Department of English Course Descriptions

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Courses in this section are grouped as follows: Composition; Language; Literature; and Special Offerings.

ENGL 1100 Composition, or its equivalent, is a general prerequisite for all English courses numbered 2310 and above. This, and other specific prerequisites, may be waived by consent of the department

ENGL 3100 Advanced Expository Writing, its equivalent or consent of the instructor is a general prerequisite for all literature courses numbered 3000 and above for non-English majors.

Writing Courses:

ENGL 1100 Freshman Composition (3) [C]
Teaches critical reading and thinking skills and emphasizes writing as a process. Enhances writing skills through a sequence of increasingly focus on problems of invention, organization, development, and revision in essay writing. Fulfills the campus complex writing assignments. Class discussion and small-group workshops freshman writing requirement. Does not count toward the major in English.

ENGL 1110 Freshman Composition for International Students (3) [C]
Theory and practice of American prose. Special attention will be given to the writing process and to improving creative, persuasive, analytical, and research skills. Additional attention will be given to verb tenses, idioms, articles, and syntax. This course is for students whose native language or dialect is not American English, who have a TOEFL paper-based score of 500 or higher, and have completed their required ESL writing courses or can demonstrate advanced proficiency in writing. Does not count toward the major in English. This course substitutes for ENGL 1100 in all University requirements.  

ENGL 2030 Introduction to the Writing of Poetry (3) [C, H]
Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent. An introduction to the writing of poetry and an exploration of contemporary poems as models for the writer. Students who have taken ENGL 2060 may not take ENGL 2030 for credit. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 2040 Introduction to the Writing of Fiction (3) [C, H]
Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent. An introduction to the writing of fiction and an exploration of contemporary short stories as models for the writer. Students who have taken ENGL 2060 may not take ENGL 2050 for credit. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 2080 Advertising Copywriting (3)
Same as MEDIA ST 1108 To give students a hands-on approach for writing advertising material for print and broadcast against tight deadlines in a professional setting.

