EN 100 Basic Writing
A course intended to help certain students develop fluency, confidence and correct, effective expression. The course stresses the development of thinking skills and introduces the student to the writing process. The student works under the close guidance of an instructor and a peer writing assistant. (Institutional credit only.)
EN 101 English as a Second Language
This course is designed for qualified students of language backgrounds other than English who have a good command of English but wish to attain a more sophisticated level of proficiency. It includes readings of expository prose and literary works with emphasis on American cultural patterns.
EN 102 English as a Second Language
Intensive practice in syntax and composition for students of language backgrounds other than English who wish to develop greater facility in expressing ideas in a variety of written forms. Students will write extensively outside of class.
EN 105 Writing Seminar
The Writing Seminar provides a workshop setting in which first-year students explore writing for learning and communication. The seminar focuses on the complementary skills of speaking, listening, responding, and reading and thinking critically. Emphasis in the workshop is on process, peer group work and constant revision. Students produce a portfolio of writing for evaluation at the end of the semester, which includes critical and analytical non-fiction writing, as well as personal narrative. Conferences with instructors and writing assistants outside of class supplement in-class workshops.
EN 106 Critical Reading, Thinking, and Writing
This course focuses on critical reading, thinking and writing skills. Practice in writing full-length argumentative and persuasive essays or literary analyses challenges students to engage all skills emphasized in the course. To further encourage deep critical thinking and more textured and sophisticated college-level writing, texts used may be interdisciplinary in nature and will be organized around a central theme of the instructor's choice and expertise.
EN 204 American Mythology
A survey of 19th and/or 20th century American literature, centered around a pervasive theme that shapes the American imagination. One of the following themes may serve as the focus: The American Innocent, The American Pioneer, The Virgin Land, The American Dream. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 205 Major British Writers
A survey of the major works of British literature from Beowulf to 1700. The course includes a history of the English language, as well as study of a range of nonfiction, fiction, poetic and dramatic works. Prerequisite: EN 105.
EN 206 Major British Writers
A survey of the major works of British literature from Johnson to the present. Prerequisite: EN 105.
EN 207 Chaucer
A study of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Emphasis is on developing the critical skills necessary to interpret the text in its original Middle English. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 208 The Nineteenth-Century British Novel
A study of the major British novelists of the 19th century, with a particular concentration on a specific theme or sub-genre each time, such as the bildüngsroman, the domestic novel or the industrial novel. We read novels by such writers as Shelley, Austen, the Brontës, Dickens, Gaskell, Thackeray, Eliot, Hardy and Butler. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 209A Creative Writing
An introduction to writing the short story, drama and poetry. While the course is introductory, the workshop discussion should be useful to students at any level. Prerequisite: EN 105.
EN 210 Advanced Poetry Workshop
Each student will be part of a weekly workshop sharing her poems and ideas with other members of the class. Each will explore different genres of poetry through reading canonical and contemporary poetry. A manuscript of work will be developed during the semester and culminate in a portfolio of original work. Prerequisites: EN 105, 209A.
EN 211 Literary Studies: A Study of Forms of Literature—Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
In exploring not only content, but also forms, techniques and conventions of fiction, poetry and drama, students will develop an understanding and appreciation of literature. This exploration should deepen their imaginative responses to literature and develop their analytical powers.
EN 212 Nineteenth-Century British Women Novelists
This course explores the rich and varied tradition of great British women writers of the 19th century. Studying works by Mary Shelley, Austen, the Brontës, Gaskell and Eliot, we consider each writer's treatment of such women's issues as education, marriage and happiness. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 221 Creative Irish Writers
Images of women in 20th century fiction, drama and poetry will be revealed in the works of Elizabeth Bowen, Edna O'Brien and Eavan Boland, as well as those of Yeats, Joyce, Synge and O'Casey. The course focuses on the literature's reflection of roles of contemporary women. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 223 Rhetoric: The Art of Written Communication
Through texts ranging from Aristotle to Time magazine, this course will study the best ways to write effectively and persuasively. Prerequisite: EN 105.
EN 224 Classical Mythology
Study of the nature of myth and myth-making, including the principal myths and legends of the Greeks through their literature and of the Romans, chiefly through Ovid. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 302A Seminar: Tragic Vision in Literature
A junior seminar that traces a single theme and kind of literature—tragedy—as it develops and changes over time, beginning in ancient Greece, moving through Renaissance England and France, and into 20th century America. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.
