations between mind and body, concepts of reality versus appearances, and the development of tragic dimensions in humanity. Readings from the Greeks will be taken from Homer, Hesiod, Plato, Aristotle, Sappho and Sophocles; those from the Romans will be from Cicero, Horace, Ovid and Virgil.
The second segment will examine Jewish and Christian foundations for Western culture, drawing on readings from the Hebrew Bible and continuing to trace the development of Judaism. As the segment continues, the foundations of Christianity and its development in the Medieval Church, in the Protestant Reformation and in the modern period will be discussed, with readings drawn from the New Testament.
The third segment introduces Sub-Saharan African cultural foundations in contrast to the earlier emphasis on Western culture. The segment introduces traditional African concepts of origin, birth and death by reading brief myths from a variety of African cultures and examining the heroic epic Sundiata from Mali. To focus on the oral tradition, students will examine ritual performance texts from Tanzania and the Ndembu people. To conclude the segment, two short novels by Nigerian Chinua Achebe and Kenyan Ngugi wa Thiong'o and a long poem by Ugandan Okot p'Bitek will enable students to explore the relationships between colonizing and colonized culture and to reflect on the impact of Western culture upon non-Western, African cultures.
The course format will be informal lecture and exploratory discussion; course requirements will consist of three essay examinations, including the final, and two five-page papers. (General Education; old curriculum Group 2; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3401 Section 001 CRN 90790
Ames
Methods of Teaching Composition in the Secondary School 1300-1350 MWFApproaches to the teaching of composition in junior and senior high school. Electronic interaction with secondary student writers. Includes 5 on-site hours and 5 hours of laboratory pre-clinical experience. (old curriculum Group1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3402 Section 001 CRN 90791
Murray
Methods of Teaching Literature in the Secondary School 1400-1515 TRThis course will provide theoretically-based, yet practical ways to integrate literature, reading, and media literacy in a language arts classroom. The course centers on creating a literature unit and rationale that builds on a well-planned language arts class. Students will gain an understanding of current literary and pedagogical theory and its applications by reading and responding to literary and secondary texts. Grades will be based on weekly responses, presentations, a unit and rationale, as well as active class participation and completion of a professional portfolio. Live-text submissions are a required component of the course. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 3405 Section 001 CRN 90792
Kilgore
Children's Literature 0800-0915 TR
The course will give adult readers the chance to discover and rediscover some of the best-loved works for children while it asks them to read with a certain sophistication, attending to surprising depths and subtleties. Works studied will range from the simplest nursery rhymes to full-length novels like Little House on the Prairie and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Authors will likely include Grimms, Andersen, Carroll, Alcott, Kipling, Wilder, Twain, and Anonymous: lots of reading, most of it from the Golden Age of Children’s Literature in the late nineteenth century. We will take a lively interest in the way these authors further – but sometimes resist – society’s eternal project of acculturating its children.
A writing-intensive course, 3405 will incorporate 2 papers, two essay exams, a final, and an oral presentation on the children’s book that influenced you most.
For a more detailed look at this course, visit my home page at http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfjdk/. An online syllabus should be linked there starting in mid-August. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3405 Section 002 CRN 90793
Kory
Children's Literature 1200-1250 MWF[Cancelled]
English 3405 Section 003 CRN 90794
Stevens
Children's Literature 1230-1345 TRThis course uses literary criteria to understand, interpret and evaluate works written for children or read primarily by them. This includes literature from oral tradition, such as myths, fables and folk tales, as well as fantasy and realistic fiction. We will consider special categories such as picture books and "problem" or "issues- oriented" books as well. Readings from an anthology as well as supplementary works and library research will give students a sense of the history and development of writing for children and introduce them to major critical and bibliographic sources. Class will be primarily informal lecture/discussion, with a sequence of short in-class writings as well as two tests, a final exam and two three-four-page papers or their equivalent. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3405 Section 004 CRN 93616
Moore
Children's Literature 1400-1515 TRThe editors of Classics of Children's Literature, John Griffith and Charles Frey, note that "The great children's stories and poems. . . . Perhaps more than any other writers . . . constitute our real mythology." In this course we will be looking closely at this "mythology," a mythology that embodies many of our culture's ambiguous attitudes about children and childhood. The course will consider the love and hatred of childhood, the manipulation, the idealization, the mystification of childhood, as reflected in a literature which is, finally, created mainly by adults. Students will examine this literature in terms of its history and the history of childhood itself. We will explore the rich complexity and archetypal significance that makes children's literature an important cultural inheritance and links it to the literature that we customarily reserve for adults.
Finally, this survey course stresses the development of more astute evaluation of the literature. Students will be encouraged to think more cogently and purposefully about what goes into a serious judgment of literature for children and to think carefully about the validity of various critical methods of analysis and evaluation.