ENGL 2120 Topics in Writing (3) [C, H]
Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent. This course will introduce the student to writing in specific areas. The department will announce topics and course content in the Schedule . Possible topics are Argumentation, Reading and Writing About Public Affairs, Sports Reporting and  Writing, and Writing About Science. A student may repeat the course once when topics are different. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3030 Poetry Writing Workshop: Lyric and Form (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 2030 or 2060 or the equivalent or consent of instructor.  Workshop in poetry writing. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3040 Fiction Writing Workshop: Narrative Techniques (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 2040 or 2060 or the equivalent or consent of instructor.  Workshop in fiction writing.   The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3090 Practical Criticism: Writing About Literature (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 1100 or equivalent and junior standing . The course acquaints students with the techniques and terminology of literary criticism and trains them in the rudiments of writing about literature. Students compose eight to ten practical, critical essays on drama, poetry, fiction, and nonfictional prose. Explication of particular texts is emphasized. A longer critical paper incorporating secondary sources and introducing students to basic methods and resources for research is assigned. The course is required of English majors but is open to all qualified students. Course does not count toward the major in English. May not be taken on satisfactory/unsatisfactory option.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3100 Advanced Expository Writing (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours). This course further develops the experienced writer's style and analytical capabilities to the level of sophistication necessary for upper-division writing assignments and for academic and professional settings. The course includes complex readings, focuses on persuasion and argumentation, expands upon students' research and documentation skills, and requires research in university libraries. This course fulfills the university's requirement for a junior-level course in communicative skills. It may not be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3110 Advanced Expository Writing for International Students (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 1110 or equivalent. This course will develop the student's style and critical-analytical abilities in contemporary American English writing. The course will also offer an introduction to formal research and documentation methods for preparing papers in a variety of fields. Additional emphasis will be placed on improving the student's reading abilities, both in comprehension and vocabulary. Course satisfies the junior-level communicative skills requirement. May not be taken on the satisfactory/unsatisfactory option.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3120 Business Writing (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours) This course further develops the experienced writer's style and analytical capabilities to the level of sophistication necessary for upper-division writing assignments and for business and professional settings. Writing assignments may include business correspondence, reports, resumes, proposals, analyses, feasibility studies, and articles for in-house publications. The course emphasizes clarity, conciseness, organization, format, style, tone, and mechanical correctness; expands upon students' research and documentation skills; and requires research in university libraries. Fulfills the university's requirement for a junior-level course in communicative skills. It may not be taken on a satisfactory/ unsatisfactory basis.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3130 Technical Writing (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours). The major elements of industrial technical writing. Writing assignments include technical definitions, abstracts and summaries, mechanism descriptions, instructions, process analyses, technical reports and proposals. Emphasis is placed on clarity, conciseness, organization, format, style, and tone. The course includes an introduction to research methods and documentation. All readings are selected from industrial material. Fulfills the university's requirement for a junior-level course in communicative skills, subject to the approval of the student's major department. May not be taken on the satisfactory/unsatisfactory option. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3140 News Writing (3)
Same as MEDIA ST 3214 Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent. An introduction to news writing and reporting. Course covers basic components of news, reporting principles, and news writing style and structure. Daily writing assignments include coverage of speeches, meetings and interviews, accidents, deaths, courts, sports, consumer affairs, and government. Emphasis on clarity, accuracy, and speed. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3150 Feature Writing (3)
Same as MEDIA ST 3150. Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent. Study of free-lance and staff-written magazine or newspaper feature articles. Emphasis on relationship between types of publication and article content, research methods, and writing style. Frequent short assignments—journal entries, interviews, library projects, article critiques, and market reports—lead to production of full-length feature articles. May not be taken on the satisfactory/unsatisfactory option. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3160 Writing in the Sciences (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours). Designed to teach students how to write effectively in the sciences. Writing assignments include short reports, proposals and a major project. Students are encouraged to select projects that will reflect work in a science course which may include a research or analytical report, a formal proposal or a procedures/ instructions manual. Emphasis is placed on clarity, conciseness, organization, format, style, and tone. The course will include an introduction to research methods and documentation. Fulfills the university's requirement for a junior-level course in communicative skills, subject to the approval of the student's major department. May not be taken on the satisfactory/ unsatisfactory option.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3180 Reporting (3)
Same as MEDIA ST 3180. Prerequisite: ENGL 3140 or equivalent. Theory and practice of reporting news for publication in the print media. Includes one classroom session and one field assignment weekly. Stories must be filed within deadline limits. Writing emphasis is on clarity, conciseness, and accuracy.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 3280 Public Relations Writing (3)
Same as COMM 2228 Prerequisite: ENGL 3140 or equivalent. An introduction to the process of planning, producing, and evaluating written public relations messages. Writing assignments include media releases, letters, memos, position papers, background papers, brochures, and reports and proposals.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 4130 Advanced Poetry Writing Workshop (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 3100 or equivalent; ENGL 2030 or 3030 or consent of instructor; recommended prerequisite: ENGL 2330. Advanced workshop in poetry writing. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 4140 Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 3100 or equivalent; ENGL 2040 or equivalent or consent of instructor. Advanced workshop in fiction writing.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 4160 Special Topics in Writing (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or equivalent.  Special topics in writing that are not covered in other 3000-level English courses. Since the topics of ENGL 4160 may change each semester, the course may be repeated for credit if the topics area substantially different and consent of the instructor is given.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 4850 Topics in the Teaching of Writing (3)
Same as TCH ED 5850. Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or equivalent. Special topics in the practice of and pedagogy of writing designed for in-service teachers. Topics may include writing at specific grade levels, writing/reading workshops, writing in urban settings, writing across the curriculum, action research, new technology, classroom and district-level assessment. May be repeated once for credit if topics differ. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing and the Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing.

ENGL 4860 Editing (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or equivalent as judged by  instructor; ENGL 2810 or 4810. Introduction to language and processes of editing. Includes copy editing, study of style manuals, and overview of production process. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 4870 Advanced Business and Technical Writing (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 3100 or its equivalent as judged by instructor. An advanced, project-oriented course to produce substantial, multifaceted business and technical writing projects. These might include reports, manuals, proposals, Web projects, computer documentation, or other advanced written assignments. These projects demonstrate the ability to handle complex assignments requiring initiative, independent work, and professional-level writing skills.  The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 4880 Writing for Teachers (3)
Same as SEC ED 4880. Designed for prospective as well as in-service teachers, the course includes: (1) writing - short papers to be shared in workshop groups; (2) reading - current theory and research on writing and the implications for teachers; (3) teaching- classroom activities that foster growth in writing. The course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.

ENGL 4890 Writing Internship (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 3100 or its equivalent as judged by instructor. Course limited to students who are completing their certificates in writing. May be taken concurrently with the final course in the certificate sequence. Students work in a supervised internship to complete professional writing assignments. Special consent form required.

