Department of English
Course Descriptions
Fall 2010
Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”
Baylor University
Special Matters
English majors should take the
required 3000-level surveys before
taking 4000-level classes.
Students majoring in the natural
sciences may take English 3300
instead of English 1304.
Please Note
It is sometimes necessary to change
course offerings, class schedules,
and teacher assignments. The
Department of English retains
the right to add, change, or cancel
any courses, class schedules, or
teacher assignments listed herein
at any time without prior notice.
1
0300
Developmental English
This course is for students who need additional preparation
to do college-level work. English 0300 introduces students to the
fundamentals of writing by emphasizing grammar, mechanics,
punctuation, sentence structure, paragraph structure, and essay
structure. Ample exercises—from identifying subjects and verbs to
proof-reading paragraphs—are a hallmark of this course. Paragraph
and essay assignments reinforce the need for coherence and detail
in student writing. Satisfactory completion of English 0300 is based
on the student’s performance on the departmental final essay, which
is pass or fail. Although this course gives load credit, it satisfies no
degree requirement.
Wilhite, Sec. 01, TR 9:30
1301
English as a Second Language: Composition Skills
A course for non-native speakers of English providing
review and instruction in English grammar, usage, and vocabulary
development in the context of writing paragraphs, essays, and a
short research project. This course does not satisfy the English
requirements for any degree program. Registration in this course
may be determined by language and writing tests given when the
student enrolls in the University.
Klingman, Sec. 01, TR 9:30
1302
Thinking and Writing
Prerequisite(s): ENG 0300 for students whose diagnostic test
indicates inability to do satisfactory work in ENG 1302.
A course designed to help students better understand English
grammar, rhetoric, and usage for correct and effective writing. The
course focuses on the several steps in organizing and writing
2
the expository essay for a variety of purposes. Essay assignments
develop students’ capacity for logical thought and expression.
Staff
1304
Thinking, Writing, and Research
Prerequisite(s): ENG 1302 or FAS 1302 or advanced
placement.
A course designed to teach students to gather and evaluate
information from a variety of sources and to incorporate ideas from
these sources into the writing of a research paper. In addition, the
course explores the techniques of persuasive and critical writing.
Staff
1304
T h i n k i n g, W r i t i n g, a n d Re s e a r c h H o n o r s
Prerequisite(s): English 1302 or advanced placement.
The course is designed to teach students to gather and
evaluate information from a variety of sources and to incorporate
ideas from these sources into the writing of six shorter essays and a
research paper. In addition, the course explores the techniques of
expository, critical and argumentative writing.
Foster, Sec. H1, TR 9:30
2301
British Literature
Prerequisite(s): ENG 1302 and 1304 (or equivalent).
A study of the literature of Great Britain, emphasizing the
works of major writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, the
Romantic poets, the Victorian poets, and the major novelists.
Staff
3
2301
B r i tish Liter a tur e (ENG Majors Only)
Prerequisite(s): English 1302 and 1304 (or equivalent).
In this course you will read a selection of the literary
masterpieces of Great Britain written between the late sixteenth
century and the late twentieth century. These works pose questions
about what it means to be human (to desire, to suffer, to grow); they
also explore many of the ways in which the natural, political and
social landscape of the British Isles has influenced the development
of the national character. We will address these thematic issues in
our discussions and engage in close readings of the texts in order to
expand our skills in textual analysis.
Gardner, Sec. 24, MWF 1:25
2304
American Literature
Prerequisite(s): English 1302 and 1304 (or equivalent).
A study of the literature of the United States, emphasizing the
works of major writers such as Frost, Ellison, Hawthorne, Melville, Poe,
Dickinson, Whitman, Twain, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Morrison.
Staff
2306
World Literature
Prerequisite(s): ENG 1302 and 1304 (or equivalent)
A study of the literature of countries other than Britain and the
United States, emphasizing the work of major writers such as Homer,
Sophocles, Virgil, Dante, Boccaccio, Cervantes, Goethe, Flaubert,
Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy, and giving attention to selected classical
works of non-Western literature.
