English Courses

Courses in Literature

Literature and Interpretation

This course provides a foundation for advanced literary study, as well as skills useful in other disciplines. Through an exploration of varied works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and film, this course sharpens students' abilities to read texts analytically and introduces them to the terms and strategies employed in contemporary critical discourse.

Introduction to Film

Designed to develop students' ability to understand and appreciate film as art and to acquaint them with a representative group of significant works and the characteristics of film as a type of literature.

First-Year Seminar

An exploration of a literary theme with an emphasis on class discussion and participation, independent projects, historical and cultural awareness and writing. Recent courses have included Poetry of Song, Reading Las Vegas, War and Sex in Arthurian Legend, and Milestones: Four African-American Artists. Enrollment limited to first-year students. May be counted toward a major or minor.

World Literature

A study of literature from both Western and non-Western traditions. Readings may focus on a theme that runs across cultures, a specific historical period or an event that affects a number of cultures.

Writing in Literary Studies

This course explores the purpose and craft of writing about literature, refining the ability to recognize and communicate pattern and meaning in texts and culture. The course fosters the writing and research skills necessary for advanced literary study, including the Senior Seminar in Literature, and for participation in larger conversations in the field. Through major writing projects and peer workshops, students will practice a variety of approaches to writing and research, while also expanding methods of writing for a variety of audiences. Required for Literature majors. Not open for credit to students who have completed ENG 350.

Children's Literature

An examination of children's literature, attending to its history, canon and audience - both children and adults - and to selected topics, such as storytelling and censorship. Establishing criteria for several genres, students read widely to judge poetry, realistic fiction, picture books, fantasy, etc. and to compile bibliographies. May be counted toward a major in English. Offered second semester.

Topics in Literary Studies

While refining students' general analytical and interpretive skills, this course offers intensive examination of specific issues in literature and culture, often those at the center of current critical interest. Recent sections have focused on The Gangster Film, Memoir and Sexuality, Quest for the Grail, and Native American Literature. Students may only count one ENG 255 that is a cross-listed Modern Language course toward the major or minor.

Modern Continental Literature

European writing from about 1885, stressing new directions in fiction and poetry from Zola to contemporary writers. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

African-American Literature

A study of African-American writing, including biographies, essays and polemics as well as drama, fiction and poetry.

Women and Literature: Topics

Introduces students to the work of women writers and the importance of gender as a category of literary analysis. Issues covered may include: images of women in literature by women and men; impediments women writers have faced; women's writing in historical/social context; feminist literature; intersections of race, class and gender. May be repeated for credit with a different topic.

Asian American Literature

This course introduces students to the cultural diversity of Asian-American writing. Through a broadly structured anthology showcasing enduring works of prose, poetry, and drama, supplemented by a collection of short fiction, a novel, a play and a collection of poems, this course will develop a deeper understanding of the diverse works of Asian-American writers, poets and playwrights. Since Asian-American literature is typically presented from the perspective of race, our topics will focus on cultural identity, immigration experience, displacement, gender identities, and language.

Native American Literature

This course surveys a range of American Indian oral and written literatures within the context of Euro-American colonization, conflict, and assimilation. We will assess the problems facing early native writers working within an alien culture and examine the ways the more recent writers of the Native American Renaissance have redefined Indian identity as a compromise between traditional Native culture and contemporary American society. Reading may include creation myths and trickster stories, Native autobiographical writing, fiction, and poetry.

British Writers I

This course surveys works of representative British authors from Anglo-Saxon times through the Augustan period. It is designed for students wishing to acquaint themselves with this broad area of British letters. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

British Writers II

A continuation of the survey begun in ENG 281, this course begins with representative writers of the Romantic period and ends with contemporary British literature. ENG 281 is not a prerequisite for this course. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

American Writers

A study of representative American authors from the exploration of the New World to the present with attention to the literature of ethnic cultures.

Principles of Literary Studies

This course is designed to give majors in English and related fields a grasp of the most important theories, terms and traditions that shape contemporary literary studies. Recommended for both literature and writing majors, and especially for anyone considering graduate study in English.

