Graduate English Course Descriptions
Spring 2015
ENG 5301.251: Literary Scholarship
T 6:30-9:20 pm; FH G04
#31289
Instructor: Rebecca Bell-Metereau
Description: Current approaches to literature, readings strategies and artistic techniques
and conventions, research tools. Focus will be on verbal and visual textual analysis.
Goals: English 5301 will refine your skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and
conducting research. You will have your own choice of specific research topics, but the
kinds of papers required are intended to emphasize a variety of theoretical, research, and
rhetorical skills. This section emphasizes your own creativity, individual voice, computer
literacy, media literacy, and critical thinking skills. Your full participation is an essential
part of the course dynamics and content, and therefore attendance is very important.
Format: Open discussion, student presentations, individual and group work, highly
interactive
Texts: Blade Runner (film), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Phillip Dick, Alice
in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, Dreamchild (video), Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad,
editor Ross C. Murfin, 2nd ed.) Apocalypse Now (video), Hearts of Darkness (video
documentary in class), Orlando, Virginia Woolf (book and film), A New Handbook of
Literary Terms, David Mikics
Attendance: Regular attendance is extremely important; homework and in-class writing
may not be made up without a written medical excuse for absence.
Evaluation: Based on the following: Proposal for presentation & research essay = 20%;
8-10 pp. Research essay = 30%; Weekly responses = 30%; Presentation to the class =
20%. Presentation must include some use of technology or a form of media analysis
(film, television, website, etc.)
ENG 5302.251 Media Studies
Topic: Black on Film
F 12:30-3:20 pm; FH G06B
#35600
Instructor: Kathleen McClancy
Description: From Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 blackface version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin to
2013’s Academy Award-winning Twelve Years a Slave, American film has had a
troubled relationship with what Du Bois called “the problem of the color-line”. This
course will analyze the representation of African-Americans in American film. We will
look at both Hollywood and independent film as well as films made by both black and
non-black directors. We will consider what appears in the frame as well as what happens
off-screen, investigating the role of black actors and filmmakers in the American film
industry throughout the history of the medium.
Goals: To familiarize students with critical and theoretical approaches to the analysis of
film; to examine the creation and transformation of American racial stereotypes and
explore the history of the representation of African-Americans in US film; to investigate
the role of mass media in shaping American culture.
Texts: Various critical readings. Films may or may not include The Birth of a Nation
(1915), Within Our Gates (1920), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), In the Heat of
the Night (1967), Bamboozled (2000), Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), Dead
Presidents (1995), Glory (1989), Imitation of Life (1934), Boyz n the Hood (1991), New
Jack City (1991), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Shaft (1971), I Can Do Bad All by Myself
(2009), Django Unchained (2012), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Home of the Brave
(1949).
Format: Discussion
Evaluation: Participation, weekly responses, an article-length paper project that will
develop over the semester.
Office: FH M24
Email: krm141@txstate.edu
ENG 5310.251 Computers and Writing
T 6:30-9:20 pm; FH 114
#38700
Instructor: Deb Balzhiser
Description: What is a book? What is a website? What is a status update? How are these
and other texts “continuously generated” effects of communication technology, culture,
and communication practices? How are you an effect of technology, culture, and
communication practices? This semester we will explore such questions by situating
ourselves within a historical framework in the discipline of computers and writing.
During the semester, we will look at the interrelationships of computers/technology,
writing/communication, and social/culture. From our historical grounding, we will
explore the effects that emerge when texts, media, culture, and individuals meet. During
the semester, you will create both print and mediated texts, exploring and experimenting
with different media as assigned and as you choose. You will learn to examine the issues
critically, socially, politically, epistemologically, pragmatically, and creatively. Students
will also explore, speculate, and experiment with textuality and multiple media: You will
think and do in this class. Some of the work may lead to planned conference
presentations or publications.
Goals: This course is designed for students to be able to meet some of the objectives for
the MATC program: Students will demonstrate graduate-level writing and editing.
Students will demonstrate a graduate-level understanding of key scholarship and
research, history, current issues, and cultural matters in technical communication [as it
relates to computers and writing]. Students will demonstrate [to some degree] a graduatelevel ability to connect theory with practice in one or both of the following ways: (1)
creating effective documents in technical communication genres, (2) performing
proficiently in the use of software technology. This course is designed for students to be
able to meet some of the objectives for the MARC program: Students will demonstrate a
graduate-level understanding of contemporary composition theory, such as core issues,
debates, research, history, ethics, and technology. Students will demonstrate a graduate-
level understanding of larger disciplinary issues surrounding writing (for example, the
myriad theoretical, pedagogical, and research implications of the “social turn” in writing,
and the role of theory or theorizing in the field), not just about the teaching of writing.
Format: Seminar, activities based on readings and concepts, and presentations and
discussions of texts.
Evaluation: Annotated bibliography (10%), literature review (10%), blog (10%), three
mediated texts (10% + 15% + 20%), seminar text (25%).
Texts: I’m redesigning a large portion of this course, so I’m still deciding on texts. As of
now the contenders are Jay David Bolter’s Writing Space (2nd edition); George P.
Landow’s Hypertext 3.0, Gunther Kress’s Literacy in the New Media Age, James Inman’s
Computers and Writing: They Cyborg Era, Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy (30th
Anniversary Edition), Michael Mandiberg's (Ed.) The Social Media Reader, Lister,
Dovey, Giddings, Grant, and Kelly’s New Media: A Critical Introduction (2nd edition),
and other materials as assigned. We will not use all of these.
Spring 2014 Office Hours: The Writing Center—ASBN 101A Tuesdays 3-6
Email: dbalzhiser@txstate.edu
ENG 5312.251: Editing the Professional Publication
T&Th 3:30 pm-4:50 pm; Brazos Hall 218
#35604
Instructor: William Jensen
Description: This course provides students the opportunity to write, select, and edit
material for publication. Students will work as part of an editorial team on all stages of
the publication process. They will learn how to write and revise book reviews of
publishable quality. They will correspond with authors, evaluate submissions, and learn
the daily operations of two print journals: Texas Books in Review, which monitors the
literary production of books from or about Texas, and Southwestern American Literature,
which showcases contemporary writing and scholarship concerning the Greater
Southwest. This course also offers practical experience working with desktop publishing
software (Adobe InDesign/Photoshop).
