Literature Courses
Prerequisite: students must, unless granted special permission, take World Humanities before enrolling in English Department literature electives. All English majors must take the sequence below.
33000-33100: Critical Reading and Writing
A yearlong course providing a practical introduction to fundamental concepts and methods of literary analysis. The course begins with short texts and moves progressively to longer forms. Readings include poems, plays, novels and stories written in English (as well as examples of less strictly literary forms). (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR./SEM.
English Literature
35000-35100: A Historical Approach to Literature
A yearlong course in English literature from the Middle Ages to the present. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR./SEM.
35001-35101: A Generic Approach to Literature
First semester: tragedy and comedy; second semester: lyric and epic.
(W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR./SEM.
35200: Representative British Writers of the Middle Ages
An introduction to the literature of the Middle Ages in England. Readings include narrative poetry and prose, religious writings, drama, and lyrics. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35201: Old English
The language and literature of the Anglo-Saxons. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35202: Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
(W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35300: Representative Writers of the Renaissance
An introduction to Renaissance literature. Readings include a variety of genres: poems, plays, epic, literary criticism, and fiction. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35301: Shakespeare I
Early and middle comedies, major histories, early tragedies, poems, and sonnets. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35302: Shakespeare II
The major tragedies, the problem plays, the late comedies, and romances. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35303: Shakespeare on Film
(W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35304: Seventeenth-Century English Poetry
Donne, Herbert, Jonson, the early Milton. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35500: Representative British Writers of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century An introduction to English Romantic poetry and prose. Readings include poetry, fiction, autobiography, philosophy, literary criticism, letters and personal journals from men and women of the period. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35501: Milton
Paradise Lost and other major works. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35502: The Eighteenth-Century English Novel
From the beginnings to Austen. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35600: Representative British Writers of the Romantic Period
An introduction to English Romantic poetry and prose. Readings include poetry, fiction, autobiography, philosophy, literary criticism, letters, and personal journals from men and women of the period. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35700: Representative British Writers of the Victorian Period
An introduction to Victorian literature through representative works in a variety of genres. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35701: Nineteenth-Century British Novel
From Austen to Hardy. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35800: Representative British Writers of the Modernist Period
An introduction to representative modern writers of England and Ireland. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
35802: The Twentieth-Century British Novel
(W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
American Literature 36000: Representative Writers of the United States: Early American Literature
Literature of the Colonial and Revolutionary periods, including devotional literature, captivity narratives, slave narratives, political rhetoric, and the gothic and sentimental novel. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
36100: Representative Writers of the United States: The Nineteenth Century
Embraces the antebellum period and the late nineteenth century: likely topics include Transcendentalism, literary nationalism, the literature of emancipation, and the cult of domesticity as well as post-Civil War developments in regionalism, realism, and naturalism. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
36200: Representative Writers of the United States: The Twentieth Century
Modern and contemporary American literature from the rise of modernism to postmodernist developments in the late twentieth century. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
36201: Twentieth-Century American Poetry
(W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
36300: Latino Literature in the U.S.
A one semester elective course on selected literature, from of a variety of genres, by contemporary Latino writers. 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
Africana Literature
A historic and thematic examination of significant works by Black writers in the United States and elsewhere. Division into region and genre is to facilitate systematic study. 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
37001: African American Literature in America
A historical survey. (W)
37004: African American Fiction (W)
37006: Comparative Africana Fiction
Africa, the United States, the Caribbean. (W)
Literary Perspectives on Women
37501: Women Writers of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
An historic and thematic examination of significant works by women of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, with consideration of related historical, social, and religious issues. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
37502: Nineteenth-Century Women Writers
Austen, Eliot, the Brontes, and minor figures. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
37503: Twentieth-Century Women Writers
Woolf, Bowen, Wharton, Glasgow, Moore, Lessing, Murdoch, Mansfield, Stein, Porter, McCullers, Welty, Plath, and others. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
Historical Studies in World and Comparative Literature
38001: Oriental Literature I
Readings in Arabian, Iranian and Hindu Indian literature, secular and sacred. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
38002: Oriental Literature II
Readings in Buddhist, Indian, Chinese and Japanese literature. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
38003: The Bible as Literature I
The Old Testament. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
38004: The Bible as Literature II
The New Testament. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
38007: Introduction to Comparative Literature
Introduction to ways of comparing various literatures. Readings from world literature. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
Modern Studies in World and Comparative Literature
38104: Modern Drama I
Nineteenth century to 1914. Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, Shaw, Synge. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
38105: Modern Drama II
Since 1914. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
Genres
39000: Genres
Studies of the forms and historical development of various literary genres. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
39001: Satire (W)
39006: Science Fiction (W)
39100: Themes
Consideration of various themes, ideas, literary patterns, and concepts in literature. 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
39102: The Vampire
An exploration of certain ideas of evil in Western literature. (W)
Literature and Other Disciplines
39200: Literature and Other Disciplines
The relationship of literature to spiritual and social forces, to science, and to art. 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
39203: The Political Novel (W)
Selected Topics
31100-32000: Selected Topics in Language and Literature
A changing series of innovative and experimental courses on topics not generally covered in regular courses. Students should consult the Department’s course offerings booklet each semester to determine which selected topics courses will be offered. (W) 3 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
Seminars
41100-42000: Seminars in Language and Literature
One writer, a group of writers, a literary subject, a theme, or a period is studied intensively. Offerings change each term, and students should consult the Department’s course offerings booklet each semester to determine which seminars will be given. (W) 2 HR./WK.; 3 CR.
Tutorial Courses
These courses provide students an opportunity to pursue independent study and research in areas of literature and language beyond the scope of departmental offerings. Except in extraordinary circumstances, no tutorial in a given subject shall extend beyond one semester; no more than one tutorial may be taken in any semester. In order to be admitted to a tutorial course, a student must:
• Have completed twelve credits of elective work with an average
of B or better;
• Present a letter of recommendation from an instructor who is
willing to serve as a mentor.
31001-31004: Independent Study
Independent study and research under the supervision of a mentor. (W) 1-4 CR.
39501-39504: Group Tutorial
For groups engaged in specialized study, beyond the scope of departmental courses, under the direction of one or more mentors. (W) 1-4 CR.
