|
Fall 2006
English 101: Introduction to English Studies
Professor Bernard Schweizer
Fall 2006: Tue/Thu 12-1:15 pm
This introductory course is designed to give an overview
of the English major and to provide a foundation for the more
advanced study of literature, rhetoric, and writing. During
the course of the semester, we will systematize the various
kinds of literary writing (genres), we will discuss the nature
and scope of the literary canon, we will familiarize ourselves
with highlights of the critical tradition, and we will talk
about the history of English studies at large. Most importantly,
we will perform close readings of literary texts to see what
makes them "work," both thematically and aesthetically,
and we will practice our own creative and analytical writing
faculties. Finally, we will learn about career prospects and
professional opportunities for English majors. A course pack
with primary and secondary texts will be provided. The literary
selections will be mostly drawn from British literature.
English 103: Workshop in the Essay
Professor Donald McCrary
Fall 2006: Thu 6 8:30 pm
THIS COURSE WAS CANCELLED.
This course will examine the rhetorical strategies and ideological
content within critical texts that represent provocative and
insightful meditations on various social, political, scientific,
and philosophical ideas, theories and arguments. For example,
students will explore the rhetorical and ideological context
of critical texts about issues such as environmental protectionism,
racial identity and conflict, heterosexism/homophobia, and
evolution/creationism, and femisim/womanism. By reading and
analyzing challenging and thoughtful texts, students will
explore not only how rhetoric is undergirded by specific ideologies
but also how writers construct and present rhetoric in ways
that will influence and persuade their readers. Some of the
writers students will read include Alice Walker, Barbara Smith,
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Delores Williams, Gloria Anzaldua, Richard
Wright, Jane Tompkins, Gary Soto, Stephen Jay Gould, and Michiko
Kakutani. Students will write several formal essays that ask
them to reflect critically about not only non-fiction texts
but also their own experience.
English 104 (section 1): Introduction to
Creative Writing
Finding Our Voices
Professor John High
Fall 2006: Mon/Wed 1:30-2:45 pm
This class is designed for anyone who has ever wanted to
write creatively yet who is not sure how to begin or how to
move beyond where they are presently in their own writing.
Topics include: getting started, establishing a passionate
discipline, making time, focusing on ideas and feelings and
giving them shape through the language of fiction, poetry
and drama. The course will also zero-in on back bone issues
of style and technique, ranging from those of characterization
and plot, continuity and vividness of imagery, clarity of
diction and the use of phrasing and structure in the writing
of our worlds-the various ways that elements of craft inherently
dovetail with content. There will be weekly creative writing
exercises and group discussions, as well as commentary on
the writing process and how to make it come alive for you.
What do we mean when we talk about issues of style, form and
voice(s)? What is a fiction, a poem-what is a metaphor, what
is the magic of language, the ghost of echoes, which reflect
your own vision of the world, your experience or past, your
dreams or visions? What do we mean when we talk about taking
chances in writing? We'll look at the work of modern and contemporary
writers ranging from James Baldwin to Anna Akhmatova to Jorge
Luis Borges to that of younger writers publishing today. Critiques
will focus on motivating the student to tap the undefined
territory of his or her own imagination in order to more fully
cultivate and mature her or his own voice/s and styles. The
goal of the course includes completing a portfolio and/or
anthology of our work.
English 104 (section 2): Introduction to
Creative Writing
Professor Rosamond King
Fall 2006: Tue 6-8:30 pm
For those who want to be serious writers--or serious dilettantes--this
course will provide an introduction to creative writing, including
the genres of fiction, poetry, and drama. Rigorous course
assignments will focus on exploration of a variety of voices,
styles, and approaches. Reading is an important component
of writing, so students will be required to read and present
on other authors. Because much of the course material will
be students' own writing, expect to complete reading and writing
exercises each week.
English 128 Early British Literatures
Developing "Englishness" through Early Literature
Professor Srividhya Swaminathan
Fall 2006: Mon/Wed 4:30-5:45 pm
How did the English define their culture across turbulent
historical times? This class will survey English texts from
Beowulf to Aphra Behn's Oroonoko. Students will
discuss the emerging idea of an "English" nation
through an understanding of both text and context. What did
Beowulf's heroic struggles against the monster Grendel reveal
about English culture in the eighth century AD? How did Chaucer's
pilgrims set up the class structure of medieval English society?
Students will read a range of literary texts spanning the
genres of poetry, drama, and prose. Each text will be examined
for evidence of the formation of a cultural, ethnic, and/or
national identity. Common themes of class hierarchies, religious
struggles, and court culture will also be analyzed.
