ENGL 1111 - Reading Gender

Literature both expresses and explores identity, of which gender is an essential component. This course considers the ways that historical and cultural notions of gender shape literary narratives, as well as the ways that notions of gender operate to constrain and/or liberate literary creativity. Thematic topics vary; recent iterations include "US Women Regionalists," "Science/Fiction," and "Sanity and Spaces." Emphasis on critical approaches and the writing of textual analysis. Credit hours: 4. (AE, CI, WI)

ENGL 1112 - Sports Literature

Walt Whitman said of baseball, it "belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly as our constitutions." This course examines sports as subject for both analytical and imaginative writing. Students read works that present an American identity through sport, the tension between being self-reliant and playing for the team; or, as Whitman would have it, "the snap, go, fling of the American atmosphere." Credit hours: 4. (AE,WI)

ENGL 1113 - Introduction To Literature

The topic varies by session. Credit hours: 4. May be repeated for credit when topic differs. (AE)

ENGL 1140 - Reading Race

Literature both expresses and explores identity, of which race is an essential component. This course considers the ways that historical and cultural notions of race shape literary narratives, as well as the ways that notions of race operate to constrain and/or liberate literary creativity. Thematic topics vary. Emphasis on critical approaches and the writing of textual analysis. Credit hours: 4. (CI, HE, WI)

ENGL 1142 - F. Scott & Zelda

How did a disorganized college student become a world-class novelist? This course traces the development of F. Scott Fitzgerald's art through the wide range of his writing, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Attention will be given to his collaboration and competition with Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, as well as to relevant cultural phenomena such as media celebrity and the rise of Hollywood. Credit hours: 4. (AE,WI)

ENGL 1161 - Introduction To Creative Writing

The writing of poetry, fiction, and plays, focusing upon group discussion of student work. The work of modern and contemporary authors will be used as models for discussions of theme, theory, and technique. Credit hours: 4. (AE, WI)

ENGL 1167 - Exploring Creative Writing

An introduction to creative process and the writing of poetry, short fiction, plays, or creative nonfiction. Taught by the current Randolph Writer in Residence. Credit hours: 1. First-year students have registration priority. Offered on a Pass/Fail basis only.

ENGL 2210 - Multicultural Children's Literature

A survey of multicultural children's literature. The course includes various authors and illustrators in such genres as the oral tradition, fantasy, realistic and historical fiction, poetry, and picture books. Special emphasis is given to teaching from a culturally relevant perspective and creating a diverse classroom library that includes authors and characters who are Black, Indigenous and people of color; women; LGBTQ+; and from a range of religious and cultural backgrounds. Reading and writing strategies will be incorporated related to text selection and the importance of using a wide variety of reading options in the classroom. Identical with EDUC 2210. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: sophomore standing or permission of instructor. Offered Spring, Session 4. (CI)

ENGL 2231 - Topics In Literature

The work in the course varies from year to year. Credit hours: 4.

ENGL 2238 - Prostitute In Literature

The prostitute, the whore, the fallen woman, the sexually voracious woman, call her what you will, populates the literary landscape. She is a central figure in cultural debates about sexuality, about the role of women in public markets (both literal and authorial), and about the relationship between romance and fiction. Credit hours: 4

ENGL 2253 - Reading Poetry

A study of lyric, narrative, and dramatic verse. Students will discover meaning by examining the formal properties of poetry, including meter, diction, imagery, and tone. Readings will include a range of genres such as epic, elegy, pastoral, and ode. Representative authors may include Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth, Whitman, and Dickinson. Credit hours: 4. (AE)

ENGL 2255 - Reading Nonfiction

A study of non-fiction prose, including autobiography, intellectual essay, reportage, criticism, and literary theory. Students will investigate the boundaries of critical thinking and creative imagination; of fact, fiction, and truth. Representative authors may include Montaigne, Douglass, Thoreau, Woolf, and Welty. Credit hours: 4. (AE)

ENGL 2256 - Reading Fiction

Theory and scientific research is used to advance an interactive perspective on reading and writing that lays the foundation for the assessment and instruction process. Through discussion of the component skills and strategies required to succeed in reading and writing teacher candidates make informed decisions in planning instruction based on informal and formal assessments and aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning and national standards. This course requires fieldwork in an elementary classroom. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: EDUC 1101 or EDUC 1108 and sophomore standing. Offered Spring, Session 3.

