Courses in English and Journalism

Department of English

Emporia State University

Spring 2005

These descriptions are intended to help you make determinations about which English and journalism courses to take in the Spring 2005 semester. Many include an indication of tests used and other course requirements; for more detailed information please feel free to contact the scheduled instructor or your advisor.

Students interested in pursuing a degree in English or journalism should consult the appropriate advisor:

  B.A. Advisor

  Professor Richard Keller

  404U Plumb Hall, 341-5559

  E-mail:KellerRi@emporia.edu

  B.S.E. Advisor

  Professor Kevin Kienholz

  404E Plumb Hall, 341-5216

  E-mail:KienholK@emporia.edu

  Director of Graduate Studies

  Professor Mel Storm

  404S Plumb Hall, 341-5563

  E-mail:StormMel@emporia.edu

  Director of Journalism

  Meg Smith

  404C Plumb Hall, 341-5556
  Email: Smithmeg@emporia.edu

*This course fulfills the requirement for study of literature written before 1830.

**This course fulfills the requirement for study of literature written after 1830.

+This course fulfills the requirement for study of Literary Criticism/Rhetoric.

++This course fulfills the requirement for study of Language/Linguistics.

EG 001A,B, Basic Writing

This course is designed for students whose test scores or other evidence indicate a need for further review of basic composition skills.  Working collaboratively, students will concentrate on reading and on writing complete essays with effective sentences and paragraphs, using standard edited American English.  Grading is satisfactory/unsatisfactory. Staff.

EG 100, Composition Workshop

This course is open to all students and graduates who would like one-on-one intensive instruction in composition and related skills.  The course requires the student to complete fifteen one-hour sessions (usually one per week) with the instructor as well as the successful completion of assigned homework.  Miller.

EG 101, Composition I

This course is designed to help all students learn to write better, especially for academic purposes.  Assignments include 5-7 graded essays, as well as a variety of non-graded assignments, such as journals and in-class writing. Staff.

EG 102, Composition II

This course is a continuation of Comp I, with an emphasis on research.  Assignments include 4-7 graded essays, at least one of which requires research.  Students should expect to write longer, more critical essays than those for EG 101.  Instructors may choose to include journals and/or exams.  Staff.

.

EG 104AZ/BZ,Honors Composition II

Honors Composition II is a continuation of Honors Composition I, with a greater emphasis on research, persuasive writing, argumentation, and documentation. Students should expect to write longer, more critical essays than those written in Honors Composition I. Assignments include 4-6 graded essays, most of which require research, as well as a variety of non-graded assignments.

  Section AZ: 9:00-9:50 MWF Johnson

  Section BZ: 10:00-10:50 MWF Johnson

EG 207  Introduction to Literature

This course may be used to satisfy the "Literature and Ideas" portion of the General Education requirements.  While specific elements may vary from section to section, the course is designed to encourage reading, analysis, and discussion of the major genres of literature (fiction, poetry, and drama) from various points of view.  More detailed descriptions of specific sections offered for the current academic year are as follows:

  Section A:  Topic to be determined

  9:00-9:50 MWF Staff

  Section AZ: A Woman’s World

This class will follow both a thematic and historical path, focusing on how women writers (from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries) have represented the status of women as a means of subverting the status.  Authors nclude Aphra Behn. Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Dorothy Sayers. Virginia Woolf, and Jean Rhys.  9:30-10:50 TR  Prewitt

  Section B: Fantasy and the Fantastic

  This section of Introduction to Literature focuses upon fantasy and the fantastic, with an examination of ‘faery’ and magic as well as of some of the more famous creatures found in literature from the middle ages to the 21^st century.  Our readings will include: Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as Sir Orfeo, Shakespeare’s Tempest, Shelly’s Frankenstein,  Rossetti’s Goblin Market, Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, and a script adapted from Terry Pratchett’s novel, The Fifth Elephant.  Students will be required to write two essays (4-6 pages each) as well as take several quizzes, a mid-term exam, and final exam. 11:00-12:20 TR Johnson

