Courses in English and Journalism

Department of English

Emporia State University

Fall 2006

These descriptions are intended to help you make determinations about which English and journalism courses to take in the Fall 2006 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: rkeller@emporia.edu	B.S.E. Advisor Professor Kevin Kienholz 404E Plumb Hall, 341-5216 E-mail: kkienhol@emporia.edu
Director of Graduate Studies Professor Mel Storm 404S Plumb Hall, 341-5563 E-mail: mstorm@emporia.edu	Director of Journalism Mr. Larry Bereman 404V Plumb Hall, 341-5556 Email: ebereman@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.  Brunson.

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 103 AZ, BZ, Honors Composition I
This course is designed to allow students who have demonstrated superior preparation in composition an opportunity to improve their reading, discussing, and writing skills in an academically challenging environment. While texts are chosen by individual instructors, students should be prepared to write 4-6 graded essays and learn the basics of documentation and research. 
Section AZ: 11:00-11:50 MWF Staff
            Section BZ: 12:00-12:50 MWF Staff

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 Holcomb
           
Section AZ: Books and Civilization           
This course examines carefully a series of major, representative works of literature from the classical period through the Renaissance, studies the periods in which the various  works were written, and examines the transitions and interconnections among the periods as they are reflected in their literature.  Students develop tools for reading literature with appreciation, understanding, and a sense of critical judgment.  8:00-9:20 TR Storm

Section B: Topic to be determined
10:00-10:50 MWF Webb

Section C: Science Fiction
This section of Introduction to Literature will focus on science fiction short stories and novels, as well as some poetry, drama, and film.  We will read the works of a variety of authors, including Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Ursula Le Guin, and Margaret Atwood.  The class will read, analyze, discuss, and write about literature through the tracing of several themes in science fiction, such as alien contact, alternative gender roles, and the idea of God.  Students can expect a midterm and final exam, two short papers, an oral report, and lots of great discussion. 6:00-8:50 M Smith

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: Literature and Diversity
Introduces the general education student to fiction, poetry, and drama, as well as the basics of critical study, such as plot, setting, and imagery.  Students will have the opportunity to write on a variety of literary texts, including multicultural literature—writings by African American, Asian American, Latina/o, Native American, and women—an activity that will help develop analytic proficiency and writing as well as cultural skills.  A final paper will afford the student the opportunity to apply a critically informed approach to a set of literary texts.  One aim of the course is to familiarize the student with a range of cultures through literary study.  11:00-11:50 MWF Holcomb
                       

Section MB: Literature and Diversity
Introduces the general education student to fiction, poetry, and drama, as well as the basics of critical study, such as plot, setting, and imagery.  Students will have the opportunity to write on a variety of literary texts, including multicultural literature—writings by African American, Asian American, Latina/o, Native American, and women—an activity that will help develop analytic proficiency and writing as well as cultural skills.  A final paper will afford the student the opportunity to apply a critically informed approach to a set of literary texts.  One aim of the course is to familiarize the student with a range of cultures through literary study.  1:00-1:50 MWF Holcomb      

Section MC: 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.  9:30-10:50 TR Hoy

Section MD: 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.  11:00-12:20 TR Keller.

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.  12:30-1:50 TR Hoy

EG 220A, AZ, Early World Literature *
A survey of world literature through the seventeenth century.   9:00-9:50 MWF  Militell

EG 230 A, AZ, Early British Literature*
 In this course, we will examine a wide selection of texts written in what we now call Great Britain, between the Anglo-Saxon era and the late eighteenth century.  The literature of these centuries responds to and also influences the vast social, cultural, and historical changes that England and her neighbors experienced between 1100 and 1800 A.D.  Our discussions will consider texts, as far as possible, within those larger contexts, and will also trace the development of British literary theories, debates, and conventions.  Written work will include essay exams, two take-home papers, and study/discussion questions.  Honors students will substitute a class presentation and paper for the second take-home assignment.  10:00-10:50 MWF Brunson

EG 240 A, AZ, Early American Literature*
Students enrolled in EG 240 will read and critically examine works of early American writers, from the beginnings to 1865, in terms of purpose, content, and form: think critically about the issues and themes raised in the literature; and appreciate and value literature as a mirror of human experience and the diversity of American culture.  Course requirements include four hour exams; those enrolled in the honors section will also write a 5-7 page critical/research paper.  9:30-10:50 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, poetry, and playwriting. 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.  10:00-10:50 MWF Rabas

