Fall 2021 Course Descriptions Undergraduate Courses

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FALL 2021 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

ENGL 132B Shakespeare’s Great Characters and Their Worlds CRN# 7331 M/W/F 1:30-2:20 PM Tom Farrell

We will read perhaps six plays by William Shakespeare, seeking a greater understanding of the ways European culture around 1600—its "ideologies, authority structures, symbols, rituals, traditions" (to quote the description of B courses)—responded to a set cultural issues still relevant to us today. Class discussion will explore Shakespeare's comedies, tragedies, histories and their responses to issues such as politics, class and social authority, the nature of gender and the roles assigned to it, and race.

ENGL 141 Writing About Film CRN# 7065 M/W/F 9:00-9:50 AM Nicole Denner

In this course, we will develop skills in critical and analytical thinking with film as our object. With that goal, we will focus our attention on identifying, synthesizing, and analyzing elements of a film’s story, plot, and basic cinematic techniques, in order to think through how not only the obvious story, but also how stylistic choices affect the way you might interpret possible meanings of and nuanced responses to particular films. Additionally, we will approach how certain elements - historical, cultural, ideological, artistic, technological and/or commercial influences – open up additional or alternative interpretations. We will begin with the basics of film language/terminology. We will discuss the mechanics of and practice writing in various formats, but there will be a particular focus on the critical/analytical essay. While much of this class concerns itself with film studies, it is primarily a writing intensive course. Students should be prepared to devote time outside of class to film viewings and essay writing.

ENGL 141 Writing About Afrofuturism CRN# 7067 T/R 2:30-3:45 PM Chesya Burke

Afrofuturism is a Black cultural aesthetic that is specifically borne from the oppression, visions, and art of Black people within the diaspora. It combines elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism and politics to critique what cultural critic, Greg Tate, views as, the space that “Black people live [within] the estrangement that [white] science fiction writers imagine.” Quite simply, Afrofuturists reimagine a future for Black people outside of the oppressive Eurocentric created society; they envision a place for themselves within the stars and universe that is not coded with anti-blackness. In this course, you will explore traditional storytelling methods of Afrofuturists by looking at examples from a wide range of genres, including film, literature, music and art. We will challenge the notion that Afrofuturism is mere entertainment and instead examine it as a cultural and literary movement. Important figures we will examine will include Octavia Butler, Sun Ra and the lyrics and aesthetic of Janelle Monae. The ultimate goal is for you to become aware of an “audience” when you write so that you can begin to engage with questions involving the Black diaspora, multiculturalism and other diverse groups—to use as practical skills in the future.

ENGL 141 Writing About Afrofuturism CRN# 7068 T/R 4:00-5:15 PM Chesya Burke

ENGL 141 Writing About Food and Drink CRN# TBD Nancy Barber

J.R.R. Tolkien once said, “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” This course will be a celebration of at least food, if not cheer and song, and will focus on the variety of ways that professionals write about food and drink. We will read exemplary essays as models for good writing, and you will get a chance to try out a number of modes of food and/or drink writing yourself: restaurant review, memoir, researched analysis, and immersion quest.

ENGL 142A Literature in the World: Fairy Tales CRN# 7070 M/W/F 11:00-11:50 AM Michele Randall

“There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale.” Ralph Ellison

Fairy Tales have been around for many generations and are still popular in modern writing, television, and film. This course explores the world of Fairy Tales and Fables by looking at some of the original stories and variations. We will read, discuss, analyze, and write about context, cultural adaptations, and modernization of older stories and take a closer look at gender issues like male and female voices in fairy tales, the use of sex & violence, Mother Goose vs. The Grimm Brothers, and the changing value of beauty. Assignments will respond to the stories and critical essays. Be prepared to have thoughtful conversations, substantive analysis, critical thought, & reflection. This course meets GS, WE, & A requirements.