Two major papers, an oral presentation, brief written responses, midterm and final exam. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3504 Section 001 CRN 90795
Murray
Film and Literature: The (D)evolution of Disaster in Film & Literature 1830-2100 RAccording to Maruice Yacowar, “Disaster films constitute a sufficiently numerous, old, and conventionalized group to be considered a genre rather than a popular cycle that comes and goes.” For Yacowar, “the essence of the genre [includes] a situation of normalcy [that] erupts into a persuasive image of death.” Although Yacowar outlines only eight basic types of disaster films that range from natural attacks to the comic, films in every genre and style can be illuminated by the sense of the disaster genre. This section of 3504 will explore the boundaries of disaster in multiple genres of film and literature. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3601 Section 001 CRN 90796
Beebe
Studies in Major Writers: The Brontës: Myth, Moors, and Melancholy 1400-1515 TRIn this course we will study the works of the most famous sisters in English literary history. While our principal focus will be on the novels of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, we will also consider their influences and legacies as we explore the development of the Brontë myth that persists to this day—a myth shaped around literature, landscape, and melancholy. Requirements: oral presentation, short papers, final paper, and final exam. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 3D)
English 3606 Section 001 CRN 90798
Radavich
Modern Drama 1500-1615 MWThis course will examine major playwrights from Henrik Ibsen to the present, emphasizing important theatrical developments and dramatic perspectives. Students will read plays by such figures as Chekhov, Shaw, O’Neill, Brecht, Miller, Pinter, and Churchill, among others. One short paper of approximately 4-6 pages will be required, along with a prospectus and one longer, documented paper of some 8-10 pages. There will be a midterm and a final exam. In-class responses will be assigned over the readings, and discussion will include performing individual scenes and watching videos of productions. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3700 Section 001 CRN 90799
Boswell
American Literature: 1450 to 1800 1100-1215 TRThe literature of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century America represents one of the most remarkable of all colonial literatures. We will read a variety of texts written by those who colonized: poetry, religious writings, histories, autobiographies, and political writings. We will also read texts by groups who represented the "colonized": Native Americans and African/American slaves. Finally, we will consider works written by "outsiders" about the colonial experience. Our critical approach will vary; we will try to focus on these texts in terms of their literary value and their significance to later American literature and culture.
Requirements: close reading, participation, 3 short papers, final exam. (old curriculum Group 5; new curriculum Group 3A)
English 3702 Section 001 CRN 90800
Allison
American Literature: Mid-19th Century to 1900 1000-1050 MWFThe literature of American Realism (1860-1900) bears witness to America's coming of age. The country was reeling from the trauma of war, transitioning from a farm-based economy to a new economy of urban industry, and seeking to manage tensions between people's conflicting needs for social stability and social change. Anticipating the conditions of our lives, the literature of American Realism is well worth reading. During the course we will discuss a range of works by such writers as Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Stephen Crane, Henry James, Theodore Dreiser, and Edith Wharton. The works will include a rich variety of approaches to Realism--common-place Realism, naturalistic Realism, impressionistic Realism, and psychological Realism. Formal requirements include six-written responses (300-400 words each), a critical essay of 8-10 pages, and a final examination. (old curriculum Group 5; new curriculum Group 3B)
English 3702 Section 002 CRN 90801
Swords
American Literature: Mid-19th Century to 1900 1230-1345 TRThis course focuses on the literature and history of the United States from the midpoint of the nineteenth century to roughly 1920. In this period, American authors began realistically and vividly to chronicle through literature and art the lives of ordinary Americans as the nation began its second century. Issues of race, migration, moderniza-tion, personal aspiration, among others, will be explored through the work of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, W.E.B. Dubois, Willa Cather, Edgar Lee Masters, Kate Chopin, to name a few of the authors we’ll read. Apart from steady reading and active discussion, work for the class will include a take home midterm and final, as well as a library based research project. (old curriculum Group 5; new curriculum Group 3B)
English 3704 Section 001 CRN 90802
Carpenter
Contemporary American Literature: 1950 to present 0930-1045 TREmphasis on such topics as the Fabulous 50’s, the Beats, emerging minority cultures, the rise of feminism, postmodernism, and minimalism. Writers may include Bishop, Ginsberg, Plath, Bellow, Vonnegut, Shepard, Kesey, Olson, Baraka, Mason, Erdrich, Morrison. (old curriculum Group 5; new curriculum Group 3C)
English 3704 Section 002 CRN 90803
Martone
Contemporary American Literature: 1950 to present 1300-1350 MWFEmphasis on such topics as the Fabulous 50’s, the Beats, emerging minority cultures, the rise of feminism, postmodernism, and minimalism. Writers may include Bishop, Ginsberg, Plath, Bellow, Vonnegut, Shepard, Kesey, Olson, Baraka, Mason, Erdrich, Morrison. (old curriculum Group 5; new curriculum Group 3C)
English 3705 Section 001 CRN 93617
Vietto
American Multicultural Literatures 1100-1150 MWFStudy of the multicultural literatures of the United States, featuring African-American, Asian-American, Native-American, Latino/a writers and immigrant American writers, from the colonial era to the present. Requirements: Careful, dedicated reading of daily assignments; 3 essays, plus frequent short writing and other homework assignments; at least one collaborative presentation. (old curriculum Group 2; new curriculum Group 2)
English 3706 Section 001 CRN 90804
Worthington
American Regional Literature: New York Stories 1230-1345 TR“They stared out the windows for first sight of the City that danced with them, proving already how much it loved them.”