EN 304 (TH 304) Study Abroad: Topics in Literature and Theatre
Students travel to a selected location such as London, Dublin or Greece for intensive study of the literature and drama of that culture. Course includes guided tours of theatrical and literary sites and an in-depth study of a variety of literary works and plays in performance, as well as attendance at theatre performances and lectures and completion of assigned papers.
EN 305 Major American Writers
An intense study of American culture and literary forms reflected in significant works by American writers. Relevant literary criticism and the potential impact of gender and race will be considered. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 306 American Literary Landscape
Exploration of one geographical region ("place") as a contributing influence in American literature. The course will focus on one area, such as Concord (Massachusetts), Harlem, the South or the West. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 308 Satire
A variety of satires, from Gulliver's Travels to 1984, will be studied, including the works of Swift, Pope, Austen, Lewis Carroll, Huxley, Orwell and Waugh. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 309 Studies in Postcolonial Literature
Exploration of postcolonial literature in English, primarily from Africa, India and the West Indies. Examines issues of colonization and decolonization. The historical contexts and the aesthetic and political challenges posed in texts by Chinua Achebe, Buchi, Emecheta, Ama Ata Aidoo, Ngugi was Thiong'o, Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee, Salman Rushdie and V. S. Naipaul. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 311A Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances
A reading course in Shakespeare designed to give an in-depth knowledge of his representative comedies and romances. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 312A Shakespeare: Histories and Tragedies
A survey of representative history plays and close study of the major tragedies with special emphasis on characterization, structure and theme. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 315 Victorian Literature
A study of the poets and prose writers of the Victorian Period: Ruskin, Mill, Carlyle, Tennyson, the Brownings, Arnold, the Rossettis, Wilde and Swinburne. We consider literary production as it relates to the writers' cultural and social milieu. Particular attention is given to the connection between literature and the arts. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 316 Romantic Literature
A study of the major poetry of Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and Byron. Attention is paid to their prose (critical essays, journals, letters, etc.) as well as to their poetry and to the place of these writers in the context of the revolutionary changes in the political thought of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 320 Modern Drama
A study of modern drama from Ibsen and Chekhov to the present, including such dramatists as O'Neill, Williams, Miller, Pinter, Beckett, Hellman, Shange and Childress. Emphasis will be placed on the dramatists' cultural ethos and the plays' style and structure. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 321 American Poetry
An intensive survey of American poetry. The course will explore the potential impact of gender and race and will discuss relevant literary criticism. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 322 The American Short Story
A study of American short fiction from Hawthorne to Updike. The course will focus on the short story, with some references to regional and ethnic writers. Prerequisite: EN 105.
EN 323A Spenser, Donne, and Milton
A comparative study of three major 16th and 17th century English poets whose personal, philosophical and social concerns found such contrasting artistic expression. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 324 Women Writers of Fiction
An exploration of the themes, language, subjects and visions present in novels and short stories by women of varying cultural heritages. Works will be interpreted against the background of women's struggle for political, social and artistic liberation and within the context of influential literary criticism. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 325 (SP 325) Latino/a Writers
This course studies the literary and cultural contributions by Latino/a writers in the United States. The course focuses on the writings by Mexican-American, Cuban-American, Puerto Rican and Dominican writers. Topics of study and discussion include the representation of ethnic, linguistic, sexual and mythological identities. Issues such as immigration, bilingualism, transculturation and "border" culture provide the theoretical framework for the readings. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 327 Twentieth-Century British Writers
A study of the poetry, fiction and drama of Modernists and their followers, including the works of Yeats, Woolf, Eliot, Joyce, Orwell, Waugh and others. Prerequisite: EN 105, ID 220 or EN 211, or permission of instructor.
EN 401B Seminar: Eighteenth-Century British Literature
This seminar provides an in-depth study of the century's major writers, literary trends and the development of the novel from a new historicist point of view. Prerequisite: EN 105, senior standing or permission of instructor.
EN 402A Seminar: Critical Theory and Fiction
Theory and Prose Fiction: an advanced seminar in the analysis of extended fiction through applications of diverse critical theories with particular attention to feminist criticism. Emphasis will be placed on the interactions of race, class, gender and the literary text. Prerequisite: EN 105, senior standing or permission of instructor.
EN 409, EN 410 Individualized Study
Prerequisite: EN 105.
ID 220- Introductions to Literary Studies
For course descriptions, see Interdisciplinary Course listings under ID 220-.