  Section C: America Between the Wars

This section of EG 207 examines the lives of America’s peoples between World Wars I and II as expressed in fiction, poetry, and drama. Topics covered typically include the small town in America; the Scopes Monkey Trial; The American Dream; Red, White, and Black; Dust Bowl and Depression; the works and roles of women; and politics and sport. While the major emphasis of the course is on reading and understanding forms of literature, there will be ample opportunity to discuss the ideas, events, people and voices which shaped those two remarkable decades, the roaring Twenties and the Dirty Thirties, as well as the one we live in now. 12:30-1:50 TR Wild

  Section D: The Civil War

Starting with the book that President Lincoln credited with bringing about the war, we will read our way through the many great battles and personal struggles of the Civil War.  Our reading list will include novels, short fiction, and poetry by writers such as Stowe, Crane, Bierce, Whitman, Bahr, and others.  This course will provide an opportunity to see a very familiar subject from the vantage point of the literature inspired by the war.  2:00-3:20 TR Kienholz

  Section MA: American Indian in Literature

 The indigenous peoples of our continent, often stereotyped  both in literature and in the popular mind as either Noble Savages or Bloody Savages, have played a major role in the mythic portrayal of the American Experience.  This class will examine the nature and the literary development of this stereotype through the reading of works by British, American, and Native American authors.  Evaluation based on exams and papers. 11:00-11:50 MWF Hoy

  Section MB: Literature of Sport

From the first Olympics in 776 BC to the present, sport has served as entertainment, ritual, rite, icon, and cultural glue. Using fiction, poetry and drama ranging from ancient Greece and Rome to the twentieth century, students will read, analyze, discuss and write about literature that uses sport as subject and metaphor.  We will look at writers from   Euripides to Bernard Malamud to W. P. Kinsella. Such films as Chariots of Fire, The Loneliness of the

Long Distance Runner, That Championship Season, and Field of Dreams may also be used.  8:00-9:20 TR Keller.

  Section ZA: Literature and Cultural Diversity

ThIs course shows how literature reflects cultural diversity in current American society as well as other worlds and times.  Students will read a wide range of literary texts, gaining proficiency in text analysis as  well as developing interpretive writing competence.  Students will also become familiar with other cultures through literature, a necessary skill in contemporary American society.  Online course. See Off-Site and Distance Education to enroll. Holcomb

 

EG 210, Introduction to Literary Study

This course will introduce English majors to the standard techniques, critical approaches, and library resources for the study, interpretation, and appreciation of poetry, drama, and fiction.  Evaluation based on exams and critical papers.  10:00-10:50 MWF Hoy

EG 221A,AZ, Later World Literature

  This course surveys texts written between the 17^th  century AD and the late 20^th century AD.  We will read and discuss works from Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and European literary traditions, paying attention (when we can) to their cultural, historical, intellectual contexts. Assignments will include reading quizzes, short-answer and essay exams, and several brief papers  11:00-11:50 MWF Patton

EG 231 A/AZ, Later British Literature**

Later British Literature embraces the 19^th and 20^th centuries, surely one of the most remarkable periods in human intellectual history because of profound shifts that developed  in how human beings view the universe, society, and self.  Romantic poets such as Wordsworth (in “Tintern Abbey,” 1798) describe a lovely world of meadow, stream, and forest, a Nature which breathes forth a Divine Beneficence.  In 1850, however, with the growth of science, Tennyson  In Memoriam describes Nature as “red in tooth and claw.”  Another half century later, in 1902, Conrad in Heart of Darkness catalogues the white man’s destruction of native peoples and lands, and himself, as he pursues imperialistic ambitions in Africa.  As the 20^th century continues, writers grapple with the questions framed by a contemporary American novelist:

“ You have to think first of modern literature as a sort of grand council considering what mankind should do next, how they should fill their mortal time, what they should fill, what mankind should do next, how they should fill their mortal time , what they should feel, what they should see, where they should get their courage…” (Saul Bellow, “The Gonzaga Manuscripts,” 1954) Despite the difficulties they face, most of the writers in EG 231 create a vision which they hope will sustain humankind.  9:30-10:50 TR Wild