---Toni Morrison, JazzIn this course, we’ll read works of literature inspired by the city known simply as “The City.” Throughout its history, New York has generated some of the richest, most compelling literature in this country. We’ll explore that literature, learning in the process about the history and lay-out of the city that is at once quintessentially American and, arguably, the world’s capital. There will be lots of reading by authors such as: Henry James, Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Nella Larson, J.D. Salinger, Don DeLillo, Paul Auster, Toni Morrison, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others. Requirements will include several short essays and two longer ones. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 3800 Section 001 CRN 90805
Raybin
Medieval British Literature 1800-2030 WAdventure, Religion, and Love: the course surveys literature written in England during the thousand-odd years we call the Middle Ages. We will read epic, romance, and lai, love lyric and dream vision, bawdy debate and spiritual autobiography . . . strange works from a foreign place and time. Among the authors and works we will encounter are William Langland, Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Malory, Beowulf, Pearl, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Though some more difficult works will be read in translation, much of our reading will be in Middle English, the language of England in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries: prepare yourself for serious and rewarding effort. Occasionally we will explore related cultural events in areas such as music, art and architecture, and food. Assignments include two papers, a midterm, and a final examination. (old curriculum Group 3; new curriculum Group 3A)
English 3804 Section 001 CRN 90806
Abella
Milton 0900-0950 MWFWe will be reading Milton’s poetry and prose, from his early works to his masterpiece, Paradise Lost. We will struggle together to understand Milton’s perspective on life and the significance his writing had during his own existence. And we will try to grasp the power of his vision in its place in the Renaissance as well as in our own lives. To do this, we need to place Milton in the context of some of his contemporaries, such as Amelia Lanyer. You will be graded on in-class essays, two short papers, and a final exam. (old curriculum Group 3; new curriculum Group 3D)
English 3805 Section 001 CRN 90808
Coleman
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature 1200-1250 MWF
In 1660, emerging from a "world turned upside down" by the English Civil War, writers embarked on a century and a half voyage we now call the "Long Eighteenth Century." Along the way, Aphra Behn and Olaudah Equiano added the voices of women and Africans to the literary and cultural conversation; Alexander Pope perfected the heroic couplet; Eliza Haywood, Henry Fielding and Samuel Richardson fought it out over the proper agenda of an emerging genre, the novel; and, just as the period closed, Jane Austen got in a last word about the relationship between sense and sensibility. Jumping off from modern points of contact and contrast (Cheers? Friends? the New York Times?), we will read selected poetry, drama, and prose of the period in order to explore both the dominant and marginal voices and themes of this complex and innovative period.
Engaged reading and active participation are essential to our common success in this course. Requirements may include short library projects, essay exams, two sequenced essays, as well as in-class short writes. (old curriculum Group 4; new curriculum Group 3A)
English 3806 Section 001 CRN 90810
Park
British Romantic Literature: Surveying British Romanticism 0800-0915 TRThis course examines the literature and history of British Romanticism through the concept of the “survey.” The term survey has several meanings that help us understand the era of concentrated political and aesthetic change called Romanticism. These include surveys of inner psychology and surveys of subjects acting within a large nexus of revolutionary ideas that helped mold what has been called the modern outlook: the conception of the literary survey, walking surveys of the natural landscape, sightlines between sympathetic spectator and sufferer, the surveillance of political subjects, and eyewitness accounts of revolutionary and colonial activities. While Romanticism proper may span the French Revolution (1789) through the Reform Bill (1832), it is important to recognize the reactionary nature of Romanticism. Thus we will begin with the Enlightenment philosophers, David Hume and Adam Smith, in order to understand the growing interest in both rationalizing and transcending human understanding, individuality, and social responsibility. Requirements: midterm, final exam, several response papers, quizzes, presentation, and two longer essays. (old curriculum Group 4; new curriculum Group 3B)
English 3806 Section 002 CRN 90811
Wharram
British Romantic Literature 1230-1345 TRIn this seminar, we will explore a few ways of reevaluating what we consider to be Romanticism by observing and analyzing the role of translation during this literary period. Friedrich Schlegel coined the term “romantisch” in opposition to Classical forms of writing, drawing on an etymology connecting it to the medieval enromancier, romancar, the translation or rendering of predominantly Latin texts into the vernacular. Focusing on the prevalence of translation theory and practice during the period, we will look at texts previously underexamined in Romantic studies, and reevaluate canonical texts according to a new frame of reference. What happens, for example, when we read Wordsworth’s “Preface” to Lyrical Ballads within the historical context of a public sphere of readers enamored with plays and novels of foreign extraction?
