English
Website: english.sewanee.edu
The study of English language and literature has long held a prominent place among Sewanee’s educational offerings. English majors at Sewanee receive an unsurpassed training in Shakespeare, English literature before 1750, and other traditional elements of British and American literary history. They can also choose to take courses in modern and contemporary literature, world literature in English, diverse literary genres, and a broad range of special topics. Among the many distinctive offerings available to students are courses devoted to literature of the American South, Irish literature, women and literature, poetry and contemplation, and American literary journalism.
For majors and non-majors alike, Sewanee’s Department of English contributes to an education in which students learn to interpret both texts and the world with deep imagination and to write with grace, clarity, and cogency. Following graduation, many English majors from the College have pursued successful careers as teachers, professors, lawyers, business or nonprofit executives, actors, clergypersons, journalists, media specialists, physicians, or editors of noted publications.
Creative Writing
Building upon the great literary tradition of Sewanee, including The Sewanee Review and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the university offers instruction in fiction, playwriting, and poetry, in both beginning and advanced workshops, for students interested in the craft of writing. Using existing creative works to help students understand the necessary elements of successful writing, the workshops focus on critiquing the original work of each student.
From time to time, students also have opportunities to participate in campus readings from their own creative work, or to seek publication in the student-run literary journal, The Mountain Goat. Students are encouraged to take part in informal discussions with the esteemed poets, novelists, and playwrights who visit Sewanee each semester.
Associate Professors Anderson, Bruce, Irvin, Tucker
Professors T. Carlson, Engel, John Gatta, J. Grammer, Macfie, Malone (Chair), Michael, Prunty, Reishman
Assistant Professors Craighill, Ettensohn, E. Grammer, Macdonald, K. Wilson
English majors must plan their academic curriculum carefully with their advisor.
Requirements for the Major in English
The major requires successful completion of the following:
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Course Requirements | ||
| Select a minimum of eight courses in English (ENGL) 1 | 32 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 32 | |
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Requirements | ||
| A comprehensive examination 2 | ||
| 1 | All majors are expected to take ENGL 357 and ENGL 358 and at least two other courses in English literature before 1750. Potential or actual English majors are strongly urged to take ENGL 200. Almost all majors take the full complement of eleven courses in English. |
| 2 | The exam must be taken in the final semester of enrollment. The beginning and advanced creative writing courses are excluded from coverage on the comprehensive examination, and they count as courses outside the major. |
Honors
At the beginning of the final semester, an English major with an average of 3.50 or better in English courses may, at the discretion of the chair, elect a course of independent study — the English Tutorial. The student must be enrolled in ENGL 452, assigned a tutor for direction, and write a major essay as a step toward departmental honors. Students enrolled in ENGL 452 who demonstrate excellence in their tutorial papers and in the written comprehensive examination are invited to take a one-hour oral examination in order to qualify for departmental honors.
Although a major or minor is not currently offered in creative writing, students, regardless of the major field of study, may earn a certificate of curricular study in creative writing. Students are expected to declare the certificate before the Spring semester of their junior year.
