ENGL 099: Summer Writing Program

Emphasizing a writing process approach, the Summer Writing Program helps high school juniors and seniors learn to compose academic papers that are similar to those they will write in college. Students read both contemporary and traditional literature from classic texts by writers such as Plato and Shakespeare to a variety of modern short stories, essays, and poems by authors such as August Wilson, Margaret Atwood, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and Adrienne Rich. This literature then becomes the focus of their papers. Students write every day, and although occasional creative writing exercises are included, the main emphasis of the course will be on expository prose. Cannot be used for the Writing Requirement. 6; S/CR/NC; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered -- Staff

ENGL 100: Song, Self, Society: the Poetry of Dickinson and Whitman

The mid-nineteenth century works of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman laid out utterly different but comparably brilliant paths to modern literary expression in the U.S. and beyond. Combining an emphasis on the analysis of poetic "form" with attention to these writers’ shared and differing social contexts and expressive styles, this course will provide students with the tools to read these poets (and a few of their precursors and followers) with skill and pleasure and to write knowledgeably and effectively about their works. No previous penchant for or training in reading poetry required. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- P. Balaam

ENGL 100: Literature Seminar

A writing seminar designed to teach college students to be successful readers and writers, each section includes a variety of readings in order to teach the skills of essay writing, editing and revision, collaborative work and oral presentations. Because of the focus on critical reading and writing, the course also serves as an excellent foundation to the English major. The following sections will be offered in 2008-2009:not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 100: Joseph Conrad: Capitalism, Colonialism and Courage

Conrad's fiction spans the globe, from the dingy streets of London to silver mines in South America and trading outposts in the South Sea islands. His interests read like tomorrow's front-page news: exploitation of the third world by transnational corporations, suicide bombers, spy networks, and the question of what heroic ideals might survive in our modern world. We will read several of his novels and shorter works. Considerable emphasis will be placed on the techniques of writing interpretive argument for courses in the humanities and the social sciences. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- G. Shuffelton

ENGL 100: Shakespeare on Film

With an emphasis on student writing, this seminar explores the many ways in which Shakespeare's plays have been adapted for film. From Hollywood to Bollywood to Japan, and from Westerns to Sci-fi to cartoons, Shakespeare has been reworked and reconceived in every filmmaking culture and in every genre. Using the tools of both literary criticism and film analysis, this course seeks to assess the interpretive value of both "straightforward" and unconventional film adaptations of several of Shakespeare's major plays. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- P. Hecker

ENGL 100: Spirit of Place

We will consider a range of texts (in fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction) that explore the intangible and multifaceted nature of "place" in literary works. We will attempt to determine what influence place has on human perception and behavior and study the variety of ways in which writers have attempted to evoke "a spirit of place." Authors read will include Shakespeare, Hardy, Frost, and Heaney. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- M. Kowalewski

ENGL 100: Novel, Nation, Self

With an emphasis on critical reading and writing in an academic context, this course will examine how contemporary writers from a range of global locations approach the question of the writing of the self and of the nation. Reading novels from both familiar and unfamiliar cultural contexts we will examine closely our practices of reading, and the cultural expectations and assumptions that underlie them. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- A. Chakladar

ENGL 100: Imagining a Self

This course examines how first-person narrators present, define, defend, and construct the self. We will read an assortment of autobiographical and fictional works, focusing on the critical issues that the first-person speaker "I" raises. In particular, we will consider the risks and rewards of narrative self-exposure, the relationship between autobiography and the novel, and the apparent intimacy between first-person narrators and their readers. Authors will include James Boswell, Charlotte Bronte, Harriet Jacobs, Sylvia Plath, and Dave Eggers. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- J. Leiman

ENGL 100: "His dark materials": Milton, Shelley and Pullman

We will read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials as responses to and radical revisions of Milton's Paradise Lost. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- C. Walker

ENGL 109: Writing Seminar

We will apply ourselves to the skills and arts of critical reading and persuasive writing through reading of recent journalism and commentary about "globalization." Students will learn to note the particular rhetorical purposes and performed innovations of works asking: Are national cultures safe against globalization? Is the idea of the sovereign nation obsolete? What are the ethics of consumerism and cultural export in the new era? Students will do lots of informal writing, compose and revise three major essays, and present a talk in a final symposium on globalization. Readings from George Orwell, Pico Iyer, Michiko Kakutani, Arundhati Roy. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- G. Shuffelton

