Courses

Course Descriptions

098. ENGLISH SKILLS: READING AND LISTENING (3 credit hours)
The goal of the class is to enable students to acquire basic skills necessary to succeed in college level courses. To achieve this goal the course will focus on the improvement of reading skills and the development of better listening habits. Prerequisite: Placement by ACT. (Does not apply toward hours for degree.)

099. ENGLISH SKILLS: WRITING AND SPEAKING (3 credit hours)
The main goal of the class is to enable students to acquire basic skills necessary to succeed in the freshman level English Composition course. To achieve this goal the course will focus on interrelated speech and writing activities that will result in a more effective use of oral and written language. Students must earn a “C” or better in this class to be eligible for ENGL 101. Prerequisite: Placement by ACT. (Does not apply toward hours for degree.)

101. ENGLISH COMPOSITION I (3 credits)
This course emphasizes writing and reading as elements of active learning and critical thinking. Prerequisite: Grade of “C” in ENGL 099 or Placement by ACT. (Must be completed within the first 60 hours of college credit.)

102.  ENGLISH COMPOSITION II (3 credit hours)
This course primarily focuses on the research writing process for a broad academic community.  It covers basic research inquiry, use of the library with electronic and non-electronic sources, and techniques of formal writing. Attention is given to argumentation and critical thinking skills.  Prerequisite: ENGL 101.  Must be completed within the first 60 hours of college credit.

112. TECHNICAL WRITING (3 credit hours)
An introductory course, with emphasis on the process of preparing various technical documents (correspondence and reports) as well as methods of research, especially in the library. Prerequisite: ENGL 101.

150. INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE (3 credit hours)
A study of poetry, fiction, and drama. The course stresses basic themes and formal elements found in literature. Prerequisite: ENGL 101 placement. Completion of 098, if required, with grade of “C” or better.

154. MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE (3 credit hours)
Investigates the basic myths which permeate literature and explores their contemporary significance. Myths and folktales are the primary reading matter, but students will also read literary works which build on these basic forms of literature.

160. PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND USAGE (3 credit hours)
An elective course open to all students who want to improve their writing by reviewing the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics. Systematic attention will be given to sentence construction, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary development, and self-help through effective use of the dictionary. Emphasis will be placed on the use of such skills in practical, everyday communication. (Cannot be substituted for ENGL 101 or 102.)

200. WRITING WORKSHOP (3 credit hours)
This course will enable students to refine and expand writing skills encountered in previous courses. The course will include a review of standard English usage for those students in the ROTC program who demonstrate a need. The workshop setting provides opportunities for immediate feedback to the students as they move through narrative, descriptive, expository and argumentative forms of expression. Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or permission of the instructor; ROTC only.

201.  ADVANCED EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION (3 credit hours)
The four basic skills of communication—reading, writing, speaking and listening—and their interrelationships. Readings, discussions, papers and speeches.   Prerequisite: ENGL 102.

204. WRITING FOR BUSINESS AND OTHER PROFESSIONS (3 credit hours)
Designed especially for students whose careers call for the writing of various kinds of business and technical reports. The first unit of the course emphasizes the fundamentals of language usage. Some attention is given to the writing of business letters. Prerequisite: ENGL 102.

205. READING COMPREHENSION AND LISTENING (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on refining previously learned skills. Skills required for inferential, critical, evaluative reading will be stressed.  Students taking this course should become proficient in reading materials in all college content areas.  Also included in the course content areas will be study skills, test-taking skills, speed reading, advanced vocabulary building, and effective listening. Prerequisite: ENGL 098 or English Placement Examination score of 28; ROTC only.

225. JOURNALISM (3 credit hours)
A combination lecture-laboratory course which emphasizes the functions of newspapers in our society, standards of good newspaper practice, newspaper makeup, the principles of gathering news, and writing various types of news stories. Students will prepare some assignments for publication in the college newspaper. Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or permission of the instructor.