ENGL 142A Literature in the World: Austin and Adaptation CRN# 7071 M/W 12:00-1:15 PM Lori Snook

Jane Austen is one of the great novelists of the English tradition. More than two hundred years after their first appearances, her works still are read and enjoyed, and her works inspire others to create their own stories in conversation with hers. Our big questions for the class: What do we see in the original works? How does adaptation work as interpretation? Together we will read and analyze three of her six novels (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion); we also will read and analyze book adaptations like Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones' Diary and Somah Kamal's Unmarriageable, and watch and analyze film, TV, and webseries adaptations like Pride and Prejudice (2005), The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Clueless (1995), Emma (2020), and Emma Approved. Students will keep a reading journal and three longer essays, research history and reception for Austen's novels and their adaptations, and create and present their own work in conversation with Austen's work.

ENGL 142A Literature in the World: Global Writing Across Borders CRN# 7137 M/W 4:00-5:15 PM Chris Jimenez

What does contemporary English literature look like today? Who’s writing it? Where do they come from? Who’s in—and who’s out? In this course, we will examine texts by contemporary multicultural writers whose literary work transcends borders—national, temporal, racial—to help us understand how English literature is becoming global in scope. Guided by the literary texts listed below, our class will engage with contemporary issues surrounding race, identity, belonging, and (trans)nationalism. Students will gain insight into a variety of political and cultural formations around the world and learn to evaluate them using critical literary analysis

ENGL 208 The Personal Essay CRN# 6476 M/W/F 1:30-2:20 PM Michele Randall

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then you eventually get better at it… one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” Octavia E. Butler

The personal essay is more expansive than memoir, its famous sub-genre. Scholars and writers have spent more time studying and developing the genre with good reason—it is versatile, brief, and intimate. We will read, discuss, and analyze personal essays, and we will spend time working on our own essays, developing voice, style, and craft. This course meets the WE requirement.

ENGL 209 Write for Your Life CRN# 7072 T/R 10:00-11:15 AM Megan O’Neill

This course introduces you to writing for the real world by studying and then producing three or four kinds of writing that humans typically encounter over the course of life: writing to share your story with others; writing to prepare yourself for the future; and writing to navigate your present. Specifically, the course provides an individually tailored set of learning goals that include developing self-confidence, navigating differences, and preparing for your professional future. This is a very collaborative classroom experience, an excellent opportunity for students to learn with and from each other.

This is a writing course, so you should expect reading, writing, discussion, revision, contemplation, and preparation. Writing enhanced class.

ENGL 220 Understanding Composition and Rhetoric CRN# 5636 T/R 2:30-3:45 PM Michael Barnes

ENGL 220 is a one-unit/four credit WE (writing enhanced) course devoted to improving your understanding of the history and application of persuasive strategies, particularly in reference to writing. As we consider rhetoric (persuasive technique) and pedagogy (teaching philosophy), your overall writing skills (e.g. generating ideas, textual analysis, critical thinking, audience awareness, and revision) should improve.

This course is an introduction to the research and rhetorical theories in composition studies. The course frame is historical. We will begin by considering the classical debate between the sophists and platonists concerning the social place of rhetoric. This dichotomy (sophist/platonist) will inform our conversations as we move from the classical period to the present and address such topics as college writing pedagogy, theories of language and epistemology, propaganda, and undergraduate research on writing. Students will consider research from varied methodological perspectives (both quantitative and qualitative) related to the composing process and to literacy in our society. To prepare students to conduct their own primary research, we will explore the methodology of RAD (repeatable, aggregable, data- driven) guerrilla research. Students will have the opportunity to act as researchers by conducting a semester-long project that concentrates on writing pedagogy or the persuasive use of language. A complementary goal of this course is to foster a critical understanding of teaching, from the student's perspective (as researcher).

ENGL 242A Reading Lyric CRN# 4512 T/R 10:00-11:15 AM Mary Pollock

“Reading Lyric” approaches poetry in two ways. We will try to understand why humans have composed and read (or listened to) poetry ever since we became humans. We will also study some poetic forms and technical aspects of lyric poetry—that is, poetry which expresses emotion in musical ways. You will have three textbooks: An Exaltation of Forms by Finch and Varnes, a general anthology, and a short collection of poems by a single poet. Your professor will give you exact titles before summer. Since ENGL 242A is a “writing enhanced course,” you can expect numerous (but short) essays about the poems we read.