ENGL 109: Writing Seminar

Devoted exclusively to the study and practice of clear and persuasive prose, this course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental organizational and argumentative skills they need to write effectively at Carleton. Specifically, the course aims to teach students to read critically and analyze thoroughly the evidence and arguments with which they engage; to consider audience, purpose, and context in the construction of a rhetorical strategy; to state an arguable thesis and develop it into a persuasive argument with coherence, logic, and evidence; and to develop effective writing habits. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Fall 2008, Winter 2009 -- N. Cho

ENGL 109: Writing Seminar

This course focuses on critical reading and analytical thinking and the practice of purposeful, effective, and persuasive academic writing. Students will read and analyze a variety of literary forms by American writers and will compose frequent papers, using invention to generate ideas, defining audience, planning rhetorical strategies, drafting, and revising. Through a writing workshop approach, students will be encouraged to hone their critical skills and to refine their own writing strategies. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Fall 2008 -- C. Oliver

ENGL 109: Writing Seminar

Writing makes thinking visible. In this course, we will use individual research projects as well as readings to develop skills in reflection, reporting, oral presentation, and persuasion. Close collaboration with librarians will help students establish a research environment for this course and, one hopes, for future courses as well. Students should expect to write often, participate in peer review, and become critical readers of their own work. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Fall 2008, Winter 2009 -- C. Rutz

ENGL 110: English Literature, I

Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton and lyric poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Required of English majors. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009 -- Staff

ENGL 111: English Literature, II

Neoclassic, Romantic, and Victorian literature. Required of English majors. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009 -- Staff

ENGL 112: Introduction to American Literature

American literature to 1914 with an emphasis on the periods of Romanticism and Realism. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009 -- Staff

ENGL 114: Introduction to Medieval Narrative

This class will focus on three of the most popular and closely connected modes of narrative enjoyed by medieval audiences: the epic, the romance, and the saint’s life. Readings, drawn primarily from the English and French traditions, will include Beowulf, The Song of Roland, the Arthurian romances of Chrétien de Troyes, and legends of St. Alexis and St. Margaret. We will consider how each narrative mode influenced the other, as we encounter warriors and lovers who suffer like saints, and saints who triumph like warriors and lovers. Readings will be in translation or highly accessible modernizations. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 117: African American Literature

This course provides an overview of African American literature. We will pay particular attention to the tradition of African American literary expression and the individual talent that brings depth and diversity to that tradition. Authors to be read include Baldwin, Baraka, Brooks, Ed Bullins, Douglass, Du Bois, Dunbar, Nikki Giovanni, Hayden, Hughes, Weldon Johnson, Locke, McKay, Morrison, Toomer, Wheatley, and Wilson. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- K. Owusu

ENGL 118: Introduction to Poetry

We will look at the whole kingdom of poetry, exploring how poets use form, tone, sound, imagery, rhythm, and subject matter to create what Wallace Stevens called the "supreme fiction." Examples will be drawn from around the world, from Sappho to spoken word. Participation in discussion is mandatory; essay assignments will ask you to provide close readings of particular works; a couple of assignments will focus on the writing of poems so as to give you a full understanding of this ancient and living art. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 119: Introduction to U.S. Latino/a Literature

We will begin by examining the forefathers and mothers of Latino/a literature: the nineteenth century texts of exile, struggles for Latin American independence, and southwestern resistance and accommodation. The early twentieth century offers new genres: immigrant novels and popular poetry that reveal the nascent Latino identities rooted in (or formed in opposition to) U.S. ethics and ideals. Finally we will read a sampling of the many excellent contemporary authors who are transforming the face of American literature. 6; Arts and Literature, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- A. Estill

ENGL 120: Modern Literature: British and American

Selected poems and prose narratives written since 1910. Senior English majors may take this course only with the consent of the instructor. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 144: Shakespeare I