Foster, Sec. 01, MWF 9:05; Sec. 04, MWF 11:15
McDonald, Sec. 02, TR 9:30; Sec. 03, TR 11:00
4
3300
Technical and Professional Writing
English 3300 is an advanced writing course designed to meet
the needs of students who are preparing for careers in engineering,
science, technical, business and writing professions. The course
emphasizes rhetorical concepts such as purpose, audience, style, and
situation as well as strategies for planning, organizing, designing,
and editing technical and professional communication. In addition,
students will learn strategies for communicating technical information
to a variety of audiences, including managers and users, both
technical and non-technical.
Shaver, Sec. E1, MWF 10:10
Craven, Sec. E2, TR 11:00; Sec. E4, TR 12:30
Krasienko, Sec. E3, MWF 11:15; Sec. E5, MWF 1:25
Medhurst, Sec. E6, TR 2:00; Sec. E7, MW 2:30-3:45
3302
M o der n English Gr ammar
English 3302 is a course in modern English grammar designed
for anyone who is interested in understanding the grammar and
syntax of the English language. This course focuses on studying the
structure of the English language through grammatical analysis
using the Structural and Transformational approaches, which are
synthesized throughout the course. Students will learn to use diagrams
representing sentence structure to demonstrate their understanding
of the grammar. Note that this course is not a traditional grammar
tutorial and is not designed to improve students’ written or spoken
English directly, but rather it is intended to give students tools to
understand and discuss modern English grammar.
Grebenyova, Sec. 01, TR 2:00
5
3303
Advanced Expository Writing
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing or consent of instructor.
This course offers junior and senior students the opportunity to
study and work with advanced concepts and techniques of expository
writing. Students will read exemplary essays by prominent writers,
analyze rhetorical techniques, and apply what they learn about
writing to their own work during the semester. Reading and writing
assignments will focus on organizational patterns, principles of logic,
and stylistic devices. Classes will be structured around a pattern of
reading, writing, and revising and will require class participation in
each step of the writing process. The course is designed to benefit all
students who wish to strengthen their writing skills and is particularly
helpful to students interested in advanced studies or professions
requiring writing skills.
Pittman, Sec. 01, MWF 10:10
Callan, Sec. 02, MWF 1:25
3304
Creative Writing: Poetry
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing or consent of instructor.
This course introduces students to the craft of writing poetry.
By studying the craft in terms of the traditions and techniques used
by poets throughout history, and by examining and evaluating a wide
variety of published poems, students will learn to recognize various
poetic techniques and practices. Most importantly, students will have
the opportunity to write their own poems, and to have them analyzed.
Thus, the course will primarily be a workshop course and the major
“texts” for the course will be the poems written by the students in the
class. Each student will be expected to write and revise a number of
poems during the semester and these poems will be the major base
for the grade in the course.
Davis, W.V., Sec. 01, MWF 11:15
6
3306
Creative Writing: Prose
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing or consent of instructor.
This course is an introduction to the art of writing fiction,
concentrating on the short story. This class will be a workshop in short
fiction writing focusing on the writing of the members of the class.
Garrett, Sec. 01, TR 2:00
3309
Writing for the Popular Market
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing or consent of instructor.
A workshop in writing non-fiction writing emphasizing the
rhetorical modes and techniques appropriate for popular media.
Topics include factual reporting and writing; autobiographical and
biographical writing; and interviewing and researching techniques.
Asher, Sec. 01, TR 11:00
3310
Introduction to Language and Linguistics
Prerequisite: Upper-level standing or consent of instructor
This course is an introduction to the integrated systems of human
language. Our focus will be on the evidence that linguists use to find
out what we know when we “know” a language. We will study how
speech sounds are produced and categorized into abstract entities
of sound, how words are formed from smaller meaningful parts, and
how they combine into sentence structures. We will also consider
how humans derive meaning from language and how language
systems change and vary across genders, geographical regions, and
time. By thinking about language analytically, we will begin to see
the patterns which underlie all languages and which render them
capable of being learned and processed in the human brain.