ENGL 256H Survey of British Literature 1 CRN# 7832 M/W/F 9:00-9:50 AM Joel Davis

This course is designed to introduce you to the study of the artifacts and imaginative scope of British literary culture as it developed over roughly ten centuries, from its beginnings in the eighth century to the eighteenth century. I say the study of British literary culture because we will use some of our relatively new technology (digital catalogues, archives, and images) to examine artifacts of much older technologies (parchment, quill pens, codices, and early printed books). Thus, you will learn some crucial resources and techniques for studying pre- modern art. We will also dip into a smorgasbord of great writing: the Old English riddles and elegies, Fairy Stories, Chaucer’s witty Satire, Heroic and Courtly Love stories and Poetry, and the most finely wrought Epic in the English language, among other works. If you study well, you will take away a skeletal narrative of the development of British literature amid some of the political, social, and economic forces that have shaped our civilization. Reading, lecture, discussion, and critical writing are the primary means for learning in this course. Expect 30-50 pages of reading per week, but also expect to spend 9-12 hours per week doing the reading and responding to study questions: our challenge is to imagine artifacts, technologies, belief systems, societies, and worlds very different from our own in language very different from our own.

ENGL 300 Text-Criticism-Theory CRN# 7330 M/W 12:00-1:15 PM Joel Davis

This course is focused on helping you to enter into the conversation of literary criticism. Literary critics interpret writing (or texts), and we debate with one another about which interpretations are better and why (this is criticism). Learning to understand literary criticism requires work, and we learn incrementally. Expect to finish this course with a reliable process for figuring out for yourself what a critic is saying, even if you don’t master the entire art of literary criticism. Critics also have meta-conversations about the purpose of criticism, the social and cultural functions of all kinds of speculative writing, the limits of interpretation, the fixity or mutability of meaning (and what it means to make meaning in the first place), and all kinds of similarly heady topics: we call these kinds of activities theorizing. This course will introduce you to some writings that take up such questions and that we often call theory.

ENGL 325 Grammar and Rhetoric CRN# 6767 T/R 2:30-3:45 PM Megan O’Neill

Grammar is not just a set of rules. In this class, you learn why. The course will challenge, aggravate, and delight you as you take on the puzzles represented by English grammar and usage. We don’t diagram sentences in this class—instead, we study the language of real life, learn the grammatical rules and where we can break them for effect, and adapt our choices of structure and diction to suit our needs. Anyone who loves the written word will get something out of studying the way we put them together.

We’ll also look at the range of grammars that exist in English and analyze various discourses and when to use them. What creates “good” grammar and “bad” grammar? How do the rules get established, and who benefits from these rules? Expect reading, writing, exams, discussion, revision, irritation, and laughter. Writing enhanced course.

ENGL 341 V1 Dante’s Commedia CRN# 7297 T/R 10:00-11:15 AM Tom Farrell

Dante Alighieri's 14th century poem, describing his quest for insight and personal fulfillment, remains one of the greatest creations of the human imagination. After consideration of basic background materials, this Junior Seminar progresses through the three cantiche of the Commedia with particular attention to the various ethical systems invoked and the nature of the spiritual insight claimed. In addition to seminar reports, students will write a shorter essay examining ethics in the Comedy and a seminar essay on a topic of their choice. Everyone is welcome; previous work in Religious Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, History, or any branch of Literary Studies will provide and excellent preparation for this class.

*ENGL343 Literature & Mental Health (or Neurodivergent Literature) CRN# XXXX M/W/F 9:00-9:50 AM Michele Randall

“The problem with the stigma around mental health is really about the stories that we tell ourselves as a society.” Matthew Quick

Literature & Mental Health (Neurodivergent Literature) takes a critical look at the prose and poetry written by and about those living with a mental illness. Students will study attributes and assumptions that drive public perceptions of mental illness, including stigma (historical and current); effects and ethics when literature (and film) present imagery and narratives of neurodivergence; and how and when literature/media created, increased, or solved problems in the mental health arena. Students will analyze and respond to a variety of texts and communities within this diverse population to solidify their own understanding. This class meets WE and D attributes. * Pending approval, and course number may change.