ENGL 4892 Independent Writing Project (3)
Prerequisites:  ENGL 3100 or equivalent as judged by instructor.  Course limited to students who are completing their certificates in writing.  May be taken concurrently with the final course in the certificate sequence.  Students work individually with an instructor to complete an extensive creative writing or critical analysis writing project.  This course is available on a limited basis only with the approval of the Coordinator and faculty sponsor.  Special consent form is required.

ENGL 4985 Editing Litmag (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or equivalent and at least two creative writing courses.  Course is primarily for students nearing the end of their certificates in writing.  Students in this course create Litmag, the UMSL student literary magazine.  Students will call for submissions; they will read and select work to be published; and they will produce the magazine, dealing with issues like format, budget, proofreading, print run, advertising, distribution, and publicity.  The course is offered only in the spring and culminates with the publication of Litmag in late April.

ENGL 5100 Graduate Workshop in Poetry (3)
Prerequisite: Open to students in the MFA program and to others with permission of instructor. Consists of a writing workshop in which the poetry written by the students enrolled in the course is discussed and analyzed by the instructor and members of the class. Students taking this course will be expected to write original poetry throughout the course. May be repeated for maximum graduate credit of fifteen hours.

ENGL 5110 Graduate Workshop in Fiction (3)
Prerequisite: Open to students in the MFA program and to others with permission of instructor. Consists of a writing workshop in which the fiction (short stories or chapters of a novel) written by the students enrolled in the course is discussed and analyzed by the instructor and members of the class. Students taking this course will be expected to write original fiction throughout the course. May be repeated for maximum graduate credit of fifteen (15) hours.

ENGL 5120 Graduate Workshop in Poetry and Fiction (3)
Prerequisite: Open to students in the MFA program and to others with consent of the instructor. Consists of a writing workshop in which the poetry and fiction written by the students enrolled in the course are discussed and analyzed by the instructor and members of the class. Students taking this course will be expected to write original poetry and/or fiction throughout the course. May be repeated for maximum graduate credit of fifteen (15) hours.

ENGL 5130 Graduate Workshop in the Novel (3)
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on submission of sample of novel manuscript. A writing workshop in which a novel written by the student is discussed and analyzed by the instructor and members of the class. Students must have a complete novel manuscript (50,000 words minimum) ready for discussion by the beginning of class. May be repeated for maximum graduate credit of fifteen (15) hours.

ENGL 5140 Graduate Workshop in Nonfiction (3)
Prerequisites: Open to students in the MFA program and to others with permission of the instructor. A variable-topics writing workshop focusing on one or more of the following forms: personal essay, memoir, travel writing, literary journalism, biography, or other types of literary nonfiction. May be repeated for maximum graduate credit of fifteen (15) hours.

ENGL 5170 Techniques, Methods, and Effects in Fiction Writing (3)
Prerequisites: Open to students in the MFA program and to others with consent of the instructor.  This course analyzes the technical choices made by important contemporary fiction writers in the area of point of view, tone, seeing, form, and plot structure, and it examines the effects of those choices. Close consideration is given to fictional techniques that contribute to a story’s characterization, tension, interest, reliability, drama, irony, and humor. The course is primarily for creative writers.

ENGL 5190 Literary Journal Editing (3)
Prerequisite: Open to students in the MFA program who have had at least two graduate writing workshops and to others with permission of the instructor.  In this course students serve as the first readers of all submissions to the university's literary magazine, Natural BridgeStudents  will read and evaluate poems, short stories, and essays and recommend a body of work to the editorial board of the magazine. The editorial board will then consider the class consensus in its final selection of material for publication. In addition to this primary task of editorial selection, students will also be involved in the production of an issue of the magazine. May be repeated for maximum graduate credit of nine hours.

ENGL 5200 MFA Readings (3)
Prerequisites: Open to students in the MFA program and to others with consent of the instructor.  This is an independent readings course. In consultation with an MFA faculty member, students choose works from the MFA Reading List and read them with the goal of broadening and sharpening their technical skills as writers. Students ordinarily choose works in one genre: poetry, the short story, or the novel. Each week the student reads and reports on at least one work. The course may be taken only once.

ENGL 5840 Theories of Writing (3)
An analysis of major modern theories in composition

ENGL 5850 Studies in Composition (3)
The study of special topics in composition. Topics may include history of composition, psychology of writing, reader-response theory, etc.

ENGL 5860 Writing/Reading Theory (3)
The parallel evolution of reading and writing theory and pedagogy. Topics include the influence of psycho-linguistics and reader-response theory and the link between reading and writing theory and instruction.

