ENGL Courses Summer/Fall 2016 Page 1
ENGL 2303: Topics in Literature: The Lord of the Rings as Modern Mythology
Maymester 2016 8am-noon; Kevin Porter
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
Course Description
In 1961, one of Tolkien’s critics, Philip Toynbee—despite the fact that each volume of
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was in its eighth or ninth hardcover impression!—opined
that “today these books have passed into merciful oblivion.” Yet Tolkien’s work has
outlasted its early critics, not merely lingering into the twenty-first century, but thriving,
bolstered by the phenomenal success of Peter Jackson’s film versions. Why? What are
its sources of continued vitality? And what sets Tolkien’s work apart from its many
forgettable or already-forgotten imitators?
We will explore these questions among others as we read and discuss as much of
Tolkien’s work as is feasible within the confines of a Maymester course: The Lord of the
Rings trilogy (which Tolkien did not think of as a trilogy at all, since each text cannot
stand on its own) and The Silmarillion (completed by his son, Christopher).
Secondarily, we will learn about Tolkien’s life and career; his personal and professional
interests in philology, mythology, and medieval studies; his elaborate writing and
revising processes; and some of his many wellsprings of inspiration in literary,
mythological, linguistic, or historical sources—some obvious, like the calque of the
creation story in Genesis that we find in the opening of The Silmarillion, and some
subtle, like the name of the dragon Smaug (from The Hobbit), which is the past tense of
reconstructed Germanic verb “smaugen” (i.e., “to squeeze through a hole”). We will also
talk about the ways in which Jackson’s films depart from Tolkien’s texts, and why; the
function, if any, that myth retains in the twenty-first century; and the logic of gift-giving
and the webs of obligations that it spawns as they play out in Tolkien’s work. But beyond
discussing all of these topics, I wish to encourage a greater appreciation for and
enjoyment of the aesthetics—both aural and visual—of the language(s) that Tolkien
draws upon, extends, and, at times, creates.
ENGL 2303 – Writing About Film
Summer 11-week 2016 6-8pm MW; Tim Richardson
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
This course will focus on (some of) those movies that offer versions of a high school
experience, certainly with an eye to what they say about adolescence and early
adulthood, but also with an eye toward how they present whatever they seem to
say. This means that, though this is not a course in film studies or history but “writing
about film,” we will pay a great deal of attention to the language and elements of movies
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(those that are common with literature, for instance, and those that are specific to the
medium). Since time in class is limited, students will be expected to spend some time
outside of class seeing and studying additional films.
ENGL 2303- Working Class Literature
Summer I 2016 8:00-9:50 MTWR; Bethany Shaffer
What exactly is Working Class? What defines it? Who makes the rules? What percent of
the population falls into the category of Working Class? How does any of this relate to
literature? This course will help you understand the answers to the above questions and
more. You'll develop an understanding of the central debates surrounding the Working
Class. To achieve these goals you will read a number of texts, both literary and critical;
discuss the ideas in the texts with your colleagues and your instructor; and pursue a
group project exploring the work and developing a thorough presentation about one
working-class writer. Class lectures and discussions will focus on ways of understanding
and interpreting the works and on locating them in their historical, cultural, and
intellectual milieus. Also, one major essay will demonstrate your ability to discuss a text
in an academic format.
Texts include: Christ in Concrete, The Street, Bastard Out of Carolina, and The Hunger
Games
ENGL 2303 – Graphic Literature
Summer II 2016 1-3pm MTWR; Cathy Corder
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
In this class, students will read comics, graphic, novels, and manga--and they will
examine these visual narratives as significant works of literature and learn to analyze
them for plot development, characterization, style, and significant themes related to
gender, ethnicity, and social and cultural values. Students will consider how the
juxtaposition of text and image works to tell rich and vivid stories, as well as how these
narratives reveal elements of film making (wide, medium, and close-up shots) and
graphic design (color, black/white, panels, and gutters). Possible readings may include
early works by Lynn Ward and Will Eisner, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Naoki Urasawa’s
20th Century Boys, Alan Moore’s reboot of Swamp Thing, and Frank Miller’s Batman:
The Dark Knight Returns, among others. In addition, students will have hands-on
opportunities to draft graphic retellings of familiar fairy tales or urban myths and to
experiment with such apps as Pixton and Comic Life as they create a short comic or
storyboard (no artistic talent required!).