226. JOURNALISM PRACTICE (3 credit hours)
This course is designed to provide for the student practical experiences in the many areas of newspaper writing and production. Activities in the course include staff organization, writing news stories, editorials, drama and musical reviews, conducting interviews, writing personality profiles, headlines, and copy makeup. Prerequisite: ENGL 225.

227. COPY EDITING AND MAKEUP (3 credit hours)
A combination laboratory-discussion course in editing copy, writing headlines, and designing pages for various types of news publications. Prerequisite: ENGL 225.

230. INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL LINGUISTICS (3 credit hours)
The fundamental principles of language and the processes by which it is acquired. Illustrations from English and from a broad spectrum of other languages, with slides, tapes, and other materials. Some attention will be given to the major themes in Linguistics, such as Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, and Semantics. Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or permission of the instructor.

250. INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on the major periods in English literature and introduces students to representative works from each period.
Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

255. THE POWER OF LANGUAGE (3 credit hours)
This course is a survey of some of the basic uses of language with particular attention to manipulation and exploitative language. The course focuses on a number of topics or themes, each of which is allotted approximately one week of discussion/lecture time. Topics to be explored include nonverbal communication, the history of the language and dialects, correctness in language, racial and sexual prejudices, language and advertising, language and the fine arts, language and technology, and the process of writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 102.

303. EXPOSITORY WRITING (3 credit hours)
An advanced writing course which focuses on structure, style, and point of view in contemporary non-fiction writing. Assignments involve the skills of observing, investigating, reporting, interpreting, and persuading. Examples of writing from various disciplines are analyzed. Prerequisite: ENGL 102.

304. INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING (3 credit hours)
This course will stimulate the writing of poetry and fiction through various workshop techniques as well as through the reading and discussion of literature, both traditional and contemporary. Students’ manuscripts will be discussed in class and in consultation with the instructor. Prerequisite: ENGL 101 or permission of the instructor.

305.  THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WRITING (3 credit hours)
Students will study the process and pedagogy of writing; write responses, evaluations, and essays; and learn and apply techniques for helping writers.  They will use acquired computer skills to help students with word processing, on-line research, and grammar and usage programs.  Required of all Writing Fellows. Prerequisites: ENGL 102 + 45 hours.

306. PRINCIPLES OF GRAMMAR (3 credit hours)
Introduction to the three major linguistic theories of grammar: traditional, structural and transformational. Discussion and practice of grammatical analysis in light of the three theories. Attention to how meaning is patterned and presented in language and how languages differ syntactically to convey meaning. Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or permission of instructor.

310. TECHNICAL AND REPORT WRITING (3 credit hours)
A course for students who have already passed the basic technical writing course, the business English course, or have demonstrated proficiency at that level. Emphasis is on a functional approach to business and technical reports, both informal and formal, with additional concentration upon style, audience analysis, illustration of data and process, and the writing of proposals. Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or 112 or permission of the instructor.

312. SHAKESPEARE: THE COMEDIES AND HISTORIES (3 credit hours)
The course focuses on Shakespeare’s major comedies and histories written before 1603 and on important examples of his early tragedies. This intensive study traces the development, variety, and mastery in drama and poetry of England’s greatest playwright. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

313. SHAKESPEARE: THE TRAGEDIES AND ROMANCES (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on Shakespeare’s major tragedies and romances, from Hamlet to the Tempest. This study traces the development and variety in the mature drama of England’s greatest playwright. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

316. AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1860 (3 credit hours)
A study of American literary tradition from the Colonial Period through the Civil War. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

317. AMERICAN LITERATURE, 1860-1940 (3 credit hours)
A study of Realism, Naturalism and Symbolism, with emphasis on those writers who have contributed most to Modern American Literature. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

320. LITERATURE OF THE WESTERN WORLD, PART I (3 credit hours)
A study of Western literature of the classical, medieval, and Renaissance periods. Introduces students to great works of the European literary tradition outside the English-speaking world. (Works are read in English translation.) Prerequisite: ENGL 150 and 250.

