English 18: History of the English Language, Professor Pulju at the 2 hour
(crosslisted with LING 18)
The development of English as a spoken and written language as a member of the Indo-European language-family, from Old English (Beowulf), Middle English (Chaucer), and Early Modern English (Shakespeare), to contemporary American English. Emphasis will be given to the linguistic and cultural reasons for ‘language change,’ to the literary possibilities of the language, and to the political significance of class and race. Course Group IV, CA tags Cultural Studies and Popular Culture, National Traditions and Counter-Traditions
English 23: The English Renaissance, Professor Crewe at the 10 hour
English verse and prose of the sixteenth century: a study of Wyatt, Gascoigne, Nashe, Marlowe, Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, and others in the cultural context of Tudor England. The course will investigate issues of classical and European influence, publication, and courtly patronage, especially under the auspices of a female ruler (Elizabeth I). Course Group I, CA tags Genre-poetry, Genders and Sexualities
English 37: Victorian Literature and Culture, 1860-1901, Professor McKee at the 10A hour
This course examines later nineteenth-century British poetry, prose and fiction in the context of cultural practices and social institutions of the time. We will locate cultural concerns among, for example, those of capitalism, political reform, scientific knowledge, nation and empire. And we will consider revisions of space, time, gender, sexuality, class, and public and private life that characterized formations of British identity during this period. Texts may include work by George Eliot, Matthew Arnold, Christina Rossetti, Algernon Swinburne, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling. We will also read selections from recent criticism of Victorian culture. Course Group II, CA tag Cultural Studies and Popular Culture
English 42: American Fiction to 1900, Professor Pease at the 10 hour
A survey of the first century of U.S. fiction, this course focuses on historical contexts as well as social and material conditions of the production of narrative as cultural myth. The course is designed to provide an overview of the literary history of the United States novel from the National Period to the threshold of the Modern (1845-1900). To do justice to the range of works under discussion, the lectures will call attention to the heterogeneous cultural contexts out of which these works have emerged as well as the formal and structural components of the different works under discussion. Course Group II, CA tags National Traditions and Counter-Traditions, Cultural Studies and Popular Culture
English 49: Modern Black American Literature, Professor Favor at the 12 hour
(crosslisted with AAAS 35)
A study of African American literature from the Harlem Renaissance to the present, this course will focus on emerging and diverging traditions of writing by African Americans. We shall also investigate the changing forms and contexts of ‘racial representation’ in the United States. Works may include those by Hurston, Hughes, Wright, Ellison, Morrison, Schuyler, West, Murray, Gates, Parks. Course Group III, CA tags National Traditions and Counter-Traditions, Cultural Studies and Popular Culture
English 50: American and British Poetry Since 1914, Professor Cook at the 10A hour
A survey of modern American and British poetry since the First World War, with particular emphasis on the aesthetics, philosophy and politics of modernism. The course covers such canonical and non-canonical poets as Yeats, Pound, HD, Lawrence, Eliot, Stevens, Frost, Williams, Crane, Moore, Millay, Auden, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Beats. Course Group III, CA tags National Traditons and Countertraditions, Genre-poetry
English 58: Introduction to Postcolonial Literature, Professor Giri at the 11 hour
(crosslisted with AAAS 65)
An introduction to the themes and foundational texts of postcolonial literature in English. We will read and discuss novels by writers from former British colonies in Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean, and the postcolonial diaspora, with attention to the particularities of their diverse cultures and colonial histories. Our study of the literary texts will incorporate critical and theoretical essays, oral presentations, and brief background lectures. Authors may include Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, V.S. Naipaul, Merle Hodge, Anita Desai, Bessie Head, Nadine Gordimer, Paule Marshall, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Salman Rushdie, Earl Lovelace, Arundhati Roy. Serves as prerequisite for FSP in Trinidad. Course Group II, CA tags Genre-narrative, Multicultural and Colonial/Postcolonial Studies
English 60: Native American Oral Tradition, Professor Runnels at the 11 hour
(crosslisted with NAS 34)
Native American oral literatures constitute a little-known but rich and complex dimension of the American literary heritage. This course will examine the range of oral genres in several tribes. Since scholars from around the world are studying oral literatures as sources of information about the nature of human creativity, the course will involve examining major theoretical approaches to oral texts. Course Group n/a, CA tag Multicultural and Colonial/Postcolonial Studies
English 67: Bob Dylan, Professor Renza at the 2A hour
In this course, we will do close, critical readings of certain Dylan lyrics spanning his entire career, also taking into consideration their social, historical, and biographical circumstances. Oral reports as well as a long final paper will be required. Note: some attention will be given to the performance aspect of Dylan's songs, but we will not listen to them in class. All of the songs assigned and discussed will be available for your listening in the Paddock Music Library beforehand. Course Group III, CA tag Cultural Studies and Popular Culture, Genre-poetry
English 70.1: Medieval Animals, Professor Travis at the 2A hour
From bestiary collections to theological tracts, from scholastic debates between birds to trickster heroes such as Reynard the fox, from Aesopian beast fables to the heraldic creatures of courtly romance, medieval literature is full of meaningful animals. This course will examine the significance of a variety “animal” texts, ranging from The Book of Beasts, The Physiologus, and The Voyage of Brendan, to Marie de France’s Fables, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Chaucer’s The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Weaving together recent theoretical studies of the role of the animal in the human imaginary, and considering briefly corollary American critters such as Coyote and the Signifying Monkey, our critical focus is nevertheless preeminently medieval. Non-literary texts--manuscript illustrations, hunting manuals, tapestries, animal “court trials,” and theories of animal speech—will round out our study of animals in the medieval world. Student reports, a short paper, and a long research paper. Course Group I, CA tags Genders and Sexualities, Cultural Studies and Popular Culture
