Spring 2009 English Major Course Guide - Chicago Campus
Department of Literature and Languages

205 Introduction to Shakespeare

Regina Buccola

(Tu Th 12:30 - 1:45 pm)

In English 205, we will read a broad sampling of William Shakespeare's dramatic work, covering all of the different kinds of plays that Shakespeare wrote (history, tragedy and comedy).  Our discussions of the plays will focus on issues such as their likely literary and historical sources, the cultural and political background informing the plot and characters, the realities (so far as we can conjecture) of their original staging, and issues of class and gender.  The plays’ subsequent performance histories (including cinematic interpretations) will also be brought to bear on our conversations about the remarkable vitality of these scripts, now well into their fourth century of still lustrous life.

 

207 Introduction to African-American Literature

Kimberly Ruffin                      

(M W  9:30 – 10:45  am)

African American literature is a dynamic resource for understanding numerous individual, communal, and societal needs.  This survey will highlight canonical and emerging African-American authors from the 18th- 21st century (e.g. Dunbar, Johnson, Jacobs, Wells-Barnett, Hughes, Fauset, Wright, Hurston, Ellison, Brooks, Baraka, Sanchez, Young, Clifton, Reed, Hemphill, Beatty) through a range of genres, noting African, European, and “New World” influences.  The writer’s role in a given community, an artist’s aesthetic considerations and unique voice, the function of the arts, and major movements (e.g. “New Negro”/ Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement) will be among the contexts for our study.  Satisfies non-Western requirement.

 

211 British Literature 1789 to Present

Staff                  

(Tu 2:00 – 4:29 pm)

Survey of the Romantic, Victorian, Modernist, Postmodernist, and Postcolonial periods of British literature.  Working with texts from all genres, students explore shifts in literature and aesthetics with respect to social and cultural developments    

 

213 American Literature 1865 to Present

Janet Wondra                        

(M W 12:30 – 1:45 pm)

Who is included in the canon of American literature and how? Who has been excluded and why?  We’ll consider these questions and others as we move from the Civil War to the present, examining such writers as Charles Waddell Chestnutt, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, James Weldon Johnson, Ezra Pound, Zora Neale Hurston, Gertrude Stein, Eudora Welty,  Gwendolyn Brooks, and Sylvia Plath. We’ll also analyze African-American folktales, Southwestern corridos, and crucial essays by leading thinkers. Join us for this overview of where American literature has been and where it might be heading now.

 

220 Introduction to Literary Analysis

Larry Howe                              

(M W 4:30 – 5:45 pm)

Prereq: University Writing Requirement

                                                                                                       

Close analysis of poetry, fiction, and drama with emphasis on interpretation of literary form and language.  Development of critical vocabulary for explicating texts with attention to genre codes, figurative language, narrative structure, poetic diction and meter, and dramatic forms.  Introduction to basic reference sources and literary criticism.  Emphasis on writing critical analyses and developing interpretive arguments.

 

222 Writing About Ideas

Salinda Lewis            

(W  6:00 – 8:30 pm)

Prereq: University Writing Requirement 

The theme of this course is Food, Culture, and Identity. We will explore food in its cultural contexts, asking such questions as: How does food construct identity? What role does food play in the community? How does it help define a culture? Are we really what we eat? We will also examine food taboos, dietary habits, the kitchen as a symbol of domesticity and power, Americanization of ethnic foods, and the politics of food production. We will read texts from a variety of disciplines, write several short essays, conduct ethnographic research, and produce a final research project.

 

253 Introduction to Creative Writing

Peggy Shinner                              

(W 2:00 - 4:29 pm)

Prereq: University Writing Requirement

Through work in three genres--fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction--students develop personal voice, familiarity with various narrative and poetic strategies, and effective use of concrete and metaphoric detail.  Each genre will be explored through critique of student writing and close reading of work by notable authors, both contemporary and historic.

 

308 Shakespeare & Film

Regina Buccola                                 

(Th 2:00 – 4:29 pm)

Prereq: ENG 220 or ENG 307

Working from the premise that every production of a Shakespeare text – whether it be on stage or film – is an act of adaptation and interpretation, we will consider the myriad meanings that Shakespeare’s 400+ year-old texts can be made to convey.  Given the fact that several actors and directors (such as Ikira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh) have adapted Shakespearean texts repeatedly, we will have occasion to discuss auteur theory as well, and the unique stamp of the individual director.   Students will screen films independently, outside of class time; all assigned titles are available on campus in the Educational Technology Resource Center, as well as at commercial video rental locations and area libraries.

 

314 The Rise of the Novel

Bonnie Gunzenhauser                                   

(M  2:00 – 4:29 pm)

Prereq: ENG 220

The novel has been described as “a loose, baggy monster”—as a genre that can include almost any kind of character, setting, or event, no matter how outlandish. This description is certainly true of British fiction’s first century, which includes stories of love, the supernatural, childhood, society—sometimes all rolled into one. In this course, we’ll read history, criticism, and a representative sampling of British fiction written between 1700 and 1850 to discover where the kinds of fiction that we read today came from. We’ll look at how the novel evolved as a genre, at the socio-cultural issues the novel addressed, and how writers tried to capture the diversity of human experience during that time period. Likely authors include Defoe, Fielding, Burney, Walpole, Austen, and more.

 

334A Advanced Non-Fiction Writing I

Janet Wondra

(W 6:00 - 8:30 pm)

Prereq: ENG 253, ENG 303 and Consent/submit portfolio to instructor

What’s so creative about creative nonfiction?  This course focuses on personal narrative, including memoir, but some of the larger questions we’ll consider include:  How do we define creative nonfiction?  While fiction often serves as a model for the craft of creative nonfiction, what are other models? What are the responsibilities of the author to his or her characters if they are drawn from life? Since everyone has a life story, how do we make ours worth reading?  Why is memoir so popular with the reading public? Through workshopping, analyzing published examples of the genre, and lively discussion, we’ll explore these questions and formulate preliminary answers.

 

353 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Literature

Gary Wolfe

(W 6:00 - 8:30 pm)

Fantasy is among the oldest of all narrative modes, and science fiction (according to most historians) is less than two centuries old.  Yet they have a good deal in common:  both celebrate the fantastic, both evolved as counter-traditions to the dominance of the realistic novel, both developed as popular genres with a significant overlap among writers and readers.  In the past few years, the boundaries of these genres, like the boundaries between popular and literary fiction, have grown increasingly fluid. This class will focus on the current state of fantastic fiction during the last two decades, touching upon such writers as Neil Gaiman, Robert Charles Wilson, Greg Bear, William Gibson, Connie Willis, Kelly Link, Ted Chiang, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Ursula K. Le Guin.  Following introductory historical lectures, the course will develop through detailed discussions of specific stories and novels.

 

 

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