ENGL 5870 Composition Research (3)
Students analyze and conduct research in composition. Course work teaches students to evaluate methodologies and implications, and to analyze data and to design research.

ENGL 5890 Teaching College Writing (3)
Provides the opportunity for practical application of composition theory with an emphasis on improving teaching skills. Strongly recommended for graduate teaching assistants.

ENGL 6010 Final Writing Project (3-6)
Prerequisite: Successful completion of 15 hours in graduate creative writing courses or permission from instructor. An independent writing tutorial taken by students after they have completed all other creative writing course work. Completion of the project requires a substantial body of original poetry or fiction. May be repeated for maximum graduate credit of six (6) hours.

ENGL 6880 Gateway Writing Project (3-6)
Same as TCH ED 6880. An intensive course in the writing process and the writing curriculum, designed for experienced teachers. Readings of current theory and research will be related to participants' experiences as writers and as teachers. Topics may vary. May be repeated for credit. No more than six hours may be applied toward the M.Ed. Counts toward the Graduate Certificate in Teaching Writing.

Language Courses:

ENGL 2810 Traditional Grammar (3) [C]
An introduction to the terms and concepts of traditional grammar, beginning with the parts of speech and moving to more complex structures such as participles, gerunds, and clauses. The course also deals with the conventions of formal usage and punctuation.

ENGL 4800 Linguistics (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 3100; majors, ENGL 3090.  A survey of linguistics with emphasis on what the field reveals about the English language. Topics include the sounds of language, grammar, writing systems, language acquisition, language in society, language history, dialects, and usage.

ENGL 4810 English Grammar (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 3100; majors, ENGL 3090; ENGL 2810 or passing grade on English-Education Test of Basic Grammar. A study of modern English grammar from the perspectives of traditional, structural, and transformational grammar. 

ENGL 4820 History of the English Language (3)
Prerequisite: Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or equivalent. A historical survey of the English language from its Indo-European roots through Old and Middle English to the present. Topics include changes in sound, meaning, and grammar, as well as developments in American English, including regional and social dialects.

ENGL 5800 Modern Linguistics (3)
A study of selected topics in the structure of the English language, combining readings in current linguistics publications with original research.

Literature Courses:

ENGL 1120 Literary Types (3) [C, V, H]
The student is introduced to the various literary types, including poetry, drama, fiction, and the essay.

ENGL 1130 Topics in Literature (3) [C, H]
Introduces the student to selected literary topics and/or genres. Each semester the department will announce topics and course content. Topics such as alienation, justice, and the absurd, and genres such as science fiction and contemporary drama are typical possibilities.

ENGL 1170 American Literary Masterpieces (3)
An introduction to major themes and works in American literature from the nineteenth century to the present. Selected works from Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, Whitman, Twain, James, Frost, Hemingway, Faulkner, O'Connor, Plath, and Bellow.

ENGL 1175 Arts and Ideas (3) [H]

Same as ST ART 1175, HIST 1175, M H L T 1175, PHIL 1175, TH DAN 1175. An interdisciplinary course tied to the semester’s offerings at the Blanche Touhill Performing Arts Center as well as other events on campus featuring the visual arts, literature, music, and film.  Each semester the course will provide background on the arts in general and will critically examine particular performances and offerings. Special themes for each semester will be selected once the Touhill schedule is in place. Students will be expected to attend 6-8 performances or exhibitions. Can be repeated once for credit.

ENGL 1200 Myth (3) [C,V,H]
The nature of myth, with some consideration of the various theories used to account for its origins. An examination of central mythic motifs, images, and characters. While some attention will be given to comparing the mythologies of different cultures, the emphasis will be on reading Classical Greek and Roman mythology.

ENGL 1700 African-American Literature (3) [C, H]
A survey of prose, poetry, and drama by black Americans from the period of enslavement through the Harlem Renaissance to the present.

ENGL 1710 Native American Literature (3) [C, CD ,H]
Surveys the literature of American Indians from its oral tradition of myth, legend, song, and oratory through its modern forms. The course satisfies the ethnic literature requirement for Missouri state certification in Secondary Education.

ENGL 2240 Literature of the New Testament (3) [C, H]
A comprehensive understanding of the New Testament, its literary background, and significance for Western civilization.

ENGL 2250 Literature of the Old Testament (3) [C, H]
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor. A comprehensive understanding of the Old Testament, its literary background, and significance for Western civilization.

