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Undergraduate Course Descriptions
Spring 2006
Literature
Creative Writing
Linguistics/TESOL
Senior Seminars
LITERATURE
English 299X-2: Introduction to English Studies
TR 11:00-12:15
An interdisciplinary course focusing on the history, culture,
religion, and literature of the Jewish people. Topics include: The
Exodus, Emancipation, The Holocaust, The State of Israel, Antisemitism,
Zionism, Religious observances, holidays, and sects, Jewish languages,
Israeli-Palestinian Relations, and Jewish bioethics. Will include
readings from Genesis, Art Speigelman's Maus, and
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.
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English 349: Twentieth-Century American Poetry
TR 5-6:15
Instructor: Deborah M. Mix
Prerequisite: English 210 and 230 strongly recommended
In this course, we’ll explore the wide range of American poetry
written in and around the twentieth century. The first half of the
course will concentrate primarily on American modernism and the Harlem
Renaissance. We’ll try to understand the work produced by some of the
most influential writers of this era as well as that of some recently
recovered writers, and we’ll consider the social, political, and
aesthetic contexts for their work. In the second half of the course,
we’ll consider key movements and writers in contemporary American
poetry, including the Beats, the Confessionals, the Feminist Poetry
Movement, Black Arts, and L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry. By combining depth
(focus on individual poets) with breadth (focus on movements and lesser
known writers) and by considering the connections and breaks among poets
and poetries, we’ll gain a sense of value and respect for the diverse
poetries of twentieth-century America. Contact Dr. Mix with any
questions at dmmix@bsu.edu.
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English 396: Studies in British Literature,
1890-1930
MW 3-4:15
Instructor: Patrick Collier
Prerequisite: English 210 and 230 strongly recommended
Virginia Woolf wrote, “On or about December 1910, human nature
changed.” An overstatement, certainly, but Woolf’s comment suggests the
degree to which people in England and Ireland in these years felt they
were living through unprecedented change. Einstein told them their world
was composed of invisible fragments, and was ultimately unknowable. The
radio and the cinema brought new claims on their attention. The
aristocracy breathed its last as a cultural powerhouse; women and the
working class got the vote; socialism and fascism rose to challenge
modern capitalism. Advertisements blared their sub-rational appeals from
billboards and newspaper pages. In cities, motor omnibuses and trains
conveyed jostling crowds at high speeds. Newly mobile, newly empowered
women walked the streets and applied make-up to themselves in public.
Add to all this the unthinkable historical trauma of World War I, and
you’ve got some pretty anxious critters on your hands. Literature
changed, too, in ways that it has yet to recover from.
We’ll work together to grapple with the literature and build a deep
cultural/historical context for it. Texts will include that 800-pound
gorilla of novels, James Joyce’s Ulysses, as well as poetry,
fiction, and essays by Woolf, Joseph Conrad, W. B. Yeats, Rebecca West,
E. M. Forster, D. H. Lawrence, and Oscar Wilde. We’ll also check in on
what the “low-brows” and the “middle-brows” were reading. Assignments
will include response papers, several short (approx 4-page) research
assignments, and a final research essay. Contact Dr. Collier with any
questions at pccollier@bsu.edu.
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English 400-1: Special Topics
Bridges Over Troubled Waters: Studies in the Literature of African
American Women Writers
MWF 1-1:50
Instructor: Maude Jennings
Prerequisite: English 210 and 230 strongly recommended
Black women have the contemporary reputation of being among the most
talented writers of these times. Certainly, they have the reputation of
"telling it like it is," and then some. Why is that? And what is it that
they are saying that makes such a deep impression on the contemporary
reading public? Are they retelling the stories of victims or survivors?
Does their writing give black women a more complete identity than they
have had in American society? Have they completely lost their "place?"
What, indeed, have they become--and in so doing , made all African
Americans become? And have they made an impression on American society
in their works?
These are some of the questions we hope to explore in our
considerations of the literature and poetry of women like Alice
Childress, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Petry, Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn
Brooks, Margaret Walker, Toni Bambara, Toni Morrison and a few others
who may provide insights into the questions asked above. Contact Dr.
Jennings with any questions at
maudeveronica75@aol.com.
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MWF 12:00-12:50
Instructor: Webster Newbold
Prerequisite: English 210 and 230 strongly recommended
The course will cover a range of plays including comedies, histories,
and tragedies as well as selected poems. Focus will be on Shakespeare as
a dramatic artist with video recordings of play performances
demonstrating and illuminating that art. Discussions will highlight
understanding the plays’ actions, characterizations, contemporary
relevance, and long-term contribution to English language and
literature. Two exams and a longer essay, along with shorter
assignments, will evaluate student learning. Please contact Dr. Newbold
with any questions at wnewbold@bsu.edu
or 5-8377.
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CREATIVE WRITING
MW 5:00-6:15 pm
This introductory course focuses on the nature of the art of
scriptwriting, with practice of its forms and devices. Specifically,
coursework will include assigned readings, viewings, and short writing
exercises, with at least one short screenplay serving as a larger, final
project. Discussions and lectures will focus on the above. Course
materials and activities will help develop a foundation for students
unfamiliar with scriptwriting.
