Course Descriptions

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All courses are 3 semester hours unless otherwise noted.

ENGL 502 • The Arthurian Romance
A study of Arthurian legend from Geoffrey of Monmouth to Sir Thomas Malory.

ENGL 503 • English Literature of the Middle Ages
English literature, from the Normans to the Tudors.

ENGL 504 • Chaucer
The works of Chaucer, particularly The Canterbury Tales.

ENGL 511 • Literature of the Renaissance
English literature, exclusive of drama, from Thomas More to the death of Elizabeth I.

ENGL 512 • Seventeenth Century Poetry
English poetry in the Metaphysical and Cavalier traditions, including the works of Jonson, Donne, Herrick, Herbert, and Marvell.

ENGL 513 • Milton
The poetry and selected prose of John Milton.


ENGL 521 • British Literature, 1660-1800
Studies in British literature of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century, exclusive of the novel.

ENGL 522 • Eighteenth-Century English Novel
The development of the English novel in its first century.

ENGL 531 • Romantic Poetry
English poetry from Blake to Keats.

ENGL 532 • Nineteenth Century English Novel
The development of the English novel from Austen to Hardy.

ENGL 533 • Victorian Literature
Selected works of major poets and prose writers of the period from 1832 to 1900.

ENGL 534 • Literature of the Holocaust
A study of the literature of the Holocaust including fiction, poetry, drama and film.

ENGL 541 • British Fiction: 1900-1950
A study of British novels and short fiction from 1900 to 1950.

ENGL 542 • British Fiction: 1950 to the Present
A study of British novels and short fiction from 1950 to the present.

ENGL 543 • British Poetry, 1900-1950
A study of the poetry of Yeats, Eliot, Auden, Thomas and other modernists.

ENGL 544 • Modern Irish Literature
A study of Irish literature from 1900 to World War II.

ENGL 545 • Contemporary Irish Literature
A study of Irish literature from the end of World War II to the present.

ENGL 546 • The Irish Renaissance
A study of the period from the 1890s through the 1920s in Ireland focusing on the effort of Irish writers (and others) to preserve the rich legacy of Irish culture and carry it forward into the modern age.

ENGL 547 • Irish Short Story
A study of the short story in Ireland during the twentieth century.

ENGL 551 • Early American Literature, Art, and Ideas
An interdisciplinary survey of representative writers, artists, and philosophers from the colonial, revolutionary, and transcendental periods.

ENGL 552 • American Romanticism
The study of such representative American writers as Poe, Hawthorne, Melville and Whitman.


ENGL 553 • American Realism and Naturalism
The study of such representative American fiction writers as Twain, James, and Crane.

ENGL 554 • Modern American Fiction
The study of such representative novelists as Hemingway, Faulkner, Anderson, and Fitzgerald.

ENGL 555 • American Fiction Since 1950
A study of American novels and short fiction from 1950 to the present.

ENGL 556 • Modern American Poetry
The study of representative American poets from Whitman to the mid-twentieth century.

ENGL 557 • Modern Drama
British, American, and Continental drama, from Ibsen to O’Neill.

ENGL 558 • Caribbean Literature
The study of representative writers from the English-speaking Caribbean, such as George Lamming, Jean Rhys, Sam Salvon and Jamaica Kincaid.

ENGL 559 • Survey of Literary Criticism
The principles and practice of literary criticism from the ancient Greeks to World War II.


ENGL 561 • Contemporary Literary Criticism
The principles and practice of literary criticism from World War II to the present.

ENGL 562 • Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
Textual analysis and production based on contemporary rhetorical theory.

ENGL 563 • Creative Writing Seminar
An intensive writing class in fiction, poetry, drama, creative non-fiction, or some combination of these genres.

ENGL 565 • Theory of Teaching Writing and Literature
A course for current and future teachers of composition and literature designed to facilitate the application of theory to pedagogy.

ENGL 566 • Metaphor: Theory and Practice
A course investigating metaphor theoretically and in the students’ own writing.

ENGL 567 • Style in Writing
An examination of prose styles and theories of style to help students develop their own writing styles.

ENGL 569 • Linguistics
An introduction to issues in linguistics, such as phonology, morphology, syntax, and sociolinguistics.


ENGL 571 • Writing the Novella: Workshop
Practice in writing extended narrative forms.

ENGL 574 • Rhetoric and Media
A study of persuasion and rhetorical strategies used by the media.

ENGL 575 • The Art of Rhetoric
A survey of rhetoric from the classical to the modern period.

ENGL 577 • Major Figures in Rhetoric and Composition
A course exploring one to three major theorists/writers in rhetoric and/or composition.
Note: Does not count a a major writer course.

ENGL 579 • The Phenomenology of Reading
A course in the phenomenon of reading from a variety of perspectives – reading theory, linguistics, literary theory and rhetoric.

ENGL 580 • Comparative Drama
An exploration of dramatic text, theory, and criticism that leads the student to an appreciation of theatre both as a literary and performance art.

ENGL 584 • The Black Aesthetic
Study of theories of African American aesthetics.


ENGL 585 • Portraits of the Artist
Fictional, poetic, and dramatic portraits of the developing artist.

ENGL 598 • Special Studies

ENGL 599 • Independent studies • 1 - 3 sem. hrs.

ENGL 600 • Critical Methodology
This course serves as a foundation for graduate studies in the Department of English and introduces students to advanced reading, writing, and researching methods.


For complete descriptions of the following seminars, consult the Program Director.


ENGL 601 Seminar in a Literary Period

ENGL 602
Seminar in a Genre

ENGL 603
Seminar in a Major Writer

ENGL 604
Seminar in Literary Theory

ENGL 605
Contemporary Critical Theory

ENGL 606
Seminar in Rhetoric

ENGL 607
Seminar in Composition Theory

ENGL 610
Seminar in Writing

ENGL 691
Comprehensive Examination (M.A.) 0 sem. hrs.

ENGL 693
Comprehensive Examination (M.A.T.) 0 sem. hrs.

ENGL 697
Creative Writing Thesis

ENGL 698
Special Studies

ENGL 699
Independent Studies