Students interested in majoring in English should consult with a member of the English Department early on in their time at Virginia Wesleyan. They have several options to choose from, including concentrations in literary study, secondary education, or creative/professional writing, as outlined below.
English majors are expected to take ENG 288, Poetry and Drama, and ENG 289, Fiction and Criticism, no later than the sophomore year, and before upper-level courses in the major. Majors are then expected to take ENG 311, Literary Theory, in the fall of the junior year. ENG 489, the senior capstone experience, includes an extensive independent research or creative writing project and a formal oral presentation before the department and invited Virginia Wesleyan community. It must be taken in the fall of the senior year, with required preliminary work in the spring of the junior year.
001 Writing Review (2)
A workshop for students who would benefit from brushing up on their writing skills before taking ENG 105. Includes meetings with a supportive small group and weekly conferences with the instructor. Prerequisite: placement or consent. No academic credit is awarded for this course, but the course grade does count toward the course load and overall GPA as if it were a 2- semester hour course. Offered every semester.
105 The Art of Writing (4)
An argumentative writing course focused on critical thinking, reading, researching, and composing, with special attention to rhetorical techniques. Students will engage in the writing and revisions processes and will demonstrate knowledge of writing conventions. A grade of C or higher is required to satisfy the ENG 105 requirement. Prerequisite: placement. Prerequisite for enrollment during January Term or Summer Session 1: consent. Offered every semester.
107 Practical Grammar (1)
A course in practical grammar, usage, and mechanics covering the most important rules to follow when proofreading. Emphasizes application of skills to students’ own writing. Offered intermittently.
131 The Art of Comic Books (4)
An introduction to comic books and graphic narratives, emphasizing the history of comic books as hybrid works of literature and visual art, and focusing on formal analysis of the narratives produced by the union of words and images. Readings will include superhero comics as well as other genres. Prerequisites: first-year or sophomore status only; juniors and seniors by consent. Offered intermittently.
132 Literature into Film (4)
An introduction to film adaptations of literary works, focusing on films that demolish the cliché that the book is always better than the movie, and emphasizing the visual as well as the narrative properties of film as an art form distinct from literature. Prerequisite: first-year or sophomore status only; juniors and seniors by consent. Offered intermittently.
133 Shakespeare Goes to the Movies (4)
An introduction to selected plays by Shakespeare and film adaptations of those plays, focusing on the interplay between Shakespeare’s language and the distinctly cinematic elements of the films, and emphasizing the ways in which the films highlight the continuing relevance of Shakespeare’s work for our time. Perquisite: First-year or sophomore status only; juniors and seniors by consent. Offered intermittently.
222 Teaching Grammar and Writing (4)
A survey of theoretical and practical approaches to teaching grammar, usage, and writing. Students observe and/or interview experienced elementary, secondary, or college-level teachers of writing and tutor one or more student writers on or off campus. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered every fall.
230 Environmental Literature and Ecological Reflection (4)
Students read and discuss influential works of environmental writing, and then travel to a field location where they engage in the practice of environmental writing through a series of reflective and creative writing exercises. A portfolio of student work is published via a course website. Field locations vary. May not be repeated for additional credit without special permission. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered intermittently.
242 Writing for Business and Organizations (4)
Covers skills needed to write various types of business and organizational communications. Emphasizes planning, drafting, and editing as well as developing a professional writing style to achieve results. Gives attention to global ethical issues concerning business and to intercultural communication. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher, and sophomore status or above. Offered spring of odd-numbered years.
248/348 Topics in Travel Writing (4)
An opportunity to study and participate in the diverse and popular genre of travel writing. Considers origins and evolution of the genre, theoretical frameworks, influences, and touchstone and contemporary texts. Students will research, produce, draft, and revise journals and travel essays. This course will include a study away component. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher, or consent. Offered intermittently.
250 Studies in Literature (4)
Selected topics that approach literature from various generic, historical, or methodological perspectives. Versions of the course may include several different media, but the focus is always on literature. At least 20 pages of writing are required, including at least one documented essay. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered every semester.
251 Diversity in American Literature (4)
An opportunity to study—and to listen to—voices in American culture that have often been silenced or ignored. Focuses on ethnic groups such as Native American, African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic-American, but also includes people marginalized because of class, gender, or sexual orientation. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered spring of even-numbered years.
