Focuses on rhetorical awareness. In this course, students will explore the reading and writing practices of the academic community. Through primary and secondary research, and through guided writing practice, students will critically examine what these practices mean and consider how students' owen reading and writing practices fit into those of ''the Academy.'' While additional texts may be assigned, writing produced by students in the class will serve as the principal texts of the course. Additional texts may include Graff & Birkenstein's They Say/I Say, Harris' Rewriting: How to do things with Texts, and Richard Lanham's Revising Prose. [W]
Science Fiction examines short stories, novels, and films by some of the leading practitioners of the genre. The course considers the genre from literary, cultural, historical, and scientific perspectives. [H]
Through a comparative study of films based on highly regarded plays and novels, as well as a number of autonomous films, the course seeks to define both the affinities and the distinctive capacities of the two art forms.
Key concepts in psychoanalysis -- such as the Oedipus Complex -- were inspired by literary narratives, and psychoanalysis is itself a compelling story about what makes all of us tick. Special emphasis will be placed on the political stakes of psychologically based modes of interpretation, as we trace how Freud's revolutionary model of the mind as a site of conflict evolves into a series of urgent questions about gender, sexuality, colonialism, and political power writ large. [H, GM1]
This course looks at how children's texts socialize their readers by confirming or, in some cases, resisting and undermining cultural norms and values. Course texts include a range of classic and popular printed books for children as well as selected films and TV shows. As part of the course, students write and illustrate their own children's books. [H, V]
This course examines writings and films by women. Topics vary and have included courses on women poets, women science fiction writers, coming-of-age narratives, novels by contemporary Middle Eastern and Asian women, and texts that explore the connections between race, class, and gender. [GM1, H]
A course exploring American-Jewish literature's roots in Eastern European and Sephardic traditions, its place in the American literary canon, and its relation to international Jewish writings.
An examination of a significant social or cultural problem as reflected in literary texts. Topics vary from semester to semester and will be announced during the registration period. May be taken more than once with different content. [H, V]
This course focuses on Irish writers of the period 1880-1930, a time when Ireland fought for political independence from England and underwent a civil war that led to the partitioning of the island into the modern-day republics of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We’ll examine how writings by Joyce, Yeats, Gregory, Synge, O’Casey and others both reflect and respond to the political, religious, and socio-economic turmoil of a country resisting English cultural and political imperialism. [GM2, H]
This course examines the intersection of computers and the humanities (usually the areas of study that address art, literature, and human expression). The course provides an overview of key terms and debates in the digital humanities and asks students to explore a number of its methods such as text mining, digital mapping, and information visualization. These activities will prompt students to think about our relationship with humanities artifacts and the ways we might understand them. [H, W]
An introduction to the fundamentals of creative writing, focusing on strategies for generating, developing, revising, and editing across genres such as poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Through intensive reading, writing, and discussion, students will explore ways to enhance their own creative processes as they identify and attempt to duplicate techniques employed by imaginative writers. [W]
A sense of place will guide this exploration of Chicanx literature. We will examine how Mexican American authors represent distinct regional and national identities. Settings we will consider include East Los Angeles, the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, Latino neighborhoods in Chicago and New York, and the increasingly militarized border between the US and Mexico. Analyzing Chicanx fiction and non-fiction written since the 19th century, we will discuss how Mexican American writers have both challenged and enriched popular genres and themes in American Literature. We will also study how Chicana feminist writers created new intersectional frameworks for writing and reading literature in the 1970s and 1980s that would ultimately transform dominant academic and literary traditions.
The focus of this course is Native American literature and culture. By reading texts from multiple eras, students will learn about historical events from the perspectives of Native American writers. Topics include European colonization, the westward expansion of the United States, and American Indian boarding schools. Students will also explore the diversity of literature by Indigenous peoples in North America by analyzing multiple genres of cultural expression, including oral storytelling traditions, novels, and films. [GM1]
Writing seminars are courses that make writing and language their explicit subject. Examples include seminars in writing genres (memoir and travel writing), in rhetoric and argument, or in the way language and discourse constitute particular cultural constructions (''the animal'' or ''race''). While each seminar has a specific focus (to be announced in its subtitle), all seminars emphasize the process of academic reading and writing and use student writing as a primary text. [W]
How is literary history constructed? What is the canon of great works and how is it formed? This course inquires into the specific cultural practices that construct literature and engages students in an exploration of canon formation, marginalization, intertextuality, and influence. Readings are chosen from British, American, and Anglophone literatures and from various genres; texts from at least three literary periods are studied in depth. [H]
A survey of literature from Beowulf to Milton; major writers, movements, and forms are viewed in their historical contexts. Normally closed to seniors. [H]
A survey of literature, chiefly poetry, from the Restoration through the nineteenth century; major writers, movements, and forms are viewed in their historical contexts. Normally closed to seniors. [H]
A study of American prose and poetry from the colonial period to 1870. Normally closed to seniors. [H]
This course introduces students to poetry and prose by representative writers of the late 19th and early 20th century. Normally closed to seniors.