We will begin the course with a consideration of Wordsworth’s “Preface” in conjunction with Germaine de Staël’s lesser-known “On the Spirit of Translations.” These two texts offer alternative—yet analogous—viewpoints on the incorporation of the Other into the national poetic body, and Staël’s treatise provides for a new way of critiquing Wordsworth’s canonical text.
Early in the semester, I would like you to select a Romantic text—preferably a poetic work, but this is negotiable—on which you would consider writing a research paper. You will prepare an annotated bibliography of critical scholarship on your chosen text due by mid-semester. For your final project, I will ask you to outline in detail how you would proceed in writing an article-length paper on your selected text. In addition, you will be responsible for leading a class discussion on one of the texts on our reading list once during the term. This requirement does not demand that you prepare a presentation: rather, you should offer the class a series of questions providing a framework for discussing the text within the context of our course. Instead of leading a class discussion, you may create an assignment of your own, based on your individual research or educational needs, for which you will need my approval. (old curriculum Group 4; new curriculum Group 3B)
English 3808 Section 001 CRN 90812
Hoberman
Modern British Literature 1100-1150 MWFModern British literature tries to make sense of a world very much like our own – a world of political, social, and religious upheaval. World Wars I and II, Irish nationalism, class conflict, feminism, Freudianism, and widespread revolt against European imperialism were some of the historical factors to which British writers responded. In doing so, writers like Conrad, Yeats, Lawrence, Joyce, Rhys, and Woolf produced an extraordinary outburst of brilliant writing – writing that managed to be both technically innovative and profoundly relevant to the questions people still ask about what constitutes selfhood, how men and women can best relate to each other, what makes life worthwhile. We’ll read works by these writers and others in an attempt to understand how their experiments with characterization, style, and narrative technique helped them answer old questions in new ways. Requirements: careful reading, two papers, frequent brief writing assignments, midterm, and final. (old curriculum Group 4; new curriculum Group 3C)
English 4060 Section 001 CRN 93621
Fredrick
Professional Writing Career Development 1300-1350 MThis course is designed to prepare Professional Writing minors for the job market. In this course, you will research job openings and professional organizations, participate in discussions with professional guest speakers, analyze your own professional skills and abilities, and read course materials related to career development. As part of the class, you will create your final resume, a cover letter template, a print portfolio, and a professional website or online portfolio. (Group 6)
English 4275 Section 001 CRN 90815
Fredrick
Internship in Professional Writing ARR****Students must have permission of Director before registering for the Internship.
A community-based experience featuring practical application of skills developed in the English curriculum, the Internship is open only to upper-division students. To the extent possible, placement is matched to career goals with the expectation that students might approach graduation and the job search with writing/editing portfolios to show potential employers. Recent English interns have written for newspapers, edited magazines, designed documents, and prepared publicity materials for Eastern, Lake Land, the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, the Tarble Arts Center, the Coles County Association for the Retarded, and Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.
English 4275 is a four-hour course offered on a credit/no credit basis. In addition to work created as part of the internship, students will engage in reflective writing about the internship and organizational culture. The Director and site-supervisors cooperate in evaluation.
PERMISSION OF THE DIRECTOR MUST BE SECURED PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT so that placement arrangements can be made. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 4300 Section 001 CRN 90828
Leddy
Senior Seminar: American Poetry: Groups and Movements 1000-1050 MWF
Innovative American poetry is to a large extent a story of groups and movements—“isms,” as one critic calls them. This course will look at some key groups and movements: Imagism, Objectivists, the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, the New York School, and language-poetry. Our work will be in part an examination of literary history—where these names come from, the ways in which they are useful or useless to poets, critics, and readers. The primary work of the course will be careful reading of some of the most exciting, beautiful, challenging poetry of the 20th century. Poets under discussion will include John Ashbery, Gregory Corso, H.D., Allen Ginsberg, Lyn Hejinian, Langston Hughes, Lorine Niedecker, Frank O’Hara, Bob Perelman, Ezra Pound, Jean Toomer, and Louis Zukofsky. Previous poetry experience is helpful of course but not required. Come as you are, and learn.Requirements: Some short pieces of writing, a longer project, dedicated participation in the work of the seminar (reading and talking), a final examination. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 4)
English 4300 Section 002 CRN 90829
Sylvia
Senior Seminar: The Literature of the City 1230-1345 TR
A study of representations of the city and of city life in the 19th and 20th centuries. We will begin in London and move west to New York and then on to Chicago. Writers assigned for class discussion may include Dickens, Woolf, Eliot, Ackroyd, McEwan, Crane, Dreiser, Ellison, Bellow. Requirements: two exams and one research project. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 4)
English 4300 Section 003 CRN 90830
Stevens
Senior Seminar: Ecotopias 0930-1045 TR
What are ecotopias? In the real world, they are attempts at building environmentally sustainable communities. In the literary world, they are utopian or dystopian stories which contain at their core environmental concerns and issues. Both literary and real-world types take their name from Ernst Callenbach’s novel Ecotopia, a work in which the some of the Pacific Northeast secedes from the rest of the United States over environmental concerns. We may read novels and shorter works by Callenbach, Kim Stanley Robinson, Margaret Atwood and others, view films, and consider what fiction and criticism have to say about the footprints we leave on the world. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 4)