ENGL 2350
Summer I 2016 330-503pm MTWR; Charles Hicks
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This course is designed to introduce current and potential English majors to the
language practices that inform English Studies. In this course students will study several
influential schools of literary criticism, learning how they build off of each other and to
theories in disciplines such as philosophy, history, and sociology. Students will practice
applying the various critical theories to primary texts, both in class discussion and
essays. The course will teach student to (1) identify characteristics of genres, (2)
recognize and understand critical and literary terms, (3) develop methods and strategies
for analyzing and interpreting texts, and (4) demonstrate a command of these methods
and strategies in written work. This course is a prerequisite for all upper-level English
courses.
ENGL 2384: Structure of Modern English
Summer II 2016 330-530pm MTWR; Gyde Martin
Required for all English Majors
We will examine English grammar, not to teach you “proper” grammar but to discover
what is unique about the structure of this particular language. In other words, we will
discover the “real” rules, rules you already know as speakers of the language. To see
these structural rules in operation, we will use Chomsky-style diagrams in our analysis
of sentences and phrases.
We will also discuss topics in linguistics particularly relevant to teachers, for example,
language acquisition in children (versus adults) and dialect differences.
ENGL 4370: Rhetoric and Composition for Secondary School Teachers
Summer II 2016 1030-1230am MTWR; Jim Warren
BATCH Requirement
This course is required for students pursuing an English degree with Secondary Teacher
Certification and students seeking Mid-Level English Language Arts Certification, so
these students are the primary audience. However, the course is designed to appeal to
any student interested in the history, theory, and practice of reading and writing
instruction.
As we examine rhetorical theory as manifested in the classroom, we’ll consider
questions like: What is “rhetoric,” “composition,” and “rhetoric and composition?” Why
do we teach reading and writing differently from the way it was taught 50 or 100 years
ago? Why is reading and writing taught so differently in college and in high school, and
what, if anything, should we do to improve alignment between the two?
This is a content course, not a pedagogy course, but we will examine writing instruction
as itself a research field. You’ll learn what pedagogical practices are supported by recent
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scholarship in rhetoric/comp, and as you do so, you’ll occupy the dual role of student
and teacher-in-training. For example, you’ll learn how to teach analytic reading skills as
you practice these skills. You’ll learn how to teach argument as inquiry as you produce
written arguments that engage timely issues. I’ll include you in the process of composing
writing assignments that you then complete. We’ll talk about how to comment on and
grade student writing as I give you feedback on your writing. We’ll consider the best
ways to teach grammar and mechanics as you sharpen your command of Standard
Written English.
ENGL 2303- Working Class Literature
Fall 2016 8-920am Tues/Thurs (hybrid, so please pay attention to section numbers);
Bethany Shaffer
What exactly is Working Class? What defines it? Who makes the rules? What percent of
the population falls into the category of Working Class? How does any of this relate to
literature? This course will help you understand the answers to the above questions and
more. You'll develop an understanding of the central debates surrounding the Working
Class. To achieve these goals you will read a number of texts, both literary and critical;
discuss the ideas in the texts with your colleagues and your instructor; and pursue a
group project exploring the work and developing a thorough presentation about one
working-class writer. Class lectures and discussions will focus on ways of understanding
and interpreting the works and on locating them in their historical, cultural, and
intellectual milieus. Also, one major essay will demonstrate your ability to discuss a text
in an academic format.
Please note: Both sections of my course are hybrid sections. A hybrid course combines
traditional classroom learning with on-line learning in an effort to offer students the
*best of both worlds.* The success of the course, as well as the success of each student,
depends on 100% participation by each class member. This means arriving on time to
each class meeting and submitting all assignments on time. For one section, we will
meet face to face every Tuesday at 8:00am and every Thursday will be a
Blackboard/hybrid day. For the other, we will have our Blackboard/hybrid day on
Tuesday and meet face to face on Thursday at 8:00am.
ENGL 2303-003: Body Politics
Fall 2016 section 003 10-1050am MWF; Stephanie Peebles Tavera
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
In the late-nineteenth century, women became increasing involved in medical science
and practice, especially in the field of gynecology, which emerged as a new field in 1876.
Social reformers and feminist writers including Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Perkins
Gilman, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, and Annie Nathan Meyer responded to these
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developments by voicing their own opinions on gynecological practice and women in
medicine, often calling for reform. This semester, we will read four (short) social reform
novels written by the aforementioned women writers who were also writing a variety of
political and social reform essays. These women responded to and called for reform in
gynecological practice during the period 1875-1915. In our class, we will seek to answer
such questions as: How does medical practice influence women’s bodies? How might
these reform measures positively or negatively influence gender roles? In what ways
does the novel function as a genre for social reform arguments? How were these novels
influence by other social reform movements including dress reform, higher education,
and even the birth control movement?
