English

Rows of books

The English Department offers a wide range of courses in literature, creative and expository writing, and media/digital studies. The course offerings are divided into introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses that meet the general and specialized needs of English majors and minors, as well as students throughout the college. The courses aim to develop careful readers and accomplished writers who possess skills of comprehension, analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and evaluation.

The study of literature fosters a widening of the mind’s horizons and a deepening of the heart. It enables us to make connections between our present historical moment and the past, thereby giving our vision depth and perspective. It gives us a sense of our common human journey as well as of our extraordinary possibilities. The poem, the play, the story, the essay: they are the best means we have for self-understanding, as individuals and as a species.

All students are invited to consider ENG-105 Intro to Poetry and ENG-260 Multicultural Literatures which apply toward distribution requirements in Language Studies and Literature and Fine Arts, respectively. These courses are introductory in nature, with the exception of 200 level creative writing courses, which have ENG-110 Intro to Creative Writing or consent of the instructor as prerequisites. Courses numbered above ENG-260 Multicultural Literatures usually have a prerequisite of any one English literature course at Wabash. Intermediate courses (titled “Studies in...” and numbered from 300) will be structured according to various approaches to literary studies, the second digit indicating one of several approaches: historical contexts (300); literary genres (310); literary modes (320); themes and topics (330); authors (340); media (350); multicultural and national literatures (360); special topics (370); language studies (390). Not all will be offered each year. Occasionally the content of the course will be altered (partly in response to student requests), but the critical approach will remain the same.

Introductory Courses

These courses, numbered 105–160, introduce students to English, American, and World literature in translation. Two half-semester courses, ENG-105 Intro to Poetry and ENG-106 Intro to Short Fiction, introduce students to the ways of reading poetry and short fiction, while ENG-180 Special Topics explores science and speculative fiction. ENG-107 History in Drama and ENG-108 History and Literature emphasize history as a subject matter in literature. ENG-109 World Lit in Translation and ENG-160 Multicultural Literature in America, as well as ENG-107 History in Drama and ENG-108 History and Literature, focus on world and multicultural literature. 

ENG-238 and ENG-240, offered yearly, are designated “core” courses because they are central to our conception of an English major. They introduce the student to basic literary and cultural history, to significant writers, works, and themes, and to useful critical modes. Students will be expected to participate in classroom discussion and write several short papers. These courses also serve as the foundation for more advanced literary study.

ENG-297 Intro to the Study of Literature is required of all literature majors, and it must be taken during the freshman or sophomore years. 

Intermediate Courses

Courses numbered 300-370 have the prerequisite of any one English literature course at Wabash. They are designed to complement and develop historical and cultural awareness, and the knowledge of authors, themes, topics, genres, modes, and critical approaches encountered in Introductory and Core courses. Students in Intermediate courses take initiative in class discussion, write several analytical papers, and become familiar with the use of secondary critical sources. Topics for Intermediate courses are generally repeated every two or three years.

Advanced (Seminar) Courses

Two sections of ENG-497 Seminar in English Lit are the two Advanced Courses offered every fall. These are seminars designed primarily for English majors (although occasionally English minors enroll in them). The topics vary depending upon the research and teaching interests of the faculty. They demand a high level of student involvement in research and discussion. Several short papers and a long critical essay are required. Note: the two seminars are only offered in the fall semester.

Student Learning Goals

To become careful readers who can comprehend, analyze, interpret, and evaluate literature, film, and non-traditional texts;

To practice reading and interpretive skills individually and as a community;

To deploy cultural theories when crafting and interpreting written text, music, and visual arts;

To approach writing as a recursive and collaborative process that includes drafting, revision, and feedback from peers and professor;

To articulate and support a central idea using appropriate evidence and clear structure;

To be responsive to the context and purpose of their writing;

To integrate sources;

To demonstrate facility with syntax, punctuation, and grammar;

To develop critical awareness of the necessity for careful, considered language across media in communicating with global and local communities and to develop the confidence and competence to contribute meaningfully to such dialogue;

To gain facility and familiarity with new technologies and tools for disseminating and analyzing multimodal discourse, to understand how emerging technologies are shaping the world and our interpretation of it, and to explore how these technologies can contribute to civic discourse by making the work of the humanist publicly visible;

To produce original literature that is of interest to readers beyond the classroom and to translate lived experience into written artifacts, including (but not limited to) poems, stories, and essays;

To reflect on identity and to know oneself better;

To identify and appreciate the varieties and differences in human experience;

To travel, whether physically and geographically, or via literary texts.

