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English 4100: Special Topics in Literature Adam Smith’s seemingly unanswerable questions from The Theory of Moral Sentiments sound like questions we ask ourselves today about giving, gratitude, and obligation. Indeed, much of our current understanding of gift giving and debt is informed by early modern concerns of the gift’s role in interpersonal and social relations. We, too, share these concerns: Bill Clinton recently published a best-selling book titled Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World and Oprah Winfrey has a new prime-time hit reality television show The Big Give where the winner “out gives” competitors. This special topics course examines the role of gift-giving and
the dynamics of reciprocity in eighteenth-century English literature
to examine the roots of a discourse that continues to perplex us
today. Eighteenth-century England witnessed the “rise” of
the charitable institution and the modern socialization of a gift
economy that supposedly functions outside of the market—commodities
are exchanged for profit, gifts are exchanged for free. We will pay
special attention to the ways in which the “disinterested” or “free” gift
was used in the eighteenth century to underwrite a number of the
period’s social and economic concerns, such as authority, gender,
labor, property, and marriage. Crucial to our discussion, however,
will be our own understanding of how gifts work, of why we give and
expect to receive in return, and how to define a truly “free” gift.
After a brief summary of the “Liberal Humanist” tradition of literary criticism extant until the beginning of the 20th-Century, this course turns to careful examination of early-20th-Century Formalist, New Critical, and Structuralist methodologies and their various influences upon the “rise of theory” from the 1960s to the present. Critical schools covered in the survey also include: Marxism; Psychoanalysis; Postmodernism; Post-structuralism/Deconstruction; Cultural Studies/New Historicism; Feminist, Gender & Queer Theory; and Post-colonial, Critical Race & Ethnic Studies. Especially ideal for students planning on graduate study in the Humanities and/or Law, the course covers a broad swath of literature, philosophy, and history. Students should expect convoluted, but extremely interesting, and provocative, but exceedingly compelling reading, the mastery of which will mark both a hallmark and culmination of their undergraduate education. Course requirements include two essays featuring critical applications of theoretical schools to the reading of a novel, summaries of influential essays in each school, a comprehensive final exam over key figures and concepts in theory, and daily attendance and participation in classroom discussion. Required Texts:
Probably more than any other English literary genre, verse is frequently read and studied with minimal historical context. There are good reasons for this. The defining feature of verse is its use of patterned acoustic properties, which can be identified and appreciated by any speaker of the language. And much, though not all, lyric poetry actively foregrounds individual psychological and emotional experiences over their social and cultural contexts. Nevertheless, the modes of poetic expression in English have been profoundly shaped by historical forces. In this course we will attend to both dimensions of verse, by first honing our close reading techniques and then looking at some historically significant poetic forms. Our text will be The Norton Anthology of Poetry (5th edition). Course requirements include four five-page papers, a final exam, and regular participation in class discussion.
See catalogue course description, contact instructor, or check back here for updated information.
The novel is today’s most widely read literary form. It is also the youngest, having emerged in the eighteenth century from a mixed bag of genres: histories, travel journals, autobiographies, memoirs, and letters. As such, the novel grew up with something of an identity crisis—not only because of its hybrid origins, but also because it mixed fiction with fact. Accused of lacking both the creativity of poetry and the reality of prose, the early novel quickly became the black sheep of the literary family. Over time, however, the novel learned to make a virtue out of its diverse ancestry and dubious reputation. This course will examine how the novel adapted itself to different social needs, becoming, as many critics now argue, the art form best suited to understanding particular individuals within their social environment. In surveying the novel from the eighteenth century to today, we will draw primarily from the British and American canons. We will start with early forms like satire and the gothic, then move to examples of nineteenth-century realism, twentieth-century modernism, and contemporary postmodern and postcolonial fiction. We’ll also examine some different critical methods of interpreting the novel. As a course on the novel that is also designated as writing-intensive by the undergraduate catalog, this class will demand a great deal of reading and writing. Expect to read between 50 and 150 pages for each class (readings for Tuesdays will usually be heavier). Students will write three 5-6 page papers, participate in a 15-20 minute class presentation (in groups of 3), and write regular online postings to the class. Authors will likely include Jonathan Swift, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Joseph Conrad, and William Faulkner.