ENGL 2303-005: Latino/a Experience
Fall 2016 section 005 9-950am MWF; Alison Torres Ramos
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
This course offers a literary introduction to the study of the diverse groups of people
who are called “Latina/o” in the U.S., with an emphasis on the significant cultural,
political, and economic influence that Latinos have had on “mainstream” U.S. society.
We will consider how various forms of cultural expression reflect experiences of hybrid
culture(s), identity, language, and contemporary political issues. Students will be asked
to examine how a heterogeneous and changing Latina/o population both shapes and is
shaped by life in the United States. Over the course of the semester, we will also engage
with scholarly conversations about constructions of “Latinidad” as they relate to
questions of identity, class, race and/or ethnicity, religion, gender and sexuality,
(im)migration, language and popular culture. Students will learn to recognize and
appreciate the complexities of Latina/o experiences in the United States and will
become familiar with a critical vocabulary that will facilitate complex discussions about
broader issues of American culture and identity.
ENGL 2303-007: Monsters, Madness and other Female Maladies
Fall 2016 section 007 930-1050am TR; Tra Clough
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
This course will explore the many representations of the monstrous figure in various
disciplines (anthropology, cultural studies, medicine, science, folklore, history) and
cultures, critically engaging with how the monstrous anticipates, represents, provokes,
or capitalizes on particular cultural, historical, and political anxieties. We will explore
some of the most generative and popular monsters that have emerged in myth,
literature, pop culture, and film. We will consider how societies come to identify/label
the “monstrous” as we survey traditional monster stories, but we will also delve into the
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less traditionally identified monsters who nonetheless engender horror and revulsion.
To that end, we will interrogate how the monstrous ‘others’ emerge in collective
discourses, and the ramifications of such a weighted label on these subjects. What
makes a successful monster at a given time? How does form effect our interpretation,
evoking our disgust or sympathy. What, if anything, do we gain when the monster
speaks back? Class discussions will engage with the ‘idea’ of the monster from a critical
perspective informed by an understanding of the cultural, historical, and political forces
that contribute the creation of the monstrous.
ENGL 2303-008 On the Road
Fall 2016 Section 008 9-950am; Charles Hicks
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
The course seeks to introduce students to novels, memoirs, and essays centered on
travel and the concept of “the road.” Students will explore the primarily characteristics
and themes of travel narratives and analyze how these tropes are used to comment on a
specific historical period. The class will be comprised of such classic “road” novels as
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Hunter S. Thompson’s roman à clef Fear and Loathing in
Las Vegas, and Che Guevara’s memoir, The Motorcycle Diaries.
ENGL 2303-010 Banned Books
Fall 2016 section 010 1100am-1220pm TR; Desiree Henderson
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
This course provides a general introduction to the study of American literature through
a focus on banned books and other controversial media. Students will consider the role
of literature in society, the debates and disagreements about language, content, purpose
and audience that cause some books to be banned and censored, as well as why authors
engage with controversial material. Assignments include one test, two short analysis
papers, and one research paper.
ENGL 2303-011 Reuse, Remix, Rewrite
Fall 2016 section 011 11-1150am MWF; Sarah Shelton
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
The adaptation and appropriation of literature is all around us; consider the latest trend
to re-tell fairy tales in television (Once Upon a Time), film (Snow White and the
Huntsman), and books (Beastly). In this class, we’ll analyze what goes into an
adaptation/appropriation and explore their creation across multiple genres, particularly
young adult literature, literary fiction, TV/film, and graphic novels. At the core of our
class will be two questions: Why do we (re)tell stories and are there any “original”
stories left to tell? We’ll also explore typical topics in adaptation theory: What makes an
adaptation “faithful”? Does faithfulness matter? How do concepts like genre, gender,
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and race factor into adaptations? How do we remix and reuse stories throughout our
everyday lives? We’ll also consider the ethical implications of a shared culture where
some stories/ideas are considered fair game for reuse while others are tightly guarded
by copyright law. Possible texts/authors for the course (not set and subject to change):
various fairy tales, Shakespeare, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Alice in Wonderland, Pride and
Prejudice, and/or (selections from the tales of) Sherlock Holmes. While we’ll work on a
core set of texts and their various adaptations together as a class, students will also each
select an outside text to study and begin to adapt through a semester-long project.
