English Literature
ENGL 2000Y – Foundations in practical criticism and theory
An introduction to practical criticism and to the theoretical assumptions underlying a wide range of approaches to literature. The
course explores British, American, Canadian and postcolonial works, and draws on parallels between literary and non-literary
language and between literature and other forms of expression. Emphasis will be placed on learning through writing. Course
materials fee: $15. Excludes ENGL 205.
ENGL 2100Y – Foundations in Medieval and Renaissance literature
This course provides an opportunity to become acquainted with English literature from the medieval period to the Renaissance.
Special attention will be given to such themes as the romantic and heroic impulses, sacred and profane love, art and nature,
nostalgia for the old and enthusiasm for the new. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL 2200Y – Foundations in Restoration to Romantic literature
This course explores the genres, aesthetics, philosophies, and politics of the Restoration to Romantics periods. Writers to be
studied include: Milton, Congreve, Dryden, Behn, Defoe, Addison, Steele, Pope, Dryden, Swift, Gay, Johnson, Fielding, Sterne,
Franklin, Burns, Burke, Rousseau, Blake, Wollstonecraft, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Austen, P. B. Shelley, Mary Shelley, Byron, and
Keats. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL – CUST 229 – Science fiction (see Cultural Studies)
ENGL 2300Y – Foundations in American literature
An introduction to the dynamic trajectory of American literature in the 19th century and modernist period. The course explores the
literature’s ambivalent responses to a British tradition, its relationship to Indigenous and African-American oral forms, and popular
cultural forms, and its engagement with distinctively American ideals and political climates. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL
1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL – INDG 2480Y – Indigenous literature and creative writing (see Indigenous Studies)
ENGL – CAST 2500Y – Foundations in Canadian literature
This course approaches English Canadian literature (poetry, prose and drama) from the 19th to the 21st century. It examines the
literature in its historical, cultural and political contexts, taking into account issues such as gender, race, class and the
environment. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL 3100Y – Studies in the history of the English language
A study of the development and use of the English language, spoken and written, from Old and Middle English to modern
colloquial usage and experimental fiction. The course emphasizes practical philological linguistics, structural analysis and the
application of language skills to prose and verse from 950 C.E. to current writing. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y
(100) or 1003H and 1005H. Strongly recommended: a 1000- (100-) level course in French, German, Greek, Latin or Spanish.
Excludes ENGL 230.
ENGL 3121H (WI) – Studies in medieval romance
This course will examine medieval romance through the lens of several overlapping sub-genres: penitential, family, and Arthurian
romance. We will be attentive to how romance maps the stresses and changes in medieval culture – particularly in England – and
how it becomes a vehicle for exploring political, social and ideological change. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100)
or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 332.
ENGL 3155H (WI) – Studies in the Renaissance lyric
Lyric poetry, along with music and drama, was one of the greatest artistic expressions of the English Renaissance. This course
will focus on the conflicting tendencies towards musical beauty and psychological drama in such poets as Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney,
Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, Donne, Herbert, the later Metaphysicals and the Cavaliers. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL
1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 251, 253H, 254H.
ENGL 3200Y – Studies in Milton and his age
An examination of Milton’s development as man and artist through the study of his major works (including Comus, “Lycidas, ”
Areopagitica, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes) and selected works of contemporary authors.
Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 201.
ENGL 3251H (FA) – Studies in the early Romantics
A study of the “Romantic revolution” in politics, mores, philosophy, religion and aesthetics as represented in the writings of Blake,
Wordsworth, Coleridge and others (such as Rousseau, Burke, Wollstonecraft) in the early Romantic period. Prerequisite: 60% or
higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 212H and 3250Y.
ENGL – CUST 329– Utopia (future fiction) (see Cultural Studies)
ENGL 3304Y – Studies in American literature: Genres
This course studies a range of works in a particular genre of American literature, such as slave narratives (19th century and
contemporary re-writings); postmodern poetry; modern American drama; and contemporary American drama. Prerequisite: 60%
or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 371. Students may take only one of ENGL 3304Y or
3305H for credit.
ENGL 3403H (WI) – Studies in Victorian literary movements and genres
Studies in literary movements and genres of Victorian literature. Some of the movements and genres to be discussed include PreRaphaelitism, fin de siècle writings, sensation fiction, the New Woman novel, poetry. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y
(100) or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 320. Students may take only one of ENGL 3402 or 3403H for credit.
