English
EN 100 Introduction to Creative Writing (3) O
This course is an introductory workshop course in the writing of poetry and short prose fiction, emphasizing the centrality of reading and revision to successful literary composition. Students will engage in regular writing assignments and discuss the craft of creative writing. The class will also develop students’ literary analytical skills through discussion of both students’ own work and that of published authors. There may also be additional in-class writing exercises.
Note: This course can fulfill a Fine Arts elective in all programs. This course is not a prerequisite for upper level EN courses except EN 200.
EN 130 Introduction to English Literature (3) A
An introduction to university English studies through the exploration of poetry, fiction, drama, and the literary essay. Students will learn strategies for the close reading and analysis of texts and for writing about literature.
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 115 or 130.
EN 200 Intermediate Creative Writing (3) O
An intermediate workshop course in creative writing that develops the reading and revision acquired in EN 100. Students will engage in intensive writing assignments and discuss detailed aspects of the craft of creative writing. The class will also further students’ literary analytical skills through discussion of both students’ own work and that of published authors. Genres taught may include poetry, short fiction, and/or the novel. Contact the instructor for further information about each year’s focus.
Prerequisite: EN 100 or portfolio
Note: This course can fulfill a Fine Arts elective in all programs.
EN 204 English Educational Travel Study (3) O
This course combines educational travel, study, and reflection to examine one or more topics related to English. Destinations vary from year to year.
Prerequisite: Permission of the department
EN 210 The Bible in Literature (3) O
Few books have had greater impact on the idioms, images, and structures of English literature than the Bible. This course will examine the ways in which the language, stories, themes, and characters of the Bible, influence and inhabit centuries of English literature.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
EN 221 English Literature to 1800 (3) A
A foundational course in literary studies, this class provides an introduction to a wide range of literary works in English from the eighth century to the late eighteenth century. The course introduces students to the breadth of genres that comprise the English literary tradition. Significant attention will be given to critical reading skills and further development of writing skills.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English (Corequisite for English major students)
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 221 or EN 220a.
EN 222 English Literature from 1800 (3) A
This course extends the examination, begun in EN 221, of the English literary tradition as it spreads to North America and other English-speaking nations. EN 222 starts with the Romantic period, approximately the 1780s, and carries its analysis of literature to the present day. A continued emphasis will be placed on improving reading and writing skills.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English (Corequisite for English major students)
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 222 or EN 220b.
EN 230 The Short Story (3) O
An overview of short stories from various cultures, this course provides a focus on the short story, one of the most condensed and forceful literary genres. Emphasis will be placed on interpreting plot, character, tone, theme and imagery, yet equal attention will be given to writing about the reading experience.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
EN 232 Reading Poetry (3) B
An introductory survey of the various kinds of poetry written in English, with examples from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries, this course develops the basic principles of formal poetic analysis through the close readings of poems.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 232 or EN 330.
EN 235 Tragedy and Comedy (3) O
The dramatic genres of tragedy and comedy originated in Ancient Greece, yet they continue to occupy theatre stages and screens to our time. This course will survey the long history of these genres by studying seminal representatives of each and important theoretical accounts of the literary conventions that define them.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
EN 240 Children’s Literature (3) O
A survey of children’s literature, this course aims to teach students how to read literature for children from a critical perspective. The course will examine a variety of genres, such as adaptations from traditional myths, legends, folklore, fantastic literature, verse, and nursery rhymes.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
EN 245 C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings (3) B
A study of the major literary works, themes, and ideas of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their friends, the group known as the Inklings. It examines themes such as the use of myth to explore problems of modernity, the relationship between Christian faith and art, as well as the debates over literary versus popular fiction.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
EN 295 Advanced Writing Skills (3) B
An advanced course meant to further develop students’ writing ability. Building on skills taught in introductory writing courses, it will give detailed consideration to grammar and syntax and to sentence and paragraph construction. It will also introduce students to various non-academic, professional forms of writing through a wide range of writing assignments.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
EN 299 Special Topics in English Literature (3) O
Special studies in Literature, as announced.
Prerequisite: EN 130
EN 300 Canadian Literature (3) B
A study of English Canadian literature from the early eighteenth century to the present. Students will read a wide variety of Canadian authors: settler, Indigenous, and contemporary, with a diverse spectrum of topics pertinent to Canadian writing, for example, our status as a postcolonial nation. The discussion will also contextualize Canadian writing in relation to major literary movements and trends outside and within Canada.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 304 English Educational Travel Study (3) O
This course combines educational travel, study, and reflection to examine one or more topics related to English. Destinations vary from year to year.
Prerequisite: Permission of the department
EN 335 Ancient Myth and Literature (3) O
A survey of the ancient Greek and Roman mythological and literary texts that constitute the background of the English literary tradition. Students will read in translation the poetry, drama, and prose of a number of the following authors: Hesiod, Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Virgil, Ovid, and Apuleius.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 338 The Renaissance Imagination (3) B
A survey of the literature of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Situating this literature in its historical and theological contexts, this course will consider examples of poetry, drama, and prose that are by turns profound, beautiful, devout, and witty. Authors will include the Sidneys, Spenser, Donne, Jonson, Wroth, and Herbert, among others, and will exclude Shakespeare and Milton.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 350 Shakespeare (3) B
This course studies thoroughly Shakespeare’s drama: the tragedy, romance, comedy, historical play, and problem play. Shakespeare’s works are placed in the context of the history and culture of the Elizabethan era.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
Note: This course can fulfill a Fine Arts elective in all programs.