258 Topics in African American Literature (4)
A study of the fiction, non-fiction, and poetry of African-American authors from the 18th century to the present. Authors may include Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Charles Chesnutt, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler, as well as new, young writers. Some attention is given to forms of expression other than literature. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered intermittently.
259 Literature of Mystery, Crime, and Noir (4)
A study of the mystery genre and its offshoots, crime and noir. Focuses on seminal texts in the genre and contemporary reinterpretations of its formulas. Authors may include Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson, Patricia Highsmith, Paul Auster, Sara Gran, James Ellroy, and Richard Price, among others. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered intermittently.
261 Woman Writers (4)
A study of women and their writing. Focus shifts from semester to semester. Topics may include memoir, American writers, contemporary literature, or global perspectives. Students examine societal attitudes and customs and use literary and cultural theory to contemplate questions of gender. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered intermittently.
262 Introduction to LGBTQ Literature (4)
An exploration of literary texts written by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer writers with attention to historical and cultural contexts. Texts studied may include fiction, poetry, drama, essays and memoirs written primarily, but not exclusively, in the 20th and 21st centuries. Prerequisite: none. Offered intermittently.
263 World Literature I (4)
A chronological survey of major literary works from Ancient Near Eastern Epic to the European Middle Ages. Emphasizes the close reading of ancient literature within its immediate cultural context and the analysis of this literature in well-argued papers. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Identical to CLAS 263. Offered intermittently.
264 World Literature II (4)
A survey of major works in world literature from the Renaissance to the present day emphasizing texts outside the British and American traditions. Particular attention is given to texts that put themselves in dialogue with Ancient Near Eastern and Classical Greek and Roman literary traditions. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Identical to CLAS 264.
Offered intermittently.
266 Transatlantic Romanticism (4)
An intensive exploration of the fertile cross-pollination between British Romantic writers, such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and American writers of the 19th century such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered intermittently.
286 Banned Books (4)
An interdisciplinary exploration of banned books; the legal battles in U.S. history that created, supported, and ended censorship; and the literary, legal, aesthetic, and socio-political contexts that influenced both the artists and the changing conceptions of obscenity that marked their works as controversial. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher.
Prerequisite for January Term: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher and consent. Note: Students who receive credit for ENG 286 may not also receive credit for HIST 286. Offered intermittently.
288 Poetry and Drama (4)
A study of poetry and drama, focusing on works written before 1800, emphasizing close reading, literary genres, and periods of literary history. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered every fall.
289 Fiction and Criticism (4)
A study of fiction and literary criticism, focusing on works written after 1800, emphasizing close reading, selected critical approaches, literary genres, periods of literary history, and research skills. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered every spring.
297 Editing and Publishing (4)
An introductory course on editing and publishing in which students produce VWU’s digital literary magazine. Students will engage in interdisciplinary and collaborative work, edit their own writing projects, and pursue research about the literary publishing landscape and the cultural role of the literary journal. Non-majors welcome. Pass/fail grading. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher or instructor consent. Offered every spring.
298 Introductory Poetry Writing (4)
A poetry writing workshop, with class discussions of student work and the work of established poets. Emphasizes experimentation and creative exercises as well as engagement with issues of craft and intensive reading of a broad range of poetry. Non-majors welcome. Pass/fail grading. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered every fall.
299 Introductory Fiction Writing (4)
An introductory-level workshop with class discussions of student work and established authors. Students study and experiment with the craft of fiction. They also analyze and write critically about fiction to help them understand their work more clearly. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered every spring.
302 Topics in British Literature (4)
An in-depth study of some aspect of British literature. May be repeated for credit as the topic varies. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
303 Topics in American Literature (4)
An in-depth study of some aspect of American literature. May be repeated for credit as the topic varies. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
304 Topics in World Literature (4)
An in-depth study of some aspect of literature, especially texts outside the British and American traditions. May be repeated for credit as the topic varies. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered every spring.
305 Postcolonial Literature (4)
Introduces postcolonial literature and the historical forces and literary influences shaping writers from countries with a history of colonialism or writers who have migrated from formerly colonized countries. Course may focus on a selected religion, movement, tradition, or theme, and features Anglophone literature and, occasionally, works in translation. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered every spring.
306 Ecopoetry (4)
An in-depth exploration of the various ways in which contemporary poets and critics seek to understand past and present poetries as negotiating the often porous boundaries between the human and non-human in our experiences of the world. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Identical to ENVS 306. Offered intermittently.