ENGL 352 Restoration and 18th Century Literature CRN 4516 M/W/F 11:00-11:50 AM Nicole Denner

As a result of the Enlightenment, many of the concepts, literary practices, and attitudes that have come to define what it means to be “modern” first took shape. During the eighteenth century, Europe became “modern” in ways deeply connected to our own conception of modernity. This course will try to understand the Enlightenment’s core values and ask how they relate to our own. Readings will be quite diverse in their concerns, their style, and their approach. We will rely heavily on major figures — Voltaire, Montesquieu, Fielding, Defoe, Swift — but will also pay attention to important eighteenth-century figures who are sometimes overlooked in introductory surveys, in order to try to grasp the Enlightenment’s literary legacy.

ENGL 374 Popular Culture CRN# 8177 T/R 11:30-12:45 PM Chesya Burke

Black people have always understood horror. And why not? People of African descent have arguably existed in a state of abject horror since their arrival in chains on Colonial shores around the world. Even before this time, however, many black peoples practiced spirituality that consisted of belief in spirits and a spiritual realm, veneration of the dead, and use of magic and ancestral African medicine. While horror and the supernatural have always existed as part of black life, Black bodies in mainstream horror have historically existed almost entirely in abjection. In recent years, there has been a surge of popularity of Black horror in the U.S., which often challenges and critiques the dominate narrative. This course will explore the history of Black horror within popular culture, examining the two juxtapositions that exist for black peoples in horror: horror as imagined by black creators and for black peoples (Black horror) and horror with black protagonist/characters (Black people in horror). We will examine various forms of media, including fiction, films, comics, and podcasts, while creating and managing our own class digital media blog page. We will attempt to answer the question: Is the main function of Black horror to critique white supremacy? Our key figures and texts will include Night of the Living Dead, Toni Morrison and Jordan Peele’s Get Out.

ENGL 474 Postcolonial Literature Seminar: Empire, Nationalism and the Novel CRN# 5642 M/W 2:30-3:45 PM Christopher Jimenez

This course examines the twined histories of colonialism and imperialism as well as the challenges of decolonization, nation-building, and globalization in the contemporary era. Students will interrogate how postcolonial writers have used literature as a generative site of resistance in a variety of aesthetic, cultural, political, and theoretical contexts. Together, we will interrogate how ideologies such as nationalism and racism are bound up with both the discourse of empire and the history of the novel. Drawing on the work of prominent postcolonial theorists including Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, students will learn critical approaches to understanding and reading postcolonial novels from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia among other locations around the world.

ENGL 482 Composition and Rhetoric Seminar: Rhetoric and Master Narratives CRN# 4930 T/R 4:00-5:15 PM Michael Barnes

ENGL 482 (Rhetoric and Master Narratives) will focus on character tropes (e.g. the rhetorical characteristics associated with character types), with an emphasis on three national literatures: Japan, Russia, and the United States set as a contrastive foundation. The purpose of this macro rhetorical analysis is to provide you with a template that will either facilitate your construction of similar character types in a creative/fictional approach or further analysis of analogous roles found in literature of your choice. We will also consider how literature facilitates a collective identity, paying special attention to the social changes prompted by canonical sources and related ethos. For example, in Japan we examine the influence of Miyamoto Musashi via his life and martial arts philosophy, as embodied in The Book of Five Rings. In Russia, we consider Dostoevsky's literary response to communist theory in Notes From Underground and Gogol's indictment of the Czarist regime in Dead Souls. For the United States, we review a chronological range of authors and extrapolate a contrastive description of an "American" identity. Based upon our group analyses, you will construct narratives that resonant with a particular national audience or analytical papers that model this rhetorical method: Six shorts papers and a final semester paper are required. ENGL 482 is a one-unit/four credit course.