Cross-listed with ENGL 244. A chronological survey of the whole of Shakespeare’s career, covering all genres and periods, this course explores the nature of Shakespeare’s genius and the scope of his art. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between literature and stagecraft ("page to stage"). By tackling the complexities of prosody, of textual transmission, and of Shakespeare’s highly figurative and metaphorical language, the course will help you further develop your abilities to think critically and write analytically about literature. Note: English majors or potential English majors should register for ENGL 244. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- P. Hecker

ENGL 200: Methods of Interpretation

This course is required of students majoring in English. It will deal with practical and theoretical issues in literary analysis and contemporary criticism. Prerequisites: English 110 and 111. Not open to first year students. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009, Spring 2009 -- N. Cho, S. Jaret McKinstry

ENGL 220: Arts of Oral Presentation

Instruction and practice in being a speaker and an audience in formal and informal settings. 3; S/CR/NC; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- M. Kowalewski

ENGL 227: Borderlands: Places and People

The borderlands provide a powerful metaphoric vehicle for discussing contemporary cultural expression. We will engage this metaphor through a broad chronological and generic range of American literary and visual texts. Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands/La Frontera and John Sayles's Lone Star will initiate our discussion through their reflections on the U.S.-Mexico border and its production of border identities. We will then address additional narratives that defy racial, gender, sexual, ethnic, cultural, or religious classification. Finally, we will consider the ways in which individual hybrid, mestizo, or border identities are related to particular understandings of the nature of place and community. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- A. Estill

ENGL 234: Literature of the American South

We will focus on masterpieces of the "Southern Renaissance" of the early and mid-twentieth century, and place them into the context of American regionalism and particularly the culture of the South, the legacy of slavery and race relations, social and gender roles, and the modernist movement in literature. Authors will include Allen Tate, Jean Toomer, William Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren, Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, William Percy, and others. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- E. McKinsey

ENGL 235: Asian American Literature

This course is an introduction to major works and authors of fiction, drama, and poetry from about 1900 to the present. We will trace the development of Asian American literary traditions while exploring the rich diversity of recent voices in the field. Authors to be read include Carlos Bulosan, Sui Sin Far, Philip Kan Gotanda, Maxine Hong Kingston, Jhumpa Lahiri, Milton Murayama, Chang-rae Lee, Li-young Lee, and John Okada. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 236: American Nature Writing

A study of the environmental imagination in American literature. We will explore the relationship between literature and the natural sciences and examine questions of style, narrative, and representation in the light of larger social, ethical, and political concerns about the environment. Authors read will include Thoreau, Muir, Mary Austin, Jeffers, Abbey, Snyder, and Terry Tempest Williams. Students will write a creative Natural History essay as part of the course requirements. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 239: American Best-Sellers

A book's popularity is itself a kind of criticism, complex evidence that the best-seller in question expressed the hopes and fears of people who found them nowhere else so forcibly put. In this course--a literary, historical, and cultural exploration of best-selling nineteenth century American fiction--we will seek to understand not only which books became popular, but why they did, how their formal qualities and particular engagements moved contemporary readers to buy and read them so avidly. Page-turners, barn-burners, and tear-jerkers, nine of them, by Rowson, Cooper, Stowe, Alger, Burroughs, Zane Grey, Wharton. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- P. Balaam

ENGL 240: Transatlantic Romanticism

Heroes and demons, revolutionaries and explorers, the Sublime and the Abyss, and of course Nature, will be among the subjects of this interdisciplinary, multi-genre course on the international cultural, intellectual, and political movement that became known as Romanticism, a movement whose reverberations continue to be felt strongly today. Among the works and authors to be studied: Frankenstein and The Last of the Mohicans; Wordsworth and Whitman; The Sorrows of Young Werther and Confessions of an English Opium Eater; Poe and Coleridge; the Brothers Grimm and Hawthorne; Beethoven and Chopin; the Hudson River School and Turner; Goya and Verdi; Rousseau and Thoreau. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 241: Language Thieves: Women in American Poetry

An examination of how gendered identities affect the uses of poetry. Beginning with the modernists, we will look at the relationship their poetry builds to traditional gender identities. Next we will explore how feminism radically redefines poetry and its traditions. Finally we will turn to a few contemporary poets in order to question how poetry today responds to changes in women's and men's social roles. We will read a number of poets, including Gertrude Stein, Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Lyn Hejinian, Harryette Mullen and Julia Alvarez. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 243: Text and Film