Requirements for the Major

There are two tracks for those majoring in English. Students may choose either Literature1 or Creative Writing.

Literature Track

Core Requirements3
One credit from the following:
Medieval & Renaissance Literature
Introduction to Shakespeare
English Literature 1660-1800
One credit from the following:
English Literature 1800-1900
Intro to English Literature After 1900
One credit from the following:
American Literature Before 1900
American Literature After 1900
African American Literature
Literature Studies1
Intro to the Study of Literature
Topical Studies2
Two credits from the following:
Studies in Historical Contexts
Studies in Literary Genres
Studies in Literary Modes
Studies in Special Topics
Studies in Individual Authors
Studies in Media: Literature & Film
Studies in Multicult/Nat'l Lit
Special Topics: Lit/Fine Arts
English Electives 22
Senior Seminar
ENG-497Seminar in English Lit1
Total Credits9
1

At least one of the nine required credits for the Literature track of the English major must be cross-listed with Black Studies or Hispanic Studies. 

2

ENG-101 does not count toward the English major. 

The core courses should give the major a broad understanding of English and American literary periods; the additional six courses should help him determine those critical approaches most appropriate to his literary interests.

At least one of the nine required credits for the Literature track of the English major must be cross-listed with Black Studies or Hispanic Studies. 

Creative Writing Track

ENG-110Intro to Creative Writing (or an additional Creative Writing workshop credit)1
Three Creative Writing workshop credits, including one credit at the 300-level and two credits at the 200-level or higher3
ENG-497Seminar in English Lit1
ENG-498Capstone Portfolio0.5
ENG-499Capstone Portfolio0.5
Three credits in literature 13
Total Credits9
1

The three literature courses must be at the 200 level or above; at least one must be a 200 level course and at least one must be at the 300 level.

Students in this track are encouraged, but not required, to take ENG-297 Intro to the Study of Literature.

The typical sequence for a student in the creative writing track would start with ENG-110 Intro to Creative Writing, the multi-genre course (in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction). That would be followed by a 200 level intermediate course in a single genre, then a 300 level advanced course in that same genre. As a senior, the student would take ENG-497 Seminar in English Lit and ENG-498 Capstone Portfolio/ENG-499 Capstone Portfolio (two half-credit courses, in which the student develops a portfolio of work in his chosen genre).

For Senior Comprehensive Exams, literature majors must pass two department examinations:

  1. an analysis of an unfamiliar text; and
  2. a two-part essay on their development as a literary critic, including an analysis of two formative texts.

Creative Writing majors must pass two departmental examinations:

  1. an analysis of an unfamiliar text; and
  2. a two-part essay on their development as a literary artist followed by the exploration of a question of literary craft or technique.

Majors with specific graduate school plans should discuss these with department members. Those who wish to continue work in English should be aware of foreign language requirements for graduate degrees, as well as the significant advantage of knowing the literature of another language. Courses in Classics, Religion, and the Arts would also be good preparation for advanced study in Literature, Language, or Creative Writing.

Requirements for the Minor

Five full-credit courses, not including ENG-101 Composition. Ordinarily students will choose to concentrate along one of the following lines, but a student may, by presenting a written proposal that receives departmental approval, construct an alternate minor that better suits his needs. These proposals need to be submitted by the end of the first semester of the student’s junior year.

Literature Track

Two core survey courses2
Three additional credits in literature, one of which should be 300 level or above3
Total Credits5

Creative Writing Track

Three credits in creative writing 13
Two credits in writing or literature2
Total Credits5
1

At least one of the creative writing courses should be at the advanced level.

