Spring 2006
ENW 2000.01 (CRN 21330) Theories of Writing -
Dr. Holt
This course focuses upon examination of a central question: What is
the relationship between human beings and the texts they create? To
explore this question, students read and apply writing theory
ranging from the classical to the contemporary. Students will
experiment with a wide variety of writing practices over the course
of the semester and will be asked to respond to the work of each
other as well as to the work of professional writers. Assignments
include composing a personal theory of writing; engaging in a
research project involving application of contemporary theory; and
creating and conducting a convocation session for the Belmont
community. In addition to selected readings by writing theorists,
reading selections may include A Hope in the Unseen, by Ron
Suskind; On Writing, by Stephen King; and Life of Pi by Yann
Martel. ENW 2000 is
required of all English majors following the
'Writing Emphasis' program, and should be taken in
the sophomore year, before enrolling in 3000-level ENW courses.
This course does not fulfill the
general education Humanities requirement.
ENW 3410.01 (CRN 21333)Creative Writing: Fiction -
Dr. Hutchins
No one can 'teach' you to write fiction--it is
true. Yet there is much you can learn in this course, through your
own writing process, through instruction, and through interaction
with the teacher and your peers. Most students find creative
writing classes both enjoyable and truly useful for encouragement,
advice, challenge, motivation, personal growth--and as a guaranteed
place of serious interest in your work. Yet this course is not just
a space for self-expression or self-development, nor is it only a
feedback workshop. This is an advanced course: that does not imply
daunting approaches or expectations for merit. But you will be
expected to take the course seriously and to work hard.
We will study about fiction, the history and nature of the genre, using some theory and quite a few varied fictional examples (oral narratives, tales, short stories and one contemporary novel). We will also learn about publication, investigating the directions fiction seems to be taking as we enter the 21st Century. At the end of the semester, you will have developed a portfolio of writing including the following: a free-choice short story developed during the 'Narrative' unit; a piece of fiction or creative non-fiction developed during the 'Oral History' unit, and various exercises chosen from those begun in class. It is always my aim to provide ample freedom, stimulus, and guidance for each individual but also to provide a comfortable and supportive environment for the risk-taking inherent in writing and sharing as a group. Please get in touch with me if you have questions about the course Dr. Hutchins .
ENW 3510.01 (CRN 21334) Advanced Composition -
Dr. Cox
Want to learn how to craft a 'literary
autobiography'? Produce 'literary
journalism'? Improve your writing style? Read about
'The Hidden Life of Dogs' and 'The (Nearly
Lethal) Comforts of Luxury Cruises'? Then Advanced
Composition is the course for you!
In Advanced Comp., you will read and write 'creative nonfiction.' You will exercise and strengthen your critical reading and writing abilities by completing a portfolio of essays on subjects that you will determine for yourself. (At least one of your papers will entail some form of research.) You will also write a series of short papers in which you will record your reactions to a wide variety of top-notch contemporary essays. Lastly, you will keep a journal of exploratory writing that might lead you to topics for your longer essays.
At the end of the term, you will work with your peers to produce
an anthology of your class's best work. The course is
structured as a writing workshop in which your papers are the
central texts; your thoughtful and enthusiastic participation in
class discussions and group activities is essential and with your
written work will determine your final grade for the course.
ENL2330.01 (CRN 21322) World Literature I -
Dr. Paine
Nota Bene: This is course is being offered in an off-semester, for the benefit of those who might need it. Check your requirements!
In this course we will discuss major works of World Literature
from beginnings through 1650. Western Literature will be our
primary frame of reference, but we will spend significant effort on
works from the traditions of Japan, China, and India. Much
importance will be placed on careful reading of and reflection upon
these texts.
ENL 3015.01 (CRN 21441) Autobiography and American Identity -
Dr. Curtis
Please note: This Junior Cornerstone course satisfies 3 hours of Humanities general education requirements only. It will under no circumstances count as an upper-division elective for English majors or minors.
Students in this course will investigate the often-contentious debates over what constitutes an 'American' identity and the problematic nature of the genre of autobiography by reading and researching autobiographies offered as positions in those debates. Discussion of several common texts (Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, Zitkala-Sa's American Indian Stories, Michael Gold's Jews Without Money, Malcolm X's Autobiography, Richard Rodriguez's Brown) will lead to two jumping-off points: group research on another, group-selected memoir, and the writing of one chapter of your own, researched autobiography.