English 4390 Section 097 CRN 90833
Stevens
Senior Seminar: Ecotopias 0930-1045 TR
What are ecotopias? In the real world, they are attempts at building environmentally sustainable communities. In the literary world, they are utopian or dystopian stories which contain at their core environmental concerns and issues. Both literary and real-world types take their name from Ernst Callenbach’s novel Ecotopia, a work in which the some of the Pacific Northeast secedes from the rest of the United States over environmental concerns. We may read novels and shorter works by Callenbach, Kim Stanley Robinson, Margaret Atwood and others, view films, and consider what fiction and criticism have to say about the footprints we leave on the world. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 4)
English 4390 Section 098 CRN 90832
Sylvia
Senior Seminar: The Literature of the City 1230-1345 TR
A study of representations of the city and of city life in the 19th and 20th centuries. We will begin in London and then move west to New York and then on to Chicago. Writers assigned for class discussion may include Dickens, Woolf, Eliot, Ackroyd, McEwan, Crane, Dreiser, Ellison, Bellow. Requirements: two exams and one research project. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 4)
English 4390 Section 099 CRN 90831
Leddy
Senior Seminar: American Poetry: Groups and Movements 1000-1050 MWF
Innovative American poetry is to a large extent a story of groups and movements—“isms,” as one critic calls them. This course will look at some key groups and movements: Imagism, Objectivists, the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, the New York School, and language-poetry. Our work will be in part an examination of literary history—where these names come from, the ways in which they are useful or useless to poets, critics, and readers. The primary work of the course will be careful reading of some of the most exciting, beautiful, challenging poetry of the 20th century. Poets under discussion will include John Ashbery, Gregory Corso, H.D., Allen Ginsberg, Lyn Hejinian, Langston Hughes, Lorine Niedecker, Frank O’Hara, Bob Perelman, Ezra Pound, Jean Toomer, and Louis Zukofsky. Previous poetry experience is helpful of course but not required. Come as you are, and learn.Requirements: Some short pieces of writing, a longer project, dedicated participation in the work of the seminar (reading and talking), a final examination. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 4)
EIU 4192G Section 099 CRN 90860
Boswell
Film and Contemporary Society [Honors Senior Seminar] 1530-1850 TFilm represents the most popular—and probably the most powerful—art form of our own time. We will watch, study, and discuss a variety of movies throughout the semester as we explore the history, aesthetics, and critical theory which inform the movies. Prerequisites: Admission to the University Honors Program and permission of the Director of Honors Program.
Requirements: class participation, several short papers, one substantial research paper.
Note: This University Senior Seminar does not fulfill the English Honors Senior Seminar requirement, English 4300/4390. (General Education)
CLASSES NUMBERED 4750 THROUGH 4999. THESE CLASSES ARE OPEN TO JUNIORS, SENIORS, AND GRADUATE STUDENTS. GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE LIMITED TO NINE HOURS OF COURSE-WORK IN THIS CATEGORY.
English 4761 Section 001 CRN 90836
Kilgore
Creative Nonfiction Writing 1400-1315 TR
Further adventures in creative nonfiction, for those who have already taken 2001, 2003, 2005, or 2007. Requirements will include a brief (2 week) journal, a well-prepared 20-minute presentation on a published essay of your choice, two medium-length essays, and a longer project that will entail some form of research. Obiter dicta (look it up) will include handouts, editing exercises, project proposals, and a number of in-class writings. Workshop sessions will be cordial but intense, with everyone getting at least two chances to submit polished pieces for group attention. Be ready to write lots and lots, to revise obsessively, to speak your mind, to think hard about the philosophical dimensions of your personal experience. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 1 or Group 5)
English 4764 Section 001 CRN 90837
Radavich
Play Writing 1400-1450 MWFThis course is a continuation of English 2005 (Playwriting I) and will follow through on aspects of writing for the stage and media introduced in that course. In order to enroll in this course, students must have taken English 2005 or have written a substantial script in one of the media. In addition to writing, time will be spent reading, discussing, improvising, and attending plays, discussing goals and progress in conference, and developing more professional approaches to the conception and execution of writing for performance. Graduate students enrolling in the course will be expected to complete an independent project in addition to the regular work. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 1 or Group 5)
English 4765 Section 001 CRN 93624
Fredrick
Professional Editing 1000-1050 MWFEditing is an important part of the work professional communicators do. In this course, we will practice all levels of editing: copyediting for grammatical correctness and consistency, fact-checking, editing for style, editing for design, and developmental editing for content and organization. We will edit texts from disciplines such as health, technology, business/marketing, and the sciences. Because editing, like all communication, is local, we will address the rhetorical choices editors have to make, and we will look at the different style guides that might influence what and how you edit. Because editing usually takes place within a larger organizational setting, we will also discuss project management, editor-author relationships, and electronic editing. (Group 6)
English 4775 Section 001 CRN 90838
Wharram
Studies in Literary and Cultural Criticism and Theory 1530-1645 TRThis course will focus on some developments in theories of mediation as they relate to literary studies. We will be discussing the ways in which “mediation” challenges many of the presuppositions of literary scholarship by focusing on some of the following problems in the field:
the anthology/canon/archive as medium of “culture”; the role of media studies in literature departments; cultural and technological “interfaces”; the translator as cultural/linguistic mediator; Transatlanticism’s reconsideration of national literatures; intercultural “transference”.
