Mythology and Literature
Introduces students to important classical myths, legends, fairy tales, and Biblical works that have served as sources or background for subsequent literature. Students analyze ways in which writers from various cultures and eras use these myths and legends in their poetry, fiction, and drama. Required for English majors. Group: I. Arts Literature Thematic Area Signature Course.
World Literature: Genres and Themes
Introduces students to the basic elements of poetry, fiction, drama, and nonfiction while exploring important works of world literature. Through close reading, students will analyze how literary works are constructed in a variety of cultures, and explore how authors throughout the world reflect individual and social concerns. Group: I.
Writing on the Job: Professional and Persuasive Writing
Designed for students in all majors, this course teaches how to hone your writing skills for specific professional tasks. Learn how to analyze your audience, to develop persuasive techniques, and to write effective and concise office memos, proposals, and reports. Excellent preparation for writing at your internship site. Students compile a writing portfolio. Group: I.
British Literature: An Introduction
This survey course will introduce you to major British authors and literary movements. You will consider the impact of history on content, voice, and creativity in works by authors such as Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales), Jonathan Swift (A Modest Proposal), Oscar Wilde (A Picture of Dorian Grey), and Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse). Prerequisite: EN101. Arts Literature Thematic Area Course.
This course teaches the basics of feature writing for newspapers and magazines. Students will explore a variety of styles by writing columns, human interest stories, and reviews. In addition to writing for, editing, and publishing the Pine Manor College Gator Gazette, students will compile a writing portfolio and create the concept for a magazine. Prerequisite: EN102 or permission. Group: I.
Visiting Writers Seminar: Fiction
This analytical and creative writing course in fiction gives students the opportunity to meet with published writers at campus readings, as well as in classes. Students meet in workshops to respond to one another’s writing. Furnishes an opportunity to improve both analytical and creative skills and compile a writing portfolio. Prerequisite: EN102 or permission. Group: I.
Develops the ability to write creatively in a variety of genres including fiction, poetry, and the personal essay. Students analyze writing and samples from published authors in class and compile a writing portfolio. Prerequisite: EN102 or permission. Group: I; Arts Literature Thematic Area Course.
Visiting Writers Seminar: Poetry
Gives students the opportunity to meet with published poets at campus readings, as well as in classes. Students meet in workshops to respond to one another’s writings. Furnishes the opportunity to improve both analytical and creative skills, and compile a writing portfolio. Prerequisite: EN102 or permission. Group: I.
This is a writing course for students interested in further developing their prose-writing skills. We read the nonfiction prose literature of journals, letters, memoirs, autobiography, and essays, examining the approaches and style of good writers as models for student writers. In a workshop setting, students create a portfolio of their prose writing and an individual project of their own design. Prerequisite: EN102. Group: I.
Poetry I: Introductory Poetry Workshop
This workshop based course will focus on the craft of poetry as well as prosody and poetic form. The workshop will focus on student work and established form, both from classic and emerging artists. Prerequisites: EN102 (or ENH102), or instructor’s permission. Group: I. Arts Literature Thematic Area Course.
Short fiction enables us to explore humanity and the world in under twenty pages. In this course, students will advance their critical reading skills as they consider short stories written by both published authors and each other. Weekly writing exercises will put theory into practice as students apply and integrate their understanding of literary technique into their own work. Class time will be divided between literary discussion, writing exercises, and workshop. Prerequisite: EN102/ENH102 Arts Literature Thematic Area Course.
A survey of Shakespeare’s original plays including modern adaptations on stage and/or screen. Students will read 4-5 plays over the course of the semester, including at least one comedy and one tragedy. (These plays will not be repeated in EN217.) Group 1. Arts Literature Thematic Area Course. Prerequisite(s): EN102 or permission of the instructor.
A survey of Shakespeare’s work, wherein students integrate the study of literature, theatre and performance into their understanding of selected plays. Students will read 4-5 plays over the course of the semester, including at least one comedy and one tragedy. These plays will not be repeated in EN216. Prerequisite: EN102 or permission of the instructor. Group 1.
The Poet in the World
This course focuses on the work of Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Anne Sexton, and Audre Lourde in a social context in order to gain a fuller appreciation of their work. No prerequisite.
