ENGL - English

Course Descriptions

 

ENGL 1030 Introduction to Literature (3)

Designed to accommodate non-majors. Introduces the perceptive analysis of literature with an emphasis on enhancing the appreciation and enjoyment of literature in ways that extend beyond academic study. Studies a range of literature including such genres as poetry, fiction and drama. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 1044 Topics in Literature (1-3)

Designed to accommodate non-majors. Exposes students to a broad range of literary texts organized around a central topic, theme or genre. Topics may include: best sellers, science fiction and mystery. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Up to 3 credits may count for English majors (as ENGL elective). GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 1050 Introduction to American Literature (3)

Focuses on themes, forms, and styles as they are represented in American literature. Emphasizes the contribution of selected major authors from the beginnings to the twentieth century. Not offered on the St. Louis campus.

ENGL 1060 Protest Literature (3)

Covers works that have a heavily sociological import and directly attack a specific social ill. Emphasizes both the literary values of the work and the social ill that inspired the work. Each section of this course focuses on only one society during one period.

ENGL 1100 Comparative European Literature (3)

Covers major themes, forms, and styles as they are represented in the various European literatures. Emphasizes the contribution of selected major authors, from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Not offered on the St. Louis campus.

ENGL 1500 Introduction to Creative Writing (3 hours)

A creative writing workshop for beginning writers, this course introduces students to the writing of poetry and creative prose. Class time is divided among readings from established writers; creative-writing labs (in-class exercises designed to foster technique and experimentation); and peer-review workshops. Students will develop select in-class exercises into full poems and stories, and the semester will culminate in a final portfolio of revised work. GCP Coding: (ARTS) (WCOM).

ENGL 1900 Introductory Seminar in Literary Analysis (3)

Provides students with the literary analysis skills required for further study in English. Focuses on academic approaches to poetry, fiction, and drama. Required of all English majors before they complete their first 30 hours in the major (first 15 hours for transfer students).

ENGL 2000 What Next? The English Major after Graduation (1)

This course prepares English majors to find fulfilling careers by exposing them to the terrain of post-graduation employment opportunities, teaching them how the skills they develop in their coursework apply to various careers, and training them to find, apply for, and interview for jobs. Activities will include guest speakers, informational interviews, résumé and application letter writing, and the creation of a personalized plan for further career preparation. Prerequisite: ENGL 1900 or concurrent enrollment in ENGL 1900.

ENGL 2020 British Literature I (3)

Studies British literature from the Middle Ages to 1660, with emphasis on literary analysis tools including close reading, argumentation, historical/social contexts. Offered for 16 weeks only. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 2030 British Literature II (3)

Studies British literature from 1660 to 1901, with emphasis on literary analysis tools including close reading, argumentation, historical/social contexts. Offered for 16 weeks only. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 2035 History of the Novel (3)

Studies significant works by important British novelists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with an emphasis on the continuity of British literature and its relationship to the historical moment. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 2050 U.S. Literature (3)

Studies the diverse traditions of American literature, from the oral stories of native cultures and accounts of European contact to the early 20th century realists, raising issues of what America means and who counts as an American that we're still dealing with today. In addition to exploring the influence of race, gender, religion and region on the creation and reception of literary texts, the course will emphasize literary analysis tools including close reading, argumentation and historical/social contexts. Required of majors. Offered for 16 weeks only. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 2086 U.S. Literature of Diversity (3)

Explores diverse literature of the U.S. May focus on a specific time period or ethnic/cultural community, such as African American, Asian American, Native American, Latinx, LGBTQ, disability, etc. May be repeated for credit if content differs. GCP Coding: (ROC) (INTC).

ENGL 2110 Perspectives (3)

Examines a society, social problem, or social institutions from the differing viewpoints of those in and out of power. May be repeated for credit if content differs. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 2120 Literature of Oppression and Resistance (3)

Explores the experience of oppression and resistance from perspectives that vary by race, nationality, religion, gender, time period and other factors. In addition to examining the roles that socio-cultural factors (law, economics, etc.) play in oppression and resistance, the course will consider the various strategies that writers employ to expose, explore and contest the misuses of power, in effect asking how the act of writing itself can be an effective form of resistance. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM)

ENGL 2150 Creative Writing: Poetry (3)

Writing that explores the essential components of poems. Some work on an individual basis through conference with the instructor. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. GCP Coding: (ARTS) (WCOM).