English (ENG)

ENG-101 Composition

Multiple sections will be offered in the fall semester, each limited to 15 students. While instructors may use different approaches, all are concerned with developing every student's use of clear and appropriate English prose in course papers and on examinations. All instructors have the common goal of encouraging the student to write with accuracy of expression, as well as with logical and coherent organization. Students will be responsible for writing at least one in-class essay and a series of longer, out-of-class essays. Students are expected to develop an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses in their writing and to acquire the necessary skill to revise and rewrite what they thought were final drafts of essays. Past experience has shown the Department and the College that writing well in high school does not necessarily assure the same in college. Enrollment in this course is limited to those students required to take it. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-105 Intro to Poetry

This class will introduce you to the study of poetry through intensive reading and intensive written analysis. We will focus on close reading of a wide range of poems from a variety of historical periods, genres, and cultures. Through a study of image, symbol, diction, syntax, meter, rhythm, and sound, we will analyze the ways in which a poem creates meaning. Written analyses will emphasize the marriage of formal and thematic elements in particular poems.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

ENG-106 Intro to Short Fiction

This class has two goals: to introduce the study of short fiction through intensive reading, and to familiarize students with strategies and methodologies for writing about literature. In our readings, we will explore formal issues such as tone, structure, and symbolism as well as social issues such as sexuality, race and gender. This class focuses on ways of grappling with these big questions in writing, as literary scholars do.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

ENG-107 History in Drama

First, a brief review of how the general reader can become a critical reader of dramatic literature-and still find the experience delightful and enriching. Then, using Pirandello's Henry IV as a reminder of the challenges of plays about contemporary issues and personalities, we will discuss some works from the last sixty years that have addressed concerns of science and scientists. It may be just as interesting to discover that some dramatists have intriguing insights into this kind of subject as it is to realize that sometimes both humanists and scientists can speak the same language. Texts will include Brecht's Galileo, Kipphardt's In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer, as well as more recent efforts to present Heisenberg, Bohr, and Feynman.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-108 History and Literature

This introductory literature course focuses on the connections between history and literature. The instructor develops a specific topic that invites the exploration of these connections. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-109 World Lit in Translation

This course focuses on world literature translated into English. Topics vary by semester, but themes in the course include national identity, exile, colonialism, gender inequality, political and religious conflict, and globalization. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-110 Intro to Creative Writing

This is an introductory course in Creative Writing. ENG 110 will offer students an opportunity to read and write in several genres: fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. The course will focus on writing through the practice of various methods of generation used by established writers, designed to introduce students to issues of language, form, image, character, and structure. Students will also learn critical tools for assessing good writing and be introduced to the workshop model for discussing creative work. Students will acquire these tools through peer review, through close reading of contemporary texts, and through revision. The course is especially suited to students who would like to learn a variety of creative genres before committing themselves to genre-specific creative writing courses.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-121 Language Variation & Change

This continuation of ENG-122 (HUM-122, MLL-122) will deal with the social phenomena of language, including language acquisition, social and regional variation, and language change over time.
Prerequisites: ENG-122 or HUM-122 or MLL-122
Credits: 0.5
Distribution: Language Studies
Equated Courses: HUM-121

ENG-122 Modern Linguistics

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of linguistics, the theory and analysis of human language. The first half of the course will focus on structural aspects of language: speech sounds and sound systems, and the formation of words and sentences.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5
Distribution: Language Studies
Equated Courses: HUM-122

ENG-160 Multicultural Literature in America

The richness of American culture is a result of the contributions made by individuals from a variety of groups, each expanding our definition of what it means to be American. In this course we will study the writing and cultures of a number of groups, among them Native American, Hispanic, Gay, African American, European American, and Asian American. We will try to hear individual voices through a variety of literary forms (including film), while exploring commonalities.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-180 Special Topics

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-187 Independent Study

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-188 Independent Study

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-190 Topics in Writing Studies

This is an introductory course in Creative Writing. English 190 will offer students an opportunity to read and write in several genres: fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. The course will focus on writing through the practice of various methods of generation used by established writers, designed to introduce students to issues of language, form, image, character, and structure. Students will also learn critical tools for assessing good writing and be introduced to the workshop model for discussing creative work. Students will acquire these tools through peer review, through close reading of contemporary texts, and through revision. The course is especially suited to students who would like to learn a variety of creative genres before committing themselves to genre-specific creative writing courses. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-196 Religion and Literature

A study of religious themes and theological issues in literary works.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-202 Writing With Power and Grace