ENGL 3453H – Studies in West Indian literature
A study of postcolonial Anglophone Caribbean literature. Writers to be studied may include Bob Marley, Lorna Goodison, Erna
Brodber, Louise Bennett (Jamaica) V.S. Naipaul, Earl Lovelace, Samuel Selvon (Trinidad), Wilson Harris (Guyana), Kamau
Brathwaite (Barbados) and Derek Walcott (St. Lucia). Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL – CAST – INDG 3483H (WI) – Studies in Indigenous poetry
The course considers the range of contemporary poetry by Indigenous authors from Canada and the United States, and the
poems’ relations to traditional language forms and to literary traditions and genres. It begins with a brief study of “orature” and
songs, and includes a discussion of one 19th century exemplar. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and
1005H. Excludes ENGL – INDG – CAST 361H.
ENGL – CAST – 3505H (FA) – Studies in Canadian literature: Communities
This course examines imagined communities in Canadian literature, in comparison to communities as they have developed in
Canada’s history and as they may have existed or been imagined in the author’s place of origin. It will draw on a selection of
works from the 19th century to the present. Prerequisite: C- (60%) or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL – CAST 3520Y – Literary landscapes of Montreal (see Canadian Studies)
ENGL 3550Y – Studies in documenting Canada
This course explores attempts to document “real” aspects of Canadian life in order to question how we think we know about
Canada. We will discuss the genres of documentary film, poetry, and prose, the questions of power they raise, and the forms of
creativity they generate. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes CAST – WMST 2000Y
(200).
ENGL – WMST 3701H (WI) – Studies in gender and literature
A study of relations between gender and writing, with an emphasis on women authors and a female literary tradition. Selected
works include a range of genres and periods in literature in English. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H
and 1005H. Excludes ENGL – WMST 310. Students may take only one of ENGL 3700Y or 3701H for credit.
ENGL – ERST 3705H (FA)– Studies in literature and the environment
An examination of selected works through a focus on the natural environment including non-human forms of life. The course
studies examples of nature and environmental writing, but also brings ecocritical perspectives to a wide range of texts through
discussions of the wilderness, gardens, waste, nature and culture, and other topics. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y
(100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL 3707H (WI) – Studies in literature and globalization
An examination of literary and theoretical texts that interrogate the political, economic and cultural effects of globalization. How
does identity work if everyone’s hybrid? Does nationality matter in a world run by multinationals? What does “authentic” mean in
this brave new McWorld? Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H.
ENGL 3805H (FA)– Studies in modern drama
Studies in the works of 20th century English, Irish and American playwrights. Writers to be studied include Shaw, Wilde, Osborne,
Pinter, Stoppard, Beckett, Churchill, Gems, Williams, Miller and Albee. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or
1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 350. Students may take only one of ENGL 3804Y or 3805H for credit.
ENGL 3807H (FA)– Studies in modern fiction
This course examines the development of modern fiction from the flourishing of experimental Modernism in the 1920s to
contemporary voices and trends. The texts will be interpreted from a social and historical perspective and a formal or aesthetic
perspective. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and 1005H. Excludes ENGL 345. Students may take
only one of ENGL 3806Y or 3807H for credit.
ENGL 3810Y – Studies in children’s literature
This course studies children’s literature (British, American and Canadian) from the 18th century to the present, addressing such
topics as the transition from oral to literate culture, folk and fairy tales, the 18th century popular press, the late 19th century cult of
the child, illustration, the “Golden Age,” and cultural contexts. Prerequisite: 60% or higher in ENGL 1000Y (100) or 1003H and
1005H. Excludes ENGL 385.
ENGL 4020D – Honours thesis
A double credit in which instruction in research methods leads to a thesis of about 15,000 words. The department deadline for a
thesis abstract and bibliography (signed by the thesis supervisor) is May 1 of the student’s third year. See website
(www.trentu.ca/english) for details.
ENGL 4150Y/4151H – Research seminar in Shakespeare
ENGL 4150Y topic for 2009-2010 (Oshawa only): Shakespeare’s Ladies. Shakespeare’s representation of women perhaps
exceeds in sensitivity and range that of any other English playwright, despite his having to rely upon men to play his female roles.
The course uses film versions of eight plays to explore Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic examination of gender; films will be
viewed in class. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y (205) and 3150Y (220); a cumulative average of 70% or
higher in all courses taken. Excludes ENGL 420. Students may take only one of ENGL 4150Y or ENGL 4151H for credit.
ENGL 4201H (WI) – Research seminar in Restoration and 18th century literature
ENGL 4201H topic for 2009-2010: Manners and Mores: the 18th Century Culture of Politeness. Explores the 18th Century cultural
discourse of “politeness” initiated in philosophy and literature by Shaftesbury, Addison, Hume, Smith, Rousseau, Burke, Burney
and Austen, resulting in cultural debates about taste, manners, sociability, civility and conversation which mark a significant
historical turn to new ideas of both private and public (civic) virtue. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y (205);
a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses taken. Excludes ENGL 434. Students may take only one of ENGL 4200Y or
4201H for credit.