310 Distinctive Voices in Contemporary American Poetry (4)
A study of the many and varied voices in contemporary American poetry, especially selected works of poetry published since 1960. Authors studied include Jorie Graham, Harryette Mullen, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Adrienne Rich. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered spring even-numbered years.
311 Literary Theory (4)
A survey of key debates in the history of literary theory and criticism from Plato to the present, with an emphasis on contemporary approaches to interpretation and emerging directions in literary studies. Students also pursue research emphasizing methodological preparation for ENG 489, the senior English project. Prerequisites: junior/senior status, a declared English major, or consent. Offered every fall.
314 The English Language (4)
A study of the English language from its origins to the present. Includes discussion of recent trends, dialect variation, and social and political issues relating to English today. Students write several papers, including an original research study on a topic of interest. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered spring of even-numbered years.
315 The Experience of Poetry (4)
An intensive introduction to poetry through examining the poem’s relationship to universal human experiences. Students gain a thorough understanding of the elements of poetry and engage with literary criticism of poetry. They may also experiment with writing original poetry. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
317 Children’s Literature (4)
An introduction to children’s literature that presents a wide variety of texts and approaches to literature. Focuses on appreciating the texts as literature through the use of literary and cultural theories. Contemporary and canonical novels and picture books are discussed. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered every fall.
318 Adolescent Literature (4)
An overview of adolescent literature. Literary and cultural theories are used to consider issues of ideology, identity, coming- of-age, gender, censorship, race, class, and ethnicity. Students examine many societal attitudes and issues and contemplate adolescence as well as the larger society. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
321 Introduction to Linguistics (4)
An introduction to the way language works. Includes several main areas of linguistic study: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and language acquisition, variation, and change. Students conduct an original research study on a topic of interest. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered spring of odd-numbered years.
327 The British Novel (4)
A study of the British novel from the 18th century to the present, with emphasis on its 18th and 19th century developments. Considers theories of the novel in relation to representative texts in their literary, historical, social, national, and international contexts. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered spring of even-numbered years.
333 Hybrid Prose (4)
A study of hybrid forms in fiction. Students examine texts in which formal concerns dominate and in which typical distinctions between fiction and other mediums such as poetry, essay, memoir, and the fine arts, break down. Students write both critical and creative work that engages hybrid prose. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered fall of odd-numbered years.
342 Peer Tutoring—Writing Center (1)
Peer writing tutors help other students understand their writing problems and improve their skills. They work three hours per week on an arranged schedule and are trained, supervised, and evaluated by the Director of the Writing Center. Prerequisites: junior status, ENG 105 with a grade of B or higher, recommendation of an English faculty member and consent of the Writing Center director. Offered every semester.
344 Practicum in Teaching English (2)
Selected students work closely with faculty members in the teaching of ENG 105 and other courses. Students gain experience in the various aspects of teaching grammar, composition, and literature. Prerequisite: consent. Offered intermittently.
350 Shakespeare and Other Renaissance Drama (4)
A study of the major plays from the Renaissance period, attending to social, political, and literary context. Includes a core reading of a selection of Shakespeare’s plays and features other important figures such as Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. Prerequisites: Sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
357 British Romantic Poetry: 1785-1850 (4)
Explores British Romantic poetry and its historical, political, literary, and philosophical contexts, including the contributions of women writers. While some attention is given to important prose works of the period, the main focus of the course is on reading, interpreting, and writing about Romantic verse. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher and a sophomore literature course or consent. Offered intermittently.
360 Contemporary British Literature (4)
Seminar examining how British writers responded to the end of empire, globalism, and changing views on racial, national, and gendered identities in 20th century and contemporary literature. Authors may include Churchill, Larkin, Lessing, McEwan, Phillips, Pinter, Rushdie, Smith, Stoppard, and Winterson. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered fall of even- numbered years.