ENGL 2280 The Contemporary World in Literature (3) [V, H, CD]
Selected world literature since the second World War from the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, Africa, India, and Asia with emphasis on non-European literatures. This course excludes literature form the United States and England.

ENGL 2310 English Literature I (3) [C, H]
The eighteenth century. Reading and analysis of representative development of English literature from the Middle Ages through the works of selected major writers.

ENGL 2320 English Literature II (3) [C, H]
The development of English literature during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Reading and analysis of representative works of selected major writers. 

ENGL 2330 Introduction to Poetry (3) [C, H]
A close study of poems, with special emphasis on the varieties of poetic forms, and the means of interpretation and evaluation. The works studied will be primarily English and American, and from at least three different centuries.

ENGL 2340 Introduction to Drama (3) [V, H]
A close study of major dramatic works in various modes, to introduce the student to the forms and techniques of dramatic literature. The works studied will be primarily English and American, and from at least three different centuries.

ENGL 2350 Introduction to Fiction (3) [C, H]
A close study of major prose fiction, with particular attention to the varieties of fictional forms and techniques.  The works studied will be primarily English and American, and from at least three different centuries.

ENGL 2710 American Literature I (3) [C, H]
Representative selections from American authors from the middle of the seventeenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century.

ENGL 2720 American Literature II (3) [C, H]
Representative selections from American authors from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present. Fulfills the requirement for Missouri Teacher Certification of a unit in literature of American ethnic groups'' and a unit in American literature for adolescents.''

ENGL 3800 Topics in Women and Literature (3)
An examination of the role of women in literature, either as figures in literary works or as writers. Specific topics to vary from semester to semester. Since the topics of ENGL 3800 may change each semester, the course may be repeated for credit if the topics are substantially different.

ENGL 4030 Contemporary Critical Theory (3)
This course is to acquaint students with a range of critical methodologies that have gained currency since the 1960s. The kinds of criticism considered include formalist (New Critical, Russian, and Aristotelian), structuralist, post-structuralist, Marxist, reader-response, psycho-sexual, and feminist.

ENGL 4050 Forms and Modes of Poetry (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 3090 prerequisite or corequisite. An advanced critical study of formal poetry, from classical and Renaissance models to modern innovations and masterpieces. The course will cover scansion, figurative language, stanza form and convention, modes of occasional poetry, and studies of formal poets (e.g. Yeats, McKay, Bogan, Auden).

ENGL 4060 Adolescent Literature (3)
The course will expose students to the large variety of quality adolescent literature available for reading and study in middle and high school classes. It will also examine the relevance of a variety of issues to the reading and teaching of adolescent literature, among them: reader response, theory and practice; multiculturalism; literacy; the relation of adolescent literature to "classic literature"; the role of adolescent literature in interdisciplinary studies; adolescent literature as an incentive to extracurricular reading.

ENGL 4080 Narrative, Cognition, and Emotion (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL 2320; ENGL 3090, prerequisite or co-requisite. Examines narrative theory in the light of recent research into cognitive organization and the structure of the emotions. Traditional and contemporary theories of narrative—of realism, symbolism, point of view, tone, and genre—are developed through recent findings in empirical science. A variety of stories and novels are used as test cases for theoretical propositions.

ENGL 4260 Chaucer (3)
Concentrates on the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer, including the Canterbury Tales, early poetic works, and the Troilus and Criseyde. All readings are in the original Middle English.

ENGL 4270 Medieval English Literature (3)
A survey of old and middle English literature from Beowulf to Malory's Morte d'Arthur, exclusive of Chaucer. All works are read in modern English translations.

ENGL 4320 Elizabethan Poetry and Prose (3)
Spenser, Sidney, Wyatt, and other poets of the later sixteenth century. The origin and development of prose fiction.

ENGL 4340 Early Seventeenth-Century Poetry and Prose (3)
Donne, Jonson, Marvell, Bacon, and other poets and essayists of the Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Baroque schools, exclusive of Milton.

ENGL 4350 Milton (3)
All the minor poems and the three longer poems with some attention to the major prose; Milton and his relation to the politics, theology, and literature of the seventeenth century.

ENGL 4360 Tudor and Stuart Drama (3)
A survey of the dramatic writings of the period from the interludes of John Heywood to the closing of the theaters in 1642, with particular attention to the plays of Marlowe, Jonson, Webster, and Ford. Though Shakespeare will not be studied in this course, connections between his works and those of his contemporaries will be discussed.

ENGL 4370 Shakespeare: Tragedies and Romances (3)
The development of Shakespeare's concept of tragedy and tragicomedy from Titus Andronicus to The Tempest. The plays will be related to the social and literary milieu of the period.