English 158: Early Literature of the United
States / Captivity Narratives
Professor Carol Allen
Fall 2006: Thu 6-8:30 pm
This course explores early American writing before the Civil
War. Using the general rubric that most American literature
during this era is either an instantiation of economic, social,
and/or spiritual containment or a response to being trapped
in some manner, we will collectively delve into questions
concerning the nature of literary constructs and their permeability.
So, as we discover how writing shapes the world by limiting
perception, we will focus on its ability to subvert expectations
and norms, to infuse political and social spheres with revolutionary
spirits, and to redraw forms and terrain. Expect to read political
documents, slave narratives, religious texts, myths, poetry,
essays, autobiography, fictional narratives and applicable
criticism. A partial list of authors includes John Winthrop,
Anne Bradstreet, Benjamin Franklin, James Fenimore Cooper,
Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe
and Edgar Allan Poe.
English 165: Poetry Workshop
The Poetics Of Voice & Time
Professor John High
Fall 2006: Mon/Wed 3-4:15 pm
What if as poets we were allowed to do whatever we wanted?
What would we do? How long would our own experience &
voice sustain us in writing? Every innovation in poetry has
grown out of tradition, and in this course we will attempt
to discover and connect with our own tradition(s) and poetic.
Wallace Stevens wrote that all poetry is experimental. So
what is the relationship between tradition, innovation, and
a writer's unique poetic? If our own voices grow out of the
past
and from traditions firmly rooted in the power of language,
our goal is to discover--to see what's out there, both as
writers and readers--as we examine the literary traditions
and lineages from which we have grown. We'll do this by writing
our own poems and by exploring various forms and schools of
poetry and by paying close attention to the way that poetry
changes through us and through time. We'll also discuss the
act of writing poetry as one of risk-taking and investigation,
of destroying and reinventing traditions in our own tongue,
of seeing how nothing ever changes unless you experiment or
try something new. We'll discuss, at length, what "experiment"
means in relation to "tradition" and "poetic."
Among the poets we'll look at closely are Whitman, H.D., Williams,
Pound, Stein, Bishop, Hughes, Cullen, Cane, Spicer, Levertov,
Brooks, Creeley, Baraka, Whalen, Snyder, O'Hara, Zukofsky,
Mayer, Howe, and Ginsberg.
A final portfolio, consisting of all your written work, is
due at the end of the semester.
English 173: Writing in the Community
Professor Deborah Mutnick
Fall 2006: Mon 6-8:30 pm
Are you pursuing a career in media arts, journalism, law,
education, nursing, or another field that involves writing
and community service? Have you ever wondered how to make
your voice heard in public? Do you care about issues of peace?
The environment? Urban development? Are you curious about
neighborhoods-why one thrives while another decays, and how
you can use writing to learn about them? Is there a very old
and/or interesting person whose stories you'd like to record?
Are you looking for an elective that's fun and challenging?
Would you like to improve your research and writing skills?
If you answered yes to some or all of these questions, consider
registering for English 173: Writing in the Community. Offered
in the new Writing and Rhetoric concentration, English 173
is an elective for students across the disciplines as well
as in English who are interested in public and professional
writing. Explore public spaces in the classroom, political
forums, and local communities. Experience field work as well
as a workshop format for getting constructive feedback on
your writing. Projects range from oral history to neighborhood
studies, tutoring in the community, and public writing on
key social issues of our times. Readings will include (1)
Perks and Thomson's The Oral History Reader; (2) Lehrer
and Sloane's Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens
in a New America; and (3) Harvey Wang's New York.
English 237: Utopia in Literature
Professor Charles Matz
Fall 2006: Mon/Wed 12-1:15 pm
Utopia, the ideal society, lasts longest in literary form.
This course offers a sort of cruise to the exotic best of
creative and imaginative writing right across the centuries
to the present day's science fiction. Long stops are made
only at the best, the most entertainingly though-provocative.
Among the pleasures anticipated: Utopia, News from
Nowhere, Brave New World, and Animal Farm.
Discussion and analysis included.
English 241: African Literature and Film
Professor Jonathan Haynes
Fall 2006: Tue 1:30-4:30 pm
This course will approach the African experience through
literature and films by Africans. We will consider the historical
conditions in which both of these modern art forms have evolved
and explore some of their major themes and objectives, notably
their attempts to create a usable past for contemporary Africans,
to serve as witnesses to the social upheavals of the colonial
and postcolonial epochs, to foster a debate on the role of
women in African societies, and to keep their audiences entertained.
Readings: Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God and A Man
of the People; Wole Soyinka's Kongi's Harvest;
and Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter.
Films: Mandabi (dir. Ousmane Sembene), Ceddo
(dir. Ousmane Sembene), Yeelen (dir. Souleymane Cissé),
Guimba: The Tyrant (dir. Cheick Oumar Sissoko), Faces
of Women (dir. Désiré Écaré),
and Quartier Mozart (dir. Jean-Pierre Bekolo).
|
