Fall 08 Courses
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English 150E: Literature, Self and Society. 1.0 credit. Instructors: Joan Kopperud; Staff What does literature have to do with my life? How can literature impact society? How will learning to read and write about literature help me to become responsibly engaged in the world? In this class, we will emphasize ways to read and respond to fiction, drama, poetry, and nonfiction, mainly from American and European cultures. We will be creatively engaging with literature in various ways, such as forming book clubs or attending plays. Open to first-year students. English 160E: Global Literature and Human Experiences 1.0 credit. Instructor: Dawn Duncan This course focuses on literature from diverse cultures throughout the world. Selections are made from fiction, drama, poetry, and nonfiction that address important issues in our lives. Emphasis is placed on ways to read and respond to literature. The dimensions of identity as expressed in literature will focus much of our study. As we analyze and discuss the content and contexts of literary texts from around the globe, we will explore both cultural diversity and human commonality, two aspects that lead us to a respect for the individual, and lead us to greater understanding of the individual as a member of various interdependent communities. Such an understanding will better enable you to engage responsibly with others in the world, to understand and appreciate the grounds for interaction underlying various texts that originate from diverse cultures. English 220: Human Values in British and American Literature Instructor: Dawn Duncan. This course serves as an introduction to the English Literature major. Students will be introduced to defining concepts, as well as key authors and works from each period of British and American literature from medieval England to twentieth-century America. Coherence across the periods will be sustained by our thematic focus: attitudes toward the human being that prevail in each period. Units are organized to help students gain insight into the period courses from which they may select as they continue their education, and at the same time to provide a common intellectual community that can transcend this course and provide a basis for future dialogue. English 227: Foundations in Creative Writing Instructor: Nancy Jones This course will focus on the foundational skills/tools common to the genres of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Throughout the semester we will study the writer’s use of observation, sound and language, imagery (five senses), figurative language, point of view, dialogue, exposition, action, tension, structure, and related elements of creative writing. We’ll accomplish this through readings from and discussions of our text, The Creative Writing Process by Carol Burke and Molly Best Tinsley, and other assigned essays/articles, stories, and poems by published authors. Using these as models, we will complete an extensive and sequenced series of writing exercises, which will form the basis of your writing journal. Before mid-semester, we’ll meet in conference to discuss your journals, from which you will develop several complete essays/articles, stories, or poems by the end of the course. During the second half of the course, we will meet in full-class and small-group workshops and individual/group conferences to discuss your work and provide you with constructive suggestions for revision and effective use of the foundational skills you have developed in the first half of class. In addition, we will continue to read and analyze the work of published authors. English 315E: English Language: Historical & Analytical Instructor: David Sprunger This course explores three related areas: history of the English language, structure of the English language, and social-linguistic debates about contemporary English. Course work includes unit examinations, grammar quizzes, and several short social-linguistic papers. To synthesize the three topics, students will choose either to write a series of short formal papers or a semester research project. To learn more about this course, visit the course web site at http://www.cord.edu/faculty/sprunger/e315. English 316: Business Writing Instructor: James Coomber Business Writing is a practical course designed to prepare students for writing in the business world. Various kinds of on-the-job communications are covered, including letters, news releases, proposals, and reports. Study of sources and methods for investigating job-related information are covered as well. English 317: News Writing Instructor: Catherine McMullen This is good preparation for any writing career. It is also helpful to business and pre-law students, as it is an opportunity to hone writing skills. The class is composed of some lecture, discussion, peer writing workshops, and frequent guest speakers. Assignments will include five news stories (each with two drafts), writing exercises, and student-led discussions on readings. We will use the following texts: Reporting and Writing by Christopher Scanlan, and the AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. English 326: British Literature: Medieval to Renaissance Instructor: David Sprunger Offered every third semester in rotation with ENG 336 and Eng 346. A study of texts, themes, and literary developments in British literature from its Anglo-Saxon origins through the British Renaissance. Emphasis on such texts and authors as Beowulf, Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton. visit the course web site at http://www.cord.edu/faculty/sprunger/ English 353: American Literature: Beginnings to Realism Instructor: Roland Finger A study of the texts, themes and literary developments of early American literature, including the literature of colonization and the Salem witchcraft trials of the 17th century, writings from the fiery revolutionaries of the American Enlightenment, and classic 19th-century works of the American Renaissance and Realist movements. Emphasis on the diverse perspectives of writers in all these eras, such as Mary Rowlandson, Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, Poe, Hawthorne, Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, and Stephen Crane. Education 366: Methods of Teaching English as a Second Language Instructor: James Coomber Both in our own country and internationally, there is a high demand for English teachers who teach English to speakers of other languages. Students of any major are welcome, whether they wish to use the course as the first step toward ESL/ELL certification or to teach abroad for a year after graduation. Topics include how language is learned; how to assess someone’s language competence; how to teach reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing; and how to organize school programs for English language learners. The course includes a one-month practicum, during which time we don’t meet as a class. This class will meet fall semester on Thursday evenings, 7-10 PM. English 371: Editing Process Instructor: CatherineMcMullen A study and practice of the editing process in journalism, with emphasis on copy editing. Education 374: Young Adult Literature 0.5 credit. Instructor: Joan Kopperud Prospective teachers