ENGL 4380 Shakespeare: Comedies and Histories (3)
Shakespeare's early work for the theater with some attention to the sonnets and longer poems. An historical background for a study of all the plays, including discussions of  Elizabethan society, the world of the stage, and Shakespeare's biography.

ENGL 4420 Age of Dryden and Pope (3)
The beginnings of English neoclassic literature in the Restoration and its development through the first half of the eighteenth century, focusing on Dryden, Swift, and Pope.

ENGL 4450 The Eighteenth-Century English Novel (3)
The origins and early development of the English novel, from Defoe to Jane Austen.

ENGL 4510 Early Romantic Poetry and Prose (3)
The English romantic movement with special emphasis on the early writers--Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. Additional readings in selected prose writers and minor poets.

ENGL 4520 Later Romantic Poetry and Prose (3)
The English romantic movement with special emphasis on the later writers--Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Additional readings in selected prose writers and minor poets.

ENGL 4540 The Nineteenth-Century English Novel (3)
Novels of the Romantic and Victorian Periods, from Austen to George Eliot.

ENGL 4550 Novels into Films: The Nineteenth Century (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 2320, ENGL 3090. Novels by Austen, Eliot, Wilde, Hardy, and others read in themselves and as interpreted in film. Comparisons of the representational and aesthetic techniques available to novels and films.

ENGL 4560 Prose and Poetry of the Victorian Period (3)
Critical readings of selections from Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, and others, in addition to selections from the major prose writing.

ENGL 4580 Literature of the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (3)
Literature of the period between 1870 and the First World War, including works by writers such as Hardy, Conrad, James, Wilde, Stevenson, Shaw, Jefferies, and Wells.

ENGL 4610 Selected Major American Writers I (3)
American literature of the nineteenth century: Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and others.

ENGL 4620 Selected Major American Writers II (3)
American literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: James, Twain, Stephen Crane, Dreiser, and others.

ENGL 4630 African American Literature Prior to 1900 (3)
Prerequisites: (Majors) ENGL 3090, (Non-majors) ENGL 3100 or consent of instructor.  An examination of the roots of the African American literary tradition with emphasis on 19th century texts, primarily rhetoric and oratory by African Americans, though more contemporary work and other “forms” may be included.  Study will focus on captivity/slave narratives, autobiography, sermons, poetry, prose, antebellum and post-bellum essays, speeches, spirituals and other relevant materials.

ENGL 4640 American Fiction to World War I (3)
Development of the novel and short story in America.

ENGL 4650 Modern American Fiction (3)
The novel and short story in America since World War I. There may be some attention to British and continental influences.

ENGL 4740 Poetry Since World War II (3)
Reading and analysis of contemporary poetry.

ENGL 4750 Modern British Fiction (3)
Critical reading and analysis of British fiction of the twentieth century. There may be some attention to American and continental influences.

ENGL 4760 Modern Drama (3)
British, American, and European drama of the last one hundred years: the well-made play, the problem play, verse drama, new definitions of tragedy, the angry theater, theater of the absurd.

ENGL 4770 Modern Poetry (3)
Critical reading and analysis of poetry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Yeats, Eliot, Frost, Williams, and others.

ENGL 4900 Seminar (3)
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Intensive reading, critical discussion, and writing on topics to be announced each semester. Since the topics of ENGL 4900 may change each semester, the course may be repeated for credit if the topics are substantially different. Enrollment limited to twelve students.

ENGL 4910 Studies in African/African American Literature, Criticism, and Diaspora (3)
Prerequisites: (Majors) ENGL 3090, (Non-majors) ENGL 3100 or consent of Instructor. This course focuses on the study of select topics of African and African American Literature and Criticism and Black Diaspora texts.  Topics from semester to semester may vary and include such concentration areas as the Literature of Civil Rights, African American Memoir, Trans-Atlantic Black Literature, Captivity and Freedom Narratives, Diaspora Studies, The African American Folk Aesthetic, Poetry of the Black Aesthetes, Theories of Race and Class, and Black Feminist Writing, among others.

ENGL 4920 Major Works of European Fiction (3)
Prerequisites: Two college courses in literature. The development of the European novel in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Representative works of writers such as Balzac, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Kafka, and Proust, read in translation.

ENGL 4930 Studies in Gender and Literature (3)
Same as WGST 4930. The course examines the role of gender in literature, including the transformation of literary genres by women writers, writings by women during a particular historical period, and gender relations in literature, Specific topics vary from semester to semester. The course may be repeated for credit with departmental approval.

