English Courses
Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is a prerequisite for all English courses with the exception of ENG 101, ENG 102, ENG 104, ENG 105, ENG 120, ENG 180, ENG 223, ENG 225, and ENG 245.
ENG 101 Survey of British Literature I - 3 credits
British literature from the Old English period through the 18th century. Offered every year in the fall semester. Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 102 Survey of British Literature II - 3 credits
British literature from the Romantic period to the present. Offered every year in the spring semester. Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 104 Introduction to Creative Writing – 3 credits
In this workshop-based course, we will channel creativity and imagination through writing, learn how to shape language, read closely, experiment, and explore style and voice. We will write poems, creative nonfiction, and fiction, as well as participate in constructive discussion of students' work. Through our workshop of analysis and criticism, you will discover your strengths as a writer across the genres. All styles and subjects are welcome in this class. Satisfaction of the WRI-I requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 105 Survey of World Literature I: The Ancient World to the 17th Century - 3 credits
Beginning with the Mesopotamian tales of Inanna and Gilgamesh, this survey of world literature in English translation introduces students to significant works of prose, verse, and drama from ancient times through the Renaissance. Writing assignments and discussion apply the tools of literary analysis (i.e., literary devices, modes, and genres) in exploring thematic and intellectual connections within and between diverse literary traditions, including those of ancient Greece and Rome, Asia, Africa, India, and Europe. Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 120 Survey of American Literature - 3 credits
American literature from the colonial period to the present. Offered every year in the fall and spring semesters. Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 180 Women Go to the Movies, or How to Read a Film - 3 credits
Images of women in film, from the 1930s “Golden Age” to the present. This course will focus on the ways in which films and their portrayals of women mirror their times, the ways in which film adaptations transform the original prose sources, the use of various techniques and conventions of film and prose, and archetypes as keys to “reading” both literature and film. Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is not a prerequisite forthis course.
ENG 200 Literary Analysis - 3 credits
An introduction to genre, basic terminology and theory, emphasizing analytical strategies for reading and writing about literary texts. Class discussions and papers approach the different genres – poetry, fiction, essay and drama – from various critical perspectives and provide practice in interpretation and evaluation. This class is strongly recommended, although not required, before taking 300-level literature courses. Students intending to major in English should take this course first.
ENG 203 Literary Research Methods - 3 credits
Literary Research Methods, in building upon the skills taught in ENG 200: Literary Analysis, teaches the process of scholarly textual inquiry and research. We’ll explore the richness of literary texts and how they establish meaning—from their straightforward declarations to their suggestive ambiguities—by learning the craft of the close analysis of language and examining the ways in which our theoretical points of view affect the process of that interpretation. We’ll also examine strategies for how to read, evaluate, and apply scholarship in forming our literary interpretations. Along the way, we’ll make use of the tools of the literary scholar (e.g., digital archives and specialized reference books and databases) and consider the politics of the profession: how did literary studies come to be, and why do we read the texts that we do? By mastering the essentials of textual analysis and research, students will emerge prepared for advanced coursework in English.
ENG 223 Topics in American Literature - 3 credits
Traces developments in significant thematic areas of American literature and film. Topics have included nature, the city, Native American literature, comic books, horror, and sensation fiction. Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 225 Topics in British Literature - 3 credits
A study of a theme or genre within British literature, often but not necessarily transcending historical periods. Previous topics include British fantasy, British Gothic literature, landscape in British literature, literature of London, and themes in 21st century British literature. Satisfaction of the WRI-1 requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 245 Topics in World Literature - 3 credits
World literature in English translation. Course content varies from semester to semester. Satisfaction of the WRI1 requirement is not a prerequisite for this course.
ENG 230 Introduction to Professional Writing – 3 credits
An introduction to the practice of professional writing. Professional writers include journalists, grant writers, writers of training manuals, publicists, content managers, and travel writers, among many other professions. The course will focus on the rhetorical theories, genre expectations, and information design skills that define professional writing. We will explore the writing fundamentals found in diverse workplaces, developing professional-level standards of composition, revision, research, and documentation. In the workshop-based studio sessions, students will propose, write, and edit projects with a focus on clarity, audience, style, and ethics. The course will also examine the appropriate and effective use of multimedia and communication channels in professional writing. Writing assignments will include blogs, eBooks, reviews, proposals, and more.