from all disciplines are welcome in this course. Class participants read a wide range of young adult literature and explore ways YAL could be incorporated in a school setting. In addition, course participants study various strategies for using YAL in middle level through high school class settings to build student reading and writing skills. Most likely, pre-service teachers have known the joy of reading young adult literature. In many ways, this course will continue that journey through course reading, discussion, speakers, instructor and student presentations, handouts, individual and small group inquiry. Participants in this course will read, think about, discuss, and write about books and ideas foundational to the rapidly expanding, exciting field of young adult literature. English 378: Poetry Writing Seminar 1.0 Credit Instructor: Bill Snyder A workshop in reading and writing contemporary poetry. Prerequisite: English 227 or consent of instructor. English 379: Fiction Writing Seminar 1.0 Credit Instructor: Nancy Jones In this course, we will explore the form of the short story and the ways in which writers use such formal elements as point of view, psychic distance, dialogue, narrative voice, tone, beginnings, etc. to craft their stories. While much of our time will be spent workshopping students’ stories, we will read and analyze the work of published writers as well. We also will rely on journal responses and writing exercises to enhance our knowledge and skill. In particular, I’d like us to use the published stories we discuss to spark specific journal exercises that you will use to experiment with new techniques and ways to “open up” the stories on which you’re working for this class. You may or may not choose to incorporate these experiments into your final drafts, but I believe you’ll find in all cases that they give you new insights into your characters, dramatic scenes, etc. as well as strengthening your skills and expanding the “toolkit” available to you as a writer. Substantial revision required. English 390: Cooperative Education Students will gain on-the-job experience working for a variety of news organizations. Prerequisite: at least three courses in print journalism or consent of the instructor. See here for general information about the Cooperative Education program. English 401XH: Shakespeare and the English Renaissance 1.0 Credit Instructor: Gordon Lell This Integration course includes one play each week along with one chapter of the history text each week. We study plays from all four dramatic genres: comedy, history, tragedy, and romance. Film/video labs (optional) feature full-length productions of the plays every Wednesday and Thursday night. Texts are Shakespeare, Works, ed. Bevington, and Smith, This Realm of England. English 441X: Theory and Practice of Criticism 1.0 credit Instructor: James Postema “Criticism is as inevitable as breathing.”—T.S. Eliot - or - “Everyone’s a critic.”—J. Allen Postema These statements are both literally true: when we read a text or look at the world around us, we always do so using a critical framework, theories that tell us what to look for, what it means to read, what we can identify as a text, and even what it means to be, to exist. Many great thinkers, from Plato to Foucault to Kolodny, have tried to understand how these theories work, or they’ve put forward their own ideas about criticism and interpretation. We will study their different approaches, to learn where their theories came from (“Freud said what about his mother?!?”); to understand how they do affect the way we see and read—often without our realizing it; and to explore how they can provide new and deeper insights into the books we read, the television “news” we see, even the design of your kitchen utensils. What do Hamlet, Hester Prynne, and George Clooney have in common?—Join us and decide for yourself! English 478: Advanced Poetry Writing Seminar 1.0 Credit Instructor: Bill Snyder This course, a continuation of ENG 378, is an intensive writing workshop in reading and writing contemporary poetry. In the first part of the course, we'll read contemporary poets and write discussions based on our readings. We'll also be writing poems during this part of the course. After our reading, we'll concentrate on writing; our goal will be to put together a portfolio of eight poems, including one form poem (sestina, villanelle, sonnet, etc.) by the end of the semester. I say "we" because I'll be writing right along with you. We'll critique our work as we did in 308, but in a much smaller group; we'll know who the writers are. Toward the end of the semester, we'll talk about submitting our poems for publication. We'll also give a reading. We'll work hard to "perfect/finish" our work, but that is part of the fun of it; seeing our poems taking shape, then actually "finishing" them. And too, it is a fun class because it is less formal in some respects than 378 and because it is small; we get to know each other and our work well. English 479: Advanced Fiction Writing Seminar 1.0 Credit Instructor: Nancy Jones In this course, we will explore, among other matters, the mystery of “voice”—of the ways in which our characters become real to us, of the ways in which we come to know how they make their way in the world. Consequently, I will ask that you develop your stories from alternate points of view and with multiple endings. At the conclusion of this course, you will turn in, as part of your portfolio, your revised and polished stories and an informal reflection paper on what you have learned about yourself as a fiction writer. One of the ways in which your characters become real is through immersing them in a fully realized, concrete world; therefore, one of the requirements of this course is that you conduct research for your stories and write a brief, informal paper describing that research and the sources you consulted. Research may take many forms: reading, first-hand experience, interviewing, etc. English 491: Reading and Writing Methods for the Secondary School 0.5 Credit Instructor: Joan Kopperud All educators play an important role in developing students’ skills, strategies, and attitudes necessary for full literacy in today’s world. Course participants’ future classrooms should provide an environment of strong support and advocacy for competency in reading, writing, and communicating; this belief is the foundation for English 491. This course emphasizes practical suggestions and strategies for developing language-rich classrooms. Educators from all disciplines are welcome, although the course will focus primarily on the grades 7-12 English classroom setting. English 491 will help future educators develop an understanding of how students acquire literacy and develop as literacy users. Participants will use a seminar approach to the course content; that is, participants gather to engage in lively discussion, reading, and research around a particular topic—literacy development in the secondary schools. The course concludes with a mock job interview, giving participants an opportunity to directly apply course content. English 480: Independent Study. |
If you're trying to plan for the next few semesters,
take a look at the English Course Sequence.
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