ENL 3740.01(CRN 21442) Victorian Literature -
Dr. Sisson
'Possessing' the Victorian Period through the Prism of Modern Lenses: Investigations and Interpretations of 19th-Century British Culture
A. S. Byatt is a celebrated Victorian critic who published in 1990 a novel, Possession, which has been described as a 'detective story' and a 'literary thriller.' It follows the trail of several Victorian scholars who are doing extensive cultural research as they compete to be the first to discover a previously unknown romance between two eminent Victorian poets who were not married to one another. In doing so, the novel serves as a window into the Victorian period and its literary scene; it as at once a 'lense' into the culture and a virtual encyclopedia of its time. Possession is laced with excerpts from Victorian literature, as well as imitations of Victorian literature that Byatt herself has written and attributed to the two fictional poet-lovers (each of whom have characteristics of various actual Victorian writers). Moreover, in 2002 a film version of this novel was released, directed by Neil LaBute and starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
We will read Possession and watch the film version of the novel,
as well as a few 'period' films, asking ourselves
these and other questions:
- How can we, as 20th-/21st-century Americans, investigate and interpret 19th-century British culture, and especially Victorian literature, and understand it as fully as possible on its own terms?
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- How can we appreciate this period and its literature more fully by becoming more aware of our 20th-/21st-century American 'lenses' or perspectives?
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- How much of our understanding of the period already is based in others' interpretations which we have simply received (or against which we have reacted)?
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- And finally, how have others, through their writing and films about the Victorian period, recognized and responded to these questions?
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Our selections of Victorian literature will be dictated in part by the Victorian literary allusions in Possession, as well as by the literary tie-ins to other films that may be included in the course. Regardless of these promptings, the course will aim for fair and representative coverage of the literature from the period, which will include poetry, novels, essays and other non-fiction, and drama.
This course will certainly include Charlotte Bronte; Charles Dickens; Elizabeth Barrett Browning; Robert Browning; Alfred, Lord Tennyson; George Eliot; Christina Rossetti; Thomas Hardy; Elizabeth Gaskell; Anthony Trollope; George Meredith; Matthew Arnold; Queen Victorian herself; and no doubt others. Issues and course themes will include industrialization, education, women's (and men's) roles, social class, economics, religion, science, imperialism, the role of art, Victorian morality, and aestheticism and decadence. We will approach these issues, however, primarily through the literature that shaped and was shaped by these social and cultural forces.
We will read from the Norton Anthology of English Literature, Possession, and a few other texts from the period (primarily novels). Of course, we will also be engaged in research and writing of various types.
ENL 3860.01 (CRN 21443) Modern Fiction -
Dr. Paine
In this course, we will read and discuss a more-or-less representative selection of twentieth-century fiction, paying attention to evolution of form and technique as well as to the ways in which this fiction expresses the modern human condition.
Please be sure to acquire the editions indicated, especially for Conrad.
Texts:
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness. 4th Norton Critical Edition
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. Heinemann
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway. Harvest HBJ
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Bedford/St.
Martin's
William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! Vintage
Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea. Norton Critical Edition
Kobo Abe, The Woman in the Dunes
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49. Harper and Row
Italo Calvino, If On a Winter's Night a Traveler. HBJ
Don DeLillo, White Noise. Penguin
Tony Morrison, Beloved. Penguin
ENL 3880.01 (CRN 21445) Gender and Modern American Literature -
Dr. Dale
What are our cultural concepts of 'man' and 'woman'? How do these gender constructions influence our choices and desires? The class will consider the myth-based theories of manhood presented by Robert Bly's Iron John and of womanhood presented by Carol Gilligan's A Map of Desire. Modern constructions of gender and the impact on individuals will be explored further in modern fiction (e.g., Hemingway, Faulkner, Dickey, Cisneros, Morrison, and Le Guin).
ENL 3920.01 (CRN 21446)American Renaissance -
Dr. Curtis
This course is a survey of 'American Literary Romanticism,' three terms that will prove problematic as we move through the semester. We'll be investigating the sources of that Romanticism, especially via British and American gothic, religious, and sentimental traditions, as well as the history of American publishing through the mid-nineteenth century. Writers will include Bryant, Irving, Poe, Emerson, Fuller, Kirkland, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Lippard, Melville, Douglass, Stowe, Dickinson, and Whitman.
ENL/ENW 4900 (CRN 21329)Seminar in English Studies -
Dr. Alexander
The Route the Herring Takes to the Sea: Contemporary Fiction and the Historical Sublime
We live in interesting times--more interesting than any of us would like. The events of every day exceed our collective grasp. The news is bad, meaning elusive. The assumption that history is 'progress' is no longer a given. Yet hope persists, perhaps because we are no longer arrogant enough to assume we can, once and for all, pin down the meaning of events.
Late twentieth and early twenty-first century writers of fiction spin out both our despair at not being able to contain the meaning of history and what is perhaps our relief at not having to do so. In the process, these writers evolve new ways to tell stories. The course will allow students to explore how the 'new historical' novel, which often makes use of formal experimentation and unconventional narrative techniques, reflects and influences our view of how the past continues to influence and even to create us.
Students will complete one substantial research project and make a class presentation on their paper. This is a seminar--participation in discussion will be included as part of final grades.
Texts
Amy J. Elias, Sublime Desire: History and Post-1960s Fiction
Coursepack of critical material Steve Erikson, Arc d'X
Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo W.G. Sebald, The Rings of Saturn Leslie
Marmon Silko, Ceremony Graham Swift, Waterland Jeanette Winterson,
The Passion