ENGL 2263 - Writing Poetry

Intensive work in the writing of poetry. Reading of theory along with examples from contemporary poets as models. Primary focus on the workshopping of students' poems. Credit hours: 4. (AE, WI)

ENGL 2265 - Writing Creative Nonfiction

Intensive work in the writing of creative nonfiction. Reading of theory along with examples from contemporary writers as models. Primary focus on the workshopping of students' essays. Credit hours: 4. (AE, WI)

ENGL 2266 - Writing Fiction

Intensive work in the writing of fiction. Reading of theory along with examples from contemporary fiction writers as models. Primary focus on the workshopping of students' stories. Credit hours: 4. (AE, WI)

ENGL 2268 - Professional Editing

Hands-on experience with professional editing, including proofreading; developmental, line, and copy editing; and other skills applicable to book publishing, literary and trade publications, online content editing, and more. Through work on Hail, Muse, Etc.!, students learn the basics of producing a literary magazine, developing aesthetic judgment and the skills necessary for editorial and production responsibilities. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: any ENGL course. (WI)

ENGL 2273S - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 2274 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4.0. Prerequisite: ENGL 1103, ENGL 1113, or permission of the department. One time only.

ENGL 2276 - Reading Drama

A study of tragedy, comedy, and other varieties of works for the theatre, with attention given to historical and social context. Students will consider the elements and structure of drama (character, plot, dialogue, setting, casting, etc,) and the material practices of theatre and theatre-going. Attendance at screenings and at live productions by the theatre department may be required. Representative authors may include Sophocles, Ibsen, Williams, Miller, and Hansberry. Identical with THTR 2276. Credit hours: 4. (AE, WI)

ENGL 2277 - Shakespeare

An introductory course dealing with the principles of Renaissance stagecraft, the nature of performance, the construction and themes of the plays, and the concept of genre or type. Representative plays in all genres from throughout Shakespeare's career. Identical with THTR 2277. Credit hours: 4. (AE, WI)

ENGL 2279 - Writing Plays

In this course, students learn how to structure a scene, how to structure a play, how to create, hold, and release the tension of a dramatic moment through taut and convincing dialogue, how to create characters that an audience will identify with and care about. Through the reading of modern and contemporary plays, both short and full length, students will study the ways that highly accomplished playwrights solve the problems presented by a variety of dramatic situations, and will begin to implement into their own scenes and plays the elements of the craft that they discover. Identical with THTR 2279. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: THTR 1142 or permission of instructor. Alternate years. (AE, WI)

ENGL 2280 - Scifi Fantasy Classical Tradition

This course explores how the genres of speculative fiction draw on and departs from ancient Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, myth, history, and art: in other words, how sci-fi and fantasy both transmit and transmute ancient materials and form deep wells of receptions of the ancient world. Students will focus on themes of perennial human significance (e.g., the uses of history, technology, fantastic voyages, metamorphosis, knowledge/wonder, and so on) in books, comics, films, television, and more. Identical with CLAS 2280. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: CLAS 1132 or permission of instructor.

ENGL 2285 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 2286 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 2287 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 2288 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 2288S - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 3333 - Literature Of The American South

ENGL 3336 - Inspired By The Sea

An exploration of the maritime imagination that proceeds from the sea as setting, subject, and figure to transnational notions of "sea consciousness" that challenge traditions of geopolitical "mapping" in literary and cultural studies. Texts will be selected from a range of writers such as Equiano, Dana, Melville, Jewett, Conrad, Carson, Junger, Walcott, and Trethewey. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature coruse or permission of instructor. (AE)

ENGL 3343 - Transatlantic Bronte

A study of the techniques for diagnosing elementary, middle, and high school students with reading difficulties, causes of reading problems, evaluation and instruction of frequently used tests and inventories including group and individual, ideas for integrating literature/writing into content area curriculum based on Virginia Standards of Learning, and techniques for improving reading/writing achievement of students of all ability levels. Hours credit: 2. Prerequisite: acceptance to the Program or permission of the instructor. Corequisite: EDUC 5517P.

ENGL 3357 - Radical Turns

Just before the turns of the 19th and 20th centuries, the vogues of Gothicism and Naturalism, respectively, featured radical imaginations that shocked readers and redefined the terms of literature. Works by British and U.S. writers will provide a study of the phenomenon of creative extremity, as well as its influence and enduring power. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of instructor. Alternate years. (AE)

ENGL 3363 - Advanced Creative Writing

A workshop in the writing of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and/or playwriting. Students may pursue the genre(s) of their choice. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: Two of the following: ENGL 1161, ENGL 2263, ENGL 2265, ENGL 2266, ENGL/THTR 2279; or permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit up to a maximum of twelve hours.

ENGL 3364 - Feminist Literary Theory

This course provides an introduction to feminist literary criticism/theory. It also examines the ways that this strand of criticism overlaps, influences, and expands other fields of literary criticisms, including (among others) Marxist theory, queer theory, cultural studies, post-colonial theory, psychoanalytic theory, and new historicism. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of instructor.