Butler, Sec. 01, MWF 9:05; Sec. 02, MWF 10:10
7
3311
English Literature through the 16th Century
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing.
This is a survey course of selected works of Medieval and
Early Modern (Renaissance) English literature from the Fourteenth,
Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries, designed to give students an
understanding not simply of the literature itself but especially of the
cultural and social contexts out of which it developed. Representative
works include translations of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (selections)
and his Troilus and Cressida, the Medieval miracle play The Second
Shepherds’ Pageant, the Medieval morality play Everyman, Wyatt’s
and Surrey’s sonnets, Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella (selections),
Book 1 of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, Christopher Marlowe’s
Dr. Faustus, and Shakespeare’s sonnets (selections) and his comedy
Twelfth Night. Two in-class exams and a final exam and one relatively
short critical essay form the basis for the grade.
Hunt, Sec. 01, TR 9:30
3331
E n glish Liter a tur e of the 17th and 18th
Ce n t u r y
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing
English poetry, prose, and drama from 1600 to 1800.
In drama, Shakespeare’s King Lear and Webster’s The Duchess
of Malfi. In prose, Donne, Bacon, Jonson, and Browne. In
fictional prose, Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Sterne’s novel
Tristram Shandy. In poetry, major Metaphysical Poets (Donne
and others), major Classical Poets (Jonson and others), and
Milton. Also sampled are Dryden, Pope, and Gray.
The course grade will be based primarily on four
factors: three major tests (the last one being the final exam)
and a brief analytical/critical paper. Eac h test and the
8
paper will be valued at one-fourth in the course grade.
Allowance also is made for improvement and other factors
to be announced on the first day of class.
Ray, Sec. 01, MWF 10:10
3351
B r i tish Liter a tur e from the 19th Centur y
t o t he P r e s en t
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing
In this course designed primarily for English literature
majors, we will study authors and literary movements of the
19 th and 20 th centuries and the beginning of the 21 st , and read
selected Romantic, Victorian, Modern, and contemporary
works. The course will emphasize close reading of the texts,
class discussion, and a variety of writing tasks. The purpose
of the course is to help students become familiar with the
various literary genres produced during these periods, to
enhance students’ ability to read and critique these works,
and to lead students to a deeper understanding of the issues
and themes these works present within the context of the
literary, aesthetic, scientific, political, religious, and social
movements of the time.
Vitanza, Sec. 01, MWF 10:10
3370
Religion and Literature
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing
Our goal in this class is to dispel a myth about 19th C.
Britain--that religion and poetry crept into a corner as science,
doubt, and the novel won the field. In this class, we will uncover
a truer and more exciting story, learning how consistently 19th C.
British poets and critics of every persuasion used poetry to criticize,
9
embrace, and re-imagine religion, religious texts (mainly the Bible),
and religious experiences. Since 19th C. Britain was predominantly
Christian, by “religion” we will mainly mean Christianity, but some
writers will defy any available religious category, and several
will set themselves directly against Christianity and mainstream
Victorian Christian culture. We will read works by familiar names,
such as Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, the Brownings, Christina
Rossetti, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Yet we will also read
less familiar authors, such as Robert Lowth, John Keble, Algernon
Charles Swinburne, and George Meredith. Participants will write
two papers (6-8 pages), an essay-based midterm and final, and a
number of short reading responses.
King, Sec. 01, MWF 9:05
3374
Short Fiction: A Reading Course
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and upperlevel standing.
This survey deals with the theoretical and practical study of
the short story as a genre, stressing fictional elements and modes.
The course emphasizes the development of critical reading skills and
the application of varied critical approaches to the genre, applied
to a distinctive selection of classic, modern, and contemporary
stories. Analytical papers, mid-term, and final examinations―all
are considered in the grading process.