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W 6:30-9:15
Instructor: Barbara Bogue
Prerequisites: English 285 and 287
The course centers on the fundamentals of the short story—original
language, three dimensional characters, complex plot—and with an
emphasis on the student’s ability to write clearly and dramatically.
Writing is revision and close reading—of one’s own work, peers’, and
published writers’. The course includes workshops on students’ original
works and in-depth class discussions of the techniques of craft employed
by authors recognized in the field. Writing exercises and in-class
readings of the same encourages and nurtures the imagination and the
confidence to recreate the fictional dream on the page. The class
provides an audience and the opportunity to create a community of
writers who respect each other and the art form. The course is designed
for those who wish to develop their story writing skills, as well as for
those who plan to continue the study of writing fiction in English 407.
Contact Professor Bogue with any questions: 5-8537 or
bbogue@bsu.edu.
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English 309-1: Creative Writing in the Community
TR 5-6:15
Instructor: Barbara Bogue
Prerequisite: English 285
This course is designed for writers to practice the techniques of
characterization, point-of-view, setting, & conflict so that in any
genre or form, language takes on new meaning, intensity, and originality
by recreating a “real” or imagined world on the page. Additionally,
community-based education offers the opportunity to share your skills as
creative writers (as you hone the techniques) with citizens in the
community. As you develop as a writer, you’ll also develop a broader
perspective of the complex ways through which individuals cope with
their situations and environments. Through your assistance, an
often-unheard voice will shape a story that will be read and heard.
Storytelling—fictional (or nonfiction) forays into the events that shape
and influence the human condition—involves all of the techniques of
fiction writing mentioned above and applies to poetry and creative
nonfiction. This experience in community enrichment also gives us an
opportunity to learn about ourselves through others and to become more
productive citizens of the community in which we live, academically and
personally. Contact Professor Bogue with any questions: 5-8537 or
bbogue@bsu.edu.
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TR 5-6:15
Instructor: Peter Davis
We'll primarily look at the conventions of American songwriting in
the 20th century, focusing specifically on Blues, Country, Rock-n-Roll,
and Pop songs. Students will develop a firm understanding of basic music
theory and will gain a better understanding of traditional American
lyrical themes. We'll study the ways lyrics and music interact for
maximum effect by listening to lots of music and reading lots of lyrics
and poetry. Students need not be musicians to take this class, though
active musicians are strongly encouraged to sign up. Students should
leave this class with a better sense of their own creative abilities and
ambitions. Contact Professor Davis with questions at
pbdavis@bsu.edu.
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English 406: Creative Nonfiction 3
TR 12:30-1:45 p.m.
Instructor: Jill Christman
Prerequisite: English 306 (not to be taken concurrently)
This is a creative nonfiction writing workshop that will
focus on the shaping of a range of personal narratives and the
navigation of those slippery spaces between remembering and forgetting,
truth and invention, experience and research. In order to write well, we
must read, and so we will split our time between workshops of student
work and the discussion of published texts. Our reading list will be
diverse in terms of both subject and form, and will include—a memoir of
childhood/family (Joy Castro’s The Truth Book), a fragmented
memoir (Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family), a memoir in
short essays (Abigail Thomas’s Safekeeping), a memoir by an
actual famous person (Bob Dylan’s Chronicles: Volume One), a
story of a journey (Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard), and a
work of literary journalism in which the author’s life intersects with
the subject (Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Last American Man). We will
also read selected essays from The Next American Essay (edited by
John D’Agata) and assorted materials on electronic reserve.
We’ll read greedily with a writer’s attention to style and technique
as we get in the practice of asking the questions that are essential in
the crafting of real-life material: How much do we trust the narrator
and why do we care? How do we decide what to put in and what to leave
out? What do we consider risky either personally or technically? How is
memory constructed on the page and how does forgetting fit in? What’s
the difference between invention and lying? What responsibility do we
have to history? How does solid research and interviewing contribute to
our construction of nonfiction narratives? How do our expectations as
readers change when we’re told something is nonfiction? How do our
obligations as writers change? And so on. My hope is that when we
apprentice ourselves to the books on our reading list, we will practice
the habit of art, honing our technical skills while we locate the
patterns in our lives and the world that have something to say about the
human condition. Requirements: two short nonfiction pieces (3 pp), two
medium-length autobiographical essays (5-8 pp), and a final long
revision (12-15 pp); quizzes and short writing exercises, reading
responses, and workshop critiques. Contact Professor Christman with any
questions at jcchristman@bsu.edu.
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TR 2:00-315
Instructor: Barbara Bogue
Prerequisite: English 307 (not to be taken concurrently).
Continuation of fiction writing 307 with a focus on the short story
and an emphasis on the student’s ability to write clearly and
dramatically. The workshop is designed for careful and considerate
criticism of students’ work, plus the reading of published literature.