ENGL 4931 English Women Writers, 1300-1750 (3)

Same as WGST 4931. Works will be read ranging in scope from closet drama and romance to lyrics to personal, political, and religious writings by women, such as Margery Kempe, Mary Sidney, and Amelia Lanyer, who wrote during a period when reading and writing were not the female norm.

ENGL 4932 Female Gothic (3)

Same as WGST 4932. This course examines the historical development of the female gothic, a genre which employs narrative strategies for expressing fears and desires associated with female experience. From the late 18th century to the present, we will trace the persistence of the gothic vision in fiction and film.

ENGL 4933 Female Novel of Development (3)

Same as WGST 4933. The course covers the development of the female Bildungsroman from the late 18th century to the present. We will consider how contemporary and current theories of female development help us read these novels within their particular cultural contexts.

ENGL 4934 Austen and the Brontës (3)
Same as WGST 4934. This course covers the novels of the major 19th century British writers Jane Austen and the three Brontë sisters, Anne, Emily, and Charlotte. The course will be devoted to Austen’s romantic comedies and the historical/cultural contexts that inform the novels, as well as the darker romanticism of the Brontës, along with the biographical, cultural, philosophical, and religious contexts of their work.

ENGL 4935 Women Heroes and Romantic Tales (3)

Same as WGST 4935. Women as epic and romantic heroes in British and transatlantic writing 1790s-1850s: reformers and rulers in novels by Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley; a runaway slave and an epic poet in works by Mary Price and Elizabeth Barrett Browning; erotic and political adventures in Robinson, Dacre, Hemans; American icons “Pocahontas” and “Evangeline” in Sigourney and Longfellow.

ENGL 4936 Tales of the Islamic East (3)

Same as WGST 4936. Adventure, gender, and power in British and post-colonial writing: Lady Montague on Turkey, Gibbon on Islam, Byron and Hemans on harems and heroes, Disraeli on the Jewish Caliph of Baghdad, T.E. Lawrence on Arabia, and el Saadawi and Rushdie on (post) modern gender and the Islamic East.

ENGL 4937 Irish and Irish-American Women Writers (3)

Same as WGST 4937. This course traces the parallel arcs of feminism reflected in similarly-themed Irish and Irish-American women’s novels from 1950 to the present. Authors range from Edna O’Brien and Mary McCarthy, the first contemporary feminist novelist in Ireland and America, through Emma Donoghue and Eileen Myles, whose lesbian protagonists bring feminist perspectives into the 21st century.

ENGL 4938 American Women Poets of the 20th/21st Centuries (3)
Same as WGST 4938. Introduction to American women poets since 1900: anarchists, Imagists, Harlem formalists, white lyricists, modernists (Ridge, H.D., Dunbar-Nelson, Millay, Stein); mid-century giants (Rukeyser, Brooks) and Confessionals (Sexton, Plath); feminists and multiculturalists (Rich, Lorde, Giovanni, Hogan), poets of witness and the play of language and the mind (Klepfisz, Olds, Mullen, Perillo).

ENGL 4950 Special Topics in Literature (3)
Special topics in literature that are not covered in other 4000-level English courses. Since the topics of ENGL 4950 may change each semester, the courses may be repeated for credit if the topics are substantially different.

ENGL 4960 Ethnic Literatures (3)
Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or for English Major, ENGL 2320, ENGL 2720, and ENGL 3090, or permission of instructor.  This course will examine the literary work of Ethnic Writing with a special focus on the function of identity in literature. Students will read work arranged either as a collection of various ethnic writers or as subject-specific groups, such as Women Writers of Color, Irish/Irish American Writers, West Indian Writers in the US, South African Writers, etc.  Students will come to understand the socio-historic relevance of literary movements as well as significant events such as the Great Northern Migration, Eugenics, World Wars I and II, etc. in order to understand how representative American and World Literature has become more culturally diverse and inclusive in the 20th century.

ENGL 5000 Introduction to Graduate Study in English (3)
A course designed to prepare students for the professional study of English. The course will both familiarize students with basic bibliographic tools and scholarly methods and introduce them to issues that are of current critical interest to those engaged in the advanced study of literature. These issues include gender, textuality, reader-response, multiculturalism, feminism, psychoanalysis, cultural studies, literary history and the relationship of literature to philosophy, history and science. Must be taken within the first twelve hours of graduate study.