Goals: Students will read and vote on submissions to Southwestern American Literature,
line edit selected works, and write two book reviews. With hands on experience, the
students will gain a deeper understanding of what is required to work for a publication.
Books: No books are required, but it is advised that each student owns a copy of The
Chicago Manual of Style. Other reading assignments will be handed out in class or posted
on TRACS.
Format: Primarily discussion, with brief various projects.
Evaluation: This is a pass/fail course
Email: wj13@txstate.edu
Office: Brazos 220 Office hours: TH 2:00pm-3:30pm, and by appointment
ENG 5312.252: Editing the Professional Publication
M 6:30-9:20pm; AVRY 351/Hybrid
Meets: 01/26, 02/02, 04/27, 05/04 in San Marcos.
#35605
Instructor: Miriam Williams
Description: This course is an internship in which students will practice writing, editing,
designing, and proofreading a professional publication.
Goals: The goals of the course are to give students the opportunity to:




participate in an applied learning experience,
provide a useful service to others while gaining professional technical
communication experience,
create documents in a professional workplace setting, and
create print and/or online documents for personal and MATC exam portfolios.
Required Books: Students will be assigned weekly readings from scholarly journal
articles. Also, students will be assigned readings from E-reserved book chapters.
Format: Hybrid course: Meets 01/26, 02/02, 04/27, 05/04 in Flowers 114. All other
meetings are held in Adobe Connect’s online classroom environment
Evaluation: Class Participation (Individual Assessment) = 20 percent
Midterm Progress Report (Individual Assessment) = 20 percent
Content Editing Project (Group Assessment) = 30 percent
Recommendation Report (Group Assessment) = 20 percent
Final Presentation to Client (Group Assessment) =10 percent
For more information: Contact Dr. Miriam F. Williams at mfw@txstate.edu.
ENG 5312.253: Editing the Professional Publication
Front Porch/MFA Literary Journal
F 8:00am-10:50am; FH 376
#35606
Instructor: Steve Wilson
ENG 5313.251 Scientific and Medical Communication
W 6:30-9:20pm; FH G13
#33625
Instructor: Dr. Scott A. Mogull
Description: In this course, students will learn to write scientific and medical journal
articles and conference presentations from a medical writer perspective. This course is
designed for technical communication majors and does not require any specialized
scientific or medical knowledge. (However, students should have an interest in learning
scientific and medical content so that they can write about it.)
Specific Objectives:
 Writing and editing of scientific communication research articles,

Using of software technology effectively to locate scientific articles; to create
publication-quality manuscripts, graphs, and tables; and to create scientific
posters, and
 Understanding current and ethical issues in scientific and medical communication.
Goals: Upon successful completion of the course, students will be qualified to be an
entry-level medical writer in academia (such as research labs), government (such as the
CDC), or industry (such as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical engineering
settings).
Required Texts/Readings:
 Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps (2nd ed.) by Cargill &
O'Connor. Wiley-Blackwell ISBN: 978-1-1185-7070-8.
 Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) by APA
Additional articles and book chapters will be assigned.
Format: The general course format includes lecture/seminar and workshop. It will
combine mini-lectures on background reading information by the instructor, class
discussion, and hands-on practice.
Evaluation: Anticipated course assignments (and approximate weight) included:




Literature search for scientific/medical journal articles (10%)
Writing/editing Introduction section of a scientific/medical article (20%)
Writing/editing Methods section of a scientific/medical article (10%)
Writing/editing Results & Discussion sections of a scientific/medical article
(20%)
 Scientific poster & presentation (Final Project) (25%)
 Quizzes: 4 at 5 pts/ea (lowest grade dropped) (15%)
NOTE: Assignments and evaluation criteria are subject to change.
Contact: Email: mogull@txstate.edu
Office & Office Hours (Fall 2014): FH 131 W 3:30–5:30 pm
ENG 5314.251: Specialization in Technical Communication
Topic: Writing for Publication
T 6:30-9:20pm; AVRY Hall 367/Hybrid course
Meets face-to-face: 1/20, 2/10, 3/10, 4/7, 4/28
#31290
Instructor: Libby Allison
Description: Because of the multidisciplinary nature of Technical Communication, a
wide-range of publication opportunities exists including in academic journals, trade
publications, popular magazines, on websites, and in e-publications. This Writing for
Publication course will introduce students to the professional publication world and
provide an opportunity for students to refine their written works to be submitted for
publication. We will study topics such as the difference between academic and popular
publishing; what peer-review means; the process of developing a manuscript into a
publication; if and how to use the same data for academic and popular publications; and
what the digital revolution means for the future of publishing. Students are encouraged to
bring a piece of writing from their graduate coursework and/or from their admission
portfolio that can be revised for publication. During the semester, class time will be
allotted for workshops to revise students’ written pieces for publication.
Goals: To introduce students to the publishing world, to demystify the publishing
process, and to help students revise their written work for publication.
Required Books
 Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition. University of Chicago Press, 2010.
 Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing
Success, by Wendy Laura Belcher. Sage, 2009.
 2015 Writer’s Market by Robert Lee Brewer.
Optional Books
 MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, Third edition. Modern
Language Association of America, Jan 1, 2008.
Format: The class will be a graduate discussion format for readings and also a workshop
for students to revise their writing to be submitted for publication.
Evaluation: Class participation, midterm, submission of writing for publication.
Fall Office Hours: 5-6 p.m. Wednesdays and by appointment. Office: Flowers Hall 136.
Contact Information: lallison@txstate.edu
ENG 5314.252: Specialization in Technical Communication
Topic: Proposal Writing
TH 6:00-8:50pm; FH G06B/ HYBRID COURSE
#38338
Instructor: Aimee Roundtree
Description: The course will engage students in searching for public and private funding
sources and writing grant proposals for real-world funding needs. They will use print and
electronic tools for identifying funding sources, preparing proposals, and making
professional presentations.