Bad Girls and Wild Women: Images of Female Transgression in Literature
Starting with Eve, women have been portrayed as both submissive and transgressive. This course examines diverse literary texts to explore attitudes toward women who break with convention. Are they bold pioneers, victims of gender stereotypes, immoral, or some combination of all three? This writing-intensive course requires a minimum of four essays with revisions, weekly response papers, and a final essay exam. Prerequisite: EN102 or permission. Group: I. This course may be used towards a Women’s Studies Minor.
Women¹s Lives in Film and Fiction
This course studies novels about women¹s lives and discusses major film versions of the fiction. Both the ³classics² ofwomen¹s literature and the modern-day concept of ³chick-lit² will be explored. We will consider how each film represents a director¹sinterpretation of the novel rather than simply a visual version of it.The course explores the multicultural aspects of the female experience bylooking at Asian, Hispanic, African American, British, and SouthernAmerican literature. Novels and movies include Confessions of aShopaholic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Devil Wears Prada, BastardOut of Carolina, The Joy Luck Club, Emma, In the Time of Butterflies, andAnne of Green Gables.
Children’s Literature: Female Images and Gender Roles
Introduces principles of literary analysis and traces changing social attitudes toward women through the study of children’s literature. The course considers children’s classics, modern children’s literature, controversial issues in children’s literature, and work by critical authorities in the field. Group: I. This course may be used towards a Women’s Studies Minor.
This survey course will cultivate a fundamental understanding of classic American literature. Through varying themes, students will consider the changing ethos of America, and what it means to be American. They will consider work by American authors of disparate backgrounds and across time. Group: I. Arts Literature Thematic Area SIGNATURE Course.
African-American and Caribbean Literature
Traces the history of African-American and Caribbean writers who have given voice to the horrors of slavery, exile, and racism, as well as to the creation of resilient communities. Pairing male and female writers, the course introduces the works of such writers as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, and Edwidge Dandicat. Prerequisite: EN102 or permission. Group: I.
The Bachelorette in Fiction and Film
How has the single woman been portrayed in fiction and film as women’s lives began to change during the exciting 20th century, and women writers such as Edith Wharton and Toni Morrison told their stories? Interdisciplinary approach. EN 234 and EN 334 will meet together: EN 334 students will do more advanced writing assignments, including EN Assessment papers. Group: I. This course may be used towards a Women’s Studies Minor.
Female Voices of Diversity: Studies in Contemporary Literature
Study of representative fiction, poetry, and essays examining the way issues of ethnic diversity, gender, and cultural difference are reflected in the language and vision of American literature today. Work by authors such as Toni Cade Bambara, Toni Morrison, Sandra Cisneros, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, Amy Tan, and Maxine Hong Kingston. Group: I.
Women and Detective Fiction
This course presents a critical survey of the history and dynamic nature of the genre of detective fiction using psychological theory as the lens for examining women detective fiction writers and characters of detective fiction through the past two centuries. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of the detective as an archetypal hero or heroine. English majors may count IDS 313 as one of their two required 300-levelEnglish courses. Group: IDS. This course may be used towards a Women’s Studies Minor.
Boston Through Its Writers
See and explore Boston as you never have before! This interdisciplinary course focuses on Boston and the various cultural and socio-political forces that have defined it and shaped it over the years. Primary focus is placed upon literary works produced in Boston or which deal with Boston as a theme, including the work of John Winthrop, Phillis Wheatley, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry James. This rich material will be organized into major historical periods, e.g. colonial, nineteenth century, etc., with an extensive analysis of the social and cultural history and art/architecture produced in each period. There will be field trips to various locations throughout Boston. Spring 2012 and alternate years. Prerequisite: Any lower-level AH, EN, HI, or SPS course or permission of the instructor. Group: IDS. EN majors may use this course as one of their two required 300-level courses.
Senior Internship (6 credits)
Must be taken in the Fall of the student’s senior year, at a site where she can apply her research and writing skills in a professional setting. At the site, the intern develops a portfolio of professional writing. Regular on-campus seminar meetings required. Prerequisite: Senior status.