EG 241 A, AZ, Later American Literature**

This course will attempt to survey fiction, drama, and poetry from the end of the Civil War to the present.  In addition to the standard (and necessary) texts, we also will consider the literature of American popular culture, e.g. Horatio Alger, Burt L. Standish, Gene Stratton-Porter, etc., and examine some of the diverse influences on modern and contemporary poetry and fiction such as jazz.  Essay exams.  Class discussion.  Some writers likely to be included: Twain, Harte, Jewett, Freeman, Garland, S. Crane, London, Robinson, Cather, Frost, Sandburg, Jeffers, Eliot, McKay, Cummings,  Faulkner, Hughes, R. Wright, Welty, Williams, Malamud , Ellison, Miller, Silko, Updike, Momaday, J. Wright, Harper,  Dove, Rios, Cervantes.  11:00-12:20 TR Keller

EG 280 A, Introduction to Creative Writing

This class will introduce students to the process and techniques of creative writing.  Students will experiment with various types of writing, including the writing of fiction and poetry.  Class readings will expose students to various writing styles and provide examples of the successes and strategies of other writers.  Class time will be spent discussing the writer’s craft, the assigned readings, and student writing.  11:00-11:50 MWF Staff

EG 280 B, Introduction to Creative Writing

This class will introduce students to the process and techniques of creative writing.  Students will experiment with various types of writing, including the writing of fiction and poetry.  Class readings will expose students to various writing styles and provide examples of the successes and strategies of other writers.  Class time will be spent discussing the writer’s craft, the assigned readings, and student writing.  12:00-12:50 MWF Staff

EG 339, Shakespeare: Histories & Romances*

This course will survey some of the best-known works of Shakespeare, focusing on the histories, romances, sonnets, and epic poetry.  We will focus on the ideas of genre and consistencies (and some inconsistencies) in Shakespeare’s writing.  The course will emphasize important themes in the sonnets and the plays: ideas of youth and aging; inheritance and royal authority; the legitimacy of power, gender roles, love and familial ties, appearance and reality, and the possibilities and limitations of humanity.  11:00-12:20 TR  Kendrick

EG 355, Mythology

This course surveys the major myths of the Greeks and Romans, beginning with the classical accounts of creation and progressing through the stories of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines that underlie so much of our literature and culture.  We will explore modern theories about myth and, whenever appropriate, we will examine the relationships between Greek and Roman mythology and that of other cultures.  6:00-8:50 M Storm

EG 360, Women’s Literature*

Students will examine literature by the woman writer before 1830.  We will discuss how texts are culturally produced and influenced by issues of patriarchy, class, and national identity.  Students will investigate the woman writer as author, character, and speaking subject in a patriarchal culture.  We will read English, American, and European writers and a variety of genres: drama, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.  8:00-8:50 MWF  Kendrick

EG 375, Grammar for Writers

This course covers the primary elements of grammar, with emphasis on application of grammatical concepts in actual writing assignments. 12:00-12:50 MWF Bereman

EG 380, Fiction Writing

Through writing exercises, students in this course will learn to craft dialogue, scene, memory, and detail.  By applying these skills, students will write several short stories throughout the semester, each developing particular aspects of prose fiction.  Students should expect to read and discuss contemporary short fiction, to write prose exercises and their own original short stories, and to learn about and participate in workshopping. 12:30-1:50 TR Webb

EG 385, Poetry Writing

This workshop-oriented class will focus on the craft and process of poetry writing from a poem’s initial draft to its advanced revision.  Class readings will help to make students familiar with traditional forms, current writing styles and aesthetic issues.  Class time will be spent discussing the poet’s craft, the assigned readings, and student writing.  2:00-3:20 TR Rabas

