English Courses
Writing | Literature | Language | Journalism | Advanced | Skill

Writing Courses

101 First-Year Writing. Development of composing and revising skills throughout the writing process. Instruction in academic report writing, including: 1) library, interview and on-line research; 2) issues of plagiarism; and 3) methods of documentation. Includes small group workshops and individual conferences with instructor. (Required of all students except may be waived through AP placement examination; must be repeated if grade earned is NC.) Fall, spring.

200 Literature and Writing. (HUMANITIES). A writing-intensive course focusing on the ways readers and writers use literature to think about complex issues. In addition to various formal and informal writing assignments, the course will include a significant research component wherein students will conduct library research and produce an appropriately documented paper. Topics will vary.

201 Intermediate Writing. Writing experience and study of professional texts, focused on effective handling of fundamental issues: focus of exploration, topic selection, genre selection, technical concerns and audience.

203 Creative Writing. The writing of poetry, fiction, or plays at an introductory level. The course offers coaching about craft issues and includes study of professional texts. Course will include small-group workshops and conferences with instructor.

231 Issues in Writing Studies. An introduction to the theories and issues of writing studies, including rhetoric, language, literacy, and professional writing.

301 Topics in Advanced Writing. Focused study and practice in a particular area of professional writing that aims for publication. Topics may include technical writing, creative non-fiction, and literacy journalism.

304 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry. Advanced writing experience focusing on poetry. Includes coaching, writing experience and the study of professional texts. Students will revise toward professional-level performance. Includes small-group writing workshops and conferences with instructor.

305 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction. Advanced writing experience focusing on fiction. Includes coaching, writing experience and the study of professional texts. Students will revise toward professional-level performance. Includes small-group writing workshops and conferences with instructor.

306 Advanced Creative Writing: Drama. Advanced writing experience focusing on drama. Includes coaching, writing experience and the study of professional texts. Students will revise toward professional-level performance. Includes small-group writing workshops and conferences with instructor.

310 Teaching Writing. Designed for all prospective elementary teachers and secondary teachers of English. Offers study of prominent teaching philosophies and methods in the field of writing. Provides a writing workshop experience demonstrating such methods. Includes experience working with students from local schools, and individual conferences with instructor.

401 Capstone: Writing Seminar. Explores theoretical questions about writing, such as gender and language or the relationship between written language and the empirical world. Includes texts by teachers, creative writers, writing theorists and philosophers of language. Students prepare major papers and meet individually with instructor.


Literature Courses top

230 Methods of Literary Study. Methods, terminology and library resources useful to students of literature, including investigation of the history and ethical implications of literary criticism and practice in writing about literature.

250 Special Topics. A study of literature and cultural contexts designed around a theme or topic. The course will have significant writing and research components. Offered as needed.

251 Masterpieces of British Literature. Major works of British Literature. For non majors and open to Freshmen.

252 Masterpieces of American Literature. Major works of American Literature. For non majors and open to Freshmen.

255 Studies in Non-Western Literature. Literary works outside the traditions of European and American literature. The works studied may vary greatly from year to year.

260 Classical Western Literature. A selection of major Greek and Roman literacy works in translation and selected books of the Bible. Open to Freshmen.

285 Literature in Focus. A reading and discussion course typically concentrating on one long work of literature, such as Tom Jones, Middlemarch or Ulysses. May be taken four times with different subjects. Open to freshmen.

349 Post-Colonial Literature. A study of the literature and theory of Post-Colonialism. The specific literature studied, which may vary from year to year, comes from societies that are not historically European. This may include works from Africa, the Pacific, India and the Caribbean.

350 Medieval Literature. Seventh to fifeenth century English literature. Works may include Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon poetry in translation, Arthurian romances, medieval religious texts, and works by Chaucer.

351 Renaissance Literature. Major developments in poetry, prose and drama during the English Renaissance. May include works by Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Marlowe, Spenser, Donne, and Miltion.

352 Shakespeare. A selection of Shakespeare's plays including comedies, tragedies, histories and or romances.

353 Restoration and Romantic Literature. Major authors and literacy developments from the Restoration and Romantic periods in England. May include works by Behn, DeFoe, Fielding, Swift, Pope, Wollstonecraft, Wordsworth, Austen, Byron, Keats, and the Shelleys.

354 Victorian Literature. Literature from the Victorian period in England. Authors may include works include Brontes, Tennyson, Browning, Rosetti, Eliot, Dickens, Hardy, and Wilde.

355 Modern and Contemporary British Literature. Major British authors and works from the Twentieth and Twentieth-First centuries.

360 Children's Literature. Poetry and prose selected especially for children, including both classic and recent works, with attention to notable illustrators and publishers. Designed for students preparing for elementary teaching or library work, the course is credited toward a planned minor but not toward a departmental major or minor. Spring.

361 Adolescent Literature. Poetry and prose selected especially for adolescents, including both classic and recent works. Designed for students preparing for secondary teaching or library work. Does not satisfy the requirement for a 300-level literature course for the English major.

363 American Literature to 1860. Survey of literature from first contact (including works in the Native American oral tradition) to the Civil War. Authors may include Bradstreet, Melville, Wheatly, Equiano, Douglass, Thoreau, Emerson, Dickinson, and Whitman.

364 American Literature from 1860-1914. Survey of American Literature from the Civil War to WWI. Authors may include James, Wharton, Howells, Dreiser, Crane, Gilman, Dunbar-Nelson, Cable, Chopin, and Twain.

365 Modern and Contemporary American Literature. Survey of American Literature from the Modern Period to the Present (sometimes called the Post-Ironic Period) Authors may include Hemingway, Faulkner, Dos Passos, Hart. Crane, Frost, Penn, Warren, Morrison, Kingston, Dove, Komunyakka, Collins, and Hass.

407 Capstone: Literature Seminar. An in-depth study of a movement, genre, specific author or other subject related to literature. May be repeated once for credit.


Language Courses top

332 English Language. A study of the form, structure and history of English. Topics may include grammar, syntax, language acquisition, sound and structure changes, the influence of migration and the political implications of language.

Advanced and Special Classes top

199 Exploratory Internship.

299 Experimental Course.

399 Professional Internship.

451 Independent Study. Advanced study in areas beyond regular course offerings.

499 Advanced Experimental Course.


Skill Courses top

081 College Reading and Critical Thinking. Using a strategic, content-based approach, students learn to apply questioning techniques, writing strategies and critical thinking skills to their college reading. Students should be concurrently enrolled in a heavy-reading content course. May be repeated with permission of instructor.

090 Study Skills I. Personal and academic growth through the application of learning principles to college study. Students assess their learning styles and analyze current learning theory to develop effective study strategies. Emphasis is placed on applying strategies to individual learning goals and monitoring effectiveness. May be repeated with permission of instructor.

119 Speed Reading. Improve reading rate with paced/timed exercises. Through eye pattern training, the eyes make fewer fixations. This effective technique will decrease the amount of time reading while improving comprehension.

120 Research Paper Writing. Systematic explanation of the process of research writing. Students develop the necessary technical skills for the completion of a polished research paper.

190 Reading Preparation for the GRE, LSAT, and MCAT. Identification and application of the critical reading and test-taking skills required by pre-professional exams such as the GRE, LSAT, and MCAT. Class time is spent critically analyzing reading passages, developing vocabulary and analogous reasoning capabilities, developing appropriate reading strategies and practicing test-taking skills. Instruction is individualized and test specific.