Requirements for the Certificate in Creative Writing
The certificate of curricular study requires successful completion of the following:
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Course Requirements | ||
| Select three of the following: | 12 | |
| Creative Writing: Poetry | ||
| Creative Writing: Fiction | ||
| Creative Writing: Playwriting | ||
| Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry | ||
| Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction | ||
| Advanced Creative Writing: Playwriting | ||
| Creative Writing: Song Lyric | ||
| Select one additional literature course from the following: 1 | 4 | |
| Modern British Poetry | ||
| Modern British Fiction | ||
| Contemporary British Fiction | ||
| Joyce | ||
| Modern Drama | ||
| Modern American Poetry | ||
| Modern American Fiction | ||
| Faulkner | ||
| Literature of the American South | ||
| African-American Literature | ||
| Contemporary American Fiction | ||
| American Poetry Since World War II | ||
| World Literature in English | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 16 | |
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Requirements | ||
| A capstone project 2 | ||
| 1 | English majors must present a single literature course offered through a department of classical or modern languages that has the prior approval of the director of the certificate in creative writing. The course may be either in the original language or in translation; if the course is in the original language, the course must surpass the minimal standards of the College’s general education requirements. |
| 2 | The capstone project could be a sheaf of poems or short stories, a more substantial single piece of fiction such as a novella, or a one-act play. Students must present the capstone project before the end of the first semester of their senior year, demonstrating thereby their mastery within and critical self-consciousness regarding a particular genre. Because the successful completion of the capstone project requires careful planning and supervision, we strongly advise that students declare the certificate before the Spring semester of their junior year. |
English Courses
ENGL 101 Literature and Composition (4)
This introduction to literature written in English focuses on several plays by Shakespeare, introduced by an examination of lyric poems-either by Shakespeare or by one of his contemporaries. The course is designed to develop the student's imaginative understanding of literature along with the ability to write and speak with greater clarity. It is intended to be of interest to students at any level of preparation, including those with a background of advanced literary study in secondary school. There are at least six writing assignments, with student writing a frequent topic for classroom discussion.
ENGL 200 Representative Masterpieces (4)
An examination of several masterpieces of Western literature, including Homer's Iliad and Dante's Divine Comedy. Some sections are writing-intensive. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 203 Roots of Western Literature (4)
An examination of several key background works of Western literature (in translation) focusing principally on plays by Sophocles and Aeschylus, Lucretius's De Rerum Natura, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Apuleius's Golden Ass, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, and selections from the Old Testament and Apocrypha. Other works covered may include Statius's Thebaid, Boccaccio's Decameron, Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, and Tasso's Jerusalem Liberata. Some sections are writing-intensive. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 207 Women in Literature (4)
A consideration of the role of women in literature. Topics include Gothic fiction, nineteenth and twentieth century women writers, and women in fiction. Drawing on authors of both genders, the course considers gender relations, the historic role of women, the special challenges that have faced women writers, and the role of women in fiction. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 210 Studies in Poetry (4)
An examination of poems from British and American literature selected by the instructor. Writing-intensive some semesters. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 211 Studies in Fiction (4)
An examination of novels and short fiction from British and American literature selected by the instructor. Writing-intensive some semesters. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 212 Studies in Literature (4)
A course which examines texts in various genres and which may focus on a particular theme chosen by the instructor. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 216 Studies in Literature: American Literary Journalism (4)
Students examine, compare, and analyze the journalistic and literary writings of 19th and 20th century American writers such as Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Fanny Fern, Ernest Hemingway, and Katherine Anne Porter. They also study 20th century "New Journalism" (Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, Mailer) and conclude with an examination of contemporary journalism, creative non-fiction, personal essays, and multi-media journalism. Students are required to analyze literary and journalistic writing with an eye towards discerning the difference between news writing, editorials, and literary journalism. They write journalistic pieces as well as analytical essays. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 218 Studies in Literature: Literature and Religion—˜Writings of the Spiritual Quest (4)
Study of a broad range of imaginative writings, from ancient to modern, concerned with the human search for God, transcendence, and ultimate meaning. Literatures influenced by Jewish and Christian traditions figure prominently in the reading list but works inspired by Buddhism and Native American religion are included as well. Texts include writing by at least one medieval mystic and by authors such as George Herbert, Leo Tolstoy, Black Elk, Elie Wiesel, Flannery O'Connor, T.S. Eliot, and Marilynne Robinson. Prerequisite: One course with attribute G1 including AP or IB credit.