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.  1:00-1:50 MWF Webb

EG 310, Literary Criticism+
Provides an introduction to literary critical studies.  As well as sampling a variety of writings by literary and cultural critics, students will have the opportunity to learn useful concepts and terminology, a mode of study that will help develop analytic proficiency and writing skills.  A final seminar paper will afford the student the opportunity to apply a critically informed approach to a set of literary texts.  The aim of the course is to acquaint the student with a broad compass of literary criticism while exposing the student to contemporary critical methodologies in cultural studies. 2:00-3:20 TR Holcomb

EG 338, Shakespeare: Tragedies and Comedies*
This course will survey some of the best‑known works of Shakespeare, including the sonnets, tragedies, and comedies. 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.  12:30-1:50 TR Kendrick

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. 2:00-3:20 TR Webb

EG 490PA, Teaching English in the Middle-Level and Secondary School
Students enrolled in EG 490 will be introduced to the most recent theories and practices for teaching English language arts; learn how to plan and implement lessons on teaching, reading and viewing texts (including media and nonprint), writing, critical thinking, language, speaking, and listening; learn how to assess student performance in the English classroom; design a unit of study for teaching English, using the Teacher Work Sample Unit Model; and compile an English Teacher’s Idea Handbook. Approximately 50% of the final grade will be based on the student’s performance in class (informal writing activities, small group work, in-class exercises) and 50 % will be based on student work on the idea handbook and Teacher Work Sample Unit Lesson Plan.  3:30-4:50 TR Kienholz

EG 520, Studies in World Literature
Studies in specific topics in world literature.  Topic to be determined.  9:30-10:50 TR Staff

EG 530, Middle English Literature*
This course examines a selection of major works by Chaucer's contemporaries and near-contemporaries, ranging in form from lyric through narrative to drama and drawing upon subject matter from classical mythology and Celtic folklore to magic, witchcraft, and Arthurian story.  These are the works upon which the English literary tradition is based, written with an artistry that has rarely, if ever, been surpassed.  Students will experience the full impact of the works in the original Middle English; because the course will provide such tools as are necessary for reading it with facility, no previous knowledge of early English is expected.  2:00-3:20 TR Storm

EG 540, 20th Century American Poetry**  
This course will attempt to survey American poetry of the 20th century. Quizzes, essays, and exams will be given. Class discussion is key. Emphasis will be placed on the legacy groups of American poets pass on to the next generation, such as in the legacy made by the high modernist writers that continues in the work of poets today. Some writers likely to be included: Pound, Eliot, H.D., Williams, Hughes, Stevens, Moore, Frost, Bishop, Brooks, Ginsberg, Millay, Olson, Duncan, Snyder. 11-11:50 a.m. MWF Rabas

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.  11:00-12:20 TR Storm

EG 585, Advanced Poetry Writing
Designed to build upon basic poetry writing techniques covered in EG 385, this course surveys poetry and poetry writing modes, such as narrative, lyric, confessional, and meditative modes. Writers learn the modes of poetry writing to see how these approaches can inform their own creative work. Writers create, revise, and compile into a portfolio several of their own original poems. Poems are critiqued in open class workshops. 2:00-3:20 p.m. MW Rabas

EG 587, Playwriting
This workshop-oriented class will focus on the craft and process of playwriting from a play’s initial draft to its advanced revision and performance. One class goal will be for students to write one act and full length plays. Class readings will help make students familiar with traditional and experimental forms, current writing styles and aesthetic issues. Class time will be spent discussing the playwright’s craft, the assigned readings, and student writing. Time permitting, the class will also conduct staged readings of class plays. 12:30-1:50 p.m. TR Rabas

EG 594, Restoration and 18th Century Theater*
In many ways, the period from 1660 to 1780 is a second Renaissance in English theater: employing different theatrical conventions, of course, and appealing to a somewhat different audience, but not at all unlike Shakespeare’s time in its inventiveness, productivity, and sheer entertainment value.  In this course, we will survey as many of the most important plays and playwrights, both male and female, as we can; we will consider both comedy-the favorite genre of this era-and tragedy, as well as dipping into the great debate over the morality of the theater.  During the semester, we will see how the subjects, styles, and theoretical foundations of these plays developed in response to the social, political, and economic changes that eighteenth-century Britain was undergoing.  Written requirements will include short “thinkpiece” essays, a substantial research-based seminar/term paper, and a final examination, as well as a collaborative presentation/paper assignment. 1:00-1:50 MWF Patton