Books: The Grantseeker's Guide to Winning Proposals. Juduth B. Margolin and Elan K.
DiMaio, Eds.
Fundraising Guide Paperback. Foundation Center. July 2008. ISBN-10: 1595421955 |
ISBN-13: 978-1595421951.
Grant Writing and Fundraising Tool Kit for Human Services. Jill C. Dustin. Standards
for Excellence. Pearson. September 23, 2012. ASIN: B009YUUKZC | ISBN-10:
0205088694 | ISBN-13: 978-0205088690.
The Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing. Jane C. Geever. The Foundation
Center. May 24, 2012. ASIN: B00HFIJ844 | ISBN-13: 978-159542-404-4.
After the Grant: The Nonprofit's Guide to Good Stewardship. Judith B. Margolin. The
Foundation Center. April 1, 2010. ASIN: B004NSVJ7I | ISBN-10: 159542301X |
ISBN-13: 978-1595423016
Format: Hybrid Seminar, with student presentations setting the agenda for discussion.
Evaluation: Letter of Intent, Grant Proposal, Presentation, and Final Exam
Spring 2015 Office Hours: M10, by appointment.
Email: akr@txstate.edu
ENG 5315.251: Writing Workshop: Fiction
T 6:30-9:20 pm; FH 253
#31295
For students in the MFA in Creative Writing program only.
Instructor: Doug Dorst
ENG 5315.252: Writing Workshop: Fiction
T 2:00-4:45, FH 257
#31297
For students in the MFA in Creative Writing program only.
Instructor: Debra Monroe
Description: Each student will submit three pieces, and we will workshop three pieces
per class. This might seem intense, but you only get one MFA. You are here to produce
material for a book, and you should use this time to produce as much as you can.
Furthermore, an hour per story or chapter is long enough to praise the piece’s best
features, to discuss its least polished features, to summarize insights about how to revise.
Moreover, if a workshop goes on too long, it can be hard on the author whose work is
under scrutiny: an exercise in saying what’s wrong over and over, and the author
meanwhile already understands. As teacher, my first responsibility is to the student
whose story is being workshopped, to make sure he or she gets the most useful
information in the most helpful way. Yet each story also serves as a lesson for the entire
class. I know as well as anyone that having your work critiqued is never entirely
pleasant. But there are more and less generative ways to critique and be critiqued. I want
my workshop to be constructive in the true sense of the word (the work is still under
construction), so we begin each discussion by first describing the work’s ideal goals, its
ideal shape, and techniques that are already helping deliver that story to the reader. Only
then will we move to a discussion of the way craft decisions or shortfalls might detract
from that story’s success, features that need to be changed, improved, and reconsidered.
My strength as a teacher is seeing what the story intends to be, seeing it in embryo, and
helping assess what craft decisions can make the story more realized, more accessible.
Books: None. Students’ work -in-progress is the text. I will bring in Xeroxed stories for
us to read, so we will have a common set of finished stories as a point of reference.
Format: Group discussion. I direct and lead the discussion.
Evaluation: Students sign a “contract” on the first day that states how many pages they
intend to produce: how many brand new pages, how many revised pages. A student will
be graded on how well he or she meets his or her own goals.
For more information: write to Debra Monroe at dm24
ENG 5315.253: Writing Workshop: Poetry
T 6:30-9:20 pm, FH G06B
#31299
For students in the MFA in Creative Writing program only.
Instructor: Roger Jones
ENG 5316.251 Composition Pedagogy
W 6:30-9:20pm; FH G04
#31479
Instructor: Dr. Eric Leake
Description: This course focuses upon the theory and practice of teaching writing. Areas
to be covered include the development of pedagogical theories, the design of writing
assignments and assignment sequencing, evaluating and responding to student writing,
and the roles of teachers and texts in the composition classroom. We will examine the
connections between how writing is taught and underlying beliefs about writing in key
composition pedagogies such as critical pedagogy, expressivism, translingual approaches,
service learning, and writing about writing. We also will consider the place of pedagogy
within rhetoric and composition and how pedagogy might address questions about social
context and authority. This course is based upon the understanding that a purposeful and
reflective pedagogical awareness is key for the effective teaching of writing.
Goals: Students will be able to demonstrate awareness of different pedagogical
approaches and how those might be applied in the writing classroom. They will be able to
develop writing courses—including course goals, assignments, assignment sequences,
and classroom activities—grounded pedagogical theories, as evident in a researched
course syllabus.
Texts may include: Bartholomae, David and Andrew Petrosky. Facts, Artifacts, and
Counterfacts
Coxwell-Teague, Deborah and Ronald Lunsford, eds. First-Year Composition: From
Theory to Practice
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Glenn, Cheryl, and Melissa Goldthwaite. The St. Martin’s Guide to Teaching Writing
Yancey, Kathleen. Reflection in the Writing Classroom
Format: Class discussions, activities, and workshops.
Evaluation: Weekly reading responses, teaching narrative, class observation, and
researched course syllabus.
For more information: contact Eric Leake, eleake@txstate.edu, Flowers Hall M13, 512245-3785.
ENG 5317.251 Specializations in Rhetoric and Composition
Topic: Writing for Social Justice
M 3:30-6:20pm; FH 253
#38340
Instructor: Octavio Pimentel
Description: Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution
that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values
human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. Social justice is also
a concept that some use to describe the movement towards a socially just world. With
that in mind, this class will address various social injustices of the world. Paying close
attention to the US, this class will explore the social injustices as they relate to language
minorities, people of color, lesbian/gay/bisexuals, women, and the poor. As part of this
class, students are expected to engage in “social action research” as a way to address the
social injustices that they are particularly interested in.
Required Texts: Barack, Gregg; Leighton, Paul; and Cotton, Allison. Class, Race,
Gender, and Crime: The Social Realities of Justice in America 4th edition, Maryland:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014. Print.
McNiff, Jean. All you Need to Know About Action Research 2nd Edition. California:
SAGE Publishing, 2011, Print.
Serano, Julia. Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive.
California: Seal Press, 2013. Print.