ENGL 220 Poetry, Nature and Contemplation (4)
This course approaches the reading and writing of poems as contemplative practices through a diverse selection of American poetry of the earth, from the nineteenth century to the present day, combined with daily meditation in and outside of class, and assigned journals and other writing. In doing so, it explores the relationship of the self to its surroundings and the role of the written word in defining that relationship. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 301 Anglo-Saxon Language and Literature (4)
This course is an introduction to the language of the Anglo-Saxons (Old English) and to their literature. Students will learn pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar as they read a variety of Anglo-Saxon works, both prose (including selections from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) and verse (including "Cædmon's Hymn," "The Dream of the Rood," "The Wanderer," "The Battle of Maldon," and selections from Beowulf). This course (with the addition of two courses in Latin) satisfies the language requirement for the medieval studies major. This course does not meet the University's requirements for foreign language study. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 316 The Novel in the Global Age (4)
This course explores the contemporary Anglophone novel since 1989, a period that coincides with the increased pace of globalization. Written largely from transnational perspectives that defy traditional national boundaries, the novels in this course share a common concern with capturing global experience and analyzing the cultural and economic impact of globalization. Potential readings include works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Teju Cole, Amitav Ghosh, Michael Ondaatje, and Ruth Ozeki. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 330 The Life and Literature of Tennessee Williams (4)
A study of the major dramatic works of Tennessee Williams, as well as his poetry and fiction. The course also examines Williams' life and his impact on twentieth-century American literature and theatre. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 331 Melville's Moby-Dick (4)
Ignored at first, Melville's epic novel has since been recognized as a provocative whale-of-a-tale. The course emphasizes close reading of this American literary classic. It also engages students in "deep-diving" pursuit of the novel's larger implications as quest-narrative. What are the ultimate if disparate aims of the oceanic search conducted by crazed Captain Ahab, by Ishmael as narrator, by Herman Melville as author? What responses to the problem of evil and the "fine-hammered steel of woe" might the book suggest? Centered on a single text while allowing consideration of additional writings and adaptations, this duo-taught course addresses these and other noteworthy questions. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 349 Special Topics (4)
Though its content will vary from semester to semester, this class always focuses on a special topic in English, Anglophone, or American literature not fully covered in existing courses. Examples might include courses on a single author, a literary movement or tradition, a genre, or a theme. Repeatable. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 350 Medieval Drama and its Legacy (4)
A study of the drama of late medieval and early modern England. The course will include selections from liturgical drama, the mystery cycles (from York, Chester, and Wakefield), morality plays and non-cycle drama (such as the Digby Mary Magdalene, Mankynde, Everyman), folk plays and farces (such as the Robin Hood plays), as well as early school and professional plays (such as Ralph Roister Doister, Gorbuduc, and Thomas of Woodstock). Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 351 Medieval English Literature (4)
A study of several key works from the Anglo-Saxon (in translation) and Middle English, chiefly Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, selections from Chaucer, and a number of shorter Anglo-Saxon poems. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 352 Chaucer (4)
A study of the Canterbury Tales and other poems by Chaucer. A term paper is usually expected. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 353 English Drama to 1642 (4)
A study of the drama of Elizabethan and Jacobean England, excluding the works of Shakespeare but including tragedies by Kyd, Marlowe, and Webster, and comedies by Jonson and Beaumont. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 357 Shakespeare I (4)
A study of several plays written before 1600. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 358 Shakespeare II (4)
A study of several plays after 1600. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 359 Renaissance Literature I (4)
A study of the major sixteenth-century genres, with emphasis on sources, developments, and defining concerns. Readings include the sonnets of Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare; the mythological verse narratives of Marlowe and Shakespeare; the pastoral poems of Spenser; and Books I and III of Spenser's Faerie Queene. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 360 Renaissance Literature II (4)
A study of the major seventeenth-century poets, concentrating on such poets' redefinitions of genre, mode, and source. Readings emphasize works by Donne, Herbert, Jonson, Herrick, Milton, and Marvell. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 362 Milton (4)
A study of Milton's poetry and prose in the context of religious and political upheavals in mid-seventeenth-century England. Particular emphasis is on Lycidas and Paradise Lost. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 365 The Restoration and Eighteenth Century (4)