English 70.2: Shakespeare on Film, Professor Boose at the 2A hour
Shakespeare wrote for the stage, yet while film and theater are by no means the same medium, both are performative, both involve visions of a Shakespeare text that is mediated through the decisions of not only actors but a director, and both are invested in the critical attempt to communicate, through a spectacular show, with an audience that is constructed voyeuristically. Viewing each film through the dual lens of assuming that it is at once an attempt to render “Shakespeare” yet at the same time is a text in and of itself, we will examine the available films that have been made of certain plays, among which will be The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, and Henry V. The course will involve some reading in film theory, and we will be using a special software program designed at M.I.T. which allows the user to excerpt scenes from various DVD recordings. In addition to a commitment to reading the various Shakespeare plays selected for the term and viewing specific films of them held at Jones Media Center, students will be required to keep a journal in which they record their impressions and respond to various questions the course will pose about the individual films. Finally, all seminar participants will be required during the term to give a presentation based on a 20 minute DVD that the student has produced. Some background in Shakespeare as well as Media Studies is considered desirable. Course Group I, CA tags Genre-Drama, Cultural Studies and Popular Culture
English 70.3: John Milton, Professor Luxon at the 2A hour
Members of this seminar should be prepared to settle on a project of research designed to produce new and interesting readings of Milton’s poetry and/or prose within the first week of class meetings. The group readings, both in Milton and in the secondary literature, will then be determined by what topics the members have selected. Though no prerequisite has been specified, those who have completed English 26, 27, 28, or a Special Topics course will be best prepared for this seminar. Course Group I, CA tags Genre-poetry, Genders and Sexualities.
English 71.2: Edgar Allan Poe, Professor Renza at the 10A hour
In this seminar, we will examine and discuss Poe's poetry, tales, and criticism, along with past and present critical reception of this work. Assignments will include class reports and a substantial final essay. Course Group II, CA tag National Traditions and Countertraditions
English 72.5: Transnationalism in Asian American Literature and Cultural Criticism, Professor Santa Ana, at the 2A hour
Drawing on contemporary concerns and debates about transnationalism in Asian American cultural criticism, this course will examine narratives and films by Asian Americans that feature the experience of crossing national borders and living in the global economy of North America. We will analyze postcolonial, postmodernist, diasporic, and globalized views of transnational movement. We will especially take into account globalization and the socio-historical pressures this economic system exerts on the nation-state and subjecthood, gender, displacement, multiple migrations, and constructions of home. Three thematic units comprise the course: (1) the multiple displacements of postcolonial Asian women against the conventional immigrant story of assimilation into U.S. culture; (2) the story of one's journey to Asia as first visit to "ancestral" land or as return, and in some cases, as tourist destination; and (3) interconnections-historical, political, personal, and economic-between U.S. lives and Asian lives in the global cities of North America. By analyzing contemporary Asian American writings and films, we will critique current conceptions of transnational mobility and identity in an age of globalization. Texts may include Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, Lê Thi Diem Thúy's The Gangster We Are All Looking For, Andrew X. Pham's Catfish and Mandala, Peter Bacho's Cebu, Lydia Minatoya's Talking to High Monks in the Snow, Chang-rae Lee's A Gesture Life, Russell Leong's Phoenix Eyes and Other Stories, and the films A Great Wall, The Wedding Banquet, Fire, First Personal Plural, and Daughter from Danang. Course Group III, CA tags Cultural Studies and Popular Culture, Multicultural and Colonial/Postcolonial Studies.
English 75.1: Form and Theory of Fiction, Professor Dimmick at the 2A hour
How do fiction writers think about fiction? What aesthetics, goals, tools, strategies, and theories have been explored and employed by fiction writers as they write their own works, read the works of other fiction writers, and postulate on the role of fiction in literature and among a general readership? Topics will include the ways that writers consider and work with point of view, dramaturgy, narrative sequence, character, voice, psychic distance, and authorial presence. In addition to examples of the novel, novella, and short story, readings will include theory and craft texts by such fiction writers as James, Poe, Forster, Calvino, Atwood, Gordimer, Ecco, Macauley, Lanning, Cixous, and others. Course Group IV, CA tags Literary Theory and Criticism, Period Study.
English 80.1: Creative Writing, Professor Finch at the 3A hour
English 80.2: Creative Writing, Professor Hebert, hour to be arranged
This course offers a workshop in fiction and poetry. Seminar-sized classes meet twice a week and include individual conferences. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and to first-year students who have completed Writing 5 (or have exemption status).Students who wish to enroll in 80 must submit their applications to the administrative assistant in the English Office by the last day of the term preceding the term for which they wish to enroll. A brief application form is available in the English Office. Students do not submit work for entry into the course.English 80 is the prerequisite to all other Creative Writing courses. English 80 does not carry major or minor credit. Dist: ART. Hebert, Huntington, Mathis, Dimmick, Lenhart.
English 81: Advanced Creative Writing-Poetry, Professor Mathis at the 2A hour
Continued work in the writing of poetry, focusing on the development of craft, image, and voice, as well as the process of revision. The class proceeds by means of group workshops on student writing, individual conferences with the instructor, and analysis of poems by contemporary writers.
English 82: Advanced Creative Writing-Fiction, Professor Dimmick, hour to be arranged
Continued work in the writing of fiction, focusing on short stories, although students may experiment with the novel. The class proceeds by means of group workshops on student writing, individual conferences with the instructor, and analysis of short stories by contemporary writers. Constant revision is required