ENG 233 Creative Writing: Fiction - 3 credits
An introductory workshop in the craft of fiction. Students will analyze the work of established authors and learn strategies for developing their own material. Students will analyze the work of established authors and learn strategies for developing their own material. Emphasis is on the process of writing. Offered each year in the fall semester.
ENG 234 Creative Writing: Poetry - 3 credits
An introductory workshop in the craft of poetry. Students will analyze the work of established authors and learn strategies for developing their own material. Emphasis is on the process of writing. Offered every year in the spring semester.
ENG 235 Topics in Nonfiction Writing - 3 credits
A workshop offering practice in strategies for writing nonfiction, the focus of this course changes from year to year and may be repeated for credit with permission of instructor or departmental advisor.
ENG 237 Writing for the Web – 3 credits
In the workshop-based studio sessions, students propose, write, and edit web-based projects. Students will read and analyze a variety of online Internet writing and writing techniques, and apply those craft elements and tools of the writers’ trade to developing their own writer’s voice.
ENG 241 Topics in the Novel - 3 credits
An introduction to the novel as a genre and an exploration of its cultural and literary significance. Course content and approach may vary.
ENG 242 Topics in the Short Story - 3 credits
An introduction, through close readings and analysis, to characteristic examples of the short story in the English language. Course content and approach may vary.
ENG 243 Topics in Poetry - 3 credits
An introduction to the various forms, modes, and schools of poetry, and an exploration of the activity of reading poetry. Course content and approach may vary.
ENG 244 Topics in Dramatic Literature - 3 credits
An introduction, through close readings and analysis, to characteristic examples of drama in the English language. Course content and approach may vary.
ENG 260 Special Topics - 3 credits
Highlights special topics that supplement the department’s regular rotation of courses.
ENG 303 Linguistics and the Development of the English Language - 3 credits
The study of structural linguistics: phonemics, morphology, and syntax of basic descriptive linguistics, as well as a systematic study of the changes in sound and syntax from the beginning of English to the present, including etymological developments. The course also introduces semantics, bilingualism and American speech communities, gender differences, and language development in children.
ENG 306 Chaucer - 3 credits
The study of “The Canterbury Tales” and “Troilus and Criseyde,” including the cultural history of 14th century England and major issues in Chaucerian scholarship.
ENG 311 Shakespeare - 3 credits
A study of Shakespeare’s major plays and poetry. The course pays special attention to Shakespeare’s world, Renaissance England, and its influence on the playwright and his plays, as well as to our contemporary responses to Shakespeare’s insights about the human condition. Emphasis is placed on aspects of performance as well as close study of the language, structure, and themes of his plays.
ENG 312 Medieval and Renaissance Literature - 3 credits
Focused study of the literature of the Middle Ages and the longer English Renaissance, including the 17th century. The course may concentrate on a single author or group of authors, a specific genre, or a literary theme. Possible emphases include women in medieval literature, medieval romances, Arthurian literature of the Middle Ages, Jacobean drama (excluding Shakespeare), seventeenth-century poetry, and Renaissance women writers.
ENG 317 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature - 3 credits
Focused study of the literature of the longer eighteenth century, from the Restoration to the French Revolution. The course may concentrate on a single author or group of authors, a specific genre, or a literary theme. Possible emphases include Jane Austen and eighteenth-century culture, Restoration and eighteenth-century drama, and the uses of satire in the period.
ENG 318 Nineteenth-Century British Literature - 3 credits
Focused study of the literature written in the period spanning the French Revolution through the reign of Queen Victoria, with occasional forays into the Edwardian era. The course may concentrate on a single author or group of authors, a specific genre, or a literary theme. Sample emphases may include Romantic women writers, rebellion in Romantic literature, the Brontës, work and desire in Victorian literature, Victorian Empire writing.