An introduction to linguistics, with a focus on English and its development from the beginning to the present. [H,W]
An encounter with fiction of the last decade and with social, philosophical, and literary questions raised both by the texts themselves and by the activity of reading. [H]
An introduction to the practice of writing news and feature stories for magazines and the daily press. Attention is paid to writing, revising, evaluating, and publishing work. The course also examines audience, style, and the role of the journalist in society. [W]
This course explores the short story across a broad variety of writers, cultures, and modes from the nineteenth century to the present, examining genres such as detective and science fiction as well as artistic movements from realism to postmodernism. [H]
What is a writer? What exactly do they do? And what counts as writing anyway? This course is an introduction to the histories, theories, and methods of writing studies and public rhetoric. We will read from a range of texts, interrogating issues pertaining to authorship, genre, non-standard literacies, digital composition, and language ideology. We will ask what is at stake when writing is considered both a communicative practice and a distinct object of study. [W]
This course looks beyond the traditional British and American texts that have populated English studies to challenge the once elite dominance of English as the authorized language of ''first-world'' mastery. The concept of ''literatures in English'' speaks, therefore, to an evolving international dialogue that is sensitive to the formation of personal and political identities in a new global economy. Texts represent diverse national regions such as the Caribbean, Africa, India, Canada and Australia. [H, GM1, GM2]
An introduction to black American writers, the course exposes students to a variety of genres, to diverse reading strategies, to the social and historical roots of African-American experience, and to the interplay between classic texts and popular media. [GM1]
Nature writing as a genre has long been concerned with questions of how to understand humans within and as nature. In this course, we will study a range of writings, from Thoreau to today, as models for our own writing, emphasizing close observation and revision as vital ways to consider small intricacies of natural life as well as complexes of gender, race, and the engineering of space -- all of which make up our own ecosystems. [H, GM1, W]
Writing Genres introduces students to the expectations and purposes of a particular written genre and offers them intensive practice composing texts that function within the conventions and boundaries of this genre. Students will compose multiple texts in drafts, participate in workshops and discussions, and produce critical analyses and reviews. Sample genres include the essay, autobiography, hypertext and electronic media, travel writing, and science writing. The English Department will distribute a description of the specific genre(s) under consideration before the registration period each semester. [W]
This course introduces students to the basic elements of screenwriting: developing characters, writing dialogue, plotting scenes, and structuring narrative. Writing assignments build from initial treatments to individual scenes and story outlines with emphasis on drafting and revision. By viewing films, reading screenplays, and critiquing the work of peers, students learn about the role of the screenwriter in the collaborative process of film making, and work towards a final portfolio that will include a polished script of their own. [H, W]
In this course, students will learn how to write for both comedic and dramatic series. An intensive workshop process will guide students through the process of developing a TV pilot, including concept, act structure, character development, scene breakdowns, and dialogue. By the end of the semester, students will know how to properly format and pitch a series idea. [W]
Students explore the craft of humor writing and develop techniques for generating comic material in multiple writing genres, such as essays, mock memoirs, and scripts. Students engage in frequent oral presentations and revision workshops. A final portfolio of humor writing is required. [W]
Intensive workshops in the writing of the essay and other forms of creative nonfiction. Writing exercises and allied readings. [H,W]
An intensive workshop course in fiction writing at the intermediate level. Students will compose short stories, study the art and craft of accomplished fiction writers, and participate in revision and editing workshops. Increasingly complex short story structures will be analyzed and practiced as the semester develops. A final portfolio of fiction will be required. [W]
An intensive workshop course in poetry writing at the intermediate level. Students will compose poems, study the art and craft of major poets, and participate in revision and editing workshops. Students will strengthen close reading and workshop skills, produce a polished portfolio of poems, experiment with different writing prompts, and analyze contemporary poetry. [W]
An examination of Fyodor Dostoevsky's major novels and journalism in the context of his transnational legacy. We examine problems of reading Dostoevsky in the 21st century stemming from his Christianity, politics, and contribution to the global art of the novel. Of special consideration will be the texts and reception of two influential novels, Notes from the Dead House and The Brothers Karamazov. Key theoretical approaches to his work will be discussed. All readings in English. [H, V, GM2, W]
What is dance? What constitutes performance? In this course we explore how the body, identity and culture are represented through aesthetic traditions, cultural contexts and texts from many genres in order to create social and cultural meanings. We examine how performance and dance are connected to questions of gender, ecology, race and national identity. Students will consider embodied knowledge practices as they are represented textually in memoirs, essays, films, graphic novels, poems, and novels. The course is for all students interested in movement studies and in the cultural and textual exploration of dance practices. [GM2, H, V]
Practical experience in fields such as journalism, broadcasting, publishing, public relations, and advertising, in which writing is a central activity. Written reports are required of the student, as is an evaluation of the student by the supervising agency. Advance approval of the departmental internships coordinator required.
