Randolph College » Academic Programs » English » Curriculum
English Curriculum
The major in English develops the student’s sensitivity to language and literature and enriches knowledge of the artistic imagination.
It exposes students to a broad range of literary works in their historical context and helps them develop skills in speaking, writing, and critical thinking.
Every English major, whether emphasizing creative writing or literature, should have:
- a knowledge of literary history—its construction, traditions, periods, schools, styles, and genres;
- some investigation of the creative process;
- an acquaintance with various ways of reading and understanding texts; and
- experience with both analytical and creative writing.
The English major offers excellent preparation for advanced work in graduate or professional school and for a wide array of options in business and industry.
Students considering graduate school in English should confer with their advisors to be sure they have planned an appropriate curriculum.
Since most graduate schools require at least one modern language and some require a classical language as well, the student should be proficient in at least one foreign language at the time of graduation.
There is only one major in the department: the English major. Students may choose to emphasize either creative writing or literature, but the department is firmly committed to the mutual support and dependence of the two emphases, both of which engage the student in reading, writing, and critical and creative thinking.
Every effort is made to insure that students who elect the one emphasis will both contribute to and learn from those who elect the other.
Course Offerings
Below is a list of available courses offered by the English Department. Consult the Registrar’s Office and the College Catalog for registration information.
ENGL 1111 - Reading Gender
"Why are there no great women writers?" Virginia Woolf pondered in 1929 in order to examine and challenge the historical and cultural constraints on women's creativity and artistic production. This course explores selected poetry, fiction, and essays by women who have written - brilliantly - in spite of, out of, and/or from within those constraints. Thematic topics may vary by semester (examples include "Women Writing Romance" and "Science/Fiction"). Emphasis on critical approaches to literature and the writing of literary analysis. Hours credit: 4.
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." Hours credit: 4. Alternate years.
ENGL 1113 - Introduction To Literature
Emphasis on critical approaches to literature and the writing of literary analysis. Topic changes from year to year. Hours credit: 4. May be repeated for credit when topic differs. Offered second semester.
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. Hours credit: 4. Alternate years
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. Hours credit: 4.
ENGL 1167 - Exploring Creative Writing
A 7-week introduction to creative process and the writing of poetry, short fiction, plays, or creative nonfiction. Taught by the current Randolph Writer in Residence. Hours credit: 1. First-year students have registration priority. Offered on a Pass/Fail basis only.
ENGL 2231 - Topics In Literature
The work in the course varies from year to year. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
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. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor.
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. Hours credit: 4.
ENGL 2255 - Reading Prose
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 Aristotle, Montaigne, Douglass, Hazlitt, and Woolf. Hours credit: 4.
ENGL 2256 - Reading Fiction
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. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: English 1161 or permission of the instructor.
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. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: ENGL 1161 or permission of the instructor. Alternate years.
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 workshopping of students' stories. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: English 1161 or permission of the instructor.
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.
ENGL 2273S - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 2274 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 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 examine periods such as the Restoration, types such as melodrama, and movements such as theatre of the absurd. Attendance at screenings and at live productions by the theatre department may be required. Representative authors may include Sophocles, Behn, Ibsen, Shaw, and O'Neill. Identical with Theatre 2276. Hours credit: 4.
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 Theatre 2277. Hours credit: 4.
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 Theatre 2279. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: ENGL 1161 or THTR 1142 or permission of the instructor. Alternate years.
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
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 2286 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 2287 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 2288 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 2288S - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 3333 - Literature Of The American South
A seminar-style, topically-arranged investigation of prose, poetry, and drama of the southern United States through selections from four centuries of Anglophone writing in the region. Topics, e.g. The African-American South, The Southern Renascence, Quintessential Faulkner, (Re)Constructions of the Old South, Belles and Ladies and Not, will vary. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor. Alternate years.
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 ancient and modern writers such as Virgil, Columbus, Equiano, Melville, Conrad, and Carson. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor. Alternate years.
ENGL 3341 - Author, Author!
The work in this course varies from year to year. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 3343 - Transatlantic Bronte
ENGL 3346 - Faulkner & Morrison
Arguably the greatest American novelists of the twentieth century, William Faulkner and Toni Morrison write from opposite ends of that period: he from the segregated South of pre-WWII, she from the empowered culture of post-civil rights and -feminist turmoil. Yet each has the same concern: depicting identity in a land of racial conflict. Provocative Pairings: The Sound and the Fury & The Bluest Eye; Absalom, Absalom! & Beloved; and Sanctuary & Jazz. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor. Rotating.
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. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor. Alternate years.
ENGL 3363 - Advanced Creative Writing
A workshop in the writing of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, or playwriting. Students may pursue the genre(s) of their choice. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: ENGL 1161R and two of the following: ENGL 2263; 2265; 2266; ENGL/THTR 2279; or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit up to a maximum of eight 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. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: 1100- or 2200-level literature course or permission of the instructor. Rotating
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 Creative Writing Program. English majors and creative writing minors have registration priority. May be repeated for credit.
ENGL 3373 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 3374 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 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 Arts 3378. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 3386 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 4. One time only.
ENGL 3388 - Engl One Time Only
Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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 25 pages. At the end of the semester, faculty and students will meet as a group to hear oral presentations of the students' work. Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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. Hours credit: 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.
THTR 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 examine periods such as the Restoration, types such as melodrama, and movements such as theatre of the absurd. Attendance at screenings and at live productions by the theatre department may be required. Representative authors may include Sophocles, Behn, Ibsen, Shaw, and O'Neill. Identical with English 2276. Hours credit: 4.
THTR 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 English 2277. Hours credit: 4.
THTR 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 English 2279. Hours credit: 4. Prerequisite: ENGL 1161 or THTR 1142 or permission of the instructor.
WRIT 1101 - English Composition I
Detailed instruction in language usage and writing techniques for students whose native language is not English. Students placed in WRIT 1101 are also required to take WRIT 1102. Hours credit: 4. By placement only.
WRIT 1102 - English Composition Ii
Detailed instruction in language usage and writing techniques for students whose native language is not English. Students placed in WRIT 1101 are also required to take WRIT 1102. Hours credit: 4. By placement only.
WRIT 1103 - Writing In College
WRIT 1103 is an introduction to writing at the college level, with attention to using English correctly and effectively, thinking analytically, identifying audiences, finding and evaluating source materials, developing an arguable thesis and supporting it with evidence, and using disciplinary conventions for citation and documentation. Guided practice in generating, revising, and editing drafts of essays. Hours credit: 4. This course cannot be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.
WRIT 1104 - Writing In College
WRIT 1104 is an introduction to writing at the college level, with attention to using English correctly and effectively, thinking analytically, identifying audiences, and developing an arguable thesis and supporting it with evidence. Guided practice in generating, revising, and editing drafts of essays. This course is offered to student who are accepted into the STAR program. Hours: 4. This course cannot be taken on a pass/fail basis.
WRIT 1105 - Writing In College
This is a continuation of WRIT 1104, addressing writing at the college level, with attention to developing an arguable thesis and supporting it with evidence, and using disciplinary conventions for citation and documentation. Guided practice in generating, revising, and editing drafts of research essays. This course is offered to student who are accepted into the STAR program Hours: 1. This course cannot be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.