english
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ENGLISH Professors DavisF, Hardy, PerryS, K. Weese; Associate Professors Horne, Varholy Chair: Nathaniel D. Perry The requirements for a major in English are 34 hours. These hours must include one semester of History of English Literature (211 or 212); one semester of American Literature (221 or 222); one focused perspectives course (English 224, 226, 228, 230, or 340); Literary Theory and Criticism (English 380); four other upper level English courses (300-level), two of which need to be pre-1900; one elective numbered 223 or above (not including creative writing courses); one free elective (this can be any English course including creative writing). Each major must also enroll in English 480, the Capstone Seminar, and take as a corequisite English 481, the Research Methods Seminar. It is strongly recommended that students take Literary Theory and Criticism in the junior year. Students should take 480/481 during their senior year unless they are considering Departmental Distinction, in which case they should talk to their advisor about taking 480/481 during the second semester of their junior year. It is recommended that students complete 380 and two other 300-level courses before enrolling in the capstone. Prospective majors are strongly encouraged to take a literature course numbered at the 100 level in their freshman year. English courses taken at other institutions and presented for major credit must be approved in writing by the Department of English; for current students this approval must be secured in advance, and for transfer and former students it must be secured at entrance. The requirements for a minor in Creative Writing are 15 hours, including a minimum of three creative writing courses from among English 250, 252, 350, and 352. A Creative Writing minor must specialize in either poetry or fiction by taking both workshops in that genre as well as a literature course that focuses on the genre of choice. In addition, each student must take Rhetoric 301. English majors who elect to complete this minor are allowed to count one course towards both the English major and the Creative Writing minor. Students completing the Creative Writing minor who elect also to complete the Rhetoric minor (see under Rhetoric) are allowed a one course overlap (Rhetoric 301).
Note: The English Department offers several sections of the following 100-level courses each year. Please consult TigerWeb for the precise courses offered each semester. These courses are especially suitable for first- and secondyear students beginning the English major or satisfying the College’s general literature requirement. Students may take as many different 100-level literature courses as they like for credit, and all will satisfy the general literature requirement, but only one such course will fulfill a requirement for the English major. All 300- and 400-level courses have the following prerequisite: any 100-level or 200-level literature course in the Department of English, or consent of the instructor. ENGLISH 190. (3) FATHERS AND SONS IN LITERATURE. This course explores how literature treats issues of masculinity as they are handed down and transformed from one generation to the next. With attention to literary fathers and sons, students develop techniques for reading and analyzing works from several historical periods and genres, possibly including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, and/ or film. Related topics to be considered might include the representation of the family, the role of the artist, and the possibility of language as a place for experimentation and social change. Prerequisite: none. ENGLISH 191. (3) LITERATURE OF THE AMERICAN ROAD. This course will introduce students to literary analysis through works that explore the motif of the road, especially as it has flourished in American literature. We will attend to the relationship between the road and narrative structure, the road as a metaphor for life, the association of the road with outsiders, and the use of the road to further plot and character development. Readings will vary each semester, but may include fiction by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Flannery O’Connor, Paul Auster, and Cormac McCarthy; poetry by Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg; and selected drama and film. Prerequisite: none.