Format: Primarily discussion, with some background lectures and presentations by
students and instructor. Because of the seminar format, well-informed and thoughtful
discussions are expected of all participants.
Evaluation: 25% Social Action Newsletter/Webpage/Blog
30% Social Action Video
35% Social Action Research Project
10% Multimedia Presentation
Spring Office Hours: MW 9-11AM and by appointment.
For more information: Dr. Octavio Pimentel
Flowers Hall M23
Octavio.Pimentel@txstate.edu
512-245-3724
ENG 5317.252 Specializations in Rhetoric and Composition
Topic: Narrative Ways of Knowing in Rhetoric and Composition
W 3:30-6:20pm; FH 253
#33626
Instructor: Rebecca Jackson
Description: This course takes as its starting point Jerome Bruner’s observation that
narrative is a way of knowing: "a life as led," Bruner argues, "is inseparable from a life as
told—or more bluntly, a life is not 'how it was' but how it is interpreted and reinterpreted,
told and retold. Life is a narrative achievement." We will focus Bruner’s assertion on
narrative as a way of knowing in the field rhetoric and composition—on the ways in
which scholars in the field “story” their scholarly and teaching lives, as well as the ways
in which researchers use narrative inquiry to understand and interpret others’ experiences
with and relationships to literacy. Thus, we will study narrative as both a mode and site of
inquiry.
During the first half of the course, we’ll examine critical narratives written by
folks in rhetoric and composition with an eye toward crafting our own critical narratives
of teaching and/or learning. Put another way, we’ll make narratives—our own and
others’— the focus of our inquiry, seeing them as sites for understanding processes and
meanings related to writing, teaching, and learning, and the multiple, often conflicting,
contexts within which these activities take place.
In the second half of the course, we’ll use a narrative inquiry approach to invite
others to share their own stories about teaching and learning. Some of you (with
permission from your interviewee, of course) may decide to submit these recordings to
the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (http://daln.osu.edu/). Others of you may
decide to use digital storytelling tools to share your interviewee’s narrative. Whatever
digital or textual form you choose for sharing work, you will be engaging in narrative
inquiry: storytelling as something we “do with our research materials and what
informants do with us” (Riessman 1).
In this course, narrative is the story told, the story transcribed, the story
interpreted, the story retold.
Required texts may include:
-Clandinin, D. Jean. Engaging in Narrative Inquiry. Walnut Creek, CA: 2013.
Print.
-Denzin, Norman K. Interpretive Autoenthography. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage, 2014.
-Lambert, Joe. Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community. 4th ed.
New York, NY: Routledge, 2012
-Schaafsma, David, and Ruth Vinz. Narrative Inquiry: Approaches to Language
and Literacy Research. Teacher’s College Press, 2011. Print.
-Spigelman, Candace. Personally Speaking: Experience as Evidence in Academic
Discourse. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2004. Print.
-Trimmer, Joseph. Narration as Knowledge: Tales of the Teaching Life.
Boynton/Cook, 1997. Print.
-Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps: From an American Academic of Color. NCTE,
1993.
Goals: Students will be able to:
- Craft and reflect on their own narratives of teaching, scholarship, and learning
- Analyze narratives at the micro and macro levels
- Understand narrative as a means of fashioning and resisting identities
- Design and conduct narrative research with participants
- Select appropriate textual and/or digital storytelling tools to address rhetorical
purposes
Format: Small and large group discussion; student-led discussion facilitation; brief
lecture
Evaluation: Discussion facilitation, reading responses, narrative of
teaching/scholarship/learning in graduate school, longer narrative-based research project,
multimodal reflection
For more information, please contact Dr. Jackson at rj10@txstate.edu.
ENG 5321.251 Contemporary Fiction
Topic: Magical Realism
T 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376
#38342
Instructor: Teya Rosenberg
Description: This course examines definitions of magical realism, considers its purpose
and effect, and explores its place in literary discourse. We will engage in the ongoing
debates about magical realism: can the form exist at all, is it a genre or a mode, should it
be considered a form of fantasy or of realism, is it a postmodern and/or postcolonial
literature? We will read and discuss a variety of novels and critical articles. The novels
will be drawn from literature for adults and for children as well as from a variety of
countries, and some may challenge ideas about magical realism.
Goals: Students will gain knowledge of the study of magical realism and of genre
debates. They will practice and develop discussion and seminar skills as well as critical
reading, research, and writing skills.
Books: Some of these titles might change, depending on availability.
Primary texts: Boston, The Children of Green Knowe (1952); Bulgakov, The Master and
Margarita (trans. Burgin and O’Connor) ([1939]/1966); García Márquez, One Hundred
Years of Solitude (1967/1970); Hamilton, Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (1982); Heide &
Gorey. The Shrinking of Tree Horn (1971); King, Green Grass, Running Water (1993);
Morrison, Beloved (1987); Nesbit, The Enchanted Castle (1907); Rushdie, Midnight’s
Children (1980); Süskind, Perfume (1980); Yang, American Born Chinese (2006);
Zuzak, The Book Thief (2005).
Secondary texts: articles on e-reserve and available through databases.
Format: Seminar discussion with some lecture.
Evaluation: One seminar: introduce, focus, and lead class discussion on a novel (15%);
one short paper (7-8 pages) based on seminar (15%); lead discussion of one critical
article (15%); one research paper (15-20 pages) (30%); participation (15%).
For more information: See Professor Rosenberg in FH M-19 or email at
tr11@txstate.edu (that's t-r-one-one).
Fall 2014 Office Hours: Mon 1:30-3; Tues/Thurs 3:30-4:30; and by appointment.
ENG 5321.252 Contemporary Fiction
Topic: Postmodern Fiction
T 6:30-9:20pm; FH 253
#38345
Instructor: Paul Cohen
Description: We will study some of the most exemplary works of postmodern fiction as we
move toward a comprehension of the distinctive characteristics of postwar cutting-edge
thought and art.