ENGL 2160 Creative Writing: Fiction (3)

Writing in various forms of fiction. Some work on an individual basis through conferences with the instructor. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. GCP Coding: (ARTS) (WCOM).

ENGL 2170 Creative Writing: Playwriting (3)

Writing that explores the essential components of drama. Some work on an individual basis through conferences with the instructor as well as workshop readings of student work. May be repeated for credit with the permission of the instructor. GCP Coding: (ARTS) (WCOM).

ENGL 2180 Creative Writing: Nonfiction (3)

A writing course for students interested in the essay form. Studies a wide variety of contemporary essays as models for student writing, focusing on voice, form, and audience. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. GCP Coding: (ARTS) (WCOM).

ENGL 2190 Creative Writing: Translation (3)

Conducted as a writer’s workshop, this class explores the translation of poetry as creative writing. The discussion of both published and student work will address each translation in terms of its success as a poem in English as well as its fidelity to the spirit, if not the word, of the poem in its original language. Poems for translation will be from a variety of languages. One or more original poems based on the assigned readings may be submitted for credit. Knowledge of a foreign language is helpful but not required. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor.

ENGL 2210 Adaptations (3)

Concentrates on various adaptations of literary texts: from text to film; from one genre to another (prose narrative to play, novel to graphic novel, etc.); modernized versions of older works and other rewritings from new perspectives. Focus will be on both the texts and the art and challenges of adaptation. GCP Coding: (ARTS) (WCOM).

ENGL 2250 Literary London (3)

Explores the works of writers who lived in or wrote about London. Among the authors who may be discussed are Chaucer, Samuel Pepys, James Boswell, Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens, and Iris Murdock. Visits to relevant museum and historical sites are organized when appropriate. Offered at London campus only.

ENGL 2300 Worlds of Romance (3)

Explores romance texts from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Examines the distinctive features of the romance genre and includes medieval romances, gothic novels, and science fiction film. Offered for 16 weeks only. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 2400 The Short Story (3)

Explores the development of the short story, its conventions, genres, and innovations.

ENGL 2500 Global Dramatic Literature (3)

Studies significant works of global dramatic literature from the classic to the contemporary eras, with an emphasis on the cultural, historic, and artistic influences that shaped those works. Required for all drama and playwriting emphasis students in the English Department. Offered for 16 weeks only. GCP Coding: (ROC) (WCOM).

ENGL 2600 Introduction to Linguistics (3)

Surveys topics such as language and the brain, animals and language learning, slang, regional dialects, how dictionaries are made, and modern grammar. Offered for 16 weeks only. GCP Coding: (SSHB) (OCOM).

ENGL 3030 Topics in Poetry (3)

Examines poetry from the perspective of the writer, focusing on problems of technique and craft and how they are solved. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Prerequisite: ENGL 2150 or permission of the instructor. 

ENGL 3040 Topics in Fiction (3)

Examines fiction from the perspective of the writer, focusing on problems of technique and craft and how they are solved. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Prerequisite: ENGL 2160 or permission of the instructor. 

ENGL 3050 Topics in Drama (3)

Examines drama from the perspective of the writer, focusing on problems of technique and craft and how they are solved. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Prerequisite: ENGL 2170 or permission of the instructor. 

ENGL 3100 Modern Drama (3)

Studies selected themes, genres, and playwrights, from Ibsen to Brecht. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of English or permission of the instructor.

ENGL 3130 Contemporary Drama (3)

Studies selected themes, genres, and playwrights, from Brecht to the present. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of English or permission of the instructor.

ENGL 3140 Women and Literature (3)

Explores the relationship between women and literature from a range of perspectives that may include: women as producers of literature, as objects of literary discourse and as consumers of literature. May focus on a specific time period or culture. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or above. 