______________________________________________________
English 2309: World Literature
Fall 2016 section 005 1-150pm MWF; Ana Savic
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
In ENGL 2309-005 – World Literature, we will read a variety of world literature
masterpieces that raise significant aesthetic, cultural, and social issues. We will focus on
developing your ability to engage intellectually with texts and ideas and to articulate
your thoughts clearly and effectively both orally and in writing. You will be asked to look
beyond surface-level meanings and consider how literary texts reflect the author’s
ideology or the philosophical, social, and political concerns of the time through their
themes and stylistic devices. Some of the authors we will be reading are Jorge Luis
Borges, Chinua Achebe, and Jhumpa Lahiri. Our overall goal in this class is to help you
discover complex aspects of literary art and sharpen your ability of perceptive and
informed reading.
ENGL 2319: British Literature
Fall 2016 section 005 2-250pm MWF; Miriam Rowntree
Meets Language, Philosophy and Culture Core Requirement
Environmental and Sustainability Minor
Architectonics and Ruins
During the Romantic period in Britain, at the turn of the 19th century, many
writers turned to ruins for inspiration. These writers found places of ruin particularly
fertile for metaphors for the British Empire as well as human mortality and
memory. The Romantics set the stage for a fascination with ruins that has continued
into the 21st century. What makes ruins so compelling? Can architecture be designed to
thwart ruin? What kinds of architecture would we have if it was designed to ruin? Many
Romantics asked these questions and responded with art, literature, and music. These
questions will also form the basis for our discussion of literature that works with the
built environment. The course will focus on the structure of a ruin (and its companion in
poetry), the ecology of ruin, and the language of ruin. These main threads will weave
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throughout the course to offer insight in how we might respond to the ruins that
surround us today.
ENGL 2338 Technical Writing
Fall 2016 section 002 1230-150pm TR; AND section 007 2pm-320pm TR ; Estee Beck
What does it mean to be an effective workplace writer? How does the preparation of
technical, scientific, and professional materials prepare people for workplace success?
In this practical workshop course, students will learn advanced techniques in document
design through preparation of a proposal, an informational report, a set of instructions,
along with thorough development of a resume and cover letter. Prerequisites: ENGL
1301, ENGL 1302
ENGL 2338 TECHNICAL WRITING
Fall 2016 section 009 11am-1220pm TR AND section 006 7-820pm TR; Christian
Worlow
This course provides students with the principles of effective technical writing and
professional communication. Students will learn-by-doing, producing brochures,
resumes and cover letters, instructional materials, and proposal projects. In addition,
students will learn about using effective writing style to communicate clearly and
concisely to a variety of audiences. Furthermore, this course includes a service learning
component, as we will work with local organizations to produce documents useful to
them. Previous organizations that this course has worked with have included Meals On
Wheels, Inc. of Tarrant County.
English 2350: INTRODUCTION TO TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Fall 2016 section 001 10-1050am MWF; AND section 002 11am-1150am MWF ; Ana
Savic
Required for all English Majors
ENGL 2350 is designed to introduce current and potential English majors to
what is required of them as students of literature. The course will teach student to (1)
articulate an understanding of major approaches to literary criticism, (2) recognize and
understand critical and literary terms, (3) develop methods and strategies for analyzing
and interpreting texts, and (4) demonstrate a command of these methods and strategies
in written work. This course is a prerequisite for all upper-level English courses.
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English 2350: INTRODUCTION TO TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Fall 2016 section 003 930-1050am TR; AND section 004 11am-1220pm TR ; Stacy
Alaimo
Required for all English Majors
“All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation” (Walter Benjamin)
“My mother is a fish.” (Faulkner, As I Lay Dying)
This course, a required core course for English majors, is an introduction to different
practices of analysis and interpretation, from the basic to the more advanced skills,
methods, and modes of inquiry within English Studies. Students develop their close
reading skills, by analyzing and interpreting poetry, short stories, two novels, and a film.
Much of the course introduces students to a wide range of theoretical approaches to
textual analysis and interpretation—from Freud, Marx, and Derrida to Butler, Anzaldua
and Latour. We will read theory and criticism that address the most significant
questions in the Humanities, as we discuss the benefits and the limitations of different
critical approaches for literary and cultural analysis. Class time will consist of lecture,
discussion, individual presentations, exercises, small group work, and small group
presentations. Assignments: a poetry analysis, an application paper on one critical
theory, a research paper, an individual presentation, and a comprehensive final exam.