ENGL 499 Senior Project CRN# 6478 M/W 4:00-5:15 PM Lori Snook

English 499 is the capstone experience for English majors: the goal is for the student to design, propose, research, and produce a substantial written project on a topic in literature, rhetoric, composition studies, or creative writing. In order to do this, the course provides a schedule for writing and a community for reading; editing others' work is critical to the success of the course. At the end of the semester, in addition to submitting an archival copy, each student will make an oral presentation to the department and invited guests. You'll be asked to come to the first class with a pitch for your project; Dr Snook will be available over the summer for consultation. Note: creative-writing projects, which must also include a researched critical component, are welcome for students who have completed an advanced course (400-level) in the genre of choice. Second note: projects that draw on previous reading or research but aren't simply revisions of existing work are more than welcome! Third note: projects that draw on or contribute to a second major or a minor can also be arranged after consultation. For each student, the project will serve to demonstrate their skill in writing, research, and critical thinking to graduate and professional school admission committees, employers, agents, or editors. The other component of our ENGL 499 class is reflective: we'll be working on ways to explain your journey as an English major to others (such as employers or graduate programs), while you also explain what you've learned to yourself.

FALL 2021 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS CREATIVE WRITING COURSES

ENCW 111A Introduction to Writing Literary Non-Fiction CRN# 7255 TBA Nancy Barber

This course will give you an introduction to literary nonfiction, also known as creative nonfiction. Literary nonfiction is based in truth and has a strong voice and style. It’s mostly prose, and more often than not, it has a first-person narrator. Possibilities for creative nonfiction include memoir, travel writing, gastronomic essays, critiques, rants, literary journalism, and lyric essays. As you’re reading about (and in) the various subgenres, you’ll notice a lot of overlap. Literary nonfiction rarely fits neatly into just one category. That only makes it more fun. The objective of the class is to read, write, analyze, critique, and workshop literary nonfiction in order to hone your knowledge and skills in the genre. This course satisfies an A requirement and is Writing Enhanced.

ENCW 312A/412 Fiction Workshop/Advanced Fiction Workshop CRN# 4744/5144 W 6:00-9:00 PM Teresa Carmody

In this workshop, students will generate and re-vision new writing in three sub/genres of fiction: experimental, realist, and speculative. In discussions of work by published authors and classroom peers, students will develop their skills in such fiction techniques as characterization, plot, setting, point of view, and style. Attention will be given to language at the level of the line, and to the relationship between form and content. Students enrolled in the 412 level will write an additional story in a genre of their choice. Reading and writing- intensive course.

ENCW 312 is a pre-requisite for ENCW 412.

Permission of Instructor Required – [email protected]

ENCW 313A/413 Poetry Workshop/Advanced Poetry Workshop CRN# 4527/4582 T 6:00-9:00 PM Terri Witek

ENCW 313/413 is a combined level class designed as an intensive training ground in poetic method. The envisioned outcomes are that you will be able to analyze poems from detail to larger purpose, make poems using a variety of strategies and processes, put your poetry in context in a larger world of contemporary making, and discover kinships (with other disciplines, arts, media, etc). After completing ENCW 313, all students are eligible, with permission of instructor, to take Advanced Open Studio (ENCW 415) in the Spring and Advanced Poetry (ENCW 413) next fall. More generally, the hoped-for result is that by reading books of contemporary poetry and becoming an informed practitioner, you will join a long tradition of poetic making. No pre-requisites

Permission of Instructor Required - [email protected]

ENCW 320A Writers Read CRN# 6660 M/W 12:00-1:15 PM Andy Dehnart

We will read, read, and read more, with the goal of becoming better writers. During the first part of the semester, we'll read creative writing by exceptional writers spanning multiple genres and formats. We'll also read things you love and want to share with the class. Discussions will be vigorous and passionate, as we try to determine what works and what doesn't, and why we love some pieces and loathe others. At the end of the semester, we'll write and workshop to see just how much we've grown as writers by absorbing what we've read.

ENCW 390 Special Topics in Creative Writing: Literary Editing and Publishing CRN 8176 M 6:00-9:00 PM Ryan Rivas

This will be a reading and writing intensive course that covers the process of publishing a literary work from acquisition, through editing, to release and promotion. The course will combine informative lectures with a hands-on group publishing project.

Permission of Instructor Required – [email protected]