Textbooks: Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths; Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire; Thomas
Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49; Italo Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveler; Georges
Perec, Life A User’s Manual; Lydia Davis, The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis; Tom
McCarthy, Remainder
Evaluation: Two papers and a final essay examination
For more information: see Professor Cohen in FH 358, or call 245-7685, or e-mail at
cohen@txstate.edu
Fall office hours: MW 1:00-3:00, TTh 10:00-11:00 and 5:00-6:00, and by appointment
ENG 5322.251: Form and Theory of Poetry
W 6:30-9:20pm; FH G06B
#38346
For students in the MFA in Creative Writing program only.
Instructor: Cyrus Cassells
Description: A wide-ranging examination of poetic form, as well as literary theory and
philosophy that have significant bearing on major trends in contemporary poetry. We
will study metrics and formal verse, and examine classic theoretical texts by French
writers Gaston Bachelard and Roland Barthes. We will investigate thought and
consciousness in the work of Jorie Graham and Wallace Stevens, the use of
fragmentation in response to 20th century catastrophe in the work of T. S. Eliot and
Carolyn Forché, and the collapse between the personal and the political in the poetry of
Sylvia Plath, Sharon Olds, and in the critical writing of poet and essayist Susan Griffin.
Objectives: To give students a solid grasp of the core elements of poetry and to
introduce them to stimulating, provocative critical theory that will deepen their
appreciation of the issues and challenges posed by modern and contemporary poetry.
Books: Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard; A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments by
Roland Barthes; Eros the Bittersweet by Anne Carson; The Waste Land and other Poems
by T. S. Eliot; The Angel of History by Carolyn Forché; Proofs and Theories by Louise
Glück; The Dream of the Unified Field by Jorie Graham; A Chorus of Stones by Susan
Griffin; Twentieth Century Pleasures: Prose on Poetry by Robert Hass; Nine Gates:
Entering the Mind of Poetry by Jane Hirshfield; Broken English: Poetry and Partiality by
Heather McHugh; Strike Sparks: Selected Poems by Sharon Olds; Rules for the Dance by
Mary Oliver; Ariel by Sylvia Plath.
Format/Evaluation: Seminar with weekly critical discussion of assigned texts; an end-
of-semester critical paper of 15-20 pages; a two part take-home midterm.
E-Mail: cc37@txstate.edu
ENG 5323.251 Biography and Autobiography
Topic: Memoir & the Personal Essay
M 6:30-9:20pm, FH 253
#34082
Instructor: Tom Grimes
Description: We will read critical material regarding memoir and essays, then discuss
how they engage the reader. You are required to write a 4000 to 5000 word essay.
Books: Charles D’Ambrosio, Loitering; Denis Johnson: Seek: Reports from the Edge;
Leslie Jamison: The Empathy Exams; Lucy Grealy: Autobiography of a Face; Best
American Essays 2010
Evaluation: 50% class participation
50% 4000 to 5000 word essay
Attendance: Please attend all classes. It’s mandatory.
For more information: E-mail tg02@txstate.edu
The Department of English has adopted student learning outcomes for general education
courses in writing and literature and for degree programs in English. These outcomes are
available for your review at http://www.english.txstate.edu. Pull down the Student
Resources menu and go to “Learning Outcomes.”
1/26 - Week One: The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick; The Art of Time in
the Memoir by Sven Birkets; essay on essays by Adam Gopnik; To Show and To Tell by
Philip Lopate. Please read all handouts before class.
2/2- Week Two: Best American Essays 2010: Jane Churchon, “The Dead Book”; Zadie
Smith, “Speaking in Tongues”; Charles D’Ambrosio, Loitering: “Preface”;
2/9- Week Three: Charles D’Ambrosio, Loitering: “Seattle, 1974”; “This is Living”;
“Salinger and Sobs”; “Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg”
2/16 - Week Four: Hilton Als, White Girls: “The Lonesome Place”; “Philosopher or
Dog?”; “A Pryor Love”; “White Noise”
2/23- Week Five: Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams: “The Empathy Exams”; “Grand
Unified Theory of Female Pain”
3/2- Week Six: Lucy Grealy, Autobiography of a Face
3/9 - Week Seven: Hilton Als, White Girls: “The Women,”; “GWTW”; “Buddy Ebsen”
3/23- Week Eight: Denis Johnson, Seek: “Hippies”; “The Militia in Me”; “The Lowest
Bar in Montana”; and “Jungle Bells, Jungle Bells.”
3/30- Week Nine: Best American Essays 2010: Arthur Krystal, “When Writers Speak”;
Walter Isaacson, “How Einstein Divided America’s Jews”; David Sedaris, “Guy Walks
into a Bar Car”
4/6- Week Ten: Your Personal Essays (essays due on 3/30)
4/13- Week Eleven: Your Personal Essays (essays due on 4/6)
4/20- Week Twelve: Your Personal Essays (essays due on 4/13)
4/27- Week Thirteen: Your Personal Essays (essays due on 4/20)
5/4- Week Fourteen: Your Personal Essays (essays due on 4/27)
ENG 5326.251 Contemporary Composition Theory
M 6:30-9:20pm; FH G06B
#31491
Instructor: Jaime Mejía
Description: This course will cover most of the readings listed on the MARC website
under Composition Theory. Below, you’ll find the readings from that list. We’ll also
cover significant works not listed on this site. The purpose of this class is to prepare
students for the field of Rhetoric and Composition Studies as well as for the
Comprehensive Exam MARC graduate students are required to take.
Goals: To become a practitioner and professional in this field, students are expected to
become conversant with the major ideas shaping this field.
Books/Readings: Alexander, Jonathan. “Transgender Rhetorics.” *Bartholomae, David.
“Inventing the University.” Rpt. in The Norton Book of Composition Studies. *Devitt,
Amy. “Generalizing About Genre: New Conceptions of an Old Concept.” Rpt. in
Relations, Locations, Positions. One of the following: Lisa Ede, Situating Composition or
Raul Sanchez, The Function of Theory in Composition. *Emig, Janet. “Writing as Mode
of Learning” Rpt. in Cross Talk in Comp Theory. *Gilyard, Keith, and Nunley, Vorris,
eds., Rhetoric and Ethnicity. *Kells, Michelle Hall, Balester, Valerie and Villanueva,
Victor. Latino/a Discourses: On Language, Identity, and Literacy Education. *Olson,
Gary. “Toward a Post-Process Composition.” Post-Process Theory.