This class addresses one of the most important questions of higher education, and, indeed, of life: how to express yourself clearly and gracefully. The premise of this class is that writing well is a potent form of power and beauty. To achieve that goal, we'll study the major principles of grammar, style, and clarity. Although all are welcome, this class will be of particular interest to freshmen and sophomores who either did not take the Composition or would like further practice in writing. This course does not count toward the creative writing track of the English major. This course is offered in the fall and spring semesters.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-210 Spec Topics: Creative Writing

This course will build upon the creative principles in ENG 110. Because the course may be different every time it is taught, students may re-take the course for credit. Special Topics may cover a variety of genres such as screenwriting, novel writing, travel writing, writing the memoir, audio rhetoric, the long poem, etc. The course will have a strong work-shopping component. Course readings will help students gain an understanding of the contemporary aesthetic of the genre as well as provide direction about craft. Besides generating assignments, producing original work, and reading a variety of genre-specific texts, students will also be responsible for peer evaluation and critique. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-211 Creative Non-Fiction

This course in creative nonfiction will build upon the principles in ENG 110. The course will have a strong workshopping component and focus heavily on generating creative nonfiction and learning to read as writers. Usually a combination of an anthology and a book on the craft of creative nonfiction will comprise the required texts. Besides generating assignments, producing original essays, and reading a variety of texts, students will also be responsible for peer evaluation and critique.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-212 Creative Writing: Poetry

The intermediate course in poetry writing will build upon the principles in English 110. The course will have a strong workshopping component, starting early in the second week of instruction. The course will focus heavily on generating poetry and learning to read as writers. Usually a combination of an anthology and a book on the craft of writing poetry will comprise the required texts. Besides generating assignments, producing original workshopped poems, and reading a variety of texts, students will also be responsible for peer evaluation and critique. This will help hone their own aesthetic sense and provide the critical foundation necessary for the third tier of workshops.
Prerequisites: ENG-110 or permission of the instructor
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-213 Creative Writ: Short Fiction

The intermediate course in fiction writing will build upon the principles in English 110. The course will have a strong workshopping component, starting early in the second week of instruction. The course will focus heavily on generating fiction and learning to read as writers. Usually a combination of an anthology and a book on the craft of writing fiction will comprise the required texts. Besides generating assignments, producing original workshopped stories or chapters, and reading a variety of texts, students will also be responsible for peer evaluation and critique. This will help hone their own aesthetic sense and provide the critical foundation necessary for the third tier of workshops.
Prerequisites: ENG-110 or permission of the instructor
Credit: 1

ENG-234 Medieval & Renaissance Literature

The study of English literature from its beginnings to the end of the Renaissance. Readings will include Beowulf; selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; Elizabethan Poetry (including Book I of Spenser's The Faerie Queen); drama and prose; and Milton's Paradise Lost.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Equated Courses: ENG-215

ENG-235 Introduction to Shakespeare

A study of the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare. Analyzing Shakespeare's dramatic and poetic techniques, we will examine some of the comedies, histories, and tragedies of the greatest dramatist in English. We will also look at the plays' major themes, styles, and sources. This course also includes as a final assignment, work as a member of a team on the presentation of a scene from one of Shakespeare's plays.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: ENG-216

ENG-236 English Literature 1660-1800

This course examines works by some of the best-known poets, essayists, and novelists from the Restoration and 18th Century in Great Britain, including Dryden, Swift, Pope, Fielding, and Johnson. The responses of different authors to ongoing cultural conflicts will help structure our survey. Rhetorical techniques and the development of genres will be ongoing concerns. There will be special emphasis on the comedies of the time by Wycherly, Etherege, Behn, Congreve, Gay, Steele, and Sheridan, not only as texts for performance and reading, but also as objects the authors' contemporaries reviewed with vigor and used to construct theories about comedy and satire.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Equated Courses: ENG-217

ENG-237 English Literature 1800-1900

A study of the life and literature of the early and middle 19th century as reflected in the poetry, fiction, and essays of this period. Texts will vary from year to year but will be drawn from the works of major poets (Wordsworth, Keats, Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, and Hardy), novelists (Austen, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Eliot, and Hardy) and essayists (Wordsworth, Carlyle, Macaulay, Ruskin, Arnold, Huxley, and Pater).
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: ENG-218

