2013-2014 Catalog - Virginia Wesleyan College

104 ENGLISHENGLISH105Dickinson, and Walt Whitman. Prerequisite: ENG105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered in selectedsemesters.280 Early British Literature (4) TA survey of major authors, works, and literarytraditions from Beowulf to 1785. Prerequisite: ENG105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered in selectedsemesters.281 Later British Literature (4) TA survey of major authors, works, and literarytraditions from 1785 to the early 20th century.Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher.Offered in selected semesters.284 American Literature (4) TA survey of major authors, works, and literarytraditions from the beginning to the contemporaryperiod. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C orhigher. Offered in selected semesters.285 Contemporary American Literature (4) TA study of major authors, works, and literarytrends from the end of the 20th century to thepresent. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C orhigher. Offered in selected semesters.286 Banned Books (4) TAn interdisciplinary exploration of banned books;the legal battles in U.S. history that created,supported, and ended censorship; and the literary,legal, aesthetic, and socio-political contexts thatinfluenced both the artists and the changingconceptions of obscenity that marked their works ascontroversial. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade ofC or higher. Prerequisite for Winter Session: ENG105 with a grade of C or higher and consent. Note:Students who receive credit for ENG 286 may notalso receive credit for HIST 286. Offered in selectedspring semesters and Winter Sessions.287 Modern and ContemporaryLiterature (4)TA survey of major authors, works, and literarytrends from the beginning of the 20th century to thepresent. Emphasizes British and American literature,though attention may also be given to European,world, and postcolonial literature. Prerequisite: ENG105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered in selectedsemesters.289 Approaches to Literary Study (4) TIntroduces close reading, selected criticalapproaches, literary genres, periods of literary history,discipline-specific information literacy such asscholarly databases and online research, andconventions for citing literary works and criticism.Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher.Offered each semester.298 Introductory Poetry Writing (4) AA poetry writing workshop, with class discussionsof student work and the work of established poets.Emphasizes experimentation and creative exercises aswell as engagement with issues of craft and intensivereading of a broad range of poetry. Non-majorswelcome. Pass/fail grading. Prerequisite: ENG 105with a grade of C or higher. Offered each fall.299 Introductory Fiction Writing: (4)An introductory-level workshop with classdiscussions of student work and established authors.Students study and experiment with the craft offiction. They also analyze and write critically aboutfiction to help them understand their work moreclearly. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C orhigher. Offered each spring.301 Topics in Earlier British Literature (4) WAn in-depth study of some aspect of Britishliterature before the 19th century. May be repeatedfor credit as the topic varies. Prerequisites: ENG 105with a grade of C or higher and any literature coursedesignated “T.” Offered in selected semesters.302 Topics in Later British Literature (4) WAn in-depth study of some aspect of Britishliterature since the beginning of the 19th century.May be repeated for credit as the topic varies.Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higherand any literature course designated “T.” Offeredeach spring.303 Topics in American Literature (4) WAn in-depth study of some aspect of Americanliterature. May be repeated for credit as the topicvaries. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C orhigher and any “T” course. Offered in selectedsemesters.304 Topics in World Literature (4) WAn in-depth study of some aspect of literature,especially texts outside the British and Americantraditions. May be repeated for credit as the topicvaries. Prerequisite: any “T” course. Offered eachspring.306 Ecopoetry (4) WAn in-depth exploration of the various ways inwhich contemporary poets and critics seek tounderstand past and present poetries as negotiatingthe often porous boundaries between the human andnonhuman in our experiences of the world.Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higherand any “T” course or consent. Identical to ENVS306. Offered in selected semesters.310 Distinctive Voices in Contemporary WAmerican Poetry (4)A study of the many and varied voices incontemporary American poetry, especially selectedworks of poetry published since 1960. Authorsstudied include Jorie Graham, Harryette Mullen,Yusef Komunyakaa, and Adrienne Rich. Prerequisites:ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher, one 200-levelliterature course, and junior status or consent.Offered spring even-numbered years.311 Theory and Criticism (4) WA survey of key debates in the history of literarytheory and criticism from Plato to the present, withan emphasis on contemporary approaches tointerpretation and emerging directions in literarystudies. Students also pursue research emphasizingmethodological preparation for ENG 489, the seniorEnglish project. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a gradeof C or higher and junior/senior status or consent.Offered each fall.314 The English Language (4) WA study of the English language from its origins tothe present. Includes discussion of recent trends,dialect variation, and social and political issuesrelating to English today. Students write severalpapers, including an original research study on a topicof interest. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of Cor higher and junior status or consent. Offered springof even-numbered years.315 The Experience of Poetry (4)An intensive introduction to poetry throughexamining the poem’s relationship to universalhuman experiences. Students gain a thoroughunderstanding of the elements of poetry and engagewith literary criticism of poetry. They may alsoexperiment with writing original poetry.Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higherand a literature course designated “T”; secondsemestersophomore status or above recommended.Offered in selected semesters.317 Children’s Literature (4)An introduction to children’s literature thatpresents a wide variety of texts and approaches toliterature. Focuses on appreciating the texts asliterature through the use of literary and culturaltheories. Contemporary and canonical novels andpicture books are discussed. Prerequisites: any “T”course and junior/senior status or consent. Offeredeach spring.318 Adolescent Literature (4) WAn overview of adolescent literature. Literary andcultural theories are used to consider issues ofideology, identity, coming-of-age, gender, censorship,race, class, and ethnicity. Students examine manysocietal attitudes and issues and contemplateadolescence as well as the larger society. Prerequisites:ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher, any “T” courseand junior/senior status or consent. Offered fall ofodd-numbered years.319 Feminist and Gender Theory (4) WExamines contemporary arguments about thenature of women and men and the biological, social,and aesthetic categories of male, female, intersex,masculine, feminine, heterosexual, and transgendered.Gender issues are studied in relation to historical andcross-cultural contexts, in relation to Westernwomen’s movements of the 19th and 20th centuries,and in relation to local and global issues affected bythe politics of gender. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with agrade of C or higher; WGS/SOC 219, WGS 220, orENG 311; or consent. Identical to SOC 319 andWGS 319. Offered spring of even-numbered years.321 Introduction to Linguistics (4)An introduction to the way language works.Includes several main areas of linguistic study:phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,semantics, and language acquisition, variation, andchange. Students conduct an original research studyon a topic of interest. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with agrade of C or higher and junior/senior status orconsent. Offered spring of odd-numbered years.327 The British Novel (4) WA study of the British novel from the 18th centuryto the present, with emphasis on its 18th and 19thcentury developments. Considers theories of thenovel in relation to representative texts in theirliterary, historical, social, national, and internationalcontexts. Prerequisites: Any “T” course and juniorstatus or consent. Offered spring of even-numberedyears.333 Hybrid Prose (4) WA study of hybrid forms in fiction. Studentsexamine texts in which formal concerns dominateand in which typical distinctions between fiction andother mediums such as poetry, essay, memoir, and thefine arts, break down. Students write both critical andcreative work that engages hybrid prose. Prerequisites:ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher and a “T”course or consent. Offered fall of odd-numberedyears.