This section of Studies in the Novel will focus on Gothic fiction, one of the most popular traditions in the history of the novel since the 18th century. The course will draw most heavily from the British tradition, tracing the early development of the gothic in writers such as Horace Walpole, Sophia Lee, William Beckford, Ann Radcliffe, and Matthew Lewis, through the stranger variations on gothic themes found in later works of the nineteenth century (Maria Edgeworth, Percy and Mary Shelley, James Hogg, Charles Maturin, Emily Bronte, R.L. Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Joseph Conrad) and draw to a close in the early 20th century with Djuna Barnes’ modernist classic, Nightwood. We will explore a wide variety of themes and issues within the gothic tradition—representations of doubling and the Doppelganger, religious persecution, the terrors of family, the politics of violence, history and its traumas, discourses of colonialism, degeneration and perversion, as well as the development of psychology and pathological cultural typing—while examining the experimentation in narrative form that emerges in this fiction. The works we read will always be strange and challenging, and not infrequently disturbing. Be forewarned! Students should expect and come prepared for: a heavy reading load
each week; a substantial writing component (shorter, exploratory
writing as well as longer, formal essays); class presentations; active
participation by all members of the class; and reading quizzes if
deemed necessary.
In this course, as we read seven Shakespearean plays, we will investigate their poetry, their social and historical context, and the ways their texts function as guides to performance. The beginning of the course explores how studying drama differs from reading other literary genres. We will conduct this exploration via the in-class reading of scenes, consideration of a few key critical texts, and some short writing assignments. As we move into the plays, we will discuss a number of issues present in the drama involving identity; family and generational succession; marriage and sexuality; race and class; and the exercise of political (often kingly) power. In many class meetings, we will view clips from filmed versions of the plays, in the interest of comparing a director’s or actor’s interpretation of a given scene with your own. Although this list may change slightly, I plan to include on the reading list The Two Gentlemen of Verona, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry V, Titus Andronicus, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Cymbeline, as well as a number of secondary readings still to be determined.
Professional Writing provides practice in developing the forms and techniques of writing, editing, and researching required in business, industry, and government. Students should take this course as their capstone experience in practical writing. Prerequisite: two writing courses. English 3050 (Practical Writing) recommended. As a capstone to your classes (and experiences) in practical writing, this course is designed to help you move to the next level: either a career as a professional writer or a career that requires a high level of communication competence. The course thus focuses on some of the knowledge and skills you’ll need to make this transition. Through course projects, for example, you will have an opportunity to 1) Develop Professional Quality Projects that Demonstrate Your Communication Experience and Expertise. Here, you will gain experience with communication strategies (for example, adapting information to readers, using print and digital technologies, designing pages and documents, creating visual evidence and displays), important in workplaces and the professions. 2) Learn What It is Like to Do a Writing Project for a Client. Here you’ll get experience in creating documents for actual organizations. 3) Develop Techniques for Effective Presentation of Your Writing Experience and Competence. Here, you’ll learn how to create a professional portfolio—in either digital or print form—that synthesizes and articulates your knowledge and skills as a writer.
From the catalog: English 4720 is the study of regional and social varieties of American English from sociolinguistic perspectives, focusing on the forces that influence different types of language variation. It examines issues of linguistic bias and offers a multi-cultural perspective on the role of language in daily life. Course description, purpose, and objectives: In this course, we will discuss the theories and practices of language variation research, particularly as applied to American English. In doing so, we will consider approaches to the study of language variation, with attention to key figures, studies, and methodologies. We will discuss the functions and effects of dialectal variation, and how factors such as geography, ethnicity, gender, social status and other extralinguistic variables interact with language and contribute to variation. We will also explore how popular perceptions and attitudes contribute to the differential valuation of American English varieties and the effects of these valuations. Finally, students will learn the skills and practices of linguistic research and language description and apply these skills to original research projects. Texts: Finegan and Rickford, Language in the U.S.A. (Cambridge 2004), and a course pack.
English 4790 is a workshop course designed to give prospective English teachers some intensive instruction in ways to write, and, more importantly, ways to teach writing at the middle school and high school levels. The course is based on the principles of “best practices in writing" and designed in accordance with the NCTE English Language Arts ‘Standards in Practice’ Series and the Michigan Department of Education’s Standards for English Language Arts.
Too often in the past, teachers taught writing just as they themselves had been taught. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. English 4790 takes the guess work out of teaching writing and provides a wealth of teaching methods that are grounded in research—integrating writing and literature, linking writing and local communities, writing academic essays, playing with grammar and sentence structure, supporting reluctant writers and diverse learners, composing multigenre and multimedia “texts,” working with student poets, and more. Class requirements include individual research and working collaboratively with classmates to teach key concepts and strategies from a selected text. The final Professional Teaching/Writing Portfolio includes a position paper, a writing-based curricular plan, and an brief individual class presentation. Note: English 4790 is aligned with the NCTE/IRA English Language Arts Standards and the Michigan Department of Education’s English Language Arts High School Content Expectations.