Chaucer and His World

Realism and romance in selected major poems of Chaucer and his contemporaries studied in their medieval context. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Shakespeare

A study of representative plays drawn from the histories, comedies, tragedies and late romances. Wide-ranging themes will include questions about gender relations and identity, both personal and national, and the conventions of Elizabethan performance. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Renaissance or Early Modern British Literature

A study of major developments in prose and poetry in English literature between 1500 and 1660, an age of exploration both literal and figurative. In both canonical works (by Sidney, Spenser, Donne, Jonson, Herbert and Milton) and recently rediscovered poems by Lady Mary Wroth, Aemilia Lanyer and Katherine Philips, we will analyze the intersection of influences--Classical and Biblical, native and Continental, medieval and modern. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Milton

A revolutionary who wrote against censorship and in defense of divorce, whose poetry made a mark on future generations of writers, Milton redefined heroism in his epic, Paradise Lost. We will study his major poems and selected prose, analyzing his transformation of every genre he touched: sonnet, pastoral elegy, masque, epic and tragedy. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Restoration and Eighteenth Century

An in-depth survey of literary genres (including poetry, satire, the periodical essay, the gothic, and the novel) from 1660-1800 and their relationship to nationalism, gender, empire, and the cultural and political practices of the English Enlightenment. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

The Romantic Period

Focuses on English poetry from approximately 1790-1830, along with related works of fiction, criticism and philosophy. Writers often studied include Blake, Wollstonecraft, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and Keats. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

The Victorian Period

Focuses on writers who worked in the last 70 years of the 19th century. Writers often studied include Dickens, Carlyle, George Eliot, Tennyson, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Modern British Literature

British novelists, poets and dramatists of the first half of the 20th century, including Conrad, Joyce, Yeats, Lawrence and Woolf. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Contemporary British Literature

British and postcolonial writers from the mid-20th century to the present. Writers may include Rushdie, Gordimer, Larkin, Amis and Heaney. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

American Literature: Revolution and Renaissance

A study of literature from the American Revolution through "the American Renaissance," when the writing of American authors first achieved an international reputation. Writers might include Jefferson, Franklin, Cooper, Poe, Emerson, Hawthorne, Douglass, Stowe, Melville, Jacobs, Whitman and Dickinson.

American Literature: The Age of Realism

A study of the literary culture between the Civil War and World War I, including considerations of realism, regionalism and naturalism as well as works of nonfiction. Writers might include Twain, James, Jewett, Crane, DuBois, Chesnutt, Dreiser, Wharton and Cather.

American Literature: Modern

A study of literature written in the first half of the 20th century and the main philosophical, social and aesthetic issues that shaped it. Writers might include Faulkner, Hemingway, Eliot, Williams, Dos Passos, Moore, Hurston, Hughes, and Wright.

American Literature: Post-War to Post-Modern

A study of literature since the end of World War II, including that of minority writers, and the main philosophical, social and aesthetic issues that shaped it. Writers might include Warren, Nabokov, Bishop, Roth, Morrison, Rich, Pynchon, Erdrich, Kingston and Cisneros.

Women and Literature: Advanced Topics

Designed for English majors and/or students with some background in Women's Studies. Topics will provide opportunities for in-depth analysis of women writers and gender literary analysis. Issues covered may include: images of women in literature; women's writing in historical/social context; feminist literature theory and literary criticism; intersections of race, class and gender; formation of the literary canon. May be repeated for credit with a different topic.

Authors: Advanced Topics

In-depth study of one or more writers. Examples include Joyce, Morrison, Samuel Johnson, and Henry James.

Genre: Advanced Topics

Study of works drawn from a specific literary genre or subgenre. Examples include Confessional Poetry, The Early Novel and Revenge Tragedy.

Literature and Culture: Advanced Topics

A study of the relations between literature and culture, with a specific thematic focus. Examples include Literature and Law, American Gothic, and Drugs, Literature and Culturet.

Literature and History: Advanced Topics

A study of literary representations of historical topics. Examples include Literature and Toleration, New England Heterodoxy, and Literature of Reform.

Literature and Theory: Advanced Topics

Study of a specific topic within contemporary literary theory. Examples include The Rise and Fall of Deconstruction, Theories of the Avant Garde, and Film Theory.

Seminar in Literature

Concentrated study of a topic in literary studies. Prerequisite: two 300- or 400-level courses in literature. Required of majors in English with emphasis on literature. May be repeated once for credit.

Readings in Literature

Directed studies, with individual conferences or seminars, centered on a specific project arranged with the instructor and including the writing of papers. Prerequisite: senior classification and permission of instructor and chairman of department. Students seeking permission to take the course must present previous to registration to the department chair a written statement of the project countersigned by the instructor who will direct it.

Courses in Writing

Co-Curricular Activities

A. The DePauw--Writers; B. The DePauw--Editors; C. Midwestern Review; D. Mirage , E. Eye on the World and F. the cauldron. Practical experience in writing for The DePauw (A&B), Midwestern Review (C), Mirage (D) , Eye on the World (E), and the cauldron (F). The DePauw writers (A) receive one-quarter activity credit per semester, and editors (B) receive one-half activity credit per semester. Midwestern Review, Mirage , Eye on the World and the cauldron staff members (C, D, E and F) receive one-quarter activity credit (Group 6) per semester. No academic credit is awarded toward the 31 courses required for graduation. Prerequisite: signature of The DePauw advisor required.

