English (ENGL)
Is a structured series of individual conferences with Writing Center tutors to supplement College Writing I for designated students.
Is a continuation of ENGL 101. Special attention will be paid to writing from sources.
College Writing I introduces students to the practices needed to effectively communicate in the diverse, global, technologically-mediated contexts they will encounter in college and beyond. The course lays the foundation for effective writing across disciplines by developing rhetorical awareness, critical thinking, awareness of academic and professional writing conventions, and the habits of mind needed to develop a flexible writing practice. In this course, regular practice in the writing process will help students develop their unique strategies for brainstorming, drafting, giving and receiving feedback, revising, editing, and proofreading. Writing projects and course activities will cultivate rhetorical thinking, including awareness of audience, context, purpose, and rhetorical appeals. The course will help students select and evaluate information from sources and enter into conversation with the ideas of others, empowering students to express their thoughts, advocate for their beliefs, and communicate ethically and creatively in diverse contexts. This course aligns with the Illinois Articulation Initiative course C1 900 criteria; therefore, “each student must produce a minimum of 5,000 words of formal, revised writing, and these formal assignments must comprise at least 60% of the final grade for the course. At minimum, students must compose four formal, revised writing assignments. At least one formal assignment must be 1,250 words minimum” (https://itransfer.org/courses/gecc/communication.php).
Offers the opportunity for writing persuasive and referential prose with emphasis on the process of research and writing from sources.
This course introduces creative writing to beginning students interested in learning techniques of various creative writing genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, and playwriting. Students will learn how to write creatively in a workshop setting that supports drafting and revision. Students will be expected to read effective creative writing models, experiment with key concepts of creative writing, and collaborate with peers to revise and potentially publish their writing in the future. This course fulfills the general education requirement in aesthetic awareness and is required for the Writing Concentration of the English major.
Designed for incoming international graduate students, this course offers a comprehensive overview of American academic writing across disciplines with extensive practice in writing, unified, clear and coherent essays. Topics covered range from simple and complex sentences seen through the lenses of grammar and syntax, to evaluating rhetorical situations for the appropriate selection of language and tone. While working through assignments in paraphrasing, summary, analysis and synthesis, students structure arguments, evaluate sources, cite evidence, develop information literacy and become familiar with the meta-language of academic writing. Some students may be exempt from this class by passing an assessment. They should contact the IPO director or assistant director for more information on the assessment and any fees associated with it.
Provides students with an extensive exploration of fiction, poetry, drama and/or film, and sometimes the literary essay. The components of these genres are examined in order that students will be knowledgeable and critical readers.
The human being’s encounter with nature has produced some of the most enduring literature of our time – from Ovid’s sacred glens to the glaciers of Mont Blanc, the Galapagos Islands and Walden Pond; from Ovid to modern eco-feminist poetry. This introductory course provides students with an extensive exploration of nature writing from at least three literary genres, including narrative fiction such as the novel and short story, poetry, drama, film and the literary essay.
What does it mean to be a traveler? How do people and places encourage travelers to reevaluate their perspectives on the world? How does travel affect the formation of individual identity? In this course, we will examine the long history of emerging ideas regarding travel. Not only will we examine travel in a geographical sense, but we will also examine journeys into the mind and across time. This introductory literature course provides student with an extensive exploration of at least three literary genres, including narrative fiction such as the novel and short story, poetry, drama, film and the literary essay. This course may also include a travel component.
Focuses on African-American literature, one of the premiere areas of U.S. literary achievement and samples literature from each of the main periods of African-American literary history: Slavery, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, Black Realism, the Black Arts Movement and contemporary writers, while taking us through the full range of literary genres. Some of these genres are particular to African-American writers, such as slave narratives and others are areas of special achievements such as sermons.