As the capstone experience for English Education majors, this course focuses on the excitement of teaching literature and offers a variety of enjoyable and meaningful professional activities and responsibilities. This class will draw on traditional approaches to literature pedagogy while simultaneously focusing on recent waves of reform, reader response, cultural studies, and the impact of the Internet. We will use a thematic approach to integrate these approaches as we explore a variety of cultural studies themes in a problem-posing, student-led format. By focusing on difficult and potentially controversial cultural studies curricular themes, students will gain understanding of issues involved in teaching literature at the secondary level. Class will be held in a brand new wireless, laptop classroom in Brown Hall specifically designed for English education courses. This room will allow us to integrate technology into literature teaching in a "classroom of the future." Our class will be organized by our on-line syllabus that will also serve as an electronic, hyperlinked, textbook. All students will develop and publish their own teaching website (it's easy!), both a portfolio of work and a real-world working site for future teaching. (This website can serve as the basis of the portfolio required during intern teaching.) For more information about this great class, see the syllabus at www.allenwebb.net, or contact Dr. Webb at Allen.Webb@wmich.edu (http://www.allenwebb.net) English 4840:
Multi-Cultural American Literature for Children Course Description: This course focuses on developing an understanding of American cultural diversity through multicultural oral and written literature for young people. Attention will be paid to developing criteria for selecting and evaluating literature which reflects our multi-cultural heritage, provides positive vicarious experiences, and explores universal values, and to achieving balance in selecting such literature for elementary and middle school classrooms and libraries. This course fulfills a General Education requirement in Distribution Area III - The United States: Cultures and Issues. Required Texts: Because this course covers a wide variety of materials that have not been brought together in any one textbook, you are expected to raid area bookstores and libraries for your weekly readings. There is no required text book for this class; we will create our own text. There will be additional novels required for this class. You will get a specific list as each assignment is given. Assessment: There will be a series of Short Papers (or homework assignments) to be handed in on the various topics presented during the course of the semester. There will be a major project and a group report. You will have a wide variety of topics and formats for presentation to choose from for these assignments. Major Project (your choice of a research paper, annotated bibliography, or thematic unit/lesson plans) should be approximately 10-12 pages. You will be encouraged to choose and investigate a topic that appeals to you. The format for presenting your research may be varied.
This survey course will focus on the genres of romance and epic
in the Middle Ages. For centuries, scholars approached these two
genres as if they were distinct entities with no or few common elements.
The reality is that “genre” is hard to classify. In this
course, we will discuss issues of genre blurring, common elements,
and transcultural borrowings of tales told. For example, Marie de
France’s Lais—which are classified as romance—were
translated into Old Icelandic. The literary culture of Medieval Iceland
did not include native romances in its “library,” nor,
for that matter, did it have a warm climate that would encourage
a lot of warm breezes and bared shoulders.
English 5340: Restoration and Eighteen-Century Literature This course will cover the major dramatic works in England between 1660 and 1700. We will pay particular attention to the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts of theatrical performance, and we will discuss the major issues that find their way onto the London stage: sexual morality, the role of women in a patrilineal society, and the problems of empire, trade, and colonialism. Because the Restoration period featured the popular and critical success of a number of women dramatists—Aphra Behn, Susan Centlivre, Mary Fix, and Catherine Trotter—we will devote a good deal of attention to the ways in which these playwrights appropriated the conventions of the seemingly anti-feminist genres of wit comedy. In addition to these women dramatists, we will read and discuss plays by George Etherege, John Dryden, William Wycherley, Thomas Otway, and William Congreve. A word of caution (or perhaps inducement): the comedy of the period is often explicitly sexual, and seduction, adultery, and libertine critiques of religion are commonplace. The tragedies we will read include scenes of torture, incest, and general bloodletting. In addition to the plays, then, we will look at some of the criticism of Restoration drama—from nineteenth and early twentieth-century condemnations of its immorality to more recent celebrations of its seemingly "modern" treatments of sexuality and desire.
The Western Michigan University Catalog describes English 5380 as “readings in representative writers in the period 1890–1945, not exclusively in British and American literature.” But because this class can be repeated for credit and because Western’s English faculty features several Modern specialists, we will cover exclusively American Modern writers. These writers, however, will not all be Modernist. Rather, the course will feature a survey of writing beginning with late-19th Century Realism and Naturalism and culminating with 1930s genre and creative non-fiction. As we read we’ll learn details about these periods and genres as well as about the authors and critical work pertaining to them. Texts: ISBN: Dover Thrift Editions:
This course is designed to introduce advanced undergraduates and graduate students to postcolonial literature. Broadly, this refers to works written in Europe ’s former colonies after imperial rule, which began to dissolve just after World War II. We will read novels from Africa and from the South Asian diaspora (India, Pakistan, and contemporary Britain), focusing on how they relate to their historical and cultural contexts, illustrate prominent post-colonial themes, and engage with postcolonial theory—among the most influential forms of scholarship today. The thematic and theoretical issues we will investigate include the power struggle between colonizer and colonized, the relationship between European and non-European cultures, depictions of racial/ethnic difference, ideas of community and nation, and the effects of emigration and exile. During the semester, we will proceed through a number of “moments” in colonial and postcolonial relations during the twentieth century. We will begin with European colonization, primarily in Africa, and move on to narratives of colonial decline by white South African writers. We will then spend a few weeks on India’s transition from colony to independent nation. From there, we will examine the aftereffects of colonialism in Britain and its former colonies. If we have time, we may also consider the contemporary "war on terror" in relation to postcolonial studies. Authors may include Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Nguugii Wa Thiong’o, Tsitsi Dangarembga, J.M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Salman Rushdie, and Zadie Smith. We will also read some important pieces of postcolonial theory by Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, Partha Chatterjee, Stuart Hall, and Frantz Fanon. Students will write one 5-page paper, one research paper (7-10 for undergraduates, 15-20 for graduate students), and regular online posts.