Careful, thoughtful reading and active, informed participation is crucial for success in
this class. Required texts: How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary
and Cultural Studies, (third edition, 2014), ISBN-13: 978-0199331161; William
Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (corrected text);
Ana Castillo, So Far From God; Tim Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing About Film
(any edition).
ENGL 2384: Structure of Modern English
Fall 2016 section 001 11-1150am MWF; AND section 002 1-150pm MWF; Gyde Martin
Required for all English Majors
We will examine English grammar, not to teach you “proper” grammar but to discover
what is unique about the structure of this particular language. In other words, we will
discover the “real” rules, rules you already know as speakers of the language. To see
these structural rules in operation, we will use Chomsky-style diagrams in our analysis
of sentences and phrases.
We will also discuss topics in linguistics particularly relevant to teachers, for example,
language acquisition in children (versus adults) and dialect differences.
ENGL 2384: Structure of Modern English
Fall 2016 section 004 530-650pm TR; Tim Morris
Required for all English Majors
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We will examine English phonology, morphology, and syntax. Major topics include verb
systems, canonical declarative sentences, semantics and the lexicon, and syntactic
analysis with the help of tree diagrams. The material of this course is helpful for writers,
teachers, and students of literature, and serves as an introduction to History of the
English Language and to further work in English linguistics.
Attendance, group work, and leadership in class discussions are essential. There will be
two minor diagnostic midterm exams (each 10% of your grade): one before early grade
and one before the final drop date. There will be a comprehensive final exam counting
for 80% of your grade. The idea is to retain and practice material continuously from
start to end of the course.
ENGL 3300 Gothic Literature
Fall 2016 section 001 1230-150pm TR; Rechelle Christie
BA Area C, Generalist
This course will explore the cultural significance of Gothic literature and how the texts
within the genre create a complex dialogue within cultural and historical contexts. By
the end of the course, students should be able to effectively analyze Gothic texts and
articulate both orally and in writing how the Gothic tradition works to reveal social
expectations and cultural anxieties.
ENGL 3345 African-American Literature
Fall 2016 9-950am MWF; Kenton Rambsy
BA Area C, Multicultural/Comparative; BATCH Cultural Diversity
From Slavery to Hip Hop
From Slavery to Hip Hop focuses on African American literary compositions produced
over more than 150 years. We will cover works by a wide range of writers and cultural
figure, including Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, Malcolm X, Toni Morrison,
and Jay Z. Students will gain experience analyzing stylistics features of literary texts and
making connections between a diverse cast of black artists. We will compile metadata on
various black writers in order to produce thematic data visualizations, literary timelines,
and a list of key terms, pinpointing intellectual and cultural components of African
American literary art.
ENGL 3347: Greatest Beefs in African American Literature
Fall 2016 10-1050am MWF; Kenton Rambsy
BA Area C, Multicultural/Comparative; BATCH Cultural Diversity
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This course examines the intellectual history surrounding creative conflicts in African
American artistic history. We will track creative conflicts ranging fro W.E.B. DuBois and
Booker T. Washington, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, Martin Luther King
and Malcolm X as well as examining contemporary battles by rap figures such Lil Kim
and Nicki Minaj. In this class, we will use digital tools to uncover the underlying features
of signifying and public debates by analyzing linguistic features and thematic
characteristics of select figures. Specifically, we will analyze speeches, essays, and short
compositions using text-mining software in order to extract information and create
datasets about black literary figures.
ENGL 3351 History of British Literature I
11am-1220pm TR; Jacqueline Fay
Meets BATCH requirement; BA Area A; Generalist Concentration
This course will survey British literature from its beginnings to the eighteenth
century. Literature will be treated as a cultural phenomenon, and texts will be read as
products of and contributors to their historical and social milieu. Students will read
widely in a range of genres and will be encouraged to explore and interrogate traditional
notions of literary "periods" and "the canon."
ENGL 3361 History of World Literature I
330-450 TR; Luanne Frank
Meets BATCH requirement; BA Multicultural/Comparative Concentration
One well-known contemporary writer has said that all great literature is seditious: it
would, if it could, and it tries to, re-arrange the world--turn it upside down. The present
course selects a large handful such works from the Western tradition (from the Classical
period through the Renaissance)—that re-arrange our ideas of who we are and what we
suppose to be true (humanistically rather than technologically speaking), and how it is
that we come to think we know this.
Texts and authors studied may include readings in Homer, Euripides (Medea), Virgil
(Aeneid), medieval epic, Dante (Divine Comedy), Rabelais (Gargantua &
Pantagruel), Montaigne (aphorisms), and Cervantes (Don Quixote).