Our readings will include excerpts from the following theorists:
Philippe Lacloue-Labarthe, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, Slavoj Zizek, William Wordsworth, Germaine de Staël, Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, J.W. von Goethe, Walter Benjamin, Marshall McLuhan, Homi Bhabha, Mikhail Bakhtin, Jürgen Habermas, Gayatri Spivak, Timothy Morton, Catherine Clément, Alan Liu
Students will be required to write five two-page papers, one project paper, a midterm, and a final exam. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 4)
English 4801 Section 001 CRN 93625
Binns
Integrating the English Language Arts 1830-2100 TEnglish 4801 centers on connecting pedagogical theory and its practical applications for integrating the English language arts, including literature, composition, speech, drama, and media. Future teachers will have the opportunity to learn how to integrate a variety of methods grounded in theories in the teaching of English language arts. Adapting written and oral communication to audience and situation; recognizing components of effective oral and written communication; and integrating technology and media into the language arts classroom will be key elements of this course. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 4850 Section 001 CRN 90839
Panjwani
Studies in Third World Literatures: The Heroic Journey into “Other” Worlds 1400-1515 TRThis course will focus on various types of journeys represented in non-western narratives from India, China, and the Middle-East. In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the late eminent comparatist Joseph Campbell offers descriptions of a multitude of heroic figures who travel into cultural realms and spaces distant and, almost always, unknown. The movement of these heroic journeys is from ‘darkness’ to ‘action’ and finally to ‘light’ and the heroes encounter conflicting forces, external to and/or inherent in their ‘selves’. Their travels and conflicts culminate in conquering or understanding that which empowers and ennobles them materially and spiritually. Through such writings as Somadeva’s The King and the Corpse: The Tales of the Soul’s Conquest of Evil (translated by Heinrich Zimmer and edited by Joseph Campbell), Vyasa’s The Mahabharata (translated by R.K. Narayan), Wu Cheng’s The Monkey (translated by Arthur Waley), and The Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, we will discuss the following questions: Who is a hero? What is the nature of the ‘unknown’ journey that the hero undertakes? What is the relationship between the ‘quest’ of the hero and the ‘conquest’ achieved through the journey? What are the conflicting external and internal forces that the individual journeyer encounters? What is the kind of knowledge and power/enrichment that the hero gains at the end of his/her journey? How and in what ways does the relationship between the hero and the world change as a result of his/her journey? Course requirements include two research papers (6-8 pages), one class presentation, and active preparation and class participation. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 2)
English 4901 Section 001 CRN 90840
Shonk
History of the English Language 1000-1050 MWFWhile researching your family tree in grandmother's attic, you come upon a rumpled piece of vellum, upon which is written: Hwaet, ic cyst secgan wylle…. "What," grandma queries, "is that?" "English," you reply matter of factly. This course traces the changes in our language from the period of Anglo-Saxon (above) to present day ("One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas"), focusing on the historical and sociological events which altered our vocabulary and form of expression. But we will not stop with the present. We will discuss also the trends and direction of our contemporary language and what they bode for the future. As Chaucer made clear, "in forme of speche is chaunge." Students will find this course invaluable, always interesting, and frequently riveting. Two hourly exams, a final exam, and a short research paper (7-9 pages) comprise the course’s written requirements. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 1)
English 4905 Section 001 CRN 90841
Moore
Studies in Children’s Literature: Meetings with Monsters: Horror, Humor, and Heroism in Children's Literature 1100-1215 TRTiny tots of either sex
Adore Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Indeed all children adore
Any savage carnivore. (Ogdon Nash?)In this course, an examination of the role of monsters will lead us through a variety of literature for young people. We will read and discuss literature both ancient and modern in a number of genres; picture book and novel, folktale and a myth, fantasy and realism. We will examine monsters both figurative and literal, mythic and mundane. Our readings will include works by Maurice Sedak, Raymond Briggs (Man), Philip Pullman (I Was a Rat), Neil Gaiman (Coraline), and Sylvia Waugh (The Menyms) among others. This literature will afford us much discussion of such topics as the pleasures of fear, the confrontation of otherness, the fascination of the grotesque, the role of the monstrous and demonic in instruction, satire and play.
