What courses are good for first year students?
Welcome to CWRU! The Department of English offers a number of courses that freshman can take that
are useful to students throughout their college careers.
 We teach new students attentive reading, the art of discussion, and, in a new course, public
speaking.
 Classes in our department offer new perspectives, broadening our views through the work of
novelists, poets, journalists, and film-makers.
 In classes like journalism and creative writing, students themselves interview the world—
discovering how to pay attention, how to present, making others see as they do.
The department of English also sponsors a series of speakers, workshops, and panel discussions which we
list on this homepage. If you would like to receive advance notice of events, please send your email to
sxd290@case.edu and we’ll add you to our notification list.
Offered in Fall, 2012, these classes have no prerequisite (although several have a corequisite):
ENGL 155
Introduction to Rhetoric and Public Speaking
`
Doll
MW
9:00—10:15
In this course you will learn how to develop and deliver different kinds of speeches, becoming familiar with theories of
rhetoric and with the arts and skills of delivering oral presentations. The assignments will
a) Introduce you to the traditions and core principles of "canons of rhetoric," from Aristotle's Rhetoric to Cicero to Kenneth
Burke
b) Sharpen your public speaking skills, but also your research and writing and
c) Give you opportunities to practice several different types of speeches, both as a speaker and as a professional speechwriter
would for a client in business or politics.
ENGL 200
Literature in English
MWF 3:00—3:50
Staff
This course introduces students to the reading of literature in the English language. Through close attention to the
practice of reading, students are invited to consider some of the characteristic forms and functions imaginative literature has
taken, together with some of the changes that have taken place in what and how readers read. Recommended preparation:
Concurrent enrollment in ENGL 150 or USFS 100.
ENGL 204
Introduction to Journalism
Sheeler
MW 9:00-10:15
Students will learn the basics of reporting and writing news stories, but also the traditions behind the craft and the evolving
role of journalism in society. Instruction will include interviewing skills, fact-checking, word choice and story structure—all
framed by guidance on making ethically sound decisions. Assignments could include stories from a variety of beats (business,
entertainment, government, science), along with deadline stories and breaking news Web updates, profiles and obituaries.
ENGL 257A
The Novel
Stonum
MWF 2:00—2:50
How most rewardingly to enjoy, discuss, and write about narrative fiction. The reading list will consist of six or seven
literary novels from the 1800s to the 2000s, including as wide as possible a variety of styles, themes, and techniques. Anchoring
the list will be McEwan's Atonement, Pyncheon's Crying of Lot 49, and Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Other candidates to be drawn
from such as Jane Eyre, The Secret Agent, The Turn of the Screw, The Age of Innocence, Their Eyes Were Watching God,
Passage to India, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
Writing requirements: two short (5-page) analytic essays, discussion questions for at least two novels, and
contributions to a course blog.
Current and prospective English majors obviously welcome, but the class is meant for anyone who likes to read.
ENGL 367/467
Introduction to Film
Spadoni
TTh 10:00 to 11:15 (class)
T 7:00to 9:30 (film viewing)
An introduction to the art of film. Each week we take an element of film form (editing, cinematography, sound, etc.)
and ask how filmmakers work with this element to produce effects. Most weeks we’ll also screen a whole film and discuss it in
light of the week’s focus. Films to be screened include masterworks of the silent era, foreign films, Hollywood studio-era
classics, and more recent US cinema. Students write two essays (5-6 and 8-10 pages) and take a scheduled quiz, a midterm, and a
final exam. Grad students write a longer second essay and, in connection with this, submit a proposal and bibliography.
Spring 2013: After you’ve taken a 100 level first year seminar, many English classes are open to
you—science fiction, Shakespeare, children’s literature, horror films, poetry writing, medical writing,
minority literature. Two classes this semester (ENGL 365N and ENGL 366G) fulfill the Global and
Cultural Diversity requirement. Other spring offerings are:
ENGL 203. Introduction to Creative Writing. 3 Units.
ENGL 217B. Writing for the Health Professions. 3 Units.
ENGL 257B. Poetry. 3 Units.
ENGL 290. Masterpieces of Continental Fiction. 3 Units.
ENGL 300. English Literature to 1800. 3 Units.
ENGL 302. English Literature since 1800. 3 Units.
ENGL 309. Topics in Journalism. 3 Units.
ENGL 324. Shakespeare: Histories and Tragedies. 3 Units.
ENGL 328. Studies in the Eighteenth Century. 3 Units.
ENGL 341. Rhetoric of Science and Medicine. 3 Units.
ENGL 360. Studies in American Literature. 3 Units.—Hemingway/Fitzgerald/Faulkner in Spring 2013
ENGL 365N. Topics in African-American Literature. 3 Units.
ENGL 366G. Minority Literatures. 3 Units.—Native American/Hispanic American Literature in Spring 2013
ENGL 367. Intro to Film. 3 units.
ENGL 368C. Topics in Film. 3 Units.—Horror Films in Spring 2013
ENGL 369. Children's Literature. 3 Units.
ENGL 376. Studies in Genre. 3 Units.—Fantasy & Science Fiction in Spring 2013
A few further notes about putting together a schedule:
The Office of Undergraduate Studies provides templates for building a schedule, depending on your
major. You will notice that the template for English majors is pretty open. That is because our major
does not require the kind of sequencing of courses that is required for engineers, for example. For further
information about the English major and related minors, click on
http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/Undergrad/requirements.html.