Each text selected for this course will be paired with its filmic adaptation for a series of discussions focused on narrative structures, points of view, frames of reference, and textual (in)fidelity. We will read the following texts and watch their film versions: Wright's Native Son, Malcolm X and Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place, Walker's The Color Purple, McMillan's Waiting to Exhale, and Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Spring 2009 -- K. Owusu

ENGL 244: Shakespeare I

Cross-listed with ENGL 144. A chronological survey of the whole of Shakespeare’s career, covering all genres and periods, this course explores the nature of Shakespeare’s genius and the scope of his art. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between literature and stagecraft ("page to stage"). By tackling the complexities of prosody, of textual transmission, and of Shakespeare’s highly figurative and metaphorical language, the course will help you further develop your abilities to think critically and write analytically about literature. Note: English majors or potential English majors should register for ENGL 244. Group I. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- P. Hecker

ENGL 249: Irish Literature

After a brief introduction to earlier literary texts, the course will concentrate on twentieth century fiction, poetry and drama by W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, J. M. Synge, Brian Friel, Frank O'Connor, Sean O'Faolain, Edna O'Brien, William Trevor, Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill and many others. We will pay particular attention to the recurrent themes of national and cultural identity, the plight of women in a repressive society, the perspectives of children, the power of religion and the prevalence of violence. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Spring 2009 -- J. McDonnell

ENGL 250: Modern Indian Fiction

In this course we will follow the various paths that the novel in India has taken since the early twentieth century. Reading both works composed in English and some in translation we will probe in particular the ways in which questions of language and national/cultural identity are constructed and critiqued in the Indian novel. We will read some of the most celebrated Indian writers of the last 100 years as well as some who are not as well-known as they should be. The course will also introduce you to some fundamental concepts in postcolonial studies. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Fall 2008 -- A. Chakladar

ENGL 251: Modern Indian Fiction II: 1980-Present

This course will focus on Indian fiction by writers who come to prominence after 1980. The period is inaugurated by the monumental publication of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children in 1981, and part of the course objectives will be to track the explosion of Indian writing in English in the decades that follow. The course will also examine Indian fiction in translation from other languages in the same period and consider the question of the ways in which these traditions intersect, and whether it is possible to speak of Indian Literature as a singular category. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2009 -- A. Chakladar

ENGL 260: Introduction to Creative Writing

This course offers blocks of intensive training in poetry, prose fiction, and what has recently been termed "creative non-fiction." The primary objective is to come to an understanding of the varying and at times overlapping capabilities of these three genres and to produce works in each. Discussion of each participant's writing is the central mode of instruction. This will be supplemented by examples from published writers and some theoretical essays on the creative process. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009, Spring 2009 -- S. Jaret McKinstry

ENGL 270: The Crafts of Writing: The Short Story

An introduction to the writing of the short story. Each student will write and have discussed in class three stories (from 1,500 to 4,000 words in length) and give constructive suggestions about the stories written by other members of the class. Students are expected to write brief critiques of each story written by their classmates. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008, Spring 2009 -- G. Smith

ENGL 271: The Crafts of Writing: Poetry

This course concerns itself with the development of poetic vision as much as craft. Through intensive writing and revision of poetry, supplemented by reading and discussion of contemporary poetry and poetics, each member of the group will form a body of work and a statement that stakes a poetic claim. The objective is to begin to discover how each of us fits or does not fit into the modern poetical tradition and the diverse contemporary poetry scene, so as to free us from solipsism and vague notions of the powers of poetry. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- G. Hewett

ENGL 272: Truth vs. Power: A Journey in Journalism

Journalism is in turmoil today. Bold experimentation is needed to meet such dramatic new challenges to journalism as the Internet, the decline of newspapers, multilingual readerships, and global crises requiring activism more than "objectivity." The class will move between a theoretical focus -- exploring journalism's basic theories and often-contradictory methods, purposes and aims-- and a practical focus inviting students to strive towards their highest journalistic ideals. Students will be challenged to blend journalism's indispensable norms of factual accuracy, fairness and quality writing with new technologies such as blogging, podcasting, videocasting, social networking and RSS feeds. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- D. McGill