EG 501, Publications Design

Also See JO 505

EG 515, Modern Rhetoric +

EG 515 and EG 715 examine rhetorical theories dating from the last third of the nineteenth century to the present.  Contemporary, or modern, rhetoric has its roots in the past, especially ancient Greek and Roman culture.  Some attention, therefore, will be paid to classical rhetoric and its influence on contemporary theories.  Contemporary rhetoric, as a field of study, is both new and interdisciplinary.  During the course of the class, every attempt is made to illustrate these theories using current examples.  Students in EG 715 will take a more advanced approach to the material and will help lead class discussions.  11:00-12:20 TR  R.Smith

EG 540, The American Novel**

The writers included in this course are ones who have come to be considered “representative” of some significant aspect of American literary and cultural history.  Included in the course will be Nathaniel Hawthorne, chronicler of the Puritan, hence America’s past (The Scarlet Letter); Horatio Alger, chronicler and exhorted of America’s underclass (Ragged Dick); Willa Cather, long stereotyped as Regionalist, but now much more (My Antonia); William Faulkner, the Southerner of Southerners (The Hamlet, Light in August);  Richard Wright, the first African-American novelist to force wide recognition in this country  (Native Son); Bernard Malamud, the “Jewish” novelist (The Natural, A new Life, The Assistant); and John Updike, critic of the shallowness of modern American life (Rabbit Run, Rabbit at at Rest).  12:30-1:50 TR Keller

EG 575, History of the English Language

This course traces the development of our language through Old, Middle, Early Modern, Mature Modern, and American English, examining the various stages of the language in the light of shifting patterns of linguistic, social, and cultural influence.  8:00-9:20 TR Storm

EG 588, Seminar in Literary Magazine

This class will focus on the production of the literary magazine, Flint Hills Review.  Students will produce the magazine, receiving hands-on training in all stages of production, from initial manuscript selection to the production of the printed copy.  Students will also become familiar with latest technology used to generate page layout and camera-ready copy.  Class discussion and selected readings will center on traditions and theories regarding the history and production of the literary magazine. 2:00-4:50 M Webb

EG 592, Young Adult Literature**

This course introduces students to a representative sampling of classic young adult novels, from Sandra Cisneros’  The House on Mango Street to Robert Cormier’s Heroes. Students will learn how to recognize and appreciate the informative value and artistic merits of well-written young adult literature and develop skills in critically analyzing young adult literature.  Requirements include three short analytical/critical papers, on oral presentation, and a formal research/critical paper.  11:00-11:50 MWF Bleeker

EG 594, Medieval Drama*

This course will examine the origins, development, and types of English drama from the liturgical tropes of the earlier Middle Ages through the beginnings of professional theater during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.  Special attention will be given to the morality play and to the Corpus Christi cycle drama.  Evaluation: tests, research project, and ad hoc assignments.  6:00-8:50 W Hoy

EG 596 ZA, Folklore: Tale, Myth, Legend

Traditional oral tales can be considered a form of folk literature, legend is a kind of folk history, while myth often represents quasi-religious folk attitudes toward cultural values and beliefs.  This class discusses these three forms of folk narrative, introduces the techniques for collecting and studying them, explores their prevalence in contemporary society, and analyzes their cultural significance.  Online course; see Off-Site and Distance Education to enroll. Hoy

EG 680, Undergraduate Seminar in Creative Writing

This capstone, mixed-genre seminar will enable students to further develop their strengths and creative writing skills in a particular genre of their choosing.  Students will also explore their genre in an extended study of craft.  Class readings will provide students with successful models, discussions of craft, and a diversity of contemporary approaches to poetry, fiction writing, nonfiction and/or script writing.  Scheduled tutorials will provide students with individualized direction, and students will share their writing in class workshops. Prerequisites: graduate standing, EG 580 or EG 585, or instructor permission.  3:30-4:50 TR Webb