Two 10-12 page papers, one oral presentation (with written prospectus), and a final essay exam. (old curriculum Group 6; new curriculum Group 5)
English 4950 Section 001 CRN 90842
Swords
Literary History and Bibliography 0930-1045 TRThe overall purpose of this class as you near the end of your time as an English major here at Eastern is to help come to some understanding of what your studies have added up to – what you’ve read, how literary texts are interrelated, why you’ve kept up with all the hard work of endless reading and writing, and where you might be headed next with all this. Along with this, we’ll also try to get a general sense of the sequence of literary development in the English language – it’s major periods, figures, genres, and styles.
Written work will center on a large bibliographic project, which will ask you to make an account of your career as an English major. (old curriculum Group 1; new curriculum Group 4)
English 5000 Section 001 CRN 90844
Ringuette
Introduction to Methods and Issues in English Studies 1900-2130 TThis course is required of graduate students in their first year of enrollment in the English MA program. Broadly speaking, it’s an introduction to critical approaches, research methods, and current issues in literary and composition studies. English study and all that comprises it—for example, literary study and criticism, writing and composition studies, language studies, creative writing, pedagogy and curriculum—finds itself facing all sorts of complex but fundamental concerns. Everywhere we look lately in newspapers, journals, and magazines, we’re confronted by the question of the place of the humanities—for us, the study of literature, language, and writing—within rapidly changing priorities for college and university systems, within high school and community college curricula. How can or should we answer this question? It’s important because the issues are complex and the stakes high. More specifically speaking, exploring the concerns and questions will be our errand and risking some answers will be our goal. We'll read a wide variety of writers, critics, and theorists who have had something to say about the study of literature, language, and writing, and our discussion will in turn motivate our scrutiny of selected literary works.
English 5001 Section 001 CRN 93626
McGregor
Studies in Old English Literature & Language: Arthurian Traditions in Medieval Literature 1530-1800 MIn this course we’ll explore the multivalent legends of Arthur and his court, particularly those from Britain and France, with an eye not only toward their literary qualities, but also toward their extraordinary adaptability as tools for political maneuvering, “nation” building, and social critique. As we trace the historical production and circulation of these legends, we’ll consider the ever-shifting representations of Arthur and of his knights in order to ask in what ways these portraits speak to and about the cultures in which they are produced.
English 5004 Section 001 CRN 90845
Smith
Studies in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature: Enlightenment Sexualities 1530-1800 TAn era of vibrant intellectual, economic, and political foment throughout Europe, the “age of Enlightenment” roughly coincided with the eighteenth century and saw radical changes in science, philosophy, education, economics, and politics that shaped—and continue to shape—Western culture. Focusing on the British context, we will consider two specific and closely related sites of such cultural change: “Sex” and sexuality. One part of our reading will consist of Enlightenment novels, poems, plays, philosophical tracts, and other cultural narratives raising questions about the “Sexes” and/or sexual orientation, the other part of contemporary critical and theoretical accounts of gender/sexuality by thinkers as diverse as Thomas Laqueur, Nancy Armstrong, Gayle Rubin, Michel Foucault, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Our goals this semester will be 1) to historicize Enlightenment constructions of “Sex” and sexuality through a discussion of them within various discursive contexts—race and nation, domesticity, status, and sensibility, to name a few; and 2) to problematize models of gender and desire, past and present, through an engagement with cultural criticism and theory.
English 5005 Section 001 CRN 93627
Bredesen
Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Literature: Victorian Secrets: Detection, Domesticity, & Disclosure 1900-2130 MThe rise of detective fiction in the mid-nineteenth century coincides with what is, arguably, the hey-day of domestic fiction, a type of novel that celebrates the everyday and the familial. At first glance, the very ordinariness of the domestic sphere would seem to stand in opposition to the extraordinary and sensational behaviors of criminals and their victims. We find, however, in nineteenth-century British fiction that detectives first make their appearances probing beneath the veneer of respectability to expose the secrets at the heart of the domestic circle. In this course we will investigate the overlaps of social history and imaginative construction, private and public spheres, legal contexts and urban transformations that gave rise to the detective in fact and in fiction. In addition to gaining a sense of the nineteenth-century's basic historical narrative, we will investigate the dark undersides of the domestic sphere, metropolitan society, and the British empire at large. In this course we will find also that the detective can serve as a model for the processes of interpretation and exposition that we ourselves use when we read, think, and write about fiction. Primary texts will include: Charles Dickens' Bleak House (1852-1853), M.E.Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret (1862), Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone (1868), as well as Edgar Allan Poe's tales of ratiocination featuring Auguste Dupin, and selected cases from Andrew Forrester’s Private Detective (1863) and The Female Detective (1864), W.S. Hayward’s Revelations of a Lady Detective (1864), Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and what I call "second wave female detectives" (1880s and beyond). Our readings of these novels and cases will be augmented by a study of several contemporary "true crimes," feminist criticism, narrative theories, as well as post-colonial criticism. Course requirements include: class presentations, discussion-leading, a short paper, and a final analytical research paper with abstract and an annotated bibliography.