It is said that the command, “Know Thyself,” adorned the ancient oracle of the god Apollo at Delphi, in Greece and since then has remained a central objective in western literary and philosophical traditions. We also see the command echoed in the way we talk about the self today, as we are encouraged to “find” ourselves, to be “real” or authentic and to know what we believe and what we want. The main questions that will guide our reading in the course are: should we know ourselves? If so, how can we know ourselves? What thing make it difficult to know ourselves? How do practices of literacy (reading and writing) figure in to our attempts to know ourselves? This introductory course provides students will an extensive exploration of at least three literary genres, including narrative fiction, poetry, drama and autobiography.
Engages students in reflective, transactional, and persuasive writing appropriate for writers in the workplace. Writing will be discussed and practiced as a tool for reporting, persuading, and learning in a variety of forms which may include journals, letters, experiential writing, memos, reports, proposals, performance reviews, etc.
Provides an introduction to the wide variety of diverse literatures targeted for adolescent/young adult readers. Surveying the field, the course highlights and analyzes recent publications as it acknowledges significant, earlier texts and their distinguishing features. It requires extensive reading of books, practice in selecting and evaluating books as well as the development of a set of resources for use in teaching. This course is required for the English Language Arts concentration.
Is a title given to a course which covers broad themes, practices, and subject content not currently offered in the curriculum. This course is directed primarily at non-majors and may be used for general education where approved.
Very little is written today in the US without the assumption of “freedom of speech,” but free speech is not an absolute right in our nation, and is not a right at all in many others. This course provides students with an understanding of the historical underpinnings of this fundamental right and its theoretical grounding. It also explores the limits our society has placed on it, how it comes into conflict with other freedoms, and how complex it is to exercise free speech here and abroad. This course is required for the Writing Concentration of the English major.
Provides, in a workshop format, advanced instruction and extensive practice in writing poetry that builds upon introductory poetry instruction in ENGL 123: Introduction to Creative Writing. This is an advanced creative writing course.
Provides, in a seminar/workshop format, extensive practice in writing various literary forms. (Class size limited to 15.)
Treats selected works of non-fiction in various modes--e.g., persuasive, journalistic, belletristic, "creative," among others-and examines their status as "literature.
Involves an examination of classical and modern rhetorical ideas in relation to thinking and writing processes. It is designed to provide students with writing practice and analysis of texts in the context of a relatively systematic understanding of rhetoric.
Provides an introduction to and practice in rhetorical contexts, organizational forms, styles, and formal conventions of transactional writing, with an emphasis on written communications (such as memoranda, reports, letters, etc.).
Develops a general understanding of rhetorical contexts, organizational forms, styles, and formal conventions of writing in the professions and academic disciplines, and develops proficiency in the writing of one profession or discipline for both internal and external audiences.
Explores those aspects of writing that are learnable and teachable in the contexts of the history of writing instruction, cognitive, rhetorical, and pedagogical theories and practice. Intended primarily for prospective teachers.
Trains students to tutor writing in individual conferences and has value for future teachers and others who are interested in studying principles and techniques of composition applied to the one-on-one writing conference.
In the context of the philosophy of language, this course treats the history and politics of the English language, the relationship of English to other languages, and the process of language change. It also examines the structure of modern American English as it is described in the major grammars.
Focuses on the analysis of prose syntax, rhythms, diction and figurative language, primarily at the sentence level, introducing appropriate concepts and techniques.
Freelance writers work on an independent, contractual basis rather than within a salaried employment structure, so they must grasp the conventions of popular writing styles and the professional basics in order to write for both traditional print and digital media. This course will survey the three most common genres in freelance publishing—art and entertainment criticism, political writing, and personal essays—to show how writers balance conventions and individual style. It also covers essential practical skills: how to pitch an editor, how to build a relationship with a publication and audience, and how to put together project proposals.
Surveys a selection of works from classical Greek and Roman antiquity whose themes, myths, theories, forms, genres, and characters are fundamental to understanding English literature. This course will cover the main literary genres of antiquity, including the epic, tragedy, comedy, romance and/or the ancient novel, lyric poetry, and books of the Bible.