362 Introduction to LGBTQ Literature (4)
An exploration of literary texts written by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer writers with attention to historical and cultural contexts. Texts studied may include fiction, poetry, drama, essays and memoirs written primarily, but not exclusively, in the 20th and 21st centuries. Prerequisite: sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
365 British Modernism (4)
Seminar exploring how British writers in the early twentieth century broke with traditional ways of representing their violently changing world through experimentation and innovation. Authors include James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Jean Rhys, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, and W.B. Yeats. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
370 Early American Literature (4)
Seminar beginning with pre-contact indigenous texts and contact between Europeans and Native Americans and moving through Colonial, Revolutionary, and Federalist periods to roughly 1820. Emphasis includes non-fiction texts, the Revolution and the founding of the United States. Attention is also given to Spanish-American and other literatures of exploration.
Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered spring of odd-numbered years.
371 Making America: American Literature 1820-1865 (4)
Seminar exploring the literary creation of what we consider America today–from the period shortly after the formation of the political entity of the United States, through the great test of this union in the American Civil War. Major authors include: Emerson, Hawthorne, Poe, Stowe, Thoreau, Douglass, Whitman, Melville, and Dickinson. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered fall of odd-numbered years.
372 American Realism and Naturalism (4)
Seminar examining literary movements of realism and naturalism in later nineteenth and early twentieth century American writing emphasizing responses to the increasing influence of industrialism, capitalism, and territorial expansion on the cultural norms of a rapidly changing population. Authors include Twain, Henry James, Chopin, Crane, Wharton, Chesnutt, Norris, Dreiser, etc. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered spring of even-numbered years.
373 American Modernism (4)
Discussion-based course investigating the range of experimental and innovative literature produced by American authors in the wake of the First World War in response to the cultural dislocations of modernity, studying works by authors such as Cather, Eliot, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Pound, Stein, Stevens, Toomer, and Williams. Prerequisite: sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
374 The Postmodern (4)
Discussion-based course exploring the variety of texts that have been identified as “postmodern” and the debates that continue to surround that term. Topics include postmodernism’s engagement with questions of modernism, race, gender, technology, and economics, studying works by authors such as Acker, DeLillo, Hagedorn, Pynchon, Reed, and Vonnegut.
Prerequisite: sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
375 Africana Literature (4)
Seminar focusing on selected topics in African-American and literature of African diaspora, including works from the Caribbean, South America, Europe and other locations where blacks dispersed from Africa. Some topics may give consideration to forms of expression other than literature. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered fall of odd- numbered years.
378 The Great American Novel (4)
Discussion-based course investigating the idea of the Great American Novel, a work of high literary quality that captures something essential about the United States of America. Readings will include canonical, lesser-known, and emerging contenders for the title of the Great American Novel, from the nineteenth century through the present. Prerequisite: sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
385 American Protest Literature (4)
Covers the diverse tradition of American protest literature, focusing in particular on texts responding to racial, gender-based, and class-based oppressions. Explores the aesthetic and literary traditions of each text, as well as its historical and cultural contexts. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Offered intermittently.
388 British Literary History (4)
A survey covering British literature from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Provides students with a sense of the historical breadth of British literature. It is highly recommended that students read the major works over the summer, as the reading list is substantial. Offered fall of odd years.
389 American Literary History (4)
A survey covering American literature from the colonial period to the present. Provides students with a sense of the historical breadth of American literature. It is highly recommended that students read the major works over the summer, as the reading list is substantial. Offered fall of even years.
398 Advanced Poetry Writing Workshop (4)
Advanced workshop with discussion of students’ poems and the poetry and poetics of established authors; emphasizes craft, the creative process, and aesthetic evaluation of discussed works. Students complete a sequence of thematically related poems in addition to other assignments. Non-majors welcome. May be repeated twice for credit. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher, a 200-level literature course, and junior status or consent. Offered every spring.
399 Advanced Fiction Writing (4)
An advanced-level workshop in the writing of fiction with class discussions of student work as well as the work of established authors. Students work on a collection of short stories with an aim towards publication. Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher. Offered fall of even-numbered years.
410 Environmental Writings (4)
A study of the important environmental writings and how they have shaped our understanding of the relationship between humans and nature. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or consent. Identical to ENVS 410. Offered intermittently.
483 English Internship (4)
A required part of the Professional Writing track and optional for all other English majors. Provides practical field experience at a professional setting related to the student’s individual interests. Prerequisite: 20 hours of English or consent. Offered intermittently.
489 Senior Thesis Workshop (4)
Writing workshop in which students present the results of their independent research for a capstone project on a topic of their choice, which may also incorporate service learning and field work. May satisfy four hours of the Latin honors research requirement. Prerequisites: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher and consent. Offered every fall.