ENG-238 Intro to English Literature After 1900

This course will introduce students to the major writers and literary trends of the British Isles after 1900. We will begin with the dawn of Modernism, after which we will trace important political, cultural, and aesthetic changes reflected in 20th and 21st century texts. How did the disintegration of the British Empire and two world wars affect British cultural identity? How was the clash between the rural and the urban reflected in the past century? We will focus on a variety of genres-fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama-and examine the experimentations with language and form in Modernism and Postmodernism, as well as representations of gender roles and race in selected texts by Joseph Conrad, Wilfred Owen, T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, George Orwell, Samuel Beckett, Doris Lessing, Eavan Boland, Muriel Spark, Angela Carter, and others.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: ENG-214

ENG-239 American Literature Before 1900

A survey of major writers and literary trends from the period of exploration to the Naturalists. We will study the forging of the American literary and social consciousness in the writings of the early explorers, through the Native American oral tradition, and in works by Bradstreet, Edwards, Franklin, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Jacobs, Melville, Douglass, Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, James, Crane, and Chopin. Guiding our study will be questions like "What is 'American' about American literature?" and "In what ways do myths generated by our formative literature continue to shape our personal and national identities?
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Equated Courses: ENG-219

ENG-240 American Literature After 1900

This survey introduces the writers and trends of our century, from realism and naturalism through modernism to the rich, fragmented energy of postmodernism and multiculturalism. Writers covered vary from year to year but may include Henry James, James Weldon Johnson, Edith Wharton, Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, William Carlos Williams, E. E. Cummings, Ernest Hemingway, Margery Latimer, William Faulkner, Langston Hughes, Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J. D. Salinger, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Amiri Baraka, John Barth, Raymond Carver, Galway Kinnell, Sharon Olds, Louise Erdrich, Sandra Cisneros, Toni Morrison, and Don DeLillo. This course is offered in the spring semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Equated Courses: ENG-220

ENG-241 African American Literature

This course will introduce students to the critical study of African American literature as a means of racial identity formation and political and philosophical articulation. Among other things, African American art, literature, music, and cinema reflect an attempt to grapple with issues of human psychology, justice, love, race, and democracy. The readings, videos, and recordings are meant to provide a source of material for examining what, if anything, African American literary producers have to say about what it means to be human, why and how race matters, the nature of justice, the efficacy of love, gender and class identities, and the possibility of creating a society of equals. Lastly, in-class discussions and out-of-class projects are meant to assists in skill development for (in the words of bell hooks) transgressive engagement with all texts and media.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

ENG-260 Multicultural Literatures

The course will introduce students to the history, methodology and major problems in black studies. This survey will explore the interdisciplinary nature of black studies scholarship and the challenges it presents to traditional academic models. The issue of the politicization of the academy and the relationship between black scholarship production and service to the black community will also be covered. The course will draw from a number of literary sources (Toni Morrison, Houston Barker, Henry Louis Gates), cultural theorists (bell hooks, Mark Anthony Neal, Cornel West) and historical works (Nell Painter, John H. Franklin, Alberto Raboteau.) This course will serve students interested in the study of the black experience. All majors are welcomed. Meets the Diversity Requirement for the PPE major.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-270 Special Topics: Lit/Fine Arts

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-287 Independent Study/Lang.

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-288 Independent Study

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-290 Topics in Writing Studies

This is an introduction to the study of language and psychological behavior. We will consider current issues in language and the mind, including the structure and processing of language, language acquisition in children, and how humans store and retrieve linguistic information. No previous experience in linguistics is necessary, although it would be helpful if the student has taken Introduction to Psychology. There will be weekly quizzes, a short paper, and a comprehensive final examination. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-296 Religion and Literature

A study of religious themes and theological issues in literary works.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-297 Intro to the Study of Literature

This course offers an introduction to English literature as a field of study, an overview of genres (poetry, fiction, drama), and literary terms, the practice of close reading, and the basic premises of literary criticism. The course also focuses on developing research skills within the field. It is designed to help majors or potential majors utilize vocabulary essential to a successful literary and/or cultural analysis, study examples of published essays in the discipline, and consider the aims of literary criticism. This is a writing-intensive class. We welcome all students who are thinking about majoring in English to take this course. All English majors taking the literature track are required to take this course, preferably during their freshman or sophomore years. Students taking the creative writing track are encouraged but not required to take this course. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