ENGL 5030 Literary Criticism (3)
An examination of selected theories of literature.

ENGL 5040 Feminist Critical Theory (3)
Same as WGST 5040. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor. A consideration of feminist critical theory as a means of reassessing literary texts and our cultural heritage. After exploring the roots of feminist criticism, the seminar will examine Anglo-American and continental debates on theories of language, writing and representation. In providing an interdisciplinary context the course will consider studies in psychology, anthropology, history, and philosophy/theology which have influenced and enriched feminist approaches to literature.

ENGL 5150 Magical Realism Workshop (3)
Prerequisites: Open to student in the MFA Program and other graduate students with consent of instructor.  Half of this course will be a study of the classic texts of magical realism and the other half will be a fiction workshop in which the members of the class will write in this imaginative and symbolic genre.  Non–MFA students will write a critical study of magical realism.

ENGL 5180 Form and Theory of Poetry (3)
Prerequisites: Open to students in the MFA Program and other graduate students with consent of instructor.  This course explores various aspects of traditional and contemporary poetry.  The student will gain an understanding of formal poetry-rhyme and meter-as well as of traditional types of poetry, for example, the lyric and the narrative.  Throughout the course, an emphasis will be maintained on free verse and a greater understanding of its practice.  Students will read selectively in the poetry, theory, and critical approaches of various periods, for example, the romantic and the modern, and within various movements, such as the symbolist or confessional.

ENGL 5250 Studies in Middle English Literature (3)
Special topics in English literature before 1500.

ENGL 5300 Renaissance Literature (3)
Special topics in English literature from 1500 to 1660.

ENGL 5400 Eighteenth-Century Literature (3)
Studies in Augustan poetry and prose, including drama and fiction, with emphasis on background and major figures.

ENGL 5500 Nineteenth-Century Literature (3)
Special topics in English romanticism, in Victorian life and thought, and in the development of the novel and of poetry between 1797 and 1914.

ENGL 5600 American Literature Before 1900 (3)
Selected American writers or topics from the Colonial period to 1900.

ENGL 5700 Twentieth-Century American Literature (3)
Selected American writers or topics from 1900 to the present.

ENGL 5750 Twentieth-Century British Literature (3)
Selected British and Commonwealth writers of the twentieth century.

ENGL 5910 Studies in Poetry (3)
Study of a few selected British and American poets.

ENGL 5920 Studies in Fiction (3)
Study of a few selected British and American novelists and short story writers.

ENGL 5930 Studies in Drama (3)
Study of a few selected British and American dramatists.

ENGL 5940 Seminar in Gender and Literature (3)
Same as WGST 5940. Gender studies in literature of different periods, types, and genres; satisfies area requirement (1-6) appropriate to its period, national literature, and genre.

ENGL 5950 Seminar in Special Topics (1-3)
Special topics which are not covered in other graduate-level English courses.

ENGL 5970 Independent Reading (1-3)
Directed study in areas of English for which courses are not available.

ENGL 6000 Thesis (6)
Prerequisite: 3.5 graduate G.P.A. Thesis research and writing on a selected topic in English studies.

Special Offerings

ENGL 3500 Special Studies (1-3)
Prerequisites: A course in the area of proposed work and consent of instructor. Individual work, with conferences adjusted to needs of the student. May not be used to meet specific English department distribution and language requirements. May be repeated for a maximum total of three hours credit.

ENGL 4885 The Curriculum and Methods of Teaching English (3)
Prerequisites: TCH ED 3310 and a near major in the subject area.  Same as SEC ED 4885.  A study of the scope and sequence of the English courses in the school curriculum with emphasis on the selection and organization of materials and methods of instruction and evaluation. The course prepares students for reflective teaching by relating course readings to field experiences and theory to practice. To be taken prior to student teaching and concurrently with Secondary Education Professional Internship, SEC ED 4989. This course must be completed in residence.  Not available for graduate credit.

ENGL 4888 English Teaching Seminar (2)
Prerequisites: SEC ED 4885/ENGL 4885 and a near major in the subject area. Same as SEC ED 4888. A seminar in the integration of English curricula, educational philosophy, teaching strategies, and instructional technology in the classroom setting.  To be taken concurrently with Secondary Student Teaching, SEC ED 4990.  Not available for graduate credit.

ENGL 4900 Seminar (3)
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Intensive reading, critical discussion, and writing on topics to be announced each semester. Since the topics of ENGL 4900 may change each semester, the course may be repeated for credit if the topics are substantially different. Enrollment limited to twelve students.