EN 360 The Nineteenth-Century Novel (3) O
Many contemporary ideas about the individual, political economy, psychology, gender, faith, creativity, science, and art took shape during the Victorian period. The novel of the nineteenth century displays and distills the cultural and intellectual ferment that defined this remarkably prolific period in English literature. Representative novels by the major, minor, and, occasionally, quirky writers of the period will be covered.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 363 The Twentieth-Century Novel (3) B
An overview of twentieth-century prose, this course divides the century into two periods – pre- and post-World War II – to facilitate the study of novels by representative writers such as Virginia Woolf, J.D. Salinger, Ian Fleming, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Michael Ondaatje.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 363 or EN 290.
EN 365 Modern World Literature (3) O
This course examines the major literary works of the world from approximately 1800 to the present by studying these texts in English translation. The course places world masterpieces of literature in their historical and cultural contexts to trace the trends or influences exerted by these works.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 370 American Literature (3) B
This course undertakes the study of nineteenth- and twentieth-century poetry, drama, short stories, and novels by representative American writers. The categories of culture, history, gender, and race will be examined with special attention to the ways in which they define and contest the concept of nation and a national literature.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 371 Professional Editing (3) O
A course in the skills and standards of professional editing. Professional editors have a role in producing documents that serve a wide range of audiences and purposes, from instructions on how to play a game to novels that influence how we see the world. Students will learn the fundamentals of professional editing and the first steps needed to develop their own careers as freelance editors. The standards, skills, and tools of editing taught here will build on the principles of clear, consistent, grammatically correct writing learned in junior English courses.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in English
EN 380 Romanticism (3) O
Wordsworth’s and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads (1798) began the Romantic period in English literature, a period that witnessed changes to the perception of the role of the artist and art, the effects of which are still experienced today. The Romantic phenomenon continued for the next four decades; the works of the above two poets, those of Byron, P.B. Shelley, Keats, and several less well-known writers will be studied in the context of the diverse historical, social, intellectual, and artistic climate of the period.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 389 Early Literary Theory (3) B
A seminar course that examines seminal ideas from the classical era to the late nineteenth century about the nature and effect of literature. Charting a middle course between readings of particular literary texts and broader theories of art and aesthetics, we will consider the writings of Plato, Aristotle, St Augustine, Dante, Sidney, Wordsworth, and Arnold, among others.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 389 or EN 391.
EN 390 Modern Literary Theory (3) A
This course introduces and examines the various theories of literary interpretation. We will begin the course by studying the history of modern literary theory and criticism. By examining major theoretical movements such as Deconstruction, Reader-Response, and Feminism the course aims to equip students with the tools of critical analysis.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or 3 credits in English and HUM 201
EN 399 Special Topics in English Literature (3) O
Special studies in Literature, as announced.
Prerequisite: 6 credits in English or EN 130 and HUM 201
EN 404 English Educational Travel Study (3) O
This course combines educational travel, study, and reflection to examine one or more topics related to English. Destinations vary from year to year.
Prerequisite: Permission of the department
EN 405 Special Topics in English (3) O
Special studies in literature, as announced.
Prerequisite: Permission of the department
EN 421 The Medieval Imagination (3) B
An advanced course exploring medieval perspectives on the imagination, its nature, common objects, and typical modes of expression, most notably, allegory. Students will read several of the following genre-defying authors: Prudentius, Boethius, Dante, Chaucer, Langland, the “Pearl poet,” and Christine de Pizan.
Prerequisite: 3 credits of English at the 300-level
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 421 or EN 321
EN 452 Milton (3) B
An advanced course on the works of John Milton (1608-74). Milton’s writing uniquely combined formidable learning and literary genius with Christian devotion and political advocacy. This course focuses on his major poetry, particularly Paradise Lost, but also considers his political prose, both of which are situated in their biographical, historical, and theological contexts.
Prerequisite: 3 credits of English at the 300-level
Note: Students can only earn credit for one of the following: EN 452 or EN 340.
EN 489 Field Placement in English (3) O
A field placement to be arranged with a local business, non-profit agency, or other community partner, in which students apply their literary knowledge and/or writing skills in the workplace.
Prerequisite: Permission of the department
EN 490 Independent Research in English (3) O
Independent Study consists of an individual research project that investigates a problem area or topic not treated extensively in a regular course.
Prerequisite: Permission of the department
EN 491 Advanced Literary Theory (3) B
A continuation of EN 390, this course will explore more deeply several late twentieth- and twenty-first-century theories, including feminism, intersectionality, ecocriticism, postcolonialism, and indigenous and race theories. All theories will be taught in conjunction with readings from literature.
Prerequisite: EN 390