*Perl, Sondra. “The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers” Rpt. in Cross
Talk in Comp Theory. *Ritchie and Boardman. “Feminism in Composition: Inclusion,
Metonymy, and Disruption. Rpt. in Cross Talk in Comp Theory. *Rose, Mike. “The
Language of Exclusion.” Rpt. in The Norton Book of Composition Studies. *Soliday,
Mary. “Class Dismissed.” Rpt. in Relations, Locations, Positions. *Trimbur, John.
“Consensus and Difference in Collaborative Learning” Rpt. in The Norton Book of
Composition Studies. *Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps: From an Academic of Color.
*Selection from Michelle Sidler’s Computers in the Composition Classroom: A Critical
Sourcebook.
Format: The class will be conducted primarily through class discussions.
Evaluation: Students in this class will be required to assimilate materials reflecting these
authors’ ideas and then demonstrate their knowledge through three 12-15 page academic
papers, each worth 25%, with the remaining percentage being for Attendance and
Participation. Ph.D. students will be required to write three 20-25 page academic papers.
ENG 5332.251 Studies in American Prose
Topic: The African America Novel and The City
M 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376
#38348
Instructor: Elvin Holt
Description: This course focuses on the experience of migration and urbanization in
selected novels by African American authors. We will examine ways these writers
portray positive and negative aspects of city life.
Goals: To gain insights into how historical and political contexts shaped the narratives; to
understand how racial, class, and gender politics inform the texts.
Books: Quicksand by Nella Larsen, Native Son by Richard Wright, The Street by Ann
Petry; Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, Brown Girl/Brownstones by Paule
Marshall, Maude Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks, Home to Harlem by Claude McKay,
Jazz by Toni Morrison. The reading list is subject to change.
Format: Seminar, student presentations, discussion
Evaluation: Several one-page reader-response essays, discussion leader assignment,
Conference-length critical paper (12-15 pages), take-home final examination
Fall 2014 Office Hours: 9-9:50 a.m. and by appointment, FH 212
Email: eh07@txstate.edu
ENG 5332.252 Studies in American Prose
Topic: Native American Literature
TH 6:30-9:20pm; FH G04
#38350
Instructor: Robin Cohen
Description: Since the Pulitzer Prize was awarded to N. Scott Momaday’s novel
House Made of Dawn in 1968, a “Native American Renaissance” in writing has
occurred, including works by Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, Sherman
Alexie, and others. This renaissance has both opened publishing opportunities
for Native American authors, and encouraged scholars to view this growing
body of literature as a category of its own within American ethnic literature. This
course will examine contemporary fiction by Native American writers in light of
other contemporary movements such as ethnic studies, magic realism, and
postcolonial studies.
Required Texts: (subject to change)
House Made of Dawn, Momaday
Storyteller, Silko
Ceremony, Silko
Tracks, Erdrich
Love Medicine, Erdrich
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Alexie
Green Grass, Running Water, King
The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative, King
Various critical essays on e-reserve
Film: Stolen Rain
Goals: Students will learn how contemporary Native American writers use
traditional Native American storytelling and myth, European literary traditions,
modernist (and postmodernist) and postcolonial concepts to create a unique
literature.
Format: Discussion, lecture, student reports
Evaluation: Oral Report:
15%
Short paper (based on class report)
20%
Presentation
10%
Seminar paper
35%
Midterm and final exams (objective short answer)
20% (10 ea.)
For more info.: See Dr. Cohen in FH M18. E-mail: rc08@txstate.edu; voice mail
245-3013
Fall office hours: TTH 3:30-4:30; W 1:30-4; and by appointment
ENG 5346.251: Southwestern Studies II
Topic: Consequences of the Region
T&Th 12:30-1:50 pm; FH 130
#31492
Instructor: William Jensen
Description: This course examines the richness and diversity of the Southwestern United
States and northern Mexico and focuses on multicultural studies by exploring the region’s
people, institutions, history, art, and physical and cultural ecology. An interdisciplinary
approach increases awareness of and sensitivity to the diversity of ethnic and cultural
traditions in the area. Students will discover what distinguishes the Southwest from other
regions of the United States, as well as its similarities, physically and culturally. The
images, myths, and perceptions of the region will be examined in light of historic records
and literary texts.
Format: Lectures and discussions.
Evaluation: Two regular exams and a final exam, as well as two major papers.
Email: wj13@txstate.edu
Office: Brazos 220 Office hours: TH 2:00pm-3:30pm, and by appointment
ENG 5353.251 Studies in Medieval Literature
Topic: Theban “Doubleness” from Antiquity to the Middle Ages
W 6:30-9:20pm; G06B
#31493
Instructor: Leah Schwebel
Description: A study of classical and medieval works on Troy.
Goals: To track and discuss the two divergent literary traditions—Homeric and antiHomeric—of Troy. To learn about the medieval approach to Troy as a descendent of
Thebes and a prefiguration of medieval London.
Books: Homer's Illiad, Virgil's Aeneid, Dares’s De excidio Troiae historia,
Dictys’s Ephemeris belli Troiani, selections of Guido delle Colonne's Historia
Destructionis Trioae, Dante's Inferno 26, Boccaccio's Filostrato, Chaucer's Troilus and
Criseyde and House of Fame, Henryson's Testament of Cresseid, and selections of
Lydgate's Troy Book.
Format: Seminar, with student presentations.
Evaluation: One 20-25 page paper, one presentation, attendance and participation
Spring 2014 Office Hours: FH 221, M 3:45-5:45
ENG 5354.251 Studies in Renaissance Literature
Topic: Shakespeare and Performance
M 6:30-9:20pm; FH 113
#38334
Instructor: Joe Falocco
Description: Over the course of the semester, each student will deliver two twenty-fiveminute lectures on the play(s) under consideration. Students will also do preparatory
textual work (paraphrase and textual analysis) for Shakespearean monologues and scenes
assigned by the professor, and will summarize this work orally for the benefit of their
classmates. They will then be required to memorize these scenes and monologues and
perform them “off-book.” Students will also research and write one major paper on a
topic of their choice related to Shakespeare.
