Spring2005
English Department Course Descriptions
Creative Writing offerings-EHCW courses-are listed at the back of this brochure.
EH 201.01 Topic: Orwellian Life: Are You Being Watched?
MWF 9:00
Miller
Today, citizens of the United States live under the surveillance of Homeland Security due to the auspicious power of the Patriot Act. Together, these entities form the "Ministry of Truth" whose job is to protect US soil under the guidance of the Presidential Administration as they contribute to the "Ministry" through the constant correction of "the truth" given to US citizens. This course will explore fictitious worlds where citizens are also under the surveillance of government. In these societies the inhabitants come to understand that the citizen of greatest danger to those in authority is the individual's whose memory still functions enough to recognize that the official party line is a constant work of fluid fictive correction. Texts to be examined include 1984 by George Orwell, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Minority Report by Philip Dick, and Democracy Matters by Cornell West.
EH 211.01 Intermediate Expository Writing
TR 2:30
O'Neill
An intensive hands-on writing seminar, this course focuses on the art of the personal essay, a genre distinct from any other in that it partakes of the individual and the personal to reflect the universal elements of living in the 21st century. A substantial online component to the course will require students to start up and maintain a weblog, or blog. Students will draft, confer, and revise four to six essays as they develop from the assigned readings; these essays will form a portfolio that students submit for a final course grade. Students should expect heavy reading and writing loads, as well as giving detailed attention to the drafts produced by their classmates.
EH 221.01 Introduction to Literary Studies
TR 1:00
Snook
This foundation course is required for the English major and minor; the goal of the class is to introduce the student to different analytical approaches to literary criticism and cover the basics of literary research, and give the student experience in analyzing and writing about a variety of literary texts.
EH 301.01 College Grammar
TR 9:30
O'Neill
This course is not just parsing and diagramming sentences; it's one suited to the complexities of language comprehension in the 21st century. We'll build a few sentence trees, of course, but primarily we will endeavor to understand how written language is broken down into its component parts, which can be manipulated, twisted, warped and reshaped into different sentences. Why should you know what a dangling participle is? Why does it matter that children say things like "breaked" and "falled," which they've never heard adults say? Is it possible to teach a computer how to form grammatical sentences? Your tasks, should you choose to enroll in the course, will include a dozen or so brief reading quizzes, several short writing assignments, daily attendance and class work, and the obligation to study your own writing habits and improve them. A comprehensive exam over each of the texts, plus a take home essay final, will form the basis of your course grade.
EH 304.01 Nature Writing
R 2:30-5:30
Pollock
This is acourse about writing what you know and what you see. Literally half the class timewill bespent out of doors-at locations such as Blue Springs, Lyonia Preserve, and Smyrna Dunes Park. Therest of our timewill be spent on writing, revising,editing, and class discussionsabout the reading Writing assignments include reports, articles, and essays. Reading assignments are focused on Florida. You'll need good heavy shoes, sunscreen and insect repellant, bottled water, a camera (if you wish), and a love of the outdoors.
EH 306.01 Lyric Poetry
MWF 11:00
Davis
What differentiates poetry from other genres, and lyric poetry from other forms of poetry? And what are the traditions on which lyric poets draw and against which they rebel? These are some of the questions this course will investigate. We won't attempt comprehensive coverage; instead, we will focus mostly on a creative tension between sixteenth and seventeenth century lyrics and contemporary lyrics. In between, we will read some of the canonical eighteenth century, romantic, victorian, and modern poets, so that the course will be helpful for students considering graduate school. Expect to read a lot of poetry and criticism of/theory about poetry, and to write a lot of criticism of poetry as well as a few poems. If you take serious pleasure in poetry, this course is for you.
EH 312.01 Journalism
MW 2:30
Barnes
This course will introduce you to the standards of journalism, including gathering news-worthy information about stories/events, organizing this information in the inverted format of most articles, following the concise style of newspaper reporting, writing effective leads, and editing to perfection. Over the course of the semester you will be expected to create a portfolio of articles that consists of each basic newspaper story type: reporting on deaths, fires and accidents, weather, crime, politics, trials, and so on. The emphasis in this class will be on stories of a local nature that you can access in the Volusia County area.
