English

Advanced Placement: A score of 4 or 5 in Literature earns college credit and counts toward the literature common area requirement; a score of 4 or 5 in Language & Composition earns college credit but does not meet any common area requirement. Students with AP credit in English do not receive credit toward the major or advanced standing in the English curriculum.

Majors: Students who are considering an English major should enroll in ENGL 130: Poetry and Poetics during the first year. Those seeking to sharpen their skills before entering Poetry and Poetics may begin with ENGL 100: Introduction to Literary Study.

Creative Writing Minor:  Students interested in pursuing a minor in creative writing should consider enrolling in ENGL 100: Introduction to Literary Study or ENGL 130: Poetry and Poetics.



ENGL 100
Introduction to Literary Study
Common Area: Literature

How does literature matter?  What use is figurative language?  What truth can literature offer?  This course teaches students how literary texts produce meaning through genre and form. Through frequent analytical writing assignments based on the readings, the course helps students learn to present complex arguments with clarity, logic, and persuasive style. Maximum enrollment in each section is 19.


ENGL 100-01 Introduction to Literary Studies: The Fiction of Connection

We live in a world where being “connected” feels like a necessity, even an unquestionable good. Yet what connection actually entails is often taken for granted. Whom are we connected to? How are we connected? What forms of responsibility do different forms of connection require? What are the costs, and benefits, of disconnection? As it happens, these questions are at the heart of modern fiction. Fiction not only represents the shifting relations between self and other, the circulation of stories also helps stitch together the social fabric. This course will focus on important and engaging works of fiction that imagine the possibilities for connection in the modern world, while also probing the limits of sympathy and community. In addition to becoming better readers of fiction, you will have the opportunity to develop your abilities as writers through regular essay assignments.

ENGL 100-02  Introduction to Literary Studies:TBD

ENGL 100-03:  Introduction to Literary Studies: TBD

ENGL 100-04:  Introduction to LIterary Studies: TBD

ENGL 100-05: Introduction to Literary Studies: Ghost Fiction

Storytelling is a primal way for human beings to communicate information, make sense of their history, and discover the meaning of their personal experiences.  This course will introduce you to three basic elements that convey a story’s meaning: narrative structure; narration and point of view; and description and imagery.  At the same time, it traces the evolution of a specific literary genre, the ghost story.  You will read classic stories and novels by some of the best storytellers of the last two centuries (Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison), as well as some very spooky tales by writers you may have never heard of. Throughout the semester, we'll investigate how ghost stories work, why people read them, and what they might mean. We will also consider how ghost stories persist in Halloween haunted houses, ghost walks, video games, films, and other forms of popular culture

ENGL 100-06: Introduction to Literary Study: The Modern Novel

In this course, we will study a selection of groundbreaking 20th- and 21st-century American novels. We will devote particular attention to the experiences of figures who—for reasons including race, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status, and geographic location—find themselves alienated from or marginalized by mainstream American society. As we read, discuss, and write about these stories, we will consider how the desire to critique dominant culture coexists, often uneasily, with the desire to achieve community, belonging, and acknowledgment. Readings will include fiction by Nella Larsen, William Faulkner, Sylvia Plath, Justin Torres, and George Saunders. One unit.

ENGL 100-07: Introduction to Literary Study: TBD

ENGL 100-08:  Introduction to Literary Study: TBD

ENGL 100-09: Introduction to Literary Study: The Modern Novel

In this course, we will study a selection of groundbreaking 20th- and 21st-century American novels. We will devote particular attention to the experiences of figures who—for reasons including race, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status, and geographic location—find themselves alienated from or marginalized by mainstream American society. As we read, discuss, and write about these stories, we will consider how the desire to critique dominant culture coexists, often uneasily, with the desire to achieve community, belonging, and acknowledgment. Readings will include fiction by Nella Larsen, William Faulkner, Sylvia Plath, Justin Torres, and George Saunders. One unit.


ENGL 110
Intro to Academic Writing

Devoted to improving the student's writing through frequent revisions. Intensive work during the semester concentrates on the student's own writing, which is examined in class and in conference with the instructor.
Maximum enrollment in each section is 12.


ENGL 130
Poetry and Poetics
Common Area: Literature

The study of poetry is central to the study of literature, since it is in poetry that the power of language-play is at its most intense.  This course investigates how poetry produces emotional and intellectual effects through language, sound, and form.  Examining poems from a broad range of writers and periods, students will hone close reading skills as they engage with the devices poets use to prompt imaginative work in their readers.  All sections will be writing-intensive, using the drafting process to develop and refine literary analysis and ultimately to present it in the form of persuasive critical arguments.  Maximum enrollment in each section is 19.

Poetry and Poetics is the initial course in the English major sequence.  Students considering the major may wish to enhance their skills by first enrolling in any section of Introduction to Literary Study.  Prospective majors who feel prepared to enter Poetry and Poetics directly are encouraged to do so.  



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