This course examines major authors of the period from 1680 to 1800, including Behn, Dryden, Swift, Pope, Gay, Johnson, Gray, Goldsmith, and Burns. Topics may include Restoration cultures and theater, neoclassicism, satire, and sensibility. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 367 Origins and Development of the English Novel I (4)
A study of the fiction of Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, and Austen. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 368 Fictions of Empire (4)
From the rise of the British Empire to its decline and fall, this course considers literary responses to the colonial experience, ranging from narratives of imperial adventurers, travelers, and administrators to contemporary responses to and reflections on the imperial era. The course analyzes how Britain's territorial and ideological expansion abroad shaped both British and colonial world views as well as the form and content of literary expression. Potential readings include works by Daniel Defoe, Joseph Conrad, E.M. Forster, and Chinua Achebe. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 369 Classicism to Romanticism: the Late 18th Century (4)
A study of the literature from 1750 to 1800. Included is an examination of such writers as Johnson, Boswell, Burke, Gray, Collins, Goldsmith, Burns, and Blake. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 370 British Romanticism: the Early 19th Century (4)
A study of the poetry and poetic theory of British romanticism. Included is an examination of such writers as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 371 Blake (4)
A study of the poetry and designs of William Blake in the context of his revolutionary era. Selected readings from Milton and the Bible will be assigned as essential background; prior knowledge of these sources is helpful but not required. Digital resources will aid in our study of the visual art, and students will read and report on selected critical works. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 373 Victorian Prose and Poetry (4)
A study of selected poems of Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Swinburne, and D.G. Rossetti and selected prose of Carlyle, Newman, Arnold, and Ruskin, which constitute the central texts for classroom discussion. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 374 Origins and Development of the English Novel II (4)
A study of the fiction of Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Dickens, Trollope, Eliot, and Hardy. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 377 American Literature I (4)
A study of American writing from the seventeenth century to the 1850s, emphasizing major works of the American renaissance by Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Stowe, and Whitman. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 378 American Literature II (4)
A study of American writing from the 1830s to 1900, including works by Dickinson, Mark Twain, Chestnut, James, Jewett, Stephen Crane, and others. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 379 The American Novel (4)
A study of major nineteenth-century American novels, including works by Hawthorne, Mark Twain, James, and Wharton. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 380 Whitman and Dickinson (4)
A study of the first two important American poets, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, whose expansive free verse and tight, elliptical lyrics defined the possibilities for American poets for the next hundred years. This course examines in detail the careers and major works of these poets, with brief consideration of their contemporaries and literary heirs. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 381 Modern British Poetry (4)
A study of the modern period in British poetry that examines representative poems by Hardy, Hopkins, Yeats, Lawrence, Auden, Thomas, and others. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 382 Modern British Fiction (4)
A study of Conrad's Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness, Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Lawrence's The Rainbow and Women in Love, Forster's A Passage to India, and Woolf's To the Lighthouse. The main business of each class meeting will be the presentation and peer criticism of one or more student papers. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 383 Contemporary British Fiction (4)
A consideration of British fiction from the 1930s to the present. The course will begin with the ending of high modernism and will consider the new kinds of fiction that emerge from the radical innovations of Joyce, Woolf and others as well as changing cultural conditions, including Britain's decline as a political and economic power. Authors may include Greene, Orwell, Bowen, Waugh, Murdoch, Rushdie, and others. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 384 Survey of British Literature, 1890-present (4)
This course introduces students to modern British poetry, fiction, and drama, starting with the fin de siècle, continuing through high modernism and its mid-century detractors, and reaching to postmodernism. Using and breaking a variety of familiar forms, tropes, and conventions, the writers of this period work to understand and represent the practice of modern warfare, the disintegration of the British Empire, the rise of the English welfare state, and the slippery concept of "Britishness" itself. The survey explores these historical and cultural contexts, observes the different kinds of critical attention these genres demand, and emphasizes the practice of close reading. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 385 Survey of Irish Literature, 1890-present (4)