Graduate Courses in English

EG 715, Modern Rhetoric

  See EG 515

EG 730, Renaissance Tragedies

This graduate seminar will focus on a particular genre of Renaissance drama, the tragedy, and its more specialized form, the revenge tragedy.  Dramatists to be studied will include Shakespeare, Marlowe, Kyd, Webster, and Ford. The course will cover issues regarding family relationships, the construction and maintenance of the state apparatus, the representation of women, the formation of masculine identity, and the relationship between violence and power. 2:00-3:20  TR Kendrick

EG 770, Seminar in Linguistics

Students in this course will explore methodologies of linguistic investigation and gain experience in applying them.  The course aims toward enhancing students’ understanding of the structures underlying our language and other languages as well as of the mechanisms by which discourse is generated.  The course further aims toward examining, not just what language is, but how language evolves, how language is learned, and the ways in which language is used. 12:30-1:50 TR Storm

EG 790 XA, Trends in the Secondary and College English Curriculum

Through this online course, students will have opportunities to study and discuss issues of specific interest to the language arts teacher in the secondary or collegiate classroom. Specifically, students will read and discuss texts and articles, pose questions, seek answers, and share research relating to the following curricular issues germane to the English teacher: teaching writing, teaching reading, multicultural literature, the literary canon, controversies in approaches to teaching grammar, standards, and the role of language arts in  schools.  This is an online course; see Off-Site and Distance Education to enroll. Kienholz

EG 895, Teaching Practicum

This course is designed to help first-year Department-of-English teaching assistants learn how to apply writing theories in actual classroom practice.  Taken concurrently with teaching EG 101 (Fall) and EG 102 (Spring), this course helps GTAs learn how to develop course syllabi, implement specific teaching goals for writing, and compose classroom handouts, exercises, and revision guides.  2:00-2:50 M  R. Smith.

  Courses in Journalism

JO 200MC, Mass Communication

Mass Communication is a course that covers the history of journalism in the United States.  In this course we will discuss the steps communication has taken from writing on cave walls to transmitting emails and writing in blogs.  We will utilize videos, group discussion and class presentations to learn and use the content.  11:00-12:20 TR M. Smith

JO 301, Elements of News Reporting

In this class, students will learn the basics of news reporting, taking a “community journalism” approach, which means that coverage of local issues and events will emphasize, with coverage of national and international events tied to local people and local concerns.  Students will learn the elements of news reporting and writing by reporting about events on campus, interviewing people at the university, and developing news and feature articles of interest articles of interest to the campus community.  Many of the students’ assignments will be accomplished on state-of-the-art computer programs in the Walker Professional Writing Computer Classroom, and some of the stories written by students in the class may be published in The Bulletin, the campus newspaper, or The Sunflower, the campus yearbook.  2:00-3:20 TR Bereman

JO 302, Advanced Reporting

Advanced Reporting deals with the details of putting together a quality article.  Reporters will write and edit stories for possible publication in The Bulletin, learning to use the inverted pyramid, style and voice.  9:30-10:50 TR M Smith

JO 503, History & Principles of American Journalism

Economic, political, and social conditions unique to the United States have contributed to the development of the nation’s news media.  Students will learn about the role American journalism has played in shaping public perception of events and issues.  Discussion will also center on famous journalists and major newspapers, magazines, and other news organizations. 1:00-1:50 MWF Bereman

JO 505A, Violence in the Media (same as EG 596)

This course examines the impact of trauma on both those viewing and those reporting on violent events.  We will look at the journalist as the first responder in major traumatic events as well as how reporters should handle the coverage of major trauma.  12:00-12:50 MWF M. Smith

JO 505B, Publications Design (same as EG 501)

This course teaches students basic layout and design techniques using state-of-the-art software and computers in the Walker Professional Writing Computer Classroom.  During the semester, students will learn how to design a front newspaper page, and inside newspaper page, a magazine cover, and inside magazine story and photo spread, a brochure, a newsletter, and an assortment of other types of publication.  Typography and effective use of graphics are also part of the course work.  6:00-8:50 T Bereman

JO 505PA, Internship in Journalism

 

Last Updated October 6, 2009