ENGL 3367 - Pearl S Buck Workshop

An advanced creative writing workshop with varying topics and taught in conjunction with the current Pearl S. Buck Writer in Residence. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: One 2200-level creative writing course (2263, 2265, 2266, or 2279 and/or permission of the Coordinator of the Visiting Writers Series. English majors and minors have registration priority. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 3373 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 3374 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 3378 - Gender In Renaissance Art & Literature

This course seeks to understand, analyze, and interpret representations of gender and sex within Renaissance art and literature (in both England and Italy). Using contemporary texts when possible and readings from the disciplines of literature, social history, feminist theory, and art historical texts, the course aims for a fuller assessment of gendered Renaissance life as it pertains to art and literature. Identical with ARTH 3378. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. (CI, HE)

ENGL 3386 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 3388 - Engl One Time Only

Credit hours: 4. One time only.

ENGL 3390 - Independent Study

ENGL 4490 - Independent Study

ENGL 4493 - Senior Seminar

A course designed to help develop critical perspectives in literature. The aim is to increase understanding of such key concepts as genre, period, school, and critical approach. The course will require both essays and oral presentations. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: permission of the Department.

ENGL 4494 - Senior Paper

Each student will work closely with a faculty supervisor to prepare a major paper of about 15-20 pages. At the end of the session, faculty and students will meet as a group to hear oral presentations of the students' work. Credit hours: 4. Prerequisite: ENGL 4493 and permission of the Department

ENGL 4497H - Honors In The Major

ENGL 4498H - Honors In The Major

ENGL 5588 - Independent Study

In this variable credit course, a student undertakes a creative or critical project to fulfill specific, individualized learning objectives. Credit hours: 1-6. Prerequisite: permission of instructor and MFA Director.

ENGL 5591 - Additional Residency

The residency course is for students who are not taking a full semester of workshop after the residency but who desire to attend residency and participate in lectures, readings, conversations, and other aspects of residency. This additional course is not required for the program and may only be taken with permission. Credit hours: 1.

ENGL 6601 - Poetry Workshop

This poetry workshop introduces students to graduate-level poetry writing, reading, and practical criticism. The semester begins with a ten-day residency of lectures, discussions, panels, workshops, and readings. Students finish the residency with an individualized study plan for a semester of reading deeply, writing creatively, and revising intentionally, all under the one-on-one guidance of a faculty mentor. Credit hours: 15. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 6603 - Fiction Workshop I

This fiction workshop introduces students to graduate-level fiction writing, reading, and practical criticism. The semester begins with a ten-day residency of lectures, discussions, panels, workshops, and readings. Students finish the residency with an individualized study plan for a semester of reading deeply, writing creatively, and revising intentionally, all under the one-on-one guidance of a faculty mentor. Credit hours: 15. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 6605 - Nonfiction Workshop I

This nonfiction workshop introduces students to graduate-level literary nonfiction writing, reading, and practical criticism. The semester begins with a ten-day residency of lectures, discussions, panels, workshops, and readings. Students finish the residency with an individualized study plan for a semester of reading deeply, writing creatively, and revising intentionally, all under the one-on-one guidance of a faculty mentor. Credit hours: 15. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 6641 - Poetry Workshop Ii

This second workshop builds upon the student's progress in the first poetry workshop, deepening their understanding and experience of craft, criticism, research, revision, voice, and imagery. As in the first workshop, the semester begins with a ten-day, preparatory residency and continues with one-on-one mentorship. This second semester adds the additional requirement of regular peer workshopping and explorations in contemporary publishing. Credit hours: 15. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 6643 - Fiction Workshop Ii

This second workshop builds upon the student's progress in the first fiction workshop, deepening their understanding and experience of craft, criticism, research, revision, voice, and imagery. As in the first workshop, the semester begins with a ten-day, preparatory residency and continues with one-on-one mentorship. This second semester adds the additional requirement of regular peer workshopping and explorations in contemporary publishing. Credit hours: 15. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 6645 - Nonfiction Workshop Ii

This second workshop builds upon the student's progress in the first nonfiction workshop, deepening their understanding and experience of craft, criticism, research, revision, voice, and imagery. As in the first workshop, the semester begins with a ten-day, preparatory residency and continues with one-on-one mentorship. This second semester adds the additional requirement of regular peer workshopping and explorations in contemporary publishing. Credit hours: 15. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 6670 - Creative Writing Iii & Applied Criticism

The applied criticism semester builds upon the previous genre workshops, requiring an initial residency session and regular creative writing, reading, and workshopping with one-on-one mentorship. The major project of the third semester is the completion of a substantial essay incorporating applied criticism and craft analysis, as well as theory, publishing, translation, literacy, and/or pedagogy. Credit hours: 15.

ENGL 6690 - Thesis Workshop

The thesis workshop semester begins with a preparatory residency and continues with a full semester of work on the MFA thesis: the completion of a book-length work of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. In the event that the thesis shows progress but would benefit from additional work, the thesis workshop may be repeated up to three times for credit. Credit hours: 14. May be repeated for credit.

ENGL 6691 - Residency

The thesis residency is taken after the completion of all other coursework in the program. During this final residency students present a public reading of their work and a craft lecture, defend their thesis, engage with industry professionals, shape their post-MFA plans, and graduate from the program. Credit hours: 1.