ENG-300 Studies in Historical Contexts

Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: One previous course in English at Wabash
Credit: 1

ENG-302 Writing in the Community:Grants/NonProf

In this course, students will partner with local nonprofit organizations to write grants and promotional materials (such as newspaper articles, website text, short video, pamphlets, etc.). Students will learn the fundamentals of grant writing, including how to tailor tone and content to specific audiences, the arts of brevity, concision, narrative persuasion, and grammatical/syntactical precision. This course includes a significant community engagement/service learning component, as students will work directly with Crawfordsville and Montgomery County nonprofit organizations.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-310 Studies in Literary Genres

Topics vary from semester to semester. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for Topics and Descriptions of current offerings. Students taking this course for credit toward the English major or minor must have taken at least one previous course in English or American literature. No more than one course taken outside the English Department will be counted toward the major or minor in English.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-311 Advanced Workshop in Creative Nonfiction

This course will build on the principles of ENG 211. It is primarily a work-shopping course, which will focus on generation and revision of original creative nonfiction, with an emphasis on producing polished, publishable work. Texts will include craft/theory books, anthologies and literary journals. The course will have a critical essay component, a close study of the craft of a particular writer or some formal question. Students will also be responsible for detailed peer critique at the advanced level.
Prerequisites: ENG-211
Credit: 1

ENG-312 Advanced Workshop in Poetry

This course will build on the principles of ENG 212. It is primarily a work-shopping course, with a critical essay component-close study of the craft of a particular writer or some formal question. Students will continue to read and study published work, such as the annual The Best American Poetry anthologies. Each version of the course will vary some in focus. For instance, one course might focus on postmodern poetics, while another might focus on narrative poetry and prose poetry. But students will not be bound by these emphases: they will be free to follow their own creative impulses as they write new poems and revise old ones.
Prerequisites: ENG-212
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-313 Advanced Workshop in Fiction

This course will build on the principles of ENG 213. It is primarily a work-shopping course, which will focus on generation and revision of original fiction, with an emphasis on producing polished, publishable work. Texts will include craft/theory books, anthologies and literary journals. The course will have a critical essay component, a close study of the craft of a particular writer or some formal question. Students will also be responsible for detailed peer critique at the advanced level. The professor may choose to focus the course further on one of the subgenres of fiction writing.
Prerequisites: ENG-213
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-314 Theory and Practice of Peer Tutoring

This course introduces students to composition and rhetoric theories, to theories behind peer tutoring, to the confluences and conflicts between the different theories, and to the, at times, obscured foundations of the different theories. After critically reviewing multiple theoretic approaches, the course shifts to the practice of peer tutoring and reconciling reality with theory when they start observing or conducting sessions in the Writing Center. As the course progresses, the focus shifts to mentoring writing, describing and teaching composition methods, and using grammar options as rhetorical tools. The course is required for all Writing Center Consultants, but it is open to English Majors and Minors and students in Education Studies. Students taking the course to work in the Writing Center will start conducting sessions towards the middle of the semester.
Prerequisites: FRT-101 and FRC-101
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies
Equated Courses: EDU-314

ENG-320 Studies in Literary Modes

This course explores the literature and culture of the United States in the early part of the twentieth century, with its overlapping milieu of high modernists, Harlem Renaissance writers, young bohemians, and political radicals. We will examine the profound redefinitions of the self catalyzed by the rise of psychology, rapid urbanization and mechanization, and the Great War, and we'll discuss the public's response to the varied artistic movements of the period, from Primitivism's allure to the impersonal promise of Futurism. From painting to film, from Gertrude Stein's Three Lives to Langston Hughes's poetry and Meridel Le Sueur's reportage, this course will examine a variety of texts that contributed to the literary experimentation and extraordinary achievement of the period. Other readings may include but are not limited to Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, Zona Gale's Miss Lulu Bett, T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Other Poems, Willa Cather's The Professor's House, Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time, William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Nella Larsen's Passing, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and poetry by Williams, Taggard, Stevens, Frost, Cummings, Moore, and Millay.
Prerequisites: One previous Wabash literature course
Credit: 1