McDonald, Sec. 01, MWF 9:05
3376
African American Literature
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and upperlevel standing.
This course is a survey of African American literature from
colonial times to the present. Using poetry, slave narratives, novels,
and music, we will examine the development of African American
literature in relation to historical events and cultural
10
contexts. Writers to be discussed include Richard Wright, Zora
Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Ernest
Gaines. Course work will be made up of short papers and two
exams.
Ford, Sec. 01, MWF 11:15
3380 A merican Literature through Whitman
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing
English 3380 is a survey of the literature of the United
States through Whitman, emphasizing the work of major writers
such as Bradstreet, Taylor, Edwards, Franklin, Wheatley, Cooper,
Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Poe, Douglass, Whitman, and others.
The objectives of the course are to develop an understanding of the
ethical and aesthetic motivations for the greatest works of American
literature from the beginnings through Whitman, to understand the
ebb and flow of artistic movements in American history, and to hone
the critical skills necessary for analyzing this great literature.
Fulton, Sec. 01, MWF 9:05
3390
American Literature from Whitman
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing.
In this course, we will study some of the major works of
American literature from the late nineteenth century to the present
day. We will divide the course up into three chronological sections,
1865-1900, 1900-1945, and 1945 to the present. We will read
works of several genres, including novels, short stories, poetry,
essays, films and songs. We will study works by women and men,
and by writers from a range of American ethnic communities.
Authors will include Emily Dickinson, Kate Chopin, John Muir, Scott
and Zelda Fitzgerald, Wallace Stevens, the Harlem Renaissance
11
writers, Raymond Chandler, Flannery O’Connor, the Beat poets,
Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut, Sherman Alexie and Jonathan Safran
Foer. By the end of the course, students will have a clear sense
of the realist, naturalist, modernist and postmodern movements in
American literary history, will be familiar with some of the major
works of each movement, and will have developed the critical skills
for understanding these works. Students will be graded on the basis
of two essays, a final exam, a class presentation, and participation
in class discussion.
Ferretter, Sec. 01, TR 11:00
4302/5301
Old English Language Seminar
Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing or permission of the
instructor.
Introduction to the Old English language and literature through
intensive study of Old English grammar and reading of Old English
texts. Selections may include biblical translations, entries from the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, writings of Bede and Alfred, and The Battle
of Brunanburh.
Denton, Sec. 01, TR 2:00
4303
Contemporary Syntax
Prerequisite(s): ENG 3302 or 3310 or 4304.
This class is an exploration of one of the main areas of
contemporary linguistics: syntax. Syntax is the study of how words
in human languages are combined to form larger units (phrases) up
to yet larger ones (sentences). Although the course focuses on English
and no knowledge of any other language is required for this course,
examples from other languages will be introduced and discussed as
well. This is due to the fact that the findings and the formal tools of
contemporary syntax are aimed to apply to all human languages.
Principles of contemporary linguistics and concepts of transformational
syntax will be used to analyze the nature of the syntactic system of
12
human language.
Grebenyova, Sec. 01, TR 11:00
4306
Cross-Cultural Linguistics
Prerequisite(s): ENG 3310 or consent of instructor.
This course explores the dynamic process of intercultural
communication and the social, historical, and linguistic factors that
influence it. The readings and class discussions will cover how different
cultures express through language their worldview, concepts of time,
gender roles, politeness, religious faith, educational values, and
many more. Students in fields ranging from education to business
management should find this course interesting and valuable.
Butler, Sec. 01, MWF 12:20
4310
Old and Early Middle English Literature
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306; and
upper-level standing
This course will offer an opportunity to study the inventive
stories and poems enjoyed by medieval British readers from about
700 A.D. to 1350. We will consider major texts and representative
genres of the early medieval period in their cultural context. The
course begins with fine examples of Anglo-Saxon prose and poetry,
then considers types of Anglo-Norman literature that flourished in
England as literacy increased among the laity during the twelfth
century. Readings in Early Middle English demonstrate a rich tradition
of sacred and secular writing before the age of Chaucer. Students
will read most texts in translation.