Few contemporary issues generate as much controversy as same-gender attraction and relationships; fewer still are so deeply rooted in oppression, violence and discrimination. Literature, a vital tool of social investigation, plays a key role in exploding sexual taboos and the related politics of silence. The course will employ several angles of inquiry, including banned books, popular culture, activism, gender, religion, and global cultures. Students will examine key historical moments in the modern history of gay and lesbian liberation; read across a variety of genres (short story, documentary, novel, drama, film); and engage the relevant critical terminology and theory. [GM1, H]
This course focuses on literary works (fiction, poetry, journalism, etc.) that take the marine environment as a focus, written on a range of land masses from 1800 to the present. Examples include Moby-Dick and Rachel Carson's Under the Sea-Wind. Major themes include cultural contact, science, and literature, the environment as concept, and the social worlds of seagoing. [H, GM1, W]
A study of The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde and an introduction to the language and culture of medieval England. [H,W]
This course will provide an introduction to Shakespeare’s plays and non-dramatic works in the context of early modern history and culture. Of pivotal concern are the emergent questions of identity and difference, including race, gender, and sexuality, whose historical trajectories continue to inform some of the most urgent social and political questions of today. [GM1, W]
A study of British writers, especially poets, of the period 1780-1830. The course examines how writings of the era reflect and helped to shape discourse on poverty, slavery, women's rights, urbanization, and the cultural role of art and artists. [H, GM1, W]
A study of British writers, especially poets, of the period 1830-1900. The course examines how writers of the era responded to the industrial revolution, British imperialism, theories of human evolution, debates about gender and sexuality, and aesthetic movements like those of the Pre-Raphaelites, the Symbolists, and the Decadents. [H, W]
An intensive study of American literature, 1840-1860. The course examines a range of forms of American writing dealing with issues such as nationalism, romanticism, slavery, expansion, gender relations, and the place of literature in the young nation. [H, W]
An intensive investigation of a single decade in American life, exploring the relationships between and within the several areas of the American experience as expressed in its literature and history. [GM1, H, W]
This course examines American fiction from the end of World War II to the present. Possible authors include Nabokov, Pynchon, Morrison, DeLillo, Jin. [H, W]
This course explores transatlantic writings of the long eighteenth century that share an interest in the ocean itself as a setting, territory, concept, and cultural commons. Representative themes include slavery and circumatlantic trade, the rise of fiction and of modern science, revivals of religion and reason, emerging articulations of race and gender, and imaginaries of nation, region, and empire. [H, GM1, W]
A study of selected works written between 700 and 1500, with an emphasis on those written in England (exclusive of Chaucer). Specific texts depend on the thematic focus, which varies from year to year. [H, W]
The Renaissance is commonly regarded as the height of Western aesthetic achievement. This course looks at and problematizes the rebirth'' of knowledge by examining early modern English literature and culture with attention to the effects of humanism, discovery, class, race, the Reformation, a female monarch, and civil war. Topics vary and are announced during registration. [GM1, H, W]
This course covers Paradise Lost and selections from Milton's prose and other poetry, focusing on literary themes, style, and genre, and the place of his writings in the history of religious and political thought. Considerable attention is given to Milton's radicalism, including both his theological ''heresies'' and left-leaning political sympathies. The course considers Milton's unique conception of the creation narrative and the ''characters'' of Adam, Eve, Christ, God, and his arguably most magnificent creation, Satan. [H, V, W]
Metaphysical poems are witty, cerebral poems that use elaborate metaphors or ''conceits'' to comment on a range of elusive ''big topics'' including the nature of love, death, evil, and God. Form, style, and imagery are considered as well as the historical contexts in which this poetry emerged in England. Students are introduced to a range of seventeenth-century poets including John Donne, George Herbert, and Richard Crashaw, as well as the work of later poets influenced by seventeenth-century poetry. [H, W]
A study of the main tendencies of major examples in English fiction from Shelley to Hardy. [W]
This course investigates various literary and cultural crises during the British modernist period. Among our considerations will be how science and technology, evolutionary theory, the New Woman, and colonialism challenge traditional notions of what it means to be human at the turn of the twentieth century. We will investigate these changes in texts by writers such as Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf. [W]
This course examines American prose-novels, short stories and essays-from the moment of contact to the decades after the Civil War. Possible authors include Rowson, Melville, Hawthorne, and Twain. [W]