ENGL 280: Crafts of Writing: Creative Non-fiction

Do you like it when true things happen? Would you like to take those true things and make them sound truer than true? Would you like to use words while doing that? In this course, students will write a rant, a reported essay, and also explore a creative non-fiction form of their choosing. Class time will be spent on live writing assignments, giving and receiving feedback, learning basic research techniques, and having discussions about things that seem trivial right up until the moment that their ultimate significance is revealed. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- D. Cass

ENGL 290: London Program: Independent Project

In consultation with the director, students on the London program will design an independent project growing out of their experiences on the program. They will meet in workshop groups and present their projects - perhaps a photo-essay, or a group of poems at the end of the term. 4; S/CR/NC; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Winter 2009 -- G. Hewett

ENGL 300: Chaucer I: The Canterbury Tales

A study of The Canterbury Tales in Middle English (no previous knowledge assumed), concentrating on the pilgrims as narrating subjects, and Chaucer's legendary status as the "Father" of English literature. Group I. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Spring 2009 -- G. Shuffleton

ENGL 301: The Courtly Chaucer

None of the 493 documents in the Chaucer Life Records mention his poetry; most describe his activities as a courtier and royal administrator. This course seeks to reconcile this courtly Chaucer with his writing prior to the Canterbury Tales. As we read his early dream visions, we will immerse ourselves in the courtly cultures Chaucer learned by reading French and Italian works in translation, and by examining the art and manners of the English court. The final weeks will be spent reading his finished masterpiece, Troilus and Criseyde, sometimes called "the first novel in English." Group I. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- G. Shuffelton

ENGL 310: Shakespeare II

Continuing the work begun in Shakespeare I, this course delves deeper into the Shakespeare canon. More difficult and obscure plays are studied alongside some of the more famous ones. While focusing principally on the plays themselves as works of art, the course also explores their social, intellectual, and theatrical contexts, as well as the variety of critical response they have engendered. Prerequisite: English 130 or 144 or 244. Group I. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- P. Hecker

ENGL 313: Major Works of the English Renaissance: The Faerie Queene

A study of Spenser's romance epic. Group II. 3; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 314: Major Works of the English Renaissance: Paradise Lost

An examination of Milton's masterwork. Group II. 3; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 318: The Gothic Spirit

The eighteenth and early nineteenth century saw the rise of the Gothic, a genre populated by brooding hero-villains, vulnerable virgins, mad monks, ghosts, and monsters. In this course, we will examine the conventions and concerns of the Gothic, as we address its preoccupation with terror, sex, madness, and the supernatural. We will locate this genre within its historical and literary context, considering its excesses in light of the political and cultural anxieties of the age, and exploring the relationship between Gothicism, sensibility, and Romanticism. Reading will include novels, verse, and drama by Walpole, Radcliffe, Austen, Lewis, Byron, and Mary Shelley. Group II. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Spring 2009 -- J. Leiman

ENGL 319: The Rise of the Novel

A study of the origin and development of the English novel throughout the long eighteenth century. We will situate the early novel within its historical and cultural context, paying particular attention to its concern with courtship and marriage, writing and reading, the real and the fantastic. We will also consider eighteenth century debates about the social function of novels and the dangers of reading fiction. Authors will include Behn, Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne and Radcliffe. Group II. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- J. Leiman

ENGL 322: The Art of Jane Austen

All of Jane Austen's fiction will be read; the works she did not complete or choose to publish during her lifetime will be studied in an attempt to understand the art of her mature comic masterpieces, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. Group II. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- C. Walker

ENGL 323: English Romantic Poets

"It is impossible to read the compositions of the most celebrated writers of the present day without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words"­P. B. Shelley. Readings in Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, and their contemporaries. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- C. Walker

ENGL 327: Nineteenth Century Fiction

This course will study some of the major novels of the nineteenth century, examining their concern with social debates over the public and the private, crime and the law, the collective and the individual, and the masculine and the feminine. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 328: Victorian Poetry

A study of Victorian poetry with particular emphasis on Pre-Raphaelite poetry and paintings. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- S. Jaret McKinstry