4311
Advanced Writing for the Popular Market
Prerequisite(s): ENG 3309 or 4375 or consent of instructor
This is an advanced workshop in writing nonfiction
prose. In this course, students will practice the type of
13
writing used in publications—magazines, feature sections
of newspapers, and organizational newsletters and
websites. Students will create a publication for an existing
organization (a nonprofit agency, student organization,
etc.) or a local interest (hiking in Central Texas, Tec hnology
Trends for College Students, etc.). Students will then pitc h,
plan, researc h, and write stories to fill this publication.
In this seminar-styled workshop, students will get handson practice writing query letters, conducting inter views,
writing, revising, editing, and constructively critiquing eac h
other’s work. Students will also get experience planning and
managing a large project.
Shaver, Sec. 01, MW 2:30-3:45
4314
Chaucer
Prerequisite: ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and upperlevel standing
This course introduces part of the culture(s) of England’s
High Middle Ages through Chaucer’s poetry. We will read “The
Parlement of Foules” and most of The Canterbury Tales in Chaucer’s
Middle English, paying special attention to how Chaucer reflects and
expresses the ideas and values of his time, station, and place. We
will also examine such standard concerns as Chaucer’s use of plot,
characterization, theme, imagery, and prosody. Our chief objective
will be to delight in Chaucer’s insight, wit, and humanity. Everyone will
memorize a short passage of The Canterbury Tales in Middle English;
everyone will take three exams during the term and a cumulative
final. Moreover, everyone will write one or two short papers and one
long paper.
Hanks, Sec. 01, MWF 9:05
14
4317
“The History and Development of American
English Dialects”
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing and consent of instructor.
This course will focus on the basic concepts and tools of
dialectology and how they are used to investigate differences in
pronunciation, inflection, and lexicon in North America. We will
examine the British and non-British origins of the dialects spoken in
Colonial America and trace features of the modern American dialects
from these early beginnings. Throughout the course, we will consider
how linguistic variation is tied to class, ethnicity, geography, age,
gender and self-identification with a particular community. These
topics will culminate in a group investigation of the dialect of Central
Texas.
Denton, Sec. 01, TR 12:30
4318
Writing for the Workplace
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing and consent of instructor.
English 4318 gives students practice managing projects,
analyzing client needs, applying principles of visual rhetoric
and design, producing a variety of workplace documents, and
managing their own schedules. As part of this course, students
will work in teams to identify an outside client with whom they
would like to work and then work closely with this outside client
to meet their communication needs. Students will also assemble a
professional career portfolio that includes a resume, cover letter,
and other professional documents that represent themselves as
professional writers.
Alexander, Sec. 01, TR 9:30
15
4324
Shakespeare: Selected Plays
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing
A representative survey of Shakespeare’s drama—comedies,
tragedies, and histories—as well as his sonnets. In addition to a
selection of his poetry, students will read Love’s Labor’s Lost, Richard
III, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Othello, Measure for
Measure, King Lear, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. Three essay
examinations and a short critical paper will form the basis for
evaluation.
Hunt, Sec. 01, TR 11:00
4330 Early Seventeenth-Century Poetry and Prose
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper level standing.
Poetry, politics, religion and erotics are nowhere more
consistently implicated in one another than in the English writing
of the early seventeenth century. In delineating just some of the
conflicting passions and ideals that shaped the bloody English
civil war, we shall consider narrative modes ranging from the
mythological to the historical. The lyric poetry will include the
work of John Donne, George Herbert, Amelia Lanyer, Margaret
Cavendish, Andrew Marvell, and Ben Jonson. We shall also study
the epic poetry of Abraham Cowley (Davideis) and Lucy Hutchinson
(Order and Disorder), as well as the prose works of Thomas Browne,
Thomas Hobbes, and others. Assignments include reflection writing, an annotated
bibliography, an oral presentation, a research essay, and exams.