Goals: 1) To understand the literal significance and poetic qualities of early modern
language; 2) To understand the relationship between written text and performance; 3) To
research and write about Shakespeare; 4) To prepare for a career in education by honing
one’s lecture and presentation skills.
Books: Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. Seventh Edition. New
York: Pearson Longman, 2014. ISBN: 0321886518.
Format: Seminar.
Evaluations: This course is graded on a “cost” basis. In other words, everyone starts with
an “A.” Almost every week, students will be required to prepare one or more
presentations and deliver them in class. These presentations will take three forms: 1)
twenty-five-minute lectures on the play(s) under consideration; 2) preparatory work
(paraphrase and text analysis) for monologues and scenes assigned by the professor; 3)
performance of these fully memorized monologues and scenes. All these three kinds of
presentations will be graded (generously) pass/fail. In the unlikely event that a student
fails a presentation, he/she will lose a full-letter grade for the semester. In the more likely
event that a student misses class on a day he/she is scheduled to present, he/she will fail
that assignment and lose a full-letter grade for the semester. Students will be able to
present a missed assignment during the Professor’s office hours one time only during the
course of the semester. The paper is also graded pass/fail, but will be evaluated more
strictly. Most (but not all) papers will fail on initial submission, but all students will have
one opportunity to revise a failed paper. Papers that are then revised in a good faith effort
to comply with the Professor’s admonishments will almost certainly pass. If a student
does not write the paper, or if his/her paper does not pass on its second submission
(following revision), that student will lose a full-letter grade for the semester.
Office hours for Spring 2015: Tuesday noon- 4 pm, FH 211.
For More Information: Email Joe Falocco jf48@txstate.edu .
ENG 5364.251 Studies in the Romantic Movement
Topic: Coleridge and the Wordsworths
TH 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376
#31493
Instructor: Nancy Grayson
Description: A study of the major poetry and criticism of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and
William Wordsworth, and Dorothy Wordsworth’s journals, letters and poems. We will
look closely at 19th- through 21st-century scholarly studies, with emphasis on publications
since 2000.
Goals: To acquire in-depth knowledge of the art of these early Romantics and broad
knowledge of scholarship devoted to their works, lives, and era.
Books: Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Major Works, H. Jackson, ed. (Oxford, 2009); D.
Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journals and Alfoxden Journals, P. Woof, ed. (Oxford,
2008); William Wordsworth: The Major Works, S. Gill, ed. (Oxford, 2008); The Prelude:
A Parallel Text, J. Wordsworth, ed. (Penguin, 1996). Recommended—MLA Style
Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd ed. (MLA, 2008).
Format: Discussion, close reading, interruptible lectures.
Evaluation: One written report on two recent scholarly articles—20%. Two 8-10-page
research papers—25% each. Final Exam (take-home, four essay questions)—30%.
Fall 2014 Office Hours: By appointment, FH 213.
E-mail ng01@txstate.edu
ENG 5383.251 Rhetorical Theory for Technical Communication
TH 6:30-9:20pm; AVRY 353/Hybrid
#34669
Instructor: Pinfan Zhu
Description: All through the spring semester, we work together to define “rhetoric” and
study how rhetoric can serve technical communication. Definitions of “rhetoric are
always in flux. When studying rhetorical theory as socially and culturally situated
throughout history, we can better understand notions of civic, professional, and
institutional discourse as well as underpinnings of power, politics, and participation, and,
some would argue, reality. As a course in an English Department, we are particularly
concerned with how rhetoric as it is related to technical communication. Also, we will
examine the development and evolution of rhetoric theory from classical to modern eras.
We will focus on some selective readings so as to understand how the development and
evolution were made and how classic and modern rhetorical theories can solve practical
problems in technical communication.
Required Books: Bizzell, Patricia, and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition:
Readings from Classic Times to the Present. 2nd ed. 2001
Whitburn, Merrill Rhetorical Scope and Performance: The Example of Technical
Communication. 2000.
Some online readings.
Goals: To teach rhetorical theories of different historical periods and introduce famous
rhetoricians and their contributions to rhetorical theories over the history. The course will
also enable students to apply rhetorical theories to technical communication and
understand the rhetorical scope and performance in the field of technical communication.
Format: primarily discussions, lectures, and presentations
Evaluation: 20% Web board responses
10% Class Participation
40% Four short analytical papers
10% Oral presentation
20% Final project.
For more information: see Dr. Zhu in FH 142.
Email: pz10@txstate.edu
Phone: (512) 245-7665
Spring Office Hours: W. 3:30 to 6:30 pm
ENG 5389.251 History of Children’s Literature
Topic: The Golden Age of Children’s Literature
W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 253
#38335
Instructor: Graeme Wend-Walker
Description: The period extending from the second half of the nineteenth century into
the first decades of the twentieth is broadly recognized as the most exciting period in the
history of publishing for children. An extraordinary flourishing of talent, and a radically
altered view of childhood, combined to leave an indelible mark on writing for children.
Many of the books produced during this period are now considered part of the great
“canon” of children’s literature, and remain popular with readers to this day. This course
will exam key works from the Golden Age, alongside a variety of critical responses to
them. We will consider issues of historical and cultural context with attention to the
development of a new kind of narrative voice that addresses the child reader as an
engaged participant in the storytelling process. Students are expected to conduct
independent research beyond the required reading list and are expected to come to class
prepared to actively participate in group discussion. Readings will be set for the first class
prior to the semester’s commencement.
Required Books (the specified editions are required). LIST SUBJECT TO
CHANGE.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 2nd ed. Peterborough: Broadview,
2011.
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. 2nd
ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martins, 2003. Case Studies in Critical Controversy
(Series).
Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Books. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987.
Baum L. Frank, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz,
Glinda of Oz. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998.
Barrie, J. M. Peter Pan: Peter and Wendy, and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2004.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. A Little Princess. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2002.
Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. New York: Signet-Penguin, 2006.
Montgomery, L. M. Anne of Green Gables. New York: Modern Library-Random, 2008.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan of the Apes. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2006.