This course introduces students to modern Irish and Northern Irish poetry, fiction, and drama, beginning with Yeats and the last phase of the Celtic Revival and reaching up through the short-lived Celtic Tiger of the Twenty-First Century. These texts are concerned with borders and bequests of all kinds, but class discussions focus primarily on literary responses to high modernism, cultural nationalism and the Irish language, sectarian violence, and the role of the Catholic Church. The survey explores these historical and cultural contexts, observes the different kinds of critical attention these genres demand, and emphasizes the practice of close reading. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 386 Joyce (4)
A study of Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 389 Gothic Literature (4)
By turns terrifying, melancholy, and bizarre, Gothic literature channels real anxieties in monstrous forms. This course features literature of the mysterious, uncanny, supernatural, and grotesque. The specific focus of the class may vary from year to year (e.g. a special focus on American Gothic fiction, Literature of the Sublime, and so forth). Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 390 Modern Drama (4)
An exploration of the development of Modern Drama from Ibsen's ground-breaking naturalism to contemporary drama's new variations. The course will emphasize the relationship between the theater and society and issues of performance, as well as close study of the plays themselves. Authors covered are both British and American and may include Wilde, Shaw, Beckett, Williams, Stoppard, and others. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 391 Modern American Poetry (4)
The origin and development of the modern period in American poetry, concentrating on the work of the major modernist poets: Frost, Pound, Stevens, Williams, and Eliot. The course includes a brief examination of their influence in poems by Berryman, Bishop, Brooks, Hughes, Lowell, Moore, Rich, Roethke, Wilbur, and others. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 392 Modern American Fiction (4)
A study of novels by James, Wharton, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Warren, Ellison and others. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 393 Faulkner (4)
A study of As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, Sanctuary, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom!, The Hamlet, and Go Down Moses. The main business of each class meeting will be the presentation and peer criticism of one or more student papers. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 394 Literature of the American South (4)
A study of the literature of the Southern Renaissance, including works by Faulkner, Warren, Lytle, Welty, and several contemporary Southern writers. Some attention is given to Southern literature preceding 1920 and to nineteenth- and twentieth-century Southern black writers. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 395 African-American Literature (4)
A study of the major traditions of African-American writing from the nineteenth century to the present, including Frederick Douglass, Linda Brent, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Ernest Gaines, Toni Morrison, and Rita Dove. Not open for credit for students who have completed ENGL 212. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 396 American Environmental Literature (4)
A study of writings from the colonial era to our own day reflecting diverse ways of imagining humanity's relation to the natural environment. Readings include both traditional literary texts by authors such as Thoreau, Cather, and Frost and seminal nonfiction by figures such as Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Rachel Carson, and Wendell Berry. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 397 Contemporary American Fiction (4)
A study of representative American fiction published after World War II, including work by Thomas Pynchon, Josephine Humphreys, Louise Erdrich, Ernest Gaines, Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Stone, and Tim O'Brien. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 398 American Poetry Since World War II (4)
A study of American poets whose major work was published after World War II, concentrating on Elizabeth Bishop, Anthony Hecht, Donald Justice, Robert Lowell, Howard Nemerov, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roethke, Richard Wilbur, and Mona Van Duyn. Among others, John Berryman, Maxine Kumin, Adrienne Rich, X.J. Kennedy, and Derek Walcott will also be considered. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 399 World Literature in English (4)
A study of twentieth-century literature written in English from Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean, concentrating on colonial and post-colonial themes, as well as issues of gender, politics, and nationalism. Possible authors include Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, V. S. Naipaul, and Derek Walcott. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 401 Literary Criticism (4)
A study of criticism from classical times to post-structuralism and contemporary approaches to literary and cultural analysis, students will read closely and discuss major critical documents in the literary tradition of the West. Emphasis is placed on practical application of critical theory as well as on its history and development. Prerequisite: One course in English with attribute GFWI.
ENGL 444 Independent Study (2 or 4)
To meet the needs and particular interests of selected students. May be taken more than once for credit. Prerequisite: Professor consent and prerequisite override required.
ENGL 452 Honors Tutorial (4)
Graduating seniors only. Permission of the chair of the department is required. Prerequisite: Professor consent and prerequisite override required.