EH 321.01 Gender, Class, Race in Hispanic Women's Lit.
TR 1:00
Vosburg
In this class, we'll explore issues of gender, class, race, and sexuality in the cultural context of the Hispanic world by reading and discussing novels and short stories by women writers from Spain, Latin America, and Central America. The readings will span the time period from the 1700s to the present day in order to understand the roots and evolution of these socially-constructed categories.
EH 331.01 Special Methods in Middle & High School English
MW 4:00
Raymond
Required for those seeking to teach English, this course will focus on the methods for teaching in the demanding curriculum designated for the middle and high school English teacher. As well as dealing with the teaching of the various forms of literacy (speaking, listening, reading, writing, literature, language), the course will be include such topics as the "Meeting the Sunshine State Standards," "Living with FCAT," and "Teaching English, and Still Having a Personal Life." Students will practice such activities as lesson planning, classroom presentations, making assignments, grading papers, conducting parent conferences, and job hunting.
EH 363.01 Survey of American Literature
MWF 1:30
Miller
This course will offer a historical study of a diverse group of writings from various genres of the major literary movements and periods in American literature. This course is recommended to all those who are considering graduate school in English; it is required for those doing the English/Secondary Education major. Requirements include three short papers, a test on each period, and a final exam.
EH 421.90 Author Seminar: The Brownings
MW 2:30
Pollock
Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning fell in love before they met-by reading each others' poetry.Their major workscan be read as a dialogue through which the two poets argued about issues and found areas of agreement on everything from politics to dueling to women's rights. We'll read the Brownings' "big books"-EBB's novel in verse about a woman poet, Aurora Leigh, and RB's indictment of patriarchal violence against women, The Ring and the Book, a true crimeverse novel. We'll also read shorter poems and end the class withseveral twentieth-century works inspired by the Brownings' dramatic personal story,including Virginia Woolf's Flush, a novel about EBB's beloved spaniel. To read the Brownings together is to see gender in action during the creative process. Assignments will include a seminar paper and oral presentations to the class. This course is cross-listed for WGS credit.
EH 431.90 Period Seminar: Modern Irish Lit
W 6:00
J Witek
This course will examine the important place of Irish literature in the history of modernism, from the "Irish Literary Renaissance" of the late 19th century to contemporary writers. We will be considering such figures as William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Flann O'Brien, and Seamus Heany. This will be a reading-intensive course; students should be prepared for some challenging texts. Course requirements will in include several short papers, class presentations, and a major seminar project.
EH 442.30 Issues: Contemporary Theory
R 6:00
Khader
This course explores recent trends in literary theory and criticism that examine literature as part of powerful cultural value systems and political institutions. Feminism, gender studies, Marxism, and postcolonialism urge us to redefine the location of the literary text, the author, and the reader within systems of gender, sexuality, class, race, and nationality. These theories also ask us to read literature not as a timeless aesthetic realm but as a writing practice that is produced and interpreted within a specific cultural and political context. After reviewing the humanistic tradition in literary theory and its influence on reading literature as timeless and universal, we will closely examine various theoretical interventions in feminism, gender studies, Marxism, and postcolonialism with an emphasis on applying these theories to various literary works such as Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Requirements: short critical "claims and applications" papers, presentations, and a term paper.
EH 453.01 Popular Lit: Comics
MW 12:00
J Witek
The first part of this course will be an introduction to the history of the comics medium and the development of critical tools for the analysis of visual/verbal texts. The second half will survey some major creators from around the world who are working in comics, focusing on people working in comics for adult readers. (Some texts in this class may include graphic depictions of sex, drug use, and violence.) Course requirements will include several short papers, a midterm exam, and a final project.