ENG 319 Modern and Contemporary British Literature - 3 credits
Focused study of British literature written in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. The course may concentrate on a single author or group of authors, a specific genre, or a literary theme.
ENG 321 Romantic American Literature - 3 credits
American literature from 1820 to 1865, including the birth of Romanticism, Transcendentalism, the slave narrative, and the abolitionist and woman’s suffrage movements. Representative authors include Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson.
ENG 322 Realist American Literature - 3 credits
American literature from 1865 to 1914: an investigation of the ways in which mainstream and marginalized writers responded to post-Civil-War changes and conditions, including the literary movements of realism, naturalism, regionalism, and “local color.” Representative authors include Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Henry James, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Sarah Orne Jewett, Sui Sin Far, and Zitkala-Sa.
ENG 323 Modern American Literature - 3 credits
Focuses on American literature of the modern period (1914-1945): poetry and prose that range from the experimentalism of elitist art to immigrant stories to hardboiled detective fiction.
ENG 326 Contemporary American Literature - 3 credits
Focuses on developments in North American literature from the nineteen-fifties to the present. Includes not only established authors such as Morrison and Atwood but new voices as well.
ENG 333 Topics in Creative Writing: Fiction - 3 credits
A class which focuses on elements of craft within the genre of fiction; sample topics may include “Flash Fiction” and “Voice and Character.” The class includes weekly reading and writing assignments.
ENG 334 Topics in Creative Writing: Poetry - 3 credits
A class which focuses on elements of craft within the genre of poetry; sample topics may include “Narrative Poetry” and “Revolution in the Lyric Poem.” The class includes weekly reading and writing assignments.
ENG 335 Advanced Nonfiction Writing - 3 credits
Exploration of more specialized topics in nonfiction within a workshop environment; sample topics may include “The Flash Essay,” “The Lyric Essay,” or “Writing for Publication.” The class includes weekly reading and writing assignments. Students complete a semester-long project—the creation of a portfolio of new works.
ENG 336 Topics in Professional Writing – 3 credits
In the workshop-based studio sessions, students propose, write, and edit projects in the field of professional writing with a focus on clarity, audience, style, and ethics. Possible topics include “Technical Writing,” “Travel Writing,” “Writing Social Engagement,” and “Science Writing.” Prerequisite: “Introduction to Professional Writing” or permission of instructor.
ENG 352 English Seminar - 3 credits
Semi-independent research and small-group discussion on a common literary concern. In addition, readings and discussion of professional and social issues related to the study of literature. On occasion, this course may be team-taught. Open to senior English majors and to junior English majors with instructor permission. Course may be repeated for credit with different topic.
ENG 360 Special Topics - 3 credits
Highlights special topics that supplement the department’s regular rotation of courses.
ENG 370 Intern Program - 3 credits
Two internship opportunities are offered: 1) Teaching assistant. Outstanding seniors assist in conducting upper-level English courses that they have had previously, while pursuing an advanced reading course in the subject. 2) Literary magazine editor. Each year, a student intern will be selected to oversee the publication of the college’s arts and literature journal, Pitch. The editorial internship is usually held for the academic year, though it may be held for more than one year in rare instances. Interns are selected by the contributing departments, approved by the department chair or journal advisor, and supervised either by the instructor of the course they are assisting with or by the advisor to Pitch. This course is offered at the discretion of the department.
ENG 380 Women Writers - 3 credits
A study of the works of major British and American women authors and the nature of women’s creativity in the context of feminist criticism.
ENG 382 Literary Theory and Criticism - 3 credits
A study of the ideas and theories that inform the study of literature, this course investigates the acts of reading, writing, and interpretation and the philosophical ideas that inform them. Students will study schools of theory and criticism to gain a keener awareness of the ways in which they already interpret words and the world and practice new ways of determining meaning.
ENG 390 Independent Study - 1-3 credits each term
Encompasses individual reading, creative or research projects carried out under the supervision of a member of the department. Departmental approval is required to take this course.