ENGL – CUST 425 – Advanced studies in literary and critical theory (see Cultural Studies)
ENGL – CUST 429 – Advanced studies in science fiction (see Cultural Studies)
ENGL 4301H (FA) – Research seminar in American literature
ENGL 4301H topic for 2009-2010: Love in Modern American Culture. An examination of various representations of love in
modern American poetry, song, drama, musical theatre, television, and film. Texts include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,
Company, Hannah and her Sisters, Lost in Translation, Frasier, and the songs of Cole Porter and Patti Smith. Prerequisite: 4
credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y (205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses taken. Excludes ENGL 475.
Students may take only one of ENGL 4300Y or 4301H for credit.
ENGL 4451H (FA) – Research seminar in postcolonial literature
ENGL 4451H topic for 2009-2010: Power and Violence in Nigeria. A study of Nigerian fiction focusing on the sources and
functions of violence in the postcolonial nation. Works by Chinua Achebe, Chris Abani, Chiminimanda Adichie and Helen Habila
will be read alongside theoretical texts by Rene Girard, Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English,
including ENGL 2000Y (205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses taken. Students may take only one of ENGL
4450Y or 4451H for credit.
ENGL 4500 – Research seminar in Canadian literature
ENGL 4500Y topic for 2009-2010 (Oshawa only) Women Writing Mothers and Daughters in Selected Canadian Fiction. This
course studies constructions of mothers and daughters in selected works of Canadian fiction. Texts will include works by Sara
Jeannette Duncan, Ethel Wilson, Gabrielle Roy, Daphne Marlatt, Frances Itani, Carol Shields, Makeda Silvera, Hiromi Goto, and
Miriam Toews. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000 (205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all
courses taken. Excludes ENGL – CAST 465. Students may take only one of ENGL 4500Y or 4501H for credit.
ENGL 4500Y topic for 2009-2010 (Peterborough only): TBA. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y (205); a
cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses taken. Excludes ENGL – CAST 465. Students may take only one of ENGL
4500Y or 4501H for credit.
ENGL 4601H (WI) – Research seminar in critical approaches to literature
ENGL 4601H topic for 2009-2010: Theories of Race, Ethnicity, and National Culture. A thematically-based course examining the
nature and methods of critical theories on race, ethnicity, and national cultures, with an emphasis on the ways in which theories of
race and ethnicity affect the practice of literary theory and criticism. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y
(205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses taken. Students may take only one of ENGL 4600Y or 4601H for
credit.
ENGL 4800Y – Research seminar in genre
ENGL 4800Y topic for 2009-2010: Travel Writing. The course will focus on the politics of travel and displacement, travel writing as
a form of self-writing, the tourist as cultural and literary phenomenon. Works to be studied include fiction and non-fiction by E.M.
Forster, Mary Kingsley, Marlene Nourbese Philip, Michael Ondaatje, John Steinbeck, and other writer-travellers. Prerequisite: 4
credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y (205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses taken. Excludes ENGL 470.
Students may take only one of ENGL 4800Y or 4801H for credit.
ENGL 4802Y – Research seminar in modern poetry
ENGL 4802Y topic for 2009-2010: Modernism in Frost, Stevens, Eliot and Auden. An in-depth look at four important poets from
the period of Modernism, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, T.S. Eliot, and W.H. Auden. We will look at how the definition of poetic
language changed in the first half of the twentieth century, why poetry became ‘”difficult,” and how the American idiom influenced
British writing. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y (205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all
courses taken. Excludes ENGL 440. Students may take only one of ENGL 4802Y or 4803H for credit.
ENGL 4850Y – Advanced seminar in creative writing
ENGL 4850 topic for 2009-2010: Poetry. A workshop course offering students a formal structure within which to pursue their
interest in creative writing. Weekly reading assignments and group discussions; frequent exercises in poetic methods. Students
seeking admission will submit a portfolio of poems to the instructor by May 1 and will be notified if they have been accepted into
the course by May 31. See website (www.trentu.ca/english) for details. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000
(205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses taken. Excludes ENGL 375. Students may take only one of ENGL
4850 or 4851H for credit.
ENGL 4900Y – Reading course
The course allows the student to select, with the approval of the department, an area for research study which is then pursued
under the direction of a member of the department. Students wishing to take ENGL 4900Y must secure the agreement of a
faculty member to supervise the course and must apply for permission to take ENGL 4900Y through the Academic Program
Advisor, prior to the commencement of the session in which the course will be offered. See website (www.trentu.ca/english) for
details. Prerequisite: 4 credits in English, including ENGL 2000Y (205); a cumulative average of 70% or higher in all courses
taken.