ENGL 494 Ancient Greek Roman Literature: Greek Lyric Poetry, Tragedy and Comedy, Roman Drama Love Poetry (4)
This course traces the development of drama in the ancient world and its influence on modern Western culture. Ancient drama was a civic form of literature, so the course contains a subplot about a related form of poetry, Greek lyric, which deals with issues such as love, friendship and domestic arrangements. Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides are read. The second part of the course explores the development and transformation of tragedy and small-scale personal poetry in the Roman Republic and Early Empire. Students are introduced to the comic and dramatic technique of Aristophanes and Menander, as well as Plautus and Terence. Issues such as plot structure and theme, the use of parody, the presentation of character, types and sources of humor, and the seriousness underlying the humor, as well as the presentation of contemporary society are examined. This course is only available through the European Studies Program.
ENGL 495 Arthurian Literature, Shakespeare, and the Elizabethan Theatre: From Allegory to Inwardness (4)
This course begins with the exploration of the history and literary development of the medieval hero, Arthur, king of the Britons, with special concentration on the trials of heroic identity in medieval literature. Students read the first story of Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain and explore the development of the legend in French courtly and spiritual literature before studying Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. The second part of the course addresses the representation of heroic character in English Renaissance literature, focusing on issues of ambition, temptation and honor. Plays read include Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus and Jew of Malta, as well as William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Merchant of Venice. This course is only available through the European Studies Program.
Creative Writing Courses
WRIT 205 Creative Writing: Poetry (4)
Discussions will center on students' poems. Selected readings are assigned to focus on technical problems of craftsmanship and style. Not open for credit to students who have completed WRIT 409.
WRIT 206 Creative Writing: Fiction (4)
Discussions will center on students' fiction. Selected readings are assigned to focus on technical problems of craftsmanship and style. Not open for credit to students who have completed WRIT 410.
WRIT 207 Creative Writing: Playwriting (4)
Discussions will center on students' plays. Selected readings are assigned to focus on technical problems of craftsmanship and style. Not open for credit to students who have completed WRIT 411.
WRIT 305 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry (4)
Discussions will center on students' poems. Selected readings are assigned to focus on technical problems of craftsmanship and style. Writing-intensive. May be repeated once for credit unless the student has already received credit for WRIT 419. Prerequisite: WRIT 205.
WRIT 306 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction (4)
Discussions will center on students' poems. Selected readings are assigned to focus on technical problems of craftsmanship and style. Writing-intensive. May be repeated once for credit unless the student has already received credit for WRIT 420. Prerequisite: WRIT 206.
WRIT 307 Advanced Creative Writing: Playwriting (4)
Discussion will center on students' plays. Selected readings are assigned to focus on technical problems of craftsmanship and style. Writing-intensive. May be repeated once for credit unless the student has already received credit for WRIT 421. Prerequisite: WRIT 207.
WRIT 413 Creative Writing: Song Lyric (2)
This is a writing course in contemporary song. Using what the student learns from studying the form and technique of traditional and popular "standards," the student composes his/her own songs. Students are expected to co-write with the other members of the class as well as with the professor. The final project is a "demo" (a CD recording) of the student's one or two best compositions. The course includes field trips (two or three afternoons) to Nashville to visit a licensing agency, a record company, a publishing house, and a management company. Prerequisite: ENGL 101 or HUMN 101.
WRIT 444 Independent Study (2 or 4)
To meet the needs and particular interests of selected students. May be taken more than once for credit. Prerequisite: Professor consent and prerequisite override required.
Literary Theory and Criticism Courses
LITC 401 Literary Criticism (4)
A study of literary criticism from Plato and Aristotle to the New Historicism, beginning with an examination of current critical theory and proceeding by study of the major critical documents in our literary tradition. Emphasis is placed on practical application of critical theory as well as on its history and development. Prerequisite: ENGL 101 or HUMN 101.
LITC 454 The American Literary Quarterly (4)
The student meets regularly with the staff of the Sewanee Review to discuss matters of publishing history, the literary marketplace, and all levels of the editorial process. Through these discussions and analysis of primary sources, the student learns the history of the American quarterly in its various modes--from specialized academic journal, to ephemeral "little magazine," to cultural review with strong political content, to literary review with a critical program. The student writes two to three book reviews as well as a final paper graded by the editor. Open only to the Aiken Taylor Fellow. Prerequisite: Professor consent and prerequisite override required.