English 5009 Section 001 CRN 93628
Hanlon
Studies in Nineteenth-Century American Literature: Liberal Dissent and the American Renaissance 1900-2130 WAmerican liberals during the 1840s and 50s were both a demoralized and galvanized presence in antebellum public life. Demoralized, as when in 1850 Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster endorsed the Fugitive Slave Law—a gesture he made in the spirit of “compromise” with the South but which was widely viewed in his home state as a form of capitulation and betrayal. Galvanized, as when in 1854 the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison took to the stage at a Framingham rally and burned a copy of the Constitution. The pyrotechnics to which Garrison submitted the founding document were rendered more combustible by the Fugitive Slave Law itself, the passage of which lent power to debates over whether the Constitution was a pro-slavery document. And it is this context that makes all the more interesting Emerson’s famous phrasing from “Self-Reliance”: “No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it.” During the 1840s, no public intellectual could use the word “constitution” without calling to mind the dispute over whether the Constitution could serve in such a capacity as moral adjudicator, whether a slave-holding nation could ever be, in Lincoln’s phrasing, “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
The course will take up the 1840s and 50s as a period when a series of American writers carved out identities within a culture whose politics were swinging between extremes. We’ll read Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Harriet Wilson, Frederick Douglass, Emily Dickinson, William Lloyd Garrison, Lysander Spooner, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, James Russell Lowell, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Carolina Lee Hentz, and others, always with an eye toward discerning how the artistic and the political intersected during the antebellum period. Of special interest to us will the ways many of these writers were able to register their varying degrees of dissent as either a disavowal or a re-appropriation of the rhetoric of democracy. Students in this course will learn how to use historical archives to research literary problems, and they will produce a piece of writing suitable for submission to a journal or presentation at a conference.
English 5011 Section 001 CRN 92867
Taylor
Studies in Composition and Rhetoric: The History of Rhetoric 1900-2130 R
In this seminar we will explore the rich history of rhetoric. The course’s purview will span from classical rhetoric to present, with particular emphasis on how core concepts from classical, medieval, renaissance, and nineteenth century textbook-based rhetoric inform and continue to influence teaching practice in writing classrooms. Students will read primary sources on rhetoric (such as Plato, Isocrates, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, Boethius, Ramus, Locke, Day, Bain, Hill, Burke, Perelman, et al.) as well as contemporary interpretations and applications of rhetorical theory.
Requirements: Response/analysis journals for assigned readings, active participation in discussion, student-initiated research and leading of discussion on recent articles about rhetorical history and rhetorical theory, commonplace book entries, informal presentations, a professional book review, a synthesis essay, and a semester-long research project.
English 5091 Section 001 CRN 93629
Buck
Studies in Language, Linguistics, and Literacy: The History of American English: Origins & Dialects 1530-1800 WIn this seminar, we will examine the history and origins of American English (the language of the early colonists, how American English in the eighteenth century differed from early Modern English in Britain, the development of Black English and Southern American, the language of westward expansion, and the role that Native American languages played in the context of a huge melting pot of languages that co-existed in our country as early as the seventeenth century). Then we will study in detail selected American dialects of today (African-American English, Chicano English, Appalachian English, Asian-American, among others) and build a construct of how these groups of speakers reflect divergent social identities and attitudes through their language.
We will do much hands-on practice with the linguistic features of various dialects through exercises and language problems and we will read sample texts in early American English. Seminar style class discussion, presentations, research project, will be required.
This course is a graduate course (seniors are welcome) that forms a sequel to the other grammar and language theory classes offered in the English department (English 2901, 3901, and 4901).
English 5960 Section 003 CRN 92853
Fredrick
Professional Writing Internship ARR****Students must have permission of Director before registering for the Internship.
A community-based experience featuring practical application of skills developed in the English curriculum, the Internship is open only to upper-division students. To the extent possible, placement is matched to career goals with the expectation that students might approach graduation and the job search with writing/editing portfolios to show potential employers. Recent English interns have written for newspapers, edited magazines, designed documents, and prepared publicity materials for Eastern, Lake Land, the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, the Tarble Arts Center, the Coles County Association for the Retarded, and Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.
English 5960 is a three-hour course offered on a credit/no credit basis. In addition to work created as part of the internship, students will engage in reflective writing about the internship and research issues connected to professional writing and organizational culture. The Director and site-supervisors cooperate in evaluation.
Notes
1. English 1002 is a prerequisite for 2000-level courses and above.
2. All courses designated with a G (e.g., 2009G) fulfill requirements in the old Integrated Core Curriculum.
3. Except for English 3009G and 3099G, English courses in the General Education Program (“G” courses) do not fulfill requirements in the English major or minors.
4. A new curriculum has been approved for the English major and for the English Language Arts option for Teacher Certification, effective with the 2007-2008 catalog. Students who began prior to fall 2007 may elect to follow their original catalog or the 2007 catalog. Courses are grouped for course selection in the old and new catalogs as follows:
2006 and Earlier Catalogs
Group 1—Required Courses: 2205§, 2601,