Donnelly, Sec. 01, TR 9:30
16
4340
English Poetr y and Prose from 1660 to
1745
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper level standing.
This multi-generic course traces the various literary modes
and styles that define the Restoration and Neoclassical period
(1660-1745) in British literary history. We will read poetry, satires,
drama, romances, and literary essays produced by the “official”
literary establishment—writers including John Dryden, Aphra
Behn, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and John Gay—as well as
fictional narratives from the “unofficial” literary establishment by
writers such as John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe. Many of the literary
works from this age can be characterized as blending a nostalgia
for classical models and cultures with an urgent sense of topical
reality. Therefore, our study of the literature will be supplemented
by close attention to the history, politics, and culture of the time. Assignments will include four short response papers, two longer
essays, a midterm, and a final examination.
Foster, Sec. 01, TR 12:30
4354 Romantic Poetry: Revolutionaries, Revivialists, and
Reactionaries
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper level standing.
One of the great flowerings of English literature occurred
between 1798 and 1832 when radicals and revolutionaries
in politics and literature sought to change society and reinvent
literature. Concerned with injustices, social change, and hope for
a better and a more just society, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge,
Byron, Shelley, and Keats sought to break the traditions and
reconstruct literary taste. Employing close readings of poetry and
prose, students will interact with the poetry of the major writers as
17
well as a few of the prose writers including Dorothy Wordsworth
and Mary Shelley. Requirements include weekly one-page position
papers, a midterm, and a final.
Barcus, Sec. 01, TR 2:00
4370
Women Writers
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing.
This course introduces students to a broad spectrum of
Victorian women writers (including novelists, poets, journalists, travel
writers, autobiographers, social critics, and theologians) and explores
questions regarding the contemporary and modern response to these
writers and their texts.
Henry, Sec. 01, MWF 12:20
4371 M o de r n Britis h Poe tr y
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing.
T his course will be an in-depth introduction to British
poetry in the twentieth century. Assuming a basic background
in nineteenth-century British poetry of the Romantic and
Victorian periods, the course will focus on the individual
voices of the major twentieth-century poets. The poets to be
considered are: William Butler Yeats, Edwin Muir, Wilfred
Owen, W. H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, Philip Larkin, Denise
Levertov, Paul Muldoon, Eavan Boland, Geoffrey Hill,
Seamus Heaney and R. S. Thomas. Eac h student will make
several class presentations; write several short papers, and
one longer one.
Davis, W.V., Sec. 01, MWF 1:25
18
4374
The English Country House
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing.
This course examines the country house as a product of
the English literary imagination, with particular emphasis on the
novels of the twentieth century. The country house is more than
a prominent architectural feature of the island; it is an organic
setting rooted in the landscape and woven into the fabric of
English identity. As a bastion of aristocratic cultural authority, the
country house ethos reached its pinnacle in the Edwardian era. The
inevitable decline of the country house following the First World
War, and the attenuation of the aristocratic ethos it embodied,
produced an impressive array of fictional treatments ranging from
elegiac to gothic, from satiric to tragic. The English country house
novel in all its variety poignantly portrays a society in the twilight
of its significance. In addition to poetry and social history, our
readings will likely include novels by Evelyn Waugh, Aldous Huxley,
H. G. Wells, Henry James, Christopher Isherwood, Julian Fane, Ian
McEwan, L. P. Hartley, Vita Sackville-West, and Sarah Waters.
Assignments will include three papers and a final exam.
Gardner, Sec. 01, MWF 10:10
4377
Internship in Professional Writing
Prerequisite(s): ENG 4318 or concurrent enrollment, and
consent of instructor.