ENGL 3190 Comedy and Satire (3)

Introduces the patterns characteristic of comedy and satire. Deals with the genres of fiction and drama. Offered for 16 weeks only. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or above.

ENGL 3210 Tragic Themes (3)

Explores the development of tragedy in Western literature and asks if tragedy is possible as a literary form in contemporary art. Offered for 16 weeks only.

ENGL 3300 20th Century American Poetry (3)

Examines the evolution of aesthetic sensibilities in shaping distinctly American poetry in English. Focus is on the particularly fertile midcentury stomping ground for the disparate and overlapping concerns of the Objectivists, Projectivists, N.Y.C. Schoolers, Confessionalists, Deep Imagists, Free Verse writers, and others.

ENGL 3500 Contexts (1-3)

Deals with works, ideas, and genres in their historical, social, and/or philosophical contexts. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

ENGL 3900 Myth and Classical Literature (3)

Deals with Greek and Roman myths, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid. Occasional pieces of later literature are introduced to show the continuing life of the ancient images of human experience. Offered for 16 weeks only. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of English or permission of the instructor.

ENGL 4000 Myth and Modern Literature (3)

Examines twentieth-century writers who have reinvented human life from shards of traditional myths, mythic structures, and the once resonant assurances they provided. Offered for 16 weeks only. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of English or permission of the instructor.

ENGL 4030 Literature of Latin America (3)

Concentrates on the major authors and themes of the literature of Mexico and Central and South America and the ways these works reflect the artistic, political, and religious ideas of the regions.

ENGL 4130 Seminar in a Single Author (3)

Specialized study of the work of a single poet, dramatist, prose writer, or novelist. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Prerequisite: 6 credits of English and Sophomore standing or above.

ENGL 4150 Shakespeare (3)

Studies plays selected from comedies, histories, tragedies and romances, with an emphasis on language and dramatic techniques, as well as on social, cultural and political issues raised. Examines the plays both as products of their historical moment and as texts that persist in their relevance. May also include Shakespeare's nondramatic poetry. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of English or theatre arts and sophomore standing or above.

ENGL 4190 The Story of English (3)

Surveys the development of the English language, from Old English and its Indo-European roots up to present-day English. The course explores the evolution of the language over the last 1500 years and how and why it continues to change. Topics include the cultural context of language and the contributions of various groups to the diversity of American English.

ENGL 4400 Advanced Creative Writing (1-3)

Designed for creative writing students who have already exhibited a high degree of accomplishment and commitment. Admission to the course requires a preliminary portfolio review and informal interview. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. Offered only in St. Louis.

ENGL 4500 Literary Criticism (3)

Emphasizes the continuity of questions and answers in the history of literary criticism and examines the relationship of the kinds of emphases put on literary values to social, political, and economic concerns. Readings range from Plato to deconstruction, but the approach of the course is toward the problems of criticism, not toward the mastery of texts as ends in themselves. Offered for 16 weeks only. Prerequisites: Junior standing; 12 credit hours of English, or permission of the instructor.

ENGL 4600 Portfolio Review (0)

A portfolio of student work in English to be turned in during the final semester of study in the department. Required of all English majors.

ENGL 4610 Independent Study (1-5)

This course provides credit for a student working on an independent reading and/or writing project with a faculty member. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Prerequisites: Usually junior standing and filing an official form. 

ENGL 4620 Practicum (1-3)

Practicum gives students experiential learning opportunities, including editorships, internships, event management, research projects, etc., under the direction of Creative Writing faculty. May be repeated for credit up to 6 credit hours with permission of the instructor. Prerequisite: Faculty approval for practica; students will work under faculty supervision.

ENGL 4900 Thesis Workshop (1)

An independent project required of all English honors students. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

ENGL 4910 Honors Thesis (0)

This course provides certification that the student has attained the level of honors on the thesis project in ENGL 4900 Thesis Workshop. Prerequisite: ENGL 4900.