department of English

English Course Descriptions

The following courses can be taken for English major/minor credit or to satisfy elective requirements:

ENGL 301 American Literature to 1865. A critical survey of major writers and movements with emphasis upon such representative authors as Poe, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Dickinson, and Melville. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112.

ENGL 302 American Literature since 1865. A critical survey of major writers and movements with emphasis on such representative authors as Crane, Howells, Frost, Hemingway, and Faulkner. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 309 Technical Communication. Process of developing technical information, including researching, drafting, editing, revising, and designing technical reports, proposals, manuals, job application documents and professional correspondence for specific audiences, using word processing and graphic applications. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112. Course fee $10.

ENGL 310 Technical Editing. Study of advanced technical communication situations such as formal reports, grant proposals, and professional articles, and extensive discipline-specific professional level practice in these forms. Study of general editorial techniques in formats, graphics, and layout and design methods in technical publications. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 3 hours sophomore ENGL, ENGL 309. Course fee $10.

ENGL 312 Visual Communication. This course will examine the integration of graphic components in printed and electronic mediums. Students will use computer applications to compose and design graphics such as bar graphs, organizational charts, flow charts, diagrams, and drawings. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 3 hours sophomore ENGL, ENGL 309. Course fee $10.

ENGL 320 Advanced Grammars. An introduction to the grammatical structure of modern English at the level of word, clause, and discourse presented through the application of the principles of descriptive grammars, accompanied by a review of current prescriptive grammars. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 330 Academic Writing. Students will examine the rhetoric of academic writing through intensive writing workshops and close reading of academic texts. The goals of the course are (1) to discover and define some coherent relations between rhetoric and academic writing; (2) to challenge the students' presuppositions about academic writing through a process of peer- and instructor-reviewed writing workshops. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 341 Cultural Studies. This course explores an array of diverse cultural and historical contexts through literature produced outside the common British and American traditions. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 342 Genre Studies. Literary genres consist of related kinds of works, combining content and form, gradually changing as their cultures change. The purpose of generic study is an understanding of literary tradition and of the way in which authors speak to their times, and to all times, through the genres they inherit and modify. This course will provide an intensive study of one or more genres. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 370 Introduction to Linguistics. A study of descriptive linguistics revealing the nature and scope of the characteristics and complexities of human language. Much of the course consists of learning the phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of modern English. Attention will also be focused on the nature and diversity of the rule-bound creativity underlying the tacit systematic use of human language. Prerequisite: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 372 Sociolinguistics. Study of the relationship of language and society as shown in the following areas: language change, language variation and social class, pidgin and Creole languages, and language policy and planning.

ENGL 374 Psycholinguistics. Deals with a variety of formal cognitive mechanisms that are relevant to the knowledge and use of natural languages.

ENGL 376 Discourse Analysis. Investigates the structure of spoken communication from a linguistic perspective to enable students to understand narrative and conversation. Students study the principles of pragmatic theory, speech act theory and critical discourse analysis.

ENGL 400 Shakespeare. An in depth study of representative types of Shakespeare's drama and poetry. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 401 British Literature I. A chronological study of the works of the principlal authors and their historic backgrounds from approximately 700 A.D. to the end of the eighteenth century. The writers considered include Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, and Swift. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 402 British Literature II. A chronological study of the works of the principal authors and their historic backgrounds from the end of the eighteenth century to the present. The writers considered include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Tennyson, Browning, and Eliot. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 411 History of Rhetoric. This course offers advanced study in the theory, nature, and practice of written discourse. Special emphasis is given to helping students investigate language theoretically as a background for their own professional and personal use. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 412 Graphic Design in Technical Communication. Study of and practice in use of word processing and desktop publishing in document design and publication. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, 3 hours sophomore ENGL, ENGL 309, ENGL 312. Course fee $10.

ENGL 415 Senior Literary Seminar. This course offers an opportunity for students to engage in an intensified, focused, well-defined study. Possibilities include the examination of a particular writer, groupings of writers, a specific geographic region, and/or literary criticism. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 420 Writing for the Web. Advanced study of and practice in writing for electronic mediums with a primary focus on planning, designing, and composing professional pages for the world wide web. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 435 Film Studies. A study of movies both as dramas--involving plot, characterization, theme, etc.--and as artistic productions, involving shots, cuts, and other film techniques. Other aspects of film criticism are covered. A three-hour lab per week is required. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL. Course fee $10.

ENGL 436 Film History. This course examines the historical development of film as an industry and major modern art form. Attention given to important movements, periods, and nationalities.

ENGL 437 Film Auteurs. This course examines the work of one or more film directors. Attention given to critical analysis of representative films and comprehension of critical literature.

ENGL 438 Film Genres. This course examines genre as a means of production and reception. Attention given to the recurring characters, actions, and values in films and the cultural role of these stories.

ENGL 439 Film Theory and Criticism. This course examines the theoretical and critical approaches common to film. Attention given to the major approaches to understanding film from the spectator's side of the camera.

ENGL 460 Advanced Studies in Secondary English. This course applies the standards of the National Council of Teachers of English to the curriculum of secondary English. It provides an intensive review of composition principles, language conventions, literary genres, and computer instructional technology. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.

ENGL 486 Grant and Proposal Writing. This course introduces students to the theory and practice of preparing and analyzing proposals and grants intended for businesses, governmental agencies, and/or private and corporate foundations. Prerequisites: ENGL 111, 112, and 6 hours sophomore ENGL.