English 4377 is an internship course that serves as a capstone
experience for Professional Writing majors. This course provides
students with a continuous period of on-the-job experience as a
writer in a professional setting and gives them multiple opportunities
to apply the skills and knowledge they have acquired through their
coursework to a professional context. Over the course of the semester,
students will work under the supervision of the Internship
19
course instructor and an Employee Supervisor to complete at least
154 documented hours of work as an intern. In addition, students
will attend meetings with the Faculty Supervisor and other student
interns at least once a month. These meetings give students a regular
opportunity to share accomplishments and discuss observations and
problems that arise on the job. Finally, students will reflect on their
learning and experiences by assembling a professional portfolio that
represents their talents and skills.
As students proceed with the internship, they will gain practical
experience functioning as a writer within a professional organization.
Students will develop skills in “reading”—or recognizing and
analyzing—the culture of a particular organization, and apply this
knowledge in order to adapt to the workplace environment, contribute
to the organization’s work, and eventually identify possibilities for
innovation. As the semester proceeds, students will become more
adept at thinking of themselves as professional writers and will be
better prepared to develop and apply their knowledge and analytic
abilities to future workplace experiences.
Shaver, Sec. 01, TBA
4380
American Renaissance
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and
upper-level standing.
Variously termed the “American Renaissance,” the “Flowering
of New England,” or simply “The Rise of Transcendentalism,” the
period in American literary history from the 1820s to the Civil
War was marked by an increasing literary and intellectual vitality.
Students in this course will read some of the sermons, essays, and
tracts by lesser-known transcendentalists as well as works by the more
influential figures of the era: Emerson, Thoreau, Douglass, Hawthorne,
Melville, Davis, and Margaret Fuller.
Fulton, Sec. 01, MWF 10:10
20
4387
Modern American Novel/1900–1945
Prerequisite(s): ENG 2301 and either 2304 or 2306 and upperlevel standing.
The period between the two world wars was one of the
richest and most productive periods of American literature. In this
course, we will study a range of American novels from the first half
of the twentieth century. We will cover a range of the different
voices making themselves heard in fiction during this period. We will
begin with the great modernist writers Fitzgerald, Hemingway and
Faulkner, and we will read one of Steinbeck’s major social novels.
We will read two African American novels, and we will focus on
some of the fiction written by women during this period. We will
cover the work of Jewish, Southern and proletarian novelists, watch
a World War II movie, and finish with a glimpse at what begins
to happen in American fiction after 1945. The aim of this course
is for students to get to know and to think for themselves about
a representative sample of the wide range of American voices
expressing themselves in the form of the novel during the first half
of the twentieth century. We will study these works in the context of
the historical background that produced them, and we will also look
at some of the theories of the novel articulated during this period.
Ferretter, Sec. 01, TR 9:30
5304 Bibliography and Research Methods: Seminar
Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing or permission of instructor
This course introduces graduate students to diverse tasks that
are essential for the successful professional scholar/teacher. The
seminar sessions are structured around specific tasks designed to
familiarize students with methodologies and to assist students with the
beginning stages of their preferred fields of study. Students will learn
to retrieve information in both traditional and electronic formats; they
will read and review recently-published scholarly books; they will
write and submit a conference paper; they will prepare a manuscript
for publication; and they will prepare a scholarly edition
21
of a manuscript or text. Finally, students will complete a variety of
mundane but significant tasks like writing a recommendation and
prepare the dossier expected by most employers. A field trip to the
Ransom Humanities Research Library at UT-Austin is required.
Johnston, Sec. 01, T 3:30-6:30
5330 Seventeenth-Century English Literature:
Metaphysical Poetry and Prose
We will examine the origins and meanings of
“metaphysical” and then study primarily the poetry of John Donne,
George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell and the prose of Donne,
Herbert, and Sir Thomas Browne. Understanding their works from
an analytical perspective and from major critical views will be
important in our approaches and goals. Student presentations,
discussions, one short paper, and one long paper will be considered
in assessment of grades.