A study of American literature from first contact with the New World to the Transcendentalists, including exploration and captivity narratives, sermons, autobiographies, slave narratives, adventure stories, gothic tales, poetry, and political writing. Focusing on changing practices of literacy, this course includes writers such as Christopher Columbus, Anne Bradstreet, Equiano, Franklin, Poe, and Emerson, covering themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to race, class, and gender, where appropriate) in a specific historical context.
A study of American literature from the ante-bellum period up to World War I, when American literature moved away from its romantic roots to encompass naturalism, realism, and regionalism. This course includes writers such as Melville, Thoreau, Twain, Emily Dickenson, and Walt Whitman, and covers themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to race, class, and gender, where appropriate) in a specific historical context. .
A study of American literature from World War I to the Civil Rights era. This course includes writers of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as author such as Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Tennessee Williams, and covers themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to race, class, and gender, where appropriate) in a specific historical context.
A study of American literature from the Vietnam War and the Black Power Movement to the present. This course includes writers such as Donald Barthelme, Alice Walker, and Pynchon, covering themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to race, class, and gender, where appropriate) in a specific historical context. This course fulfills the area requirement in American Literature and the period requirement in Modernity.
A study of British literature from its beginnings to the close of the Hundred Years’ War. This course includes works such as Beowulf, the Canterbury Tales, and Arthurian legend, and covers themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to class and gender where appropriate) in a specific historical context.
A study of British literature from the Reformation to the English Revolution, a period of religious and political turmoil that coincided with the exploration and exploitation of the newly discovered “wider” world. This course includes authors such as Marlowe, Spenser, and Milton, and covers themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to class and gender where appropriate) in a specific historical context.
A study of British literature from the Restoration through the Enlightenment, when Britain became a world power, an empire on which the sun did not set. This course includes authors such as Swift, Richardson, Pope, and Samuel Johnson, as well as themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to race, class, and gender, where appropriate) in a specific historical context.
A study of British literature from Romanticism through the Victorian era and the rise of the novel. This course includes poets such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats and such novelists as Austen, Eliot, and Hardy, covering themes and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to race, class, and gender, where appropriate) in the context of the great industrial, social, and political changes that shaped the modern world.
A study of literary activity in English from the period of the British Empire’s peak and decline as colonies won sovereignty. Includes modernist writers such as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Chinua Achebe, and Salman Rushdie, as well as themes, movements, and genres specific to the period. It offers ways to study literature as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those related to race, class, and gender, where appropriate) in a specific historical context.
Focuses on a canonical text or texts from more than one national literature from the period of the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century. The selection of works will offer ways to study literature from other cultures (in English translation) as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those of race, color, class, and gender, where appropriate) each in its specific geographical, cultural, and historical context.
Focuses on texts written after 1900, when national boundaries change and a truly global literary culture develops. The selection of works will offer ways to study literature from other cultures (in English translation) as the expression of ideas and cultural practices (such as those of race, color, class, and gender, where appropriate) each in its specific geographical, cultural, and historical context.
Provides students with a broad understanding of the writer considered by many to be the "father of English literature" through study of selected major works.
Provides the student with a broad understanding of one of the world's most revered authors through the study of selected poems and plays. This is a core requirement for English majors of all concentrations. For English Language Arts only, it fulfills the period requirement in the Renaissance. This course is considered an advanced literature course.
Examines methods and techniques for teaching English/language arts to middle grades and high school students. Focus will be upon reading, text-dependent and guiding questions, academic and argumentative writing, use of technology, delivery methods, differentiation, instructional planning, and assessment procedures. Classroom organization and management, relevant content and instructional standards, and professional development are also addressed. This course is required for the English/Language Arts concentration.
Introduces students to theoretical and philosophical thinking about literature as it treats the theory and practice of major types of literary criticism, both historical and contemporary.