EG 596, Frontier Experience in Global Literature**           
When European literate nations came into contact with native oral societies, the resulting colonial frontiers were both geographic and cultural. As advancing European settlers created frontiers, they also created narratives that supplanted the mythologies of the indigenes, just as they had taken over the land itself from the former occupants.  This course will examine classic literary works, often little known in this country, to see how authors from various countries and continents were influenced by and interpreted the frontier experience.  Emphasis will be on frontiers that, like our own Great Plains, have contributed significantly to their own particular national identities.   6:00-8:50 T Hoy

EG 680PA, 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.   5:00-6:20 TR Webb

 

Graduate Courses in English

 

EG 730, Middle English Literature (see EG 530)*

EG 765, Black Countercultures**
The  studies are experimental and avant-garde writings by African American and Caribbean authors, from the modernist period to the present.  Students will have the opportunity to apply critical theory and criticism to black modernist, postmodernist, and transnational literature.  An assortment of written assignments will permit the student to analyze texts from various periods and movements, and a final seminar paper will afford the student the opportunity to apply a critically informed approach to a set of literary texts.  The aim of the course is to familiarize the student with countercultural black literature as well as relevant contemporary critical debates over the character of ethnic literary studies. 6:00-8:50 R Holcomb

EG 780PA, Graduate Seminar in Creative Writing                (see EG 680)

EG 810, Introduction to Graduate Studies
This course explores the aims, arts, and methods of literary research, ranging from older, time-tested techniques to the intricacies of electronic information storage and retrieval.  Investigations are designed to teach the basic tools and tricks of locating, verifying, and compiling biographical, bibliographical, critical, and historical information.  An important aim of the class is to show the breadth and depth of the profession and to serve as an introduction to graduate studies.  We will work with descriptive, analytical, enumerative, and annotated bibliography, along with editing and primary history.  There will be a trip to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.  Internationally known rare book authority, Dr. Rick Clement, will conduct our special tour.  6:00-8:50 M Keller

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 W Smith
                       

                       

Courses in Journalism

 

JO 200MA/MB Mass Communication
This course explores the various forms of mass media, from magazines and newspapers to movies, radio, television and the Internet.  Students will examine the history, scope, influence, and problems of each mass medium.  The course includes instruction on the various theories associated with mass media and how those theories relate to everyday experiences in the field.  JO 200MA    10:00-10:50 MWF   Bereman
                        JO 200MB    12:00-12:50 MWF   Bereman    

JO 301, Elements of News Reporting
Whether it concerns a local controversy, a political scandal, or war in a distant land, millions of Americans turn to their national and local media for the latest news. Journalists using basic techniques report the biggest stories of the year. In this class you will learn the elements of news reporting and writing. You will learn by reporting about events on campus, interviewing people at ESU, and developing news and feature articles of interest to the campus community. Many of your assignments will be written in class on computers in the Walker Professional Writing Computer Classroom. And some of your writing may be published in The Bulletin or the yearbook.  All work is done in the Walker Classroom.  11:00-12:20 TR Megredy

JO 302, Advanced Reporting
This course is designed to further those reporting skills students have learned in Elements of News Reporting by examining the difference between feature stories and straight news stories and by building upon good news gathering techniques to create in-depth stories.  Students will learn to gather information and conduct background research, as well as to write stories from specialized feature angles.  Working in the Walker Professional Writing Computer Classroom, students will write and edit for succinctness, clarity, style, and journalistic structure. 9300-10:50 TR Megredy

JO 306, Photojournalism
During the semester, students will receive instruction and experience in darkroom procedures, including film development and photo printing, as well as in using Adobe Photoshop on computers.  Students will also examine laws and ethics that relate to photo publication.  Practical experience and instruction will be offered in spot news, features and sports photography, along with photo essays in those areas.  The course consists of lectures, class discussions, videos, quizzes and exams, and actual photo assignments.  2:00-3:20 TR Megredy

 

Last Updated March 22, 2007