Requirements: after considering in class unsuspectedly broad meanings of meaning and
interpretation and, especially, how meaning is generated: 1) five one-page papers
discussing the works in question through the lens of the given student’s (and others’)
assumptions. 2) heavily participatory in-class discussion. 3) occasional quizzes. 3)
Thinking.
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ENGL 3364. 001/WOMS 3364.001 Gay and Lesbian Literature (GLBTQ Literature and
Theory)
Fall 2016 1230-150pm TR; Stacy Alaimo
BA Area C, Multicultural/Comparative; BATCH Cultural Diversity
English 3364 (crosslisted as Women’s and Gender Studies 3364) explores a rich and
thought-provoking range of GLBTQ literature and theory, from England and the U.S.
The readings include canonical novels and popular (even pulp) fiction, modernist
“biography” and contemporary autobiography, magical realism and romance, scholarly
essays and poetry--from the late 19th century to the present. We will discuss GLBTQ
histories, narratives, identity formations, cultural politics, and figurations of knowledge
and desire. We will also consider the intersecting categories of race, class, and gender
and the tensions between minoritizing and universalizing theories of sexuality. Class
time will consist of lecture, discussion, small group work and presentations.
ENGL 3371: Advanced Exposition
Fall 2016 1230-150pm TR; Kevin Porter
BA Language and Rhetoric; BATCH Writing/Composition; Writing Minor
Expository writing is typically defined as a kind of writing in which authors attempt to
inform, but not necessarily persuade, their readers about a particular topic. The
distinction between “informing” and “persuading”—i.e., between “explaining” and
“arguing”—is, of course, contestable, but it seems reasonable to assume that a reader
may be informed by a text without being persuaded by it or that a writer may write
about a particular viewpoint without advocating it. The first major goal for 3371, then, is
improving your abilities to critically read and effectively write brief expository texts,
such as rhetorical précis. The second major goal is honing your skills in writing concisely
and precisely, coherently and cohesively. Whereas most writing courses focus on
invention or production (i.e., writing more) and perhaps sentence-level mechanics (i.e.,
writing correctly), we will repeatedly practice strategies of writing more effectively in
fewer words; to do so, we will attend closely to matters of meaning, structure, and style
at all levels of discourse, from words to phrases to clauses to sentences to paragraphs to
sections to complete texts. Along the way, I will try to demystify such concepts as
“coherence,” “clarity,” and “concision.”
ENGL 3374 WRITING, RHETORIC, AND MULTIMEDIA AUTHORING
Fall 2016 4-7pm W; Estee Beck
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BA Language and Rhetoric; BATCH Writing/Composition; Writing Minor
Writing in the digital age means using the available means of media to develop
persuasive messages in print and non-print sources. This means learning how to use,
critique, and rhetorically create audio, video, and 3D scans and prints alongside print
“texts.” This course will introduce students to digital rhetoric and composition with
weekly readings from the discipline of Computers & Writing, student-led technology
demonstrations, and the development of a semester-long multimedia web-authoring
project. The only required (& inexpensive) book is Kristin Arola, Jennifer Shepard, and
Cheryl Ball’s Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects. All other
readings and software are available online or through the university. Prerequisites:
ENGL 1301, ENGL 1302.
ENGL 3375: CREATIVE WRITING
Fall 2016 1230-150pm TR or 330-450pm TR; Laura Kopchick; 530-650pm MW Staff
Creative Writing Minor
This course is designed to introduce students to the world of contemporary creative
writing, particularly to the genres of literary prose fiction, creative non-fiction and
poetry. This will be accomplished through discussions, readings, writing assignments,
and workshops.
ENGL 3385: Topics in Rhetoric (Information Design and Visual Rhetoric).
Fall 2016 930-1050am TR; Yuejiao Zhang
BA Language and Rhetoric; Writing Minor
This course surveys the basic theories and elements of visual communication and
rhetoric, as well as principles of document design. Exercises and assignments will focus
on evaluating, designing, and redesigning documents in a number of technical and
professional communication genres. Students will develop a sensibility for making
rhetorically-effective design choices and to development the skills to implement those
choices. Students will also gain practical experience using document design software,
including Adobe InDesign.
