Bachelor of Arts in English -- General Literature Concentration
Requirements for the General Literature Concentration
The major core, required of all four concentrations. These courses are offered at least once a year.
- ENGL 3600: American Literary Traditions OR ENGL 3610 British Literary Traditions
Introduction to the history of literature in each country.
- ENGL 3790: Foundations of Literary Study
An overview and introduction to the discipline of literary study, its history, its methods, and its specialized languages.
- ENGL 3510: Linguistic Principles
Basic principles of sound structure and sentence structure in natural language.
- ENGL 3810: Shakespeare
An introduction to Shakespeare as a dramatic artist through close analysis of selected plays.
Specific concentration requirements. Some of these courses are offered in alternate years. A list of courses to be offered in the upcoming semester, including detailed course descriptions, is available at this link and in the English Department office (Field House 1500).
- One 4000-level course in British literature before 1800, which can be any of the following:
ENGL 4440: British Literature: The Medieval Period
ENGL 4420: British Literature: The Renaissance
ENGL 4310: British Drama to 1642
ENGL 4440: Early 17th-Century Literature
ENGL 4460: British Literature: Restoration and 18th Century ENGL 4200: British Fiction 18th Century
- One 4000-level course in British literature after 1800:
ENGL 4500: British Literature: The Romantic Period
ENGL 4220: British Fiction: Early 19th Century
ENGL 4520: British Literature: The Victorian Period
ENGL 4230: British Fiction: Late 19th Century
ENGL 4540: British Literature: The 20th Century
ENGL 4240: British Fiction: 20th Century
- One 4000-level course in American literature:
ENGL 4690: Native American Literature and Culture
ENGL 4600: Early American Literature
ENGL 4620: American Romanticism
ENGL 4630: American Literary Realism
ENGL 4650: African American Literature Before the 20th Century
ENGL 4640: Early 20th-Century American Poetry
ENGL 4280: American Fiction: 20th Century
ENGL 4680: American Literature Since World War II
ENGL 4660: African American Literature in the 20th Century
- One 4000-level course examining a single author in depth:
ENGL 4800: Chaucer
ENGL 4810: Shakespeare II
ENGL 4820: Milton
ENGL 4850: Studies in the Work of a British Author Topic varies; examples in the past have included Edmund Spenser, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, George Eliot
ENGL 4860: Studies in the Work of an American Author Topic varies; examples have included William Faulkner, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Richard Wright, Tom Robbins, Emily Dickinson
In some instances ENGL 4980: Special Topics, if appropriate, may be used to meet one of these four requirements. For example, ENGL4980: Salman Rushdie, offered in Fall 2009, meets the requirement for a course on a single author. Check with an advisor for more information.
Electives Four 3-credit elective courses are required. These must be taken at the 3000- or 4000-level, and can include any English department courses. A course that meets a specific requirement but is not needed because a student has fulfilled that requirement can be used as an elective (for example, students frequently take more than one single-author course, or more than one 4000-level course in the same general area, to pursue a particular interest).
Related fields The major requires 18 total credit hours in related fields outside of English, half of which must be on the 3000- or 4000-level. These are usually chosen from the other humanities, the social sciences, and interdisciplinary programs. The related area requirement may also be satisfied by taking a minor.
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