Writing Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English I

This course develops and strengthens the level of English language fluency of incoming international students who begin to write, speak, and read proficiently and rigorously at an academic college level. May not be counted toward a major in English. See Writing Program for details

Writing Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English II

This course is aimed at challenging incoming international students more than ENG 110. This course focuses more on academic writing proficiency and critical thinking in preparation for the advanced level of challenge offered by ENG 130. English 115 may not be counted toward a major in English. See Writing Program for details.

College Writing I

This course reviews good writing strategies to prepare students for the level of reading, writing and critical thinking done in College Writing II. By means of short essay assignments, students build fluency and confidence in writing. May not be counted toward a major in English. See Writing Program for details.

College Writing II

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of reading and writing at the college level. Assignments focus on a variety of essay forms, including personal narrative and analytical argument, helping students to develop skills in critical thinking, interpretation, argumentation, and research documentation. Through the study of the writing process, students learn to generate essays for a variety of writing tasks across the curriculum. May not be counted toward a major in English. See Writing Program for details.

Reading as Writers

This course focuses on contemporary literature from the perspective of method and craft. Through close reading of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, playwriting and screenwriting, students will examine how literary artists work and think. This is a foundational course for the English Writing major, but the skills gained will be useful across disciplines.

Introduction to Creative Writing

An introduction to writing and reading fiction and poetry in a workshop setting using the work of contemporary poets and writers as models. May include some creative non-fiction and/or dramatic writing.

News Writing and Editing

An introduction to the art and craft of writing for newspapers, including story structure, research techniques, interviewing, note taking, ethics, libel and AP Style. Students will hone their writing and reporting skills by covering campus events, writing stories on deadline and following national and local media coverage.

Creative Writing II: Fiction Workshop

A workshop focused on the writing of short fiction using modern and contemporary short stories as models and inspiration. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Fiction Topics

Topics in fiction writing with particular concentration on specific forms or other aspects of the genre using readings as models and inspiration. This might include the novella or the short-short story or techniques such as magical realism, meta-fiction, minimalism, etc., depending on the instructor. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Poetry Workshop

A workshop that gives students the opportunity to sharpen their skills as poets and exposes them to a wide range of contemporary poetry. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Poetry Topics

The course provides a particular focus on poetic forms or sub-genres of poetry. These might include dramatic monologue and extended poetic projects such as sequences in a particular form or voice. Effort is made to broaden students reading knowledge of poetry. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Nonfiction Workshop

This course will focus on the art and craft of nonfiction with special attention to giving nonfiction the immediacy and liveliness of fiction. Forms explored may include profiles, travel writing, personal essays, reviews, memoir, nature writing or literary nonfiction. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Nonfiction Topics

This course will explore a specific genre of nonfiction in depth. Class will operate as an advanced writing workshop that uses master works as models and inspiration. Offerings might include profiles, travel writing, personal essays, reviews, memoir, nature writing or literary nonfiction. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Advanced Reporting Workshop

An upper-level reporting class for students who have taken News Writing and Editing or have written for a student publication. Students will analyze and discuss long-form, investigative journalism and write a series of in-depth news features. The course will address how to incorporate literary techniques in news writing.

Creative Writing II: Advanced Reporting Topics

An upper-level reporting class for students who have taken News Writing and Editing or have written for a student publication. Students will study specifics forms of journalistic writing. Offerings might include feature writing, profiles, investigative journalism, magazine feature writing, or reviews and criticism.

Creative Writing II: Playwriting Workshop

An introduction to the process of playwriting. The course will explore dramatic action for the stage--working with character, setting, dialogue, tone and style--through writing workshop, discussion and selected readings. Students will write monologues, scenes, a ten-minute play and a one-act play. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Screenwriting Workshop

An introduction to the fundamentals of screenwriting, in theory and in practice. Students will explore story, character, dialogue and structure as relates to writing for film; learn the screenplay format; and participate in writing workshop and discussion. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Creative Writing II: Dramatic Writing Topics

An upper level writing course that focuses on specific elements or forms within a genre of dramatic writing. Offerings might include The One Act Play, The Dramatic Monologue, The Short Film Script, Advanced Screenwriting or Advanced Playwriting. Prerequisite: ENG 201.

Independent Writing

Independent writing under tutorial supervision designed for seniors wishing to develop or complete one of the longer forms. Prerequisites: senior classification, the successful completion of three courses in writing above the freshman level, and permission of instructor and chair of the department. Prior to registration, the student must present to the chairman of the department a written statement of the project countersigned by the instructor who will serve as tutor.

Seminar in Writing

This is an advanced creative writing workshop in which students design their own independent projects under the guidance of the instructor. Seminars generally explore a specific genre in depth. Prerequisite: senior classification and the successful completion of three courses in writing above the 100 level, two at the 300 level.