Ray, Sec. 01, R 3:30-6:30
5350
Early Romantic Poets: Romanticism and Religion
Manifestly and covertly, one subject runs through the poems
and prose works of Wordsworth and Coleridge: religion. These
first-generation Romantics persistently raise questions such as
the following: How does the authority of poetry relate to that of
the Bible, especially as the authority of the latter is coming into
question? Can biblical apocalypse be exchanged for or identified
with visions of political revolution? Is the poetic imagination a
spiritual and religious power? If the book of nature no longer
easily corroborates the revelations of scripture, can poets still read
nature’s pages for spiritual meanings? Is the rapid emergence of
print culture a materialistic and divisive force that threatens spiritual
community? We will concentrate on Wordsworth’s and Coleridge’s
responses to such questions, but we will also make excursions into
writings by figures such as William Blake, Anna Barbauld, and
22
Charlotte Smith. Our secondary reading will draw from the long
critical debate about romanticism and religion, a topic currently
of high interest among scholars of romanticism. Classes will include
short lectures by the instructor, but will be devoted primarily to
discussion, brief reports on critical pieces, and formal presentations
related to the seminar paper.
King, Sec. 01, M 3:30-6:30
5362
Victorian Prose: Seminar
Beginning with Jane Eyre (1847) and ending with Dracula
(1897), this course will provide you with an overview of the dazzling
Victorian era. The focus is on England, and you will observe the
emergence of the world’s first superpower through the eyes of its
novelists, including Charlotte Bronte, Thackeray, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy,
James, Wilde, and Stoker. These novelists chronicle the human vanity
and misery that accompanied England’s meteoric rise to greatness—
and unfailingly scourge the politicians, ecclesiastics, and petty
bureaucrats who perpetuated the have and have-not mentality. A
general goal is to expose you to a wide variety of novelists, novels,
and narrative techniques. Active participation, oral presentation,
brief essay, and seminar paper all count towards the final grade.
Losey, Sec. 01, W 3:30-6:30
5376
Religion and Literature Seminar: Contemporary
Narratives of Religion, War, and Peace
Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing in the doctoral Religion and
Literature concentration or consent of the instructor.
In this seminar, we will study contemporary works of
literature and popular culture in light of religious and ethical
teachings on war, peace, violence, and nonviolence. A particular
focus will be post 9-11 religion and culture. Our methodologies will
include theological and cultural criticism, genre criticism, and close
reading. Each participant in the seminar will make a short
23
presentation on the work of a theologian or ethicist and lead
discussion on a primary text; the major writing product of the
course will be a conference-length paper. Authors and works to
be considered may include Margaret Atwood, Cormac McCarthy,
Marilynne Robinson, Barbara Kingsolver, Pat Barker, The Dark
Knight, Munich, 24, and Battlestar Galactica.
Garrett, Sec. 01, T 3:30-6:30
5391
Colonial American Literature: Captive Subjects
The special topic for this semester’s seminar will be captivity.
We will read the narratives of European explorers and Puritan
colonists captured by Native Americans, Africans captured by slave
traders, and American sailors captured by Barbary pirates. Since
the captivity narrative was an important New World genre, we
will examine how issues of captivity inform ideas about cultural
identity in the undefined space of the New World as well as ideas
about freedom in the new republic. Our readings will include early
Gothic and sentimental novels influenced by the popularity of the
captivity narrative. We will situate the novels in their historical
context where fears about the potential dangers of the novel often
depicted novel reading as a kind of captivity. Supplementing
our readings of the primary texts will be readings on theories of
captivity, circum-Atlantic studies, and the early novel in America.
Requirements will include an oral report and a seminar paper.
Ford, Sec. 01, R 3:30-6:30
Notes
Notes
Quotable:
“Ay, now I am in Ardenne; the
more fool I. When I was at
home, I was in a better place;
but travellers must be content.”
The Jester, Touchstone.
Shakespeare’s As You Like It,
Act. 2, Scene 4