EH 471.90 Genre Seminar: Modern and Contemporary Drama
T 6:00
Snook
The term 'modern and contemporary drama' is a catch-all for plays written from before the turn of the twentieth century until now it describes everything from Edwardian comedies of ideas to expressionist dream-plays, from kitchen-sink dramas that capture place and character to absurdist plays that seek to explode those concepts. In this course, we'll explore all of these seeming contradictions in form and approach, analyzing not only how and why the idea of 'drama' has changed, but also what remains unchanged. The assignments will include one seminar paper, four short response papers, and a final exam.
EH 499.01 Senior Colloquium
TR 1:00
Pearson
Students in this course design original literary research projects that culminate in substantial critical essays and formal presentations. Classes will be dedicated to discussions of topic development, research methods, writing, and presentation strategies. The lion's share of work, however, will be done outside the classroom, where students will be conducting library and internet research, working with colleagues in the capacities of both editor and writer, developing a scholarly argument, writing and revising. This course has a significant online component that will facilitate submission of written work and the sharing of ideas. The course grade will reflect work throughout the semester. Recent senior research projects include metaphor as idolatry in biblical studies, Milton's Paradise Lost and its feminist critics, Jane Eyre as Bildungsroman, language and silence in Jane Austen's novels, a postcolonial reading of Amadi's Great Ponds, race and identity in Richard Wright's Uncle Tom's Children, a study of violence in Puritan children's literature, and a revisionist reading of Margery Kempe's place in medieval literature.
EH 542.3 Issues: Contemporary Theory
R 6:00
Khader
This course explores recent trends in literary theory and criticism that examine literature as part of powerful cultural value systems and political institutions. Feminism, gender studies, Marxism, and postcolonialism urge us to redefine the location of the literary text, the author, and the reader within systems of gender, sexuality, class, race, and nationality. These theories also ask us to read literature not as a timeless aesthetic realm but as a writing practice that is produced and interpreted within a specific cultural and political context. After reviewing the humanistic tradition in literary theory and its influence on reading literature as timeless and universal, we will closely examine various theoretical interventions in feminism, gender studies, Marxism, and postcolonialism with an empahsis on applying these theories to various literary works such as Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Requirements: short critical "claims and applications" papers, presentations, and a term paper.
EH 553.01 Popular Lit: Comics
MW 12:00
J Witek
The first part of this course will be an introduction to the history of the comics medium and the development of critical tools for the analysis of visual/verbal texts. The second half will survey some major creators from around the world who are working in comics, focusing on people working in comics for adult readers. (Some texts in this class may include graphic depictions of sex, drug use, and violence.) Course requirements will include several short papers, a midterm exam, and a final project.
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EHCW 313.01 Fiction Writing (Permission of Instructor Required)
TR 4:00
Raymond
This course will focus on the various techniques for writing and revising short fiction. As well as reading contemporary fiction, the class will write short exercises for developing fictional strategies, write original fiction, and participate in writing workshops. Students wishing to take this course should e-mail
EHCW 318.3 Advanced Open-Genre Workshop (Permission of Instructor Required)
M 6:00
T Witek
This course is open to students who have already completed two EHCW courses in a single genre and want to work on longer, more advanced projects. Although primarily a workshop, writers will also instruct each other in genre basics, present contemporary practitioners they admire, and construct cross-disciplinary exercises of use to all. Expect visits by writers at different stages of their careers who will offer testimony and warnings, and to attend outside readings and other literary events.
Permission of instructor
EHCW 513.01 Fiction Writing (Permission of Instructor Required)
TR 4:00
Raymond
This course will focus on the various techniques for writing and revising short fiction. As well as reading contemporary fiction, the class will write short exercises for developing fictional strategies, write original fiction, and participate in writing workshops. Students wishing to take this course should e-mail
EHCW 518.3 Advanced Open-Genre Workshop (Permission of Instructor Required)
M 6:00
T Witek
This course is open to students who have already completed two EHCW courses in a single genre and want to work on longer, more advanced projects. Although primarily a workshop, writers will also instruct each other in genre basics, present contemporary practitioners they admire, and construct cross-disciplinary exercises of use to all. Expect visits by writers at different stages of their careers who will offer testimony and warnings, and to attend outside readings and other literary events.