A study of the aesthetics and ideologies of some of the most significant modern and contemporary poets writing in English, with special focus on theories and practices related to experimental poetries. [H, W]
Exploration of topics in writing, literacy, language use, and argument from a range of theoretical and practical perspectives. The course examines how humans use written language to communicate ideas, to argue points, to create identities, to educate each other, and to maintain social structures. Students learn to think about such uses in sophisticated ways and gain a better understanding of their own experiences with written language. [W]
This course is designed to engage students in advanced writing about nature and the environment. A central focus of the course will be an examination of the language and rhetoric used to describe these crucial issues in various popular, government, and scholarly contexts. [H, W]
A study of a special area of literature by black writers. Among the topics considered are autobiography, theater, contemporary writing, modern African novels, and such major writers as Baldwin and Wright. The choice of topics varies from year to year. [GM1, W]
Advanced Journalistic Writing takes the basic principles of news writing and reporting acquired in Journalistic Writing to the next level by allowing students to explore an array of social issues confronting American society. There will be a progressing emphasis on research, interviewing, writing, and editing as well as the strategic use of data as a reporting tool. Students will also read and analyze works of literary journalism, including books, magazines, and long-form newspaper articles. [W]
Rhetoric has gotten a bad rap. It’s often used to describe vacuous, insincere, and dangerous speech. But is this accurate? This course will introduce you to the interdisciplinary commitments of rhetorical theory, pushing beyond techniques of persuasion to ask what it means to assume a rhetorical stance toward public life. Readings and discussion will interrogate issues of power, agency, citizenship, embodiment, personhood, and materiality to think about rhetoric as an orientation to (inter)acting in the world.
This course provides an introduction to theories and representations of race and racism as applied to the analysis of literature and culture. The aim of the course is to trace the protean uses of race in history and to place contemporary debates on race into historical context. Readings focus on a broad range of literary and cultural texts in order to trace the emergence and/or transformation of race in intellectual and social contestation. [GM1, W]
The course expands upon the writing skills in poetry that students developed in introductory courses in imaginative writing. Students engage in regular intensive workshops in which their poetry is critiqued. The course requires completion of advanced exercises in structure and style and the composition of a final portfolio of poetry. [W]
This course expands upon the writing skills in short fiction that students developed in introductory courses in imaginative writing. Students engage in regular intensive workshops in which their fiction is critiqued. The course requires completion of advanced exercises in structure and style and the composition of a final portfolio of short fiction. [W]
An advanced introduction to the history of literary criticism and its dominant theoretical practices. Students read representative texts from various schools of criticism-formalism, structuralism, deconstruction, Marxism, psychoanalysis, gender studies, cultural studies-and apply them to several literary works. Recommended for students seeking honors in English or considering graduate study in literature. [W]
The study of one, two, or three writers in depth. Topics vary from semester to semester and will be announced during registration period. May be taken more than once with different content. [H, W]
A seminar on a topic selected by an instructor. [W]
This course offers a transatlantic survey of science fiction written in the 19th century. Students will understand how the genre emerged alongside historical developments in Europe and around the world. In addition, the course will also examine connections between science fiction and colonialism. Students will study how the popularization of science fiction in the late 19th century became intertwined with histories of colonial expansion. By studying the many ways that science fiction authors responded to technological, political, and social transformations, students will build an understanding of how science fiction first became a popular literary genre.
A huge range of things can happen to a text between a moment of authorial inspiration and a reader's encounter with printed (or digital) text. This course explores such textual mysteries by making a digital edition of a work from Lafayette's Special Collections and, in the process, engaging students in thinking about questions of history and theory that have defined English Studies. From their work on the digital edition, students will also develop individual projects related to their own interests within the major. [W]
Intensive study of poems, poets, and poetic forms in the United States from the War of 1812 to the turn of the twentieth century. Particular focus on Whitman, Dickinson, Longfellow, and Melville. [H, W]
A program of tutorial study, initiated by the student and pursued independently under the guidance of an instructor from whom the student has gained approval and acceptance. [W]
Tutorial sessions related to the student's investigation of the area chosen for his or her honors essay. Open only to candidates for honors in English. [One W credit only upon completion of both 495 and 496]