Literature Curriculum

Our literature courses, while primarily for students working toward the Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degrees, are open to anyone meeting the course prerequisites interested in reading and writing about literature. ENGL 250,251, 252, and 253 fulfill the requirements for second-level writing courses at many four year institutions.

Our literature courses involve reading about one aspect of literature (e.g., the American experience, the multicultural experiences that define the American nation, the perceptions of men and women in American society, and the regional diversity that characterizes the American nation).

In addition, the department offers courses in British and non-European literature.

For further information about any aspect of our literature curriculum, contact Ed Martin, lead instructor.

- Courses -

ENGL 225 Introduction to Fiction
(W,SU)
5 credits
English 225 is an intensive study of selected short stories and novels. Through critical reading, discussion, and writing, students will become familiar with important themes and methodologies of fiction. In both short stories and novels, emphasis will be placed upon identifying and analyzing authors’ particular uses of the traditional elements of fiction (structure, setting, point of view, etc.) to develop plot and character.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or 111 with a grade of “C” or better
Lab fee: $1.00

ENGL 230 Introduction to Dramatic Literature
(W,SU)
5 credits
Students will study selected masterpieces of western drama and discuss their social, political, and cultural influences. Students will write critical analyses of drama and of plays attended.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or 111with a grade of “C” or better
Lab fee: $1.00

ENGL 235 Introduction to Poetry
(A,SP)
5 credits
This course will introduce students to the critical process of reading and responding to poetry from historical, cultural, and gender-based perspectives. Emphasis will be upon traditional and nontraditional forms as well as mainstream and marginalized writers. Students will become familiar with appropriate terminology; however, they will also learn to encounter the poem as a whole piece of written discourse between poet and reader. Students will, therefore, conduct an on-going oral and written dialogue with the poet (who is the speaker? who is the audience?, what is the purpose?) and the poem (what is the message?). Students will articulate orally and in writing their own ideas of interpretation based upon a close reading of the text and an informed perspective concerning the historical and cultural circumstances of its origin.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite ENGL 102 or 111with a grade of “C” or better
Lab fee: $1.00

ENGL 240 Introduction to Science Fiction
(A)
3 credits
The historical roots and literary forms of science fiction are introduced. From their readings and viewing of films, students will write critiques, reports, and research papers about science fiction as a literary genre.
Lecture: 3 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or 111 with a grade of “C” or higher
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 245 Introduction to Film
(W,SU)
5 credits
This course introduces students to cinema by analyzing the elements of film technique: literature, story, drama, editing, movement, acting, sound, photography, staging, and theory. Film as a cultural product is also discussed. Class activities include critical viewing, discussion, and writing assignments.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or 111 with a grade of “C” or higher
Lab fee: $10.00

ENGL 259 Survey of U.S. Literature to 1865
(A, W, SP)
5 credits
This course examines the works of major writers in U.S. Literature before 1865 with attention to revision of the canon. Genres include essays, short fiction, drama, poetry, and the novel. Course activities include reading, writing assignments, and class discussion.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 260 Survey of Modern U.S. Literature
(SU - DL)
5 credits
This course examines the works of major writers in U.S. literature from 1865 to the present with attention to revision of the canon. Genres include essays, short fiction, drama, poetry, and the novel. Course activities include reading, discussion, writing assignments, and audience participation.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: English 102, English 111, English 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 261 Survey of British Literature I
(A,W)
5 credits
A survey of canonical British literary works written before 1789. The course activities will include readings, discussions, and audience participation.
Prerequisites: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 262 Survey of British Literature II
(SP - DL)
5 credits
Students will study selected master works of nineteenth and twentieth century British literature. The course activities will include reading, discussion, writing assignments, and audience participation. Lab fee: $3.00. Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 264 Introduction to Shakespeare
(W,SU - DL)
5 credits
This course will examine representative works selected from Shakespeare’s History Plays, Comedies, Romances, and Tragedies, concentrating on a critical/analytical approach to both the plays and Elizabethan dramaturgy. Emphasis, therefore, will be placed upon Renaissance/Elizabethan dramaturgy and conventions, upon language and style, upon the elements of History Plays, Comedies, Romances, and Tragedies, and upon analyses of fundamental human experience.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 265 European Literature in Translation
(A - DL)
5 credits
The course will examine the works of representative European writers and cultures for the purpose of developing an appreciation of the international nature of literary subjects, themes, and movements. Emphasis will be placed upon developing an understanding of the historical, philosophical, and social contexts of the various cultures within which European Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Existentialism, and modern movements developed.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 270 African - American Writers
(W,SU - DL)
5 credits
This course is a survey of Black American literature from the eighteenth-century beginnings to the present; it includes a study of slave narratives, folklore, drama, poetry, and short fiction. Activities include reading and writing assignments, oral presentations, special performances, guest speakers, and field trips.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 272 Introduction to Folklore
(SU)
5 credits
This course is a study of folklore; it looks at 1) ORAL FOLKLORE (i.e., proverbs, riddles, myths, motifs, legends, folktales), 2) CUSTOMARY FOLKLORE (i.e., superstitions, folk customs, folk festivals), 3) MATERIAL AND FOLK TRADITIONS (i.e., folk foods, architecture, costumes). Course activities include field work, reading and writing assignments, and a special project.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 274 Introduction to Non-Western Literatures
(A,SP)
5 credits
This course introduces students to selected classic and modern literature of the non-Western world, including Asia, Africa, the Mid-East, and Latin America. Through several literary approaches, students will gain an understanding of the authors, the periods, and the cultures they represent and the various ways they have handled literary themes.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 276 Women in Literature
(A,SP)
5 credits
This course will explore the history by and about women. The course uses a comparative approach to see how women have treated a variety of themes and how they have worked within the genres of fiction, poetry, and drama. Discussions will consider the literature from the perspectives of gender, history, politics, and culture. Writing assignments will include response journals, documented critical papers, and essay examinations.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 0 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $3.00

ENGL 278 The English Bible as Literature
(W)
5 credits
This course offers a literary approach to the Bible in English. Students read, in a modern English translation, much of the Old Testament and the New, as well as parts of the Apocrypha. This is not a course in religion. The approach is literary, historical, cultural. The Bible is read as an anthology of writings composed, compiled, translated, and edited over several centuries by many individuals and as a book that has had an enormous effect on our culture, art, and civilization.
Lecture: 5 hours – Lab: 5 hours
Prerequisite: ENGL 220 or equivalent
Lab fee: $ 3.00
 

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