Is required of all students who concentrate in “Comparative Literature,” is an introduction to comparative methodologies in the international and interdisciplinary study of literature. Students who register for this course will, with the instructor’s guidance, design and carry out a comparative research project that will culminate in a long term paper. Comparative research projects involve collaborative supervision of the instructor. This course is required for the concentration in Comparative Literature. Depending on course content, it may also fulfill area, or period requirements
The study of literature written by men and women who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, including writings by protesters, an essay by a former Viet Cong, and a novel by a North Vietnamese soldier. How are the ethics of civil society applied to the battlefield? Among the topics considered are the mythologizing of the war, images of soldiers, the relationship between violence and the sacred, sacrifice among victims and heroes, the morality or immorality of conscription, and the obligation of a society toward its soldiers.
Treats the analysis of literary works in the context of critical problems associated with the study of a selected genre or sub-genre (for example, the novel, the short story, film, or the picaresque novel, the epic poem, etc.) Depending on course content may fulfill area and period requirements.
A study of the Literary genre that Mikhail Bakhtin, one of the most important critics and philosophers of the 20th century, defined as the most significant for understanding relationships between literature and society. More than any other genre, he argued, the novel is in constant dialogue with its context, that is, with its historical moment and the specific place and cultural milieu it describes, with other texts and authors, with philosophy, and language itself. In this course, the dialogue involves the students and the texts, one another, and the instructor. This course fulfills the period requirement in Modernity. Depending on course content, it may also fulfill an area requirement.
Treats selected works of non-fiction in various modes - e.g., persuasive, journalistic, belletristic, “creative,” among others - and examines their status as “literature.” Depending course content, may fulfill area and period requirements.
Provides students with the opportunity to study one or two major authors, their significant works, and relevant criticism. Depending on course content may fulfill area and period requirements.
A proseminar is an individualized research project and presentation (one credit hour) that a student with senior standing undertakes in conjunction with an upper-division literature course that fulfills major requirements (3 credit hours). It elevates the student's commitment to the course to four credit hours by substituting the term paper or project with mentored scholarly inquiry. In consultation with the professor, the student develops an individualized research topic, conducts research, and composes the research paper (min. 8-10 pages), takes it through drafting, revision, and polishing, before presenting it to the class and leading discussion. English majors with senior standing in English Literature, Comparative Literature, and English/Language Arts concentrations may elect to do two literature proseminars (ENGL 491 and 499) or the senior thesis (ENGL 497) as their required capstone experience.
Is a title given to a course which covers specific themes, practices, and subject content not currently offered in the curriculum. This course is directed primarily to student majoring in the subject area and could be used to complete major requirements. The course will provide an in-depth study of a specific topic.
An academic learning experience designed by the instructor. This course fulfills the seminar requirement, and depending on course content, may also fulfill area, period and genre requirements.
An academic learning experience in which the student initiates, designs, and executes the course under the supervision of the instructor. Depending on course content, may fulfill area and period requirements.
Involves extended research on work previous completed for another course or on a new project. Students in the Writing Concentration will prepare a Writing Portfolio of polished significant and representative work done within the major, one piece of which must have been presented publicly at a conference or at another appropriate venue. Supervised as a tutorial by a member of the full-time faculty, the completed thesis is presented to the Department in both oral and written form during the final year of study. This is the capstone for students in the Writing concentration. Students in all literary concentrations may elect to do this course, or two Literature Proseminars (ENGL 491 and 499) instead.
Is a supervised, practical experience involving writing in the workplace for advanced students. Arrangements are made on an individual basis.
A proseminar is an individualized research project and presentation (one credit-hour) that a student with senior standing undertakes in conjunction with an upper-division literature course that fulfills major requirements (3 credit hours). It elevates the student’s commitment to the course to four credit hours by substituting the term paper or project with mentored scholarly inquiry. In consultation with the professor, the student develops an individualized research topic, conducts research, and composes the research paper (min. 8-10 pages), takes it through drafting, revision, and polishing, before presenting it to the class and leading discussion. English majors with senior standing in the English Literature, Comparative Literature, and English/Language Arts concentrations may elect to do two literature proseminars (ENGL 491 and 499) or the senior thesis (ENGL 497) as their required capstone experience.