Spring 2006
ENG 5000.01 (CRN 21342) Practical Literary Criticism
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Dr.Stover
We all use some kind of interpretive strategy whenever we read, view, or listen to texts. One purpose of this course is to make you more aware of the variety of assumptions people make about literary texts and the implications these have for critical reading and writing. This course should help you develop awareness of reading as a creative act with social and political implications as you learn the theory of and practice major critical approaches. In addition, you should feel by the end of the course that you have a better grasp on the controversies and tensions (productive and otherwise) that drive the teaching of English as a profession. Finally, after completing the course, you should better understand the kind of thorough familiarity with critical conversations and the research methods required to write a thesis.
ENG 5820.01 (CRN 21343) Readings in British Literature II -
Dr.Murray
This course offers an expansive but also intensive survey of British Literature during the following eras: the 'Long Eighteenth Century' (comprising the Restoration Period, the Age of Swift and Pope, and the Age of Johnson); the Romantic Period; and the Victorian Period. We will examine both the 'traditional' canon of works as well as the new, more extensive canon. Authors to be considered include Dryden, Behn, Wycherley, Pope, Swift, Defoe, Fielding, Johnson, Austen, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley (both Mr. and Mrs.), Keats, Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Dickens, Hopkins, Hardy, Housman, and Wilde. We will examine current scholarly formulations of the eras which produced this literature (the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Victorianism), and we will examine literature in light of the cultural constructs of its era. As we will be reading several novels, please consult me over the break at murrayd@mail.belmont.edu for a detailed reading list.
ENG 6120.01 (CRN 21412) Early Modern English Drama (Including Shakespeare) -
Dr.Wells
Even if we grant that Shakespeare is the center of the dramatic universe, the Renaissance in England still provides a solar system filled with many splendid planets, each worthy of exploration in its own right. The period from 1580-1642 would still be celebrated as one of the greatest eras of dramatic production in the history of the arts even if Shakespeare were to be taken out of the equation. Indeed, in his own time, Shakespeare's superiority was certainly not taken for granted. He was engaged in serious competition for the hearts and purses of London consumers with the likes of Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe, the latter of whom enjoyed, for a time at least, popularity above Shakespeare's. According to some theater historians, the most popular play of this period was not written by Shakespeare; it was Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. Normally courses on Renaissance Drama exclude Shakespeare so that they can focus on his contemporaries undistracted by his luminosity. However, this class will read some Shakespeare plays along side his contemporaries, not so that we can make odious evaluative comparisons of merit, but so that we can better understand the fuller picture of early modern English theatre. By including Shakespeare, we will get a better sense of how dramatists inform and influence each other's work. We will study plays that cluster around popular sub-genres of dramatic literature. For example, one such sub-group we will examine will be revenge tragedy: We will read Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, Shakespeare's Hamlet or Othello (a subtle revenge play), and Thomas Middleton's(?) The Revenger's Tragedy. Another such subgroup might consist of comedies featuring unruly women such as Ben Jonson's Epicene, Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and John Fletcher's sequel to Taming, The Woman's Prize or The Tamer Tamed. We will also study history plays, including Marlowe's Edward II along side of Shakespeare's Richard II and perhaps the anonymous Arden of Faversham. Another pairing might consist of such problem plays as Marlowe's Jew of Malta and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Assignments will consist of two shorter 'readings' papers and a conference-length research paper at the end.
ENG 6450.01 (CRN 21345) Writing and Social Issues -
Dr.Smith
There is much to discover about the language and literacy of everyday life. Scholarship in recent decades has shown how literacy cannot exist apart from ideology, politics, and power. In Writing & Social Issues, we will explore ways 'ordinary' literacy practices connect with history, economics, politics, and more. Crucial questions include:
- Who decides what gets read? Who decides what can be written? Which literacies are valorized? Which are overlooked?
- What are some transition moments in the history of literacy?
- What differentiates between the 'spoken' word and the 'written word,' and how are new technologies affecting the spoken and the written?
- What are some real-live ways people use literacy in their
everyday lives? How do such 'real-live' literacy
practices connect to history, politics, economics and power?
Required Texts: Cushman, Kingten, Kroll & Rose, Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook Brandt, Deborah. Literacy in American Lives Daniell, Beth. A Communion of Friendship Freire, Paolo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed Heath, Shirley Brice. Ways With Words Prendergast, Catherine. Literacy and Racial Justice: The Politics of Learning after Brown v. Board of Education Royster, Jacqueline Jones. Traces of a Stream
ENG 6470.01 (CRN 21514) Writing in the Genres -
Dr.Pinter
FAITH-FIRED WRITING: A course for those interested in writing, faith, or issues that deal with both. We will explore the basic aspects of spirituality, and their relationship to writing and one's growth as a writer. The course focuses upon personal disciplines (e.g. spiritual reading, journal keeping, and the role of silence) as a means of being attentive to God, and as a means of acting in the world. We will read a variety of texts related to spirituality and writing; they are categorized as: life writing (Buechner, K. Norris, Lamott, Merton); fiction (O'Connor, Percy); writing for social change (Day, a local writer/activist). The class will also keep a journal, write a spiritual autobiography, and complete an integrative project in which we will write for social change after hearing local faith-based activists talk about their passions. Early in April, the class will have a day-long retreat off campus to work with these activists and discuss their spirituality, but the date is negotiable and will not require you to meet more than the required class times!