321. LITERATURE OF THE WESTERN WORLD, PART II (3 credit hours)
A study of Western literature from the neoclassical through the modern periods. Introduces students to great works of the European literary tradition outside the English-speaking world. (Works are read in English translation.) Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

322. TEACHING READING AND WRITING 5-12 (3 credit hours)
The purpose of the course is to generate an understanding of the purpose of reading and writing. The course will demonstrate the teaching of reading in the English classroom by applying the skills of previewing, questioning, vocabulary development and critical reading, and by analyzing the various types of reading materials, including fiction, the essay and content material. The writing section of the course will evaluate current writing theories, the role of grammar instruction in writing, the components of the writing process, and methods of evaluation. Prerequisite: Junior classification.

324. LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN (3 credit hours)
Comprehensive survey of the field, past and present, with emphasis on types and uses, including evaluation of books and the art of storytelling. Prerequisites: ENGL 102 and 150 or permission of the instructor.

325. ADOLESCENT LITERATURE (3 credit hours)
A survey of literature for the young adult based on wide reading in the field. Prerequisites: ENGL 102 and 150 or permission of instructor.

334. PRINCIPLES OF LITERARY CRITICISM (3 credit hours)
This course introduces the fundamental questions of criticism: What is literature? What is interpretation? How is literature produced and for whom? What are the effects of literature on readers? What is the value of literature? Readings will emphasize modern and contemporary critical texts. Concepts and methodologies of contemporary literary theory will be introduced. Prerequisite: ENGL 150 and 250.

337. THE BLACK WRITER IN AMERICA (3 credit hours)
Major literary works of the Black writer in America from the Colonial Period to the present. Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

338. BLACK NOVELISTS IN AMERICA (3 credit hours)
Study, discussion, and analysis of the major Black novels of the 20th century, with special attention to the social, economic, and intellectual background of the period. Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

339.  BLACK POETS IN AMERICA (3 credit hours)
Students in the class will study and analyze African-American poetry in its cultural and historical context.  This course may be taught as a survey class or focus on specific writers, themes, and periods.  Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

340.  READINGS IN AFRICAN LITERATURE (3 credit hours)
Students in the class will study and analyze the work of African authors.  This course may focus on specific writers, regions, themes, or periods, and may include comparison to Caribbean and/or African-American writers.  Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

342. WOMEN WRITERS (3 credit hours)
This course is a study of literature by women authors within the context of their times; historical periods, genres, and themes may vary.  Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

343. APPALACHIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE (3 credit hours)
Through study of selected fiction and poetry by Appalachian writers, we will examine characteristics and views of Southern Appalachian culture. We will attempt to dissect some stereotypical images of the region as well as to build understandings distinct from such stereotypes. The course will emphasize both the social background and literature of Appalachia. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

345.  POPULAR LITERATURES (3 credit hours)
A study of the conventions of a selected literary genre (e.g., Gothic literature, science fiction, detective fiction) through reading and analysis of classic examples.  The course focus will be announced each time it is offered.  In addition to an overview of the definition and history of the genre, the course will examine the conventions (e.g., setting, types of characters and dramatic conflicts, acceptable resolutions) that identify this body of literature and how they compare to our expectations of “high” literature.  Larger cultural conflicts often reflected in these works, such as Gothic literature’s treatment of exotic materials related to colonialism or science fiction’s reflections of anxieties about progress, will be explored.  Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

350. WORLD LITERATURE: CLASSICAL ERA (3 credit hours)
An exploration of the diversity of the world’s literature, with emphasis on works outside the “Western canon.” Using a comparative approach, the course will examine issues such as cultural difference, translation across cultures, ethnocentrism, canon construction, colonization, literature and politics, and literature as a “way of seeing” the world. Prerequisite: English 150.

351. WORLD LITERATURE: MODERN ERA (3 credit hours)
An exploration of the diversity of the world’s literature, with emphasis on works outside the “Western canon.” Using a comparative approach, the course will examine issues such as cultural difference, translation across cultures, ethnocentrism, canon construction, colonization, literature and politics, and literature as a “way of seeing”the world. Prerequisite: English 150.

401. HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (3 credit hours)
The history and development of the language from Anglo-Saxon times to the present. Prerequisite: ENGL 102; 230 recommended.

402. EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE THROUGH THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY (3 credit hours)
The Old English background, selections from the works of Chaucer, medieval
romance, the “Arthurian matter”and the ballad. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

403. THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE, 1500-1600 (3 credit hours)
A literary, political and social analysis of England from 1500 until the Commonwealth Interregnum with an emphasis on the works of Spenser, Sidney, the Sonneteers, Donne and Milton. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

405. LITERATURE OF THE RESTORATION AND THE 18th CENTURY (3 credit hours)
A literary and social analysis of the years 1660 to 1800 in England and with particular emphasis on the Restoration Drama and the rise of the literature of irony. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

406. ENGLISH ROMANTICISM (3 credit hours)
The work of Blake, Byron, Coleridge, Keats, Wordsworth and Shelley along with an analysis of the Gothic and the sentimental in English prose and poetry and the ballad. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

407. THE VICTORIAN PERIOD (3 credit hours)
English literature from 1832 to 1900, with emphasis on the works of Tennyson, Browning, Rossetti, Arnold, Swinburne, Carlyle, Ruskin, and Mill. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

408. CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN LITERATURE (3 credit hours)
A comparative and analytical study of the major works and trends in recent American Literature. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

409. MODERN BRITISH LITERATURE (3 credit hours)
An examination of those works since 1900 which have been most influential in British Literature with an analysis of current trends in fiction, poetry and drama. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

413. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NOVEL (3 credit hours)
Traces the evolution of the novel as a literary genre from Defoe to the great Realists of the nineteenth century. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

414. THE MODERN NOVEL (3 credit hours)
Focuses on the revolutionary experiments in style and form by novelists in the twentieth century. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

415. THE MODERN DRAMA (3 credit hours)
Study, discussion, and analysis of the modern drama from Ibsen to present. Prerequisites: ENGL 150 and 250.

421. TEACHING ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOL (3 credit hours)
Background, principles and techniques of teaching English in the secondary school, emphasizing the study of literature in print and non-print forms, the study of the English language, and the study of oral and written composition. Prerequisites: EDUC 316, senior standing, and permission of instructor.

429. WRITING FOR PUBLICATION (3 credit hours)
A course primarily for the writer of articles intended for periodicals. Emphasis is on surveying the market, topic research, style and organization, preparing the manuscript, and editing proofs. Additional attention is paid to the differing requirements of local and national publications, general circulation, business, industrial or public relations magazines. Prerequisite: ENGL 102 or 112 or permission of the instructor.

430. POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP (3 credit hours)
This course offers the student an opportunity to write poetry, to present it in a workshop format, and to receive support and feedback from a group of fellow writers. Discussions will also emphasize revision and publication possibilities. Students will be required to read traditional and contemporary poetry to nourish their own writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 304 or permission of instructor.

431. FICTION WRITING WORKSHOP (3 credit hours)
A small seminar-type setting which allows students to share their short stories and novel excerpts in an atmosphere of constructive criticism, followed by guided revision. In addition to creating their own body of work, students will gain experience in critical reading and identifying the building blocks of creative writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 304 or permission of instructor.

440. INTERPRETING THE HOLOCAUST (3 credit hours)
A study of the Holocaust—the attempted destruction of the Jews by Nazi Germany from 1939-45—through selected writings of historic, interpretive, and literary importance. This course partially fulfills the International Perspectives requirement of the General Education core curriculum. Prerequisite: ENGL 150 and 60 hours or permission of the instructor.

441. CONTEMPORARY CRITICAL THEORY (3 credit hours)
This course engages with the contemporary critical perspectives and strategies of structuralism, poststructuralism, deconstruction, feminist theory, new historicism, and postmodernism. Prerequisite: 75 credit hours.

499. SPECIAL TOPICS IN ENGLISH (3 credit hours)
A course designed for a topic of special current interest, including televised courses. Prerequisites: Literature or writing courses as determined by the professor. See current schedule.