ENGL 4301: History of the English Language
Fall 2016 930-1050am TR; Jacqueline Fay
BA Area A; Language/Rhetoric Concentration
The goal of this course is to change how you think about English. You will learn how the
English language developed into its present form from its earliest recorded appearance
as Old English, through Middle English, the Renaissance and modern periods. The
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course will combine technical information, such as how to make a phonetic transcript
and how to parse Old English sentences, with historical background about the events
that motivated language change. You will be encouraged to understand the progression
of the English language as enmeshed with social and cultural movements, such as the
migration of peoples or the political dominance of a region/group.
ENGL 4326: SHAKESPEARE
Fall 2016 530-650pm; Christian Worlow
BATCH Requirement; BA Area A, Generalist Concentration
When journalists and pundits compare President George W. Bush to Shakespeare’s
Prince Hal and compare President Obama to Shakespeare’s Mark Antony, you can see
that the influence of Shakespeare reaches well into our world. Indeed, America’s love
affair with Shakespeare goes back to the Founding Fathers and to the American
Frontier. As Alexis de Tocqueville observed while visiting the early United States, “There
is hardly a pioneer's hut that does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I
remember that I read the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin.”
However, our culture has moved away from making Shakespeare accessible to the public
even as public schools continue to require Shakespearean texts on curriculums. In this
course, you will gain a grounding in the historical and performance contexts of
Shakespeare while we read several of his plays. We will focus on a selection of tragedies,
history plays, and comedies, as well as other works. Along the way, we will read
Machiavelli’s The Prince, which had a strong influence on the political, cultural, and
literary landscape of early modern England. Assessment for this course includes two
exams and a term paper.
ENGL 4336: Self-Determination and the Struggle for Justice in African-American
Literature
Fall 2016 2-2:50 pm MWF; Kathryn Warren
In 2015 Ta-Nehisi Coates won the National Book Award for Between the World and Me,
his searing analysis of what it means to be a black man in the United States. Written in
the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement and sharing its concerns, the book
received near-universal acclaim while at the same time provoking national soulsearching. This soul-searching was due, in no small part, to Coates’s excoriation of a
country in which, as he puts it, “it is traditional to destroy the black body — it is
heritage.”
In this class we will take part in Coates’s project of national self-examination. We’ll start
with Between the World and Me and follow the threads of Coates’s arguments into the
past, tracing African-American history through the words of Frederick Douglass,
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Charles Chesnutt, W. E. B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Malcolm X, Anne
Moody, Robert Hayden, Toni Morrison, and Claudia Rankine. Our reading will offer a
sustained look at the way black people have used writing as a vehicle for selfdetermination in a country that has been perverted, in Coates’s view, by its pursuit of a
Dream that threatens to “plunder not just the bodies of humans but the body of the
Earth itself.” We will focus on the centrality of literacy to the struggle for justice, the
notion that language gives us not only the ability to communicate our ideas for change,
but also the ability to envision change in the first place.
ENGL 4347: ADVANCED FICTION WORKSHOP
Fall 2016 530-820pm T; Laura Kopchick
This advanced workshop class centers around the writing (and re-writing!) of creative,
fictional short stories. Since better readers make better writers, we will read several of
the best contemporary short stories, discuss them, then use them as inspiration for our
own works. We will discuss language, structure, narration, and, most importantly, deal
with the “So What?” factor (more on this factor as the semester progresses). Our goal is
to become better writers, yes, but also to become more confident of our writing
strengths and more aware of our weaknesses. This course is a workshop-intensive
course, meaning half of almost every class session will be devoted to full-class
workshopping of student short stories. The other half of class will focus on craft
discussion, in-class writing exercises, story discussion.
ENGL 4348 – Advanced Poetry Workshop
Fall 2016 4-650pm M; Tim Richardson
Creative Writing Minor
This workshop offers intensive practice in the craft of poetry and the study of the
creative process through close readings of poems, essays on craft, and the workshopping
of students' poems. Though the emphasis of this course is necessarily on craft, writing
poems also means engaging with other (written, visual, aural, etc.) texts. That is, poetry
has a relationship with readers and with the world.
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ENGL 4365: Children’s Literature
Fall 2016 9-950am MWF; Gyde Martin
Area C; Generalist Concentration
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This course examines the monsters and villains in children's literature, starting with
their traditional representations in folk literature and ending with contemporary texts
that were deliberately written for children. Some of these monsters and mythical
figures--dragons, wolves, witches, sorcerers, ogres, and the undead dead--have
undergone significant revisions, have been downright “rehabilitated.” We will trace
these revisionist trends and speculate about their causes and about the changing ethos
of children's literature.
