200
Serves as the department's gateway course to the study of literature, introducing students to fundamental generic questions and an array of current critical approaches to literature. Student work is focused upon the critical reading of one or two exemplary English language masterworks in each of three literary genres-poetry, drama, and prose fiction-in conjunction with the study of several significant critical essays devoted to each of these works. Evaluation is based upon several (at least three) student papers submitted during the course of the semester that stake out and defend a position on the literary work in relation to the critical approaches studied. Required of all English majors and education majors seeking AYA certification in English.
Is designed to improve the student's ability to read and appreciate poetry. By studying representative poems, the student can acquire knowledge of various kinds of poems, learn and practice a technique of critical reading, and understand the unique power that poetry exercises over the hearts and minds of men. (Does not meet upper-level major requirement.)
Is designed to improve the student's ability to read and appreciate fiction. By studying representative stories, the student can understand how different aspects of fiction (conflict, plot, characterization, style, point of view, etc.) illuminate themes and ideas that often elude a casual reading. (Does not meet upper-level major requirement.)
Is designed to improve the student's ability to read and appreciate dramas. Since nearly all dramas are intended for enactment on a stage, the reader's imaginative powers are required to appreciate fully the playwright's intent. By studying representative plays, students gain insight into the richness and diversity of drama and enhance their capacity to appreciate live dramatic productions. (Does not meet upper-level major requirement.)
Treats epics that are foundational for ideas and images of Western literature, as well as epics that serve the same role in non-Western countries. The epic is examined as literature, history, philosophy, theology, ethics, and travel guide combined. Western works may include the Homeric epics, The Aeneid, Jerusalem Delivered, The Song of Roland, Parzifal, or the Le Morte Darthur. Non-western epics may include sections from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Analects of Confucius, or the Mali Epic of Son-Jara among others.
Invites students to explore changing relations between the individual and society in and through classic examples of Western epic. Course readings allow students to see both continuity and difference in the passage from Greek and Roman epic (e.g., Iliad and The Aeneid) to Dante's Christian masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. St. Augustine's reflections on the soul in the Confessions provide an important hinge in the course as we explore the movement from pagan classical to medieval Christian conceptions of culture, society, and selfhood.
Focuses upon examples of lyric poetry and drama, with special attention to voice and the way in which selected examples of these two literary genres characterize human subjectivity. The course proceeds through three units: ancient lyric and dramatic voices (Greek lyric and tragedy, the Psalms); early modern/Renaissance lyric and dramatic voices (several plays of Shakespeare, as well as selected sonnets and other English lyric poetry of the period); and modern lyric and dramatic voices (e.g., Wordsworth, Keats, Hopkins, Yeats, Eliot, and a novel such as Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment). Each unit contains representative masterpieces that are significant for an understanding of the development and articulation over time of a specifically Christian literary voice.
Offers an intense practice in the process of exposition. Students will work with audience and purpose, along with the rhetorical devices used both in argumentative and persuasive writing. Both analytical writing and an advanced research study will complete this course.
Is a background course in Greek and Roman mythology. Readings will be taken from classical literature in translation as well as from later compilations. Attention will be given to the many ways in which classical mythology still touches our culture in art, music, and literature. The implications of various myths for psychology, anthropology, theology, philosophy, and history will be discussed.
Examines a particular theme (or themes) that can be fruitfully addressed through selected literary, philosophical, biblical, and theological readings. Through the theme or themes addressed, students are introduced to concepts, images, and stories that have played and continue to play a significant role in literature and art (e.g., Plato's ladder of loves, the cave allegory, the chariot of the soul, and so on; Aristotle on friendship, the unmoved mover, places of invention and poetics, and so on; biblical well-springs of literature; various Patristic and medieval contributions); at the same time, students are guided to discover and think about the many ways in which philosophical and theological thinking and discourse relate to the reading and analysis of literary works. Theme(s) will be listed as part of the title.
This course studies the tradition of African-American literature from colonial times to the present, and may also include works from the African diaspora written in English. This course emphasizes representative works of poetry, prose fiction, autobiographical writings (such as slave narratives), and criticism from writers of color.
Designed to teach the fundamental principles and concepts of the structure of the English language (phonology, morphology, syntax and grammar), and how the spoken language corresponds to the written. A major focus will be on phonemic awareness and phoneme-grapheme correspondence (phonics). In addition, the student will learn the impact of earlier stages of the language (Old English, Middle English) on phonological and orthographic features of modern English, and its relations to its Proto-Germanic and proto-Indo-European ancestors, as well as the cognitive basis of reading.
Is a fundamental course in the principles of effective communication, including intrapersonal and interpersonal communication as a basis for effective public speaking. Work on development of the speaking voice, correct diction, and enumeration is stressed.