In this course we study the development of Dante’s poetic style and form, his innovations in vernacular poetry, and the making of a distinctive and influential poetic corpus. We will look at Dante’s interpretive methodologies, his construction of poetic authority as well as the social, political, theological, philosophical, and literary traditions informing his work. By beginning with the Vita Nuova, the poet’s theory of interpretation as outlined in his Letter to Can Grande and Convivio and moving through the three canticles comprising the Commedia, we will be brought to an appreciation of Dante’s thought, the relationship of his life to his art, and the cultural forces and creative energy compelling it all. Featured also will be a number of illustrations from the works of William Blake, Sandro Botticelli, and Gustav Doré, and others. Required Texts:
This course, which can be repeated for credit, is the most advanced fiction writing workshop that undergraduate English majors and minors with a creative writing emphasis can take. It is also open to graduate students in creative writing. Each member of the workshop will present at least two stories (or excerpts of longer works) over the course of the semester. In addition the class will read together short fiction by a number of contemporary authors, including those who will be visiting WMU in the fall; and there will be many short creative assignments based on these readings, each stressing some aspect of fictional technique.
See catalogue description, contact instructor, or consult updated course descriptions online.
Art, says poet Carl Phillips, “is its own signature--irreplicable, strange, never seen before, not seeable again elsewhere in the future.” In this advanced poetry writing workshop, we will spend the semester exploring how, in poetry, this might be true. We’ll examine the “signatures” of contemporary poets, and each week we will workshop poems by members of the class.
This course will center on bi-weekly assignments and close readings of essays in Philip Lopate’s The Art of the Personal Essay. Students should acquire more acute reading and editing skills from this course, as well as a deeper appreciation of the complex relationship between truth and artifice in the genre.
English teachers have traditionally been thought of as grammar police, ready to fine those who break the grammar “laws.” But many English teachers today have had little instruction in grammar, and they are unsure about whether or how to teach it. This course will not provide quick and easy answers, but we will consider grammatical issues as they are viewed by the public and within the profession. We will consider how grammar has been taught historically and discuss research that has influenced the teaching of writing and grammar. We will also examine NCTE statements and state mandates (MEAP, MME, Michigan English Language Arts Content Expectations) and teach each other a range of grammar-related classroom strategies and structures that can support and strengthen student writing. We will produce position papers, curricular plans, and/or articles suitable for publishing.
The novels in this class have one thing in common: they are “coming of age” stories with protagonists outside the racial/ethnic norm in America. The texts are a mixture of “teen fiction” and “adult” fiction, though one of our concerns will be to analyze the aesthetic and political assumptions that underlie those distinctions. One purpose of this class is to explore the experiences of non-white youth in the US over the 20th and early 21st centuries. On a larger scale, we’ll be examining the ideological myths that uphold much of our national imagination–like the myth of the so-called “American Dream”–from the perspective of the marginalized and dienfranchised. The class includes a historical component; along with the relevant fiction, we’ll read Ronald Takaki’s groundbreaking text A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural American. Major assignments for the course include a midterm, a final, and an analytical essay.
This is a workshop in the writing and critical reading of the screenplay form. We’ll focus on the screenwriting process, reading and seeing outstanding screenplays, and discussing other aspects of the craft, including professional script format, traditional three-act story structure, dramatic arc, character development, plot development, scene structure, visual writing, and dialogue. We’ll spend most of our time in class on discussion of your own work, pausing as time permits to read, see, and talk about the work of professional screenwriters. The aim of all these experiences—whether general discussions of professional screenplays or specific comments on your own or others’ work—will be to provide you with useful screenwriting skills. You needn’t have previous screenwriting experience, though I will expect ability and experience in other written forms, especially fiction and/or playwriting. Be prepared to bring ideas for your own feature-length screenplays to the first workshop session. If you’re at all concerned, talk with me. Note: Readers should consider all course descriptions and booklists to be tentative and are encouraged to confirm all times and locations before attending class. |