ENGL 330: Literature of the American West

Wallace Stegner once described the West as "the geography of hope" in the American imagination. Despite various dystopian urban pressures, the region still conjures up images of wide vistas and sunburned optimism. We will explore this paradox by examining both popular mythic conceptions of the West (primarily in film) and more searching literary treatments of the same area. We will explore how writers such as Twain, Cather, Stegner, Castillo, and Cormac McCarthy have dealt with the geographical diversity and multiethnic history of the West. Films will include The Searchers, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Unforgiven, and Lone Star. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- M. Kowalewski

ENGL 331: American Transcendentalism

The roots and aims, friends and some enemies, of this nineteenth century reform movement, with particular attention to its literary aspects and its legacy in U.S. cultural history. Major works of Emerson, Thoreau, Margaret Fuller as well as of lesser figures. We will weigh the movement's contributions to religious and social reform and examine its politics, especially its relation to slavery and abolitionism, feminism, and the environment. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Spring 2009 -- P. Balaam

ENGL 332: Studies in American Literature: Faulkner, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald

An intensive study of the novels and short fiction of William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The course will focus on the experimentation ethos and "homemade" quality of these innovative stylists who shaped the course of American modernism. Works read will be primarily from the twenties and thirties and will include The Sound and the Fury, In Our Time, Light in August, The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises, and Go Down, Moses. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 333: Contemporary Native American Literature

This course focuses on significant works by Native American writers from the 1970’s to the present with an added emphasis on critical history and cultural studies. The readings vary in genre, style, and subject matter, and include the writings/performances of Sherman Alexie, Leslie Silko, and Spiderwoman Theater. Alongside this study of primary texts, we will consider the various ways in which critics have conceived the Native American literary tradition and participate in the debates that emerge. Finally, the literature will be placed in key cultural contexts of the American Indian Movement, popular representations of Native Americans, and reservation life. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- S. Lee

ENGL 334: Studies in American Literature: The Postmodern American Novel

We will get lost in the funhouse of postmodern fiction, in whose mirrored rooms we will encounter Maxwell’s Demon, a depressed Krazy Kat, and the icy imagination of the King of Zembla. (Time will be budgeted for side-excursions into pastiche, dreck, and indeterminacy.) Authors read will include Nabokov, Pynchon, Bartheleme, and Delillo. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 335: (Post)Colonialism and Identity In Heart of Darkness

Marlow notes, "The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only." In this class we will explore both the ways in which this "idea" has been written about in European fictions about empire, and some responses to it from those on the receiving end. In particular, we will probe the ways in which the cultural identity of both the colonizer and the colonized are created, staged and written under colonialism and its aftermath. Writers we will read will include Kipling, Conrad, Forster, Achebe, Rushdie, Naipaul, Cliff, Kincaid, Rao, and Ngugi. We will also encounter some of the prominent theorists of postcolonial studies. Group IV. Prerequisite: One lower-level English course. 6; Arts and Literature, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2009 -- A. Chakladar

ENGL 336: Romance to Novel: Poe, Hawthorne, James

Major works of these crucial U.S. writers in cultural contexts between 1830 and 1900. What did the nineteenth century U.S. have to offer the ambitious, socially observant writer of fiction? What did U.S. audiences expect in a book? Attention to the gothic, Romanticism, psychological realism, and the emergence of the "international theme." Several tales and some literary theory from each, with longer works including Pym Blithedale Romance, House of Seven Gables, and Portrait of a Lady. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 339: Contemporary American Playwrights of Color

This course will examine a diverse selection of plays from the 1970s to the present with an attempt to understand how different theatrical venues frame our understanding of ethnic identity. Playwrights and performers to be studied include Ntozake Shange, George C. Wolfe, Luis Valdez, David Henry Hwang, August Wilson, Philip Gotanda, Wakako Yamauchi, Maria Irene Fornes, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Ann Deavere Smith. There will be occasional video screenings and we will attend live theatrical performances when possible. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- N. Cho

ENGL 362: Narrative Theory

"Does the world really present itself to perception in the form of well-made stories?" asks Hayden White (historiographer). To try to answer that question, we will read contemporary narrative theory and analyze various literary texts and films. This course fulfills the advanced seminar requirement. Prerequisite: English 200. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- S. Jaret McKinstry

ENGL 370: Advanced Crafts of Writing: The Short Story

An advanced course in the writing of fiction. Students are expected to write brief critiques of each story written by their classmates. Students must submit a story to the English Department Office prior to registration. Final enrollment is based on the quality of the submitted work. May be repeated for credit. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; offered Spring 2009 -- Staff