ENGL 4366: Young Adult Literature
Fall 2016 930-1050am TR; Joanna Johnson
Area C; Generalist Concentration
This course will analyze young adult (adolescent) literature from both education and
literary perspectives. We will incorporate ideas of practical application into critical and
scholarly discussions of the work. Young adult literature is unique in that, unlike other
literatures—African-American, Native-American, women’s literature, etc.—the
description indicates the audience and not the author (of course, there are children
authors but they are not publishing the majority of children’s literature). By looking at a
variety of genres within young adult literature, we will assess how these works both
reflect and shape general literature and culture.
Since many successful YA texts have been made into films we will view two movies
based on popular and canonized YA novels. One film attempts to translate the film into
another era while the other stays true to the time period in which the novel is set. Our
discussions will revolve around how successfully (or not) the filmmakers were able to
convey the original themes/characterization as we explore how social conventions,
cultural expectations, and/or cinematic devices enriched or compromised the original
texts.
This class will be conducted primarily in a seminar format with major contributions
from the students. Grading will be based on quizzes, an exam, short papers, short
presentations, and creative projects relating to both assigned and additional readings of
the student’s choice.
ENGL 4370: Rhetoric and Composition for Secondary School Teachers
Fall 2016 11am-1220pm TR; Jim Warren
BATCH Requirement
This course is required for students pursuing an English degree with Secondary Teacher
Certification and students seeking Mid-Level English Language Arts Certification, so
these students are the primary audience. However, the course is designed to appeal to
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any student interested in the history, theory, and practice of reading and writing
instruction.
As we examine rhetorical theory as manifested in the classroom, we’ll consider
questions like: What is “rhetoric,” “composition,” and “rhetoric and composition?” Why
do we teach reading and writing differently from the way it was taught 50 or 100 years
ago? Why is reading and writing taught so differently in college and in high school, and
what, if anything, should we do to improve alignment between the two?
This is a content course, not a pedagogy course, but we will examine writing instruction
as itself a research field. You’ll learn what pedagogical practices are supported by recent
scholarship in rhetoric/comp, and as you do so, you’ll occupy the dual role of student
and teacher-in-training. For example, you’ll learn how to teach analytic reading skills as
you practice these skills. You’ll learn how to teach argument as inquiry as you produce
written arguments that engage timely issues. I’ll include you in the process of composing
writing assignments that you then complete. We’ll talk about how to comment on and
grade student writing as I give you feedback on your writing. We’ll consider the best
ways to teach grammar and mechanics as you sharpen your command of Standard
Written English.
ENGL 4390: INTERNSHIP IN ENGLISH
Fall 2016 by arrangement; Christian Worlow
This practicum course offers junior and senior English majors the opportunity to use the
writing, communication, rhetorical, and analytical skills they have developed in a
professional context. Unlike a traditional lecture course, internships take place
primarily in a professional environment. Interns will devote 10-12 hours per week on
average to working with an organization in some capacity. Previous internships have
included working with Volunteer Recruitment or as Project Coordinators with Meals On
Wheels, Inc. of Tarrant County. Other internships have included Academic Advising
internships with the Department of English. Internships help distinguish graduates
from their peers on their resumes, in their cover letters, and in interviews. Please note
that internship opportunities are limited, and prospective interns must secure
permission from Dr. Worlow before enrolling in this course. Please contact Dr. Worlow
(worlow@uta.edu) and the Department’s Academic Advisors for more information.
English 4399, Senior Seminar: Early Modern Women and Literary Production
Fall 2016 11am-1220pm TR; Amy Tigner
Senior Seminar required for BA program
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In this course, we will be reading early modern women’s texts, both in published
and in manuscript form, to consider the cultural and political nodal points of gendered
writing in a highly patriarchal society. Most women’s writing courses have been
primarily concerned with tradition literature: poetry, non-fiction prose, plays, and
novels written by women who have formed the canon in this period, as established by
feminist scholars in the 1980s and 90s. We will be reading these genres, but also next to
this canonical view of women’s literature we will also be exploring other kinds of
writing, such as diaries, receipt books (what the early moderns called cook books),
commonplace books and letters to investigate a larger sense of literacy, writing and the
concerns of women in this period. This class will participate in two related digital
humanities projects: Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC) run by a group
of international scholars interested in recipes and with Early Modern Manuscripts
Online (EMMO) which is the project of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington
DC. In both of these cases, students will be transcribing and coding the manuscripts to
create accessible databases. Students will also study 16th and 17th century handwriting
(paleography) so that they will have the skill set to work in the digital archives.