ENG-330 Studies in Special Topics

In this course, we will focus on major Anglophone and Francophone authors writing in and about formerly colonized territories such as parts of the Caribbean, Senegal, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India, and Ireland. We will focus on gender roles and race in connection to the literary canon, and we will discuss a dialogue between the center of the empire (London) and the "margins" (British colonies). How did the authors describe conflicts between assimilation and resistance in the colonial and postcolonial milieu? How were the national, cultural, and individual identities affected by decades of foreign imperial presence? Can we trace any intersections between postmodern and postcolonial themes? To understand and enjoy the texts, we will also study the political context of European imperialism and the anti-imperial resistance, as well as the major premises of Neocolonialism, Postcolonialism, and Postmodernism.Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-340 Studies in Individual Authors

Topics vary from semester to semester.Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: One previous course in English at Wabash
Credit: 1

ENG-350 Studies in Media: Literature & Film

Is the novel always better than its film adaptation? After an introduction to the art of film and a theoretical consideration of the similarities and differences between fiction and film, we will compare four or five novels with their film adaptations. In recent years this course has focused on literature and film representing New York City, including an immersion trip to the City.
Prerequisites: One previous course in English at Wabash
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-360 Studies in Multicult/Nat'l Lit

Topics vary from semester to semester. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: One credit from English at Wabash.
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-370 Special Topics: Lit/Fine Arts

Topics vary from semester to semester. Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: One course credit in English Literature at Wabash
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-387 Independent Study/Lang Studies

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-388 Independent Study/Lit Fine Arts

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-390 Topics in Writing Studies

Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-410 Academic & Professional Writing

The goal of this course is for the student to gain greater awareness and control over his writing for a variety of academic and professional purposes. Students who wish to improve their college writing and those who plan to attend law or graduate school, teach, or write professionally would be well served by the course. We will focus in particular on clarity in writing, argumentative techniques, the demands of different genres, and developing a personal voice. Limited enrollment. This course is offered in the spring semester. Students may take either ENG-410 or ENG-411, but not both.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-411 Business & Technical Writing

The emphasis in this course will be on technical, business, and other forms of career-oriented writing. Topics include audience analysis, style analysis, grammar, punctuation, and research. Assignments adapted to fit the background and interests of each student include business correspondence, mechanism description, process description, formal proposal, magazine article, and formal report. Limited enrollment. Offered spring semesters. Students may take either ENG-410 or ENG-411, but not both.
Prerequisites: FRC-101, and junior or senior standing
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-487 Independent Study

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-488 Independent Study

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

ENG-497 Seminar in English Lit

These are seminars designed primarily for English majors (although occasionally English minors enroll in them). The topics vary depending upon the research and teaching interests of the faculty. They demand a high level of student involvement in research and discussion. Several short papers and a long critical essay are required. Note: the two seminars are offered only in the fall semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

ENG-498 Capstone Portfolio

In these two half-credit courses, the student writes and revises a portfolio of his work in a single genre. The portfolio should include the writer's best work, accompanied by an introductory aesthetic statement. During the first semester in 498, the student will meet in workshop with other senior writers in their chosen genre. In the second semester in 499, the writing concentrator will further develop and revise his portfolio, and give a reading of his work. The portfolio courses will provide workshops to help students in publication and in application to graduate programs. Readings in the courses will be varied; some will be guides for practical instruction, others will be theoretical or craft texts to help the student find formal coherence in his portfolio.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5
Distribution: Language Studies

ENG-499 Capstone Portfolio

In these two half-credit courses, the student writes and revises a portfolio of his work in a single genre. The portfolio should include the writer's best work, accompanied by an introductory aesthetic statement. During the first semester in 498, the student will meet in workshop with other senior writers in their chosen genre. In the second semester in 499, the writing concentrator will further develop and revise his portfolio, and give a reading of his work. The portfolio courses will provide workshops to help students in publication and in application to graduate programs. Readings in the courses will be varied; some will be guides for practical instruction, others will be theoretical or craft texts to help the student find formal coherence in his portfolio.
Prerequisites: ENG-311, 312, or 313
Credits: 0.5
Distribution: Language Studies

English Faculty

Crystal Benedicks

Eric Freeze

Zachery W Koppelmann

Timothy Lake

L. Jill Lamberton

Derek C Mong (chair)

Elan Justice Pavlinich

Agata Szczeszak-Brewer

Julian S Whitney