ENGL 371: Advanced Crafts of Writing: Poetry

For students with some experience in writing poetry. We will take a workshop approach that develops the individual poet's craft and vision. Readings and exercises will be used to explore the poet's individual range and expand ideas about what poetic language can do. The goal of this course is for each poet to create a sequence of eight poems unified by technique, subject matter, form, or sensibility as well as eight experimental poems. A group public reading will be scheduled. Students must submit three poems to the English Department Office prior to registration. Final enrollment is based on the quality of the submitted work. 6; S/CR/NC; Arts and Literature; not offered 2008-2009

EDUC 379: Methods of Literacy Instruction

Cross-listed with ENGL 379. This course introduces students to a variety of approaches and perspective in teaching English language arts in grades 5-12. We will explore methodologies and issues surrounding the teaching of reading, literature, language and composition in middle and high schools. In addition to the usual course components of reading, writing, and discussion approximately one day per week outside of class time will be devoted to observation and mini-teaching in 5-12 grade English classes in the Twin Cities. Prerequisites: Senior English major, permission of the instructor and Educational Studies 234. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; not offered 2008-2009

ENGL 380: London Program: London Theater

Students will attend productions of classical and contemporary plays in London and Stratford-on-Avon (about two per week) and do related reading. Class discussions will focus on dramatic genres and themes, production and direction decisions, acting styles, and design. Guest speakers will include actors, critics, and directors. Students will keep a theater journal and develop entries into full reviews of plays. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- G. Hewett

ENGL 381: London Program: Reading London, Writing London

The course will center on the neglected genre of the essay. We will read and discuss historical and contemporary British essayists for an understanding of rhetoric and aesthetics, for insight into London and as models for writing. Each student will write a series of creative nonfiction essays based on cultural artifacts and sites from various periods in London's history, including the present. These may include portraits from the Tate Gallery, sculpture from the British Museum, churches by Christopher Wren, manuscripts from the British Library, pubs, clubs both of the old-fashioned gentlemen's and the dance variety!) and Harrods department store. In the tradition of the essay, the writing for this course will combine personal and critical perspectives. Through workshops and revision, each writer will learn strategies for effectively establishing his or her own voice in order to confront the vast tableaux of history with confidence. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- G. Hewett

ENGL 395: British Comedy

A study of the elements of comedy--plot, character, dialogue, wit and humor--in British comic plays, poems, novels and films. Authors will include Shakespeare, Congreve, Austen, Wilde and Stoppard. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Spring 2009 -- C. Walker

ENGL 395: James and Wharton

Focusing on major fiction of Henry James and Edith Wharton, we will also read criticism to learn a bit about their lives and literary friendship and to examine the ways they use American and international materials to explore human relationships, gender and national identities, the intersections of economic and social structures, and the nature of human consciousness. Group III. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Winter 2009 -- E. McKinsey

ENGL 395: Vladimir Nabokov

We will put on our explorer's gear, make sure our dues are paid up to the Society for the Propagation of the Irreal, and venture into the magical worlds of Vladimir Nabokov, the greatest novelist of the second half of the twentieth-century (the Chair will entertain objections only from Señor Garcia Marquez). We will lovingly pet the fauna of the Russian novels, inhale the exotic flora of the American novels, and fly from Terra to Antiterra where accommodations for fifteen intrepid souls have been booked at The Enchanted Hunters. Group IV. 6; Arts and Literature; offered Fall 2008 -- G. Smith

ENGL 400: Integrative Exercise

Senior English majors may fulfill the integrative exercise either by taking a comprehensive examination based on a departmental reading list, or by writing a senior thesis on a topic approved by the department. The topic must be convincingly defined before the end of fall term, a substantial portion must be written by the middle of winter term, and the final draft must be submitted by the due date at the end of winter term. Those who choose the exam option should form groups to discuss the texts on the reading list. The six-hour exam will be given early in the spring term. No student may change from the paper to the exam option later than the deadline established by the department. Students may register for the integrative exercise according to their individual requirements, the grade will be registered at the end of spring term. 6; S/NC; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Winter 2009, Spring 2009 -- P. Balaam, J. Leiman