Lofting, Hugh. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. Mineola: Dover, 2004.
Milne, A. A. The House at Pooh Corner. Harmondsworth: Puffin-Penguin, 1992.
Additional primary and critical texts will be provided.
Goals: To introduce students to key works from the period and to the critical methods
used to analyze and evaluate them, and to develop independent research skills.
Format: Primarily group discussion, with presentations from students on both primary
and secondary texts, and mini-lectures on background material by the instructor.
Evaluation:
Attendance and Participation
10%
Class Presentation – Primary Text
10%
Short Paper – Presentation Write-up
15%
Class Presentation – critical text
10%
Annotated Bibliography
20%
Final Research Paper
35%
For More Information: See Dr. Graeme Wend-Walker in FH 240. Email
gw15@txstate.edu, voice mail 245.7883.
Fall 2014 Office Hours: MWF 12-1, or by appointment.
ENG 5395.251 Problems in Language and Literature
Topic: Modernism, Melodrama, and Mayhem
W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 376
#31569
Instructor: Victoria Smith
Description: Amid burgeoning new urban spaces, industrialization of labor and radical
redefinitions of political, racial, economic, and gender relations, the early twentieth
century was also marked by an explosion of new and complex literary forms, as well as
profound changes in the plastic arts—from the post-impressionists to the invention of
cinema. A period rife with tensions and contradictions, modernism (roughly, 1880-1945)
has often been associated with “high art” as opposed to art meant for the masses;
however, the same time period also witnessed a flourishing of film or what one critic has
called “vernacular modernism.” This course explores these seeming paradoxes in three
ways. First, we take up the concept of modernity. What are its characteristics? Is it a
useful category for analysis? With these opening questions/ideas in mind, we will turn
next to the idea of melodrama (filmic and otherwise), a historically denigrated mode of
representation, long associated with excess and the feminine. Are there ways in which
modernism is inherently melodramatic? How does modernism affect concepts of
melodrama? Finally, we will examine a concept I am loosely calling “mayhem”—
particularly as it is embodied in a genre of films known as film noir. These dark and
brooding films, with their themes of alienation and despair, have been frequently
associated with hard-boiled masculinity. How does film noir intersect with melodrama
and modernity? The course looks at how these three competing and contradictory ideas
inform, produce, and transform each other. Key areas of study will include the
dislocation of domestic arrangements; the breakdown of stable gender categories; the
ambiguous place of the city; and the disturbance of racial boundaries. We will read
examples of canonical authors such as Woolf and Faulkner; view classic melodramatic
films and film noir, while reading widely in the literature on modernity, melodrama, and
film noir.
Tentative Texts: Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, William Faulkner, Absalom!
Absalom!, Linda Williams, Playing the Race Card, Nella Larsen, Passing, Stephen Kern,
The Culture of Time and Space, Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents excerpts
from the following: Peter Brooks, The Melodramatic Imagination, Lauren Berlant, The
Female Complaint, Ben Singer, Melodrama and Modernity, Edward Dimenberg, Film
Noir and the Spaces of Modernity, Wheeler Dixon, Film Noir and the Cinema of
Paranoia, Christine Gledhill, Home Is Where the Heart Is.
Tentative Films: Blonde Venus, Stella Dallas, Imitation of Life, Double Indemnity, Out
of the Past, Detour, The Blue Dahlia
Goals: Students will learn to read and to question various contemporary understandings
about modernism, melodrama, and film noir. Using this knowledge, students will develop
and practice their abilities to analyze and to write thoughtfully about modernist texts and
films, as well as critical theory.
Format: Engaged discussion, student presentations, mini-lectures
Evaluation: weekly reading responses, an oral presentation, and a final paper
For more information: email: vs13@txstate.edu.
Fall Office Hours: on leave—please email with any questions
ENG 5395.252 Literary Techniques
Topic: Epistolary Poetics and Poetic Epistles
W 6:30-9:20pm; FH 257
#31571
For students in the MFA in Creative Writing program only.
Instructor: Cecily Parks
Description: Letter poems invoke the intimacy of direct address and highlight the value
of being heard or overheard, of writing or being written to. We’ll study how poets steer
the tensions of intimacy and publicity as they disclose language to a wide audience,
placing readers in a strange triangle with the speaker and her interlocutor. Readings,
discussions, and letter-writing assignments will underscore poetry’s versatility as a genre
capable of boundary-crossing conversations with other genres, arts, and modes of
communication—including letter-writing’s contemporary heir, e-mail.
Objectives: This course explores the epistolary tradition and contemporary responses to
that tradition. We will read and analyze poems and letters by a variety of poets with an
eye toward how these texts might inform communicative and creative practice.
Books: Lucie Brock-Broido, The Master Letters; Jenny Browne, Dear Stranger; Anne
Carson, Nox; Jim Harrison, Letters to Yesenin; Esther Lee, Spit; Mark Jarman, Epistles;
Kenneth Koch, New Addresses; Maurice Manning, Bucolics; Aimee Nezhukumatathil
and Ross Gay, Lace & Pyrite; Joe Wenderoth, Letters to Wendy’s.
Evaluation: • 40% Class Participation (including weekly letters that you’ll write to a
classmate)
• 10% Presentation
• 50% Final Project of 15-20 pages
Spring Office Hours: FH 222, by appointment.
For more information: E-mail cgp35@txstate.edu
ENG 5395.253 Literary Techniques
Topic: Possibilities in Narrative Structure
TH 6:30-9:20pm; FH 257
#34095
For students in the MFA in Creative Writing program only.
Instructor: Jennifer duBois
Description: This course is for MFA fiction students only. In this class, we will
investigate the process by which authors decide how to tell a story. We will read and
discuss a selection of novels and stories with narrative structures ranging from the
conventional to the unorthodox, exploring the opportunities that can arise within
structural parameters—and considering the structural possibilities we might find within
our own work. We will pay special attention to issues of linearity, conceit, audience, and
point of view, as well as the overarching relationship between narrative structure and
content.
Phone: ext. 53653
E-mail: jjd64@txstate.edu
Office: FH M21