Attention continues on the “root problems” of the writer:
self-confidence, self-respect, and the freedom to write. The value of a
writing class is assumed inasmuch as it addresses the individual’s
fundamental need to be perceived and acknowledged. Writing IS revision
and the workshop is intended to assist the author with that task. Formal
class sessions may be replaced on several occasions by individual
conferences with students. Assignments will differ, somewhat, during the
first weeks of classes for students who have not taken 307 at B.S.U.,
and throughout the semester for those who have elected to repeat 407. At
this level of writing, an essential aspect of the course is to produce a
piece of work of literary quality that is absent explicit and/or graphic
sex or violence to sensationalize the submitted story. A handout for
criteria for grading of a short story will be distributed during the
first class meeting. Each student will create two new stories and toward
the end of the semester, you will turn in one of the two stories (after
receiving comments from the workshops on each and my written comments
and assessment); all drafts submitted to me will count toward your final
overall grade. Participation in classroom discussions of published
literature read and in workshops, as well as attendance, will also be
factored in to your final grade. Contact Professor Bogue with any
questions: 5-8537 or bbogue@bsu.edu.
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MW 3-4:15
Instructor: Mark Neely
Prerequisite: English 307 (not to be taken concurrently)
About half the class will be devoted to discussion of readings,
including six collections of poems by contemporary poets. We will talk
about how the authors attempt to unify these collections, and look
closely at the dazzling number of formal choices poets make in their
work. Groups of students will present each book to the class, and help
focus discussion on relevant questions. The readings will help inspire
the poems written for the class, inform the way we discuss student work,
and offer strategies for revision. Assignments include one poem per
week, presentations, readings and reading responses. At the end of the
semester students will turn in a portfolio of poems and an essay on
prosody. Readings will include essays on poetics and six volumes of
poems. Possible texts include: Kim Addonizio’s Tell Me, Lyrae Van
Clief-Stefanon’s Black Swan, Tim Earley’s Boondoggle,
Sesshu Foster’s City Terrace Field Manual, Barbara Hamby’s
Babble, D.A. Powell’s Cocktail, Tracy K. Smith’s The
Body’s Question, Cate Marvin’s World’s Tallest Disaster, and
Kevin Young’s To Repel Ghosts. Contact Professor Neely with
questions at maneely@bsu.edu.
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English 417: Writing for Young Readers
TR 5:00-6:15
Instructor: Andrew Scott
Prerequisite: English 287
Writing for Younger Readers asks students to consider the unique
demands authors face when writing for younger audiences. Since we must
read to become better writers, we will examine the craft of books
written for several types of younger audiences, beginning with a
“picture book” and progressing to a literary novel intended for both
teenagers and adults. Along the way, students will investigate important
elements of writing and storytelling: characterization, form and
structure, narrative voice, genre, audience and purpose, and more. The
course serves creative writing majors/minors, as well as elementary
education majors. Past students have had varying degrees of experience
with creative writing. The workshop environment is serious, but
friendly. Contact Professor Scott with questions at
arscott2@bsu.edu.
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LINGUISTICS/TESOL
English 323: Discourse Structure and Strategies
TR 12:30-1:45
Instructor: Mary Theresa Seig
Prerequisite: English 220
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with basic
linguistic analysis techniques, to encourage students to analyze
language grammatically and in context, and to discuss various
implications of linguistic choices. Students will gain hands-on
practical experience in analyzing the written and spoken texts and learn
to recognize various patterns in those texts. Contact Dr. Seig with any
questions at mtseig@bsu.edu.
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TR 12:30-1:45
Instructor: Carolyn MacKay
Do men and women talk differently? How and why? What are the
implications of differences in language use on social relations? How can
we research these questions? This course is designed to provide a
detailed examination of the relationship between language and gender.
Because language use is one of the most important factors influencing
our judgments about others, it is important that students understand how
biological sex and gender roles are involved in those judgments. We will
describe and analyze differences in the way that men and women use
language (including differences in pronunciation, word choice, grammar,
conversational norms, and narrative styles). In addition we will look at
cross-cultural studies of language and gender and the patterns of
language socialization of girls and boys. Western European assumptions
about language use will be assessed in light of this cross-cultural
evidence. This course will use the methods and analyses taken from
linguistics, anthropology, and psychology in an effort to describe and
explain the nature of gender differentiation in speech. We will focus
not only on what researchers have hypothesized about these differences,
but also on what original research by the students can add to the
discussion. Contact Dr. MacKay with any questions at
cjmackay@bsu.edu.
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English 436: TESOL Theory and Research
T 6-8:40 p.m.
Instructor: Karen Lybeck
Prerequisite or parallel: English 320 or 321
This course is an overview of research on second-language acquisition
(SLA); research that examines the way in which human beings acquire
second (third/fourth, etc) languages, and its application for language
teaching. In this course, you will examine and think about learner
language, read summaries of published research on learner language, and
consider the implications of your own study and of published research
for second-language teaching. The course is intended for students who
have already taken an introductory course in linguistics. The main
objectives of this course are:
- to build a knowledge base of the issues involved in
second-language learning, including linguistic, cognitive, social,
and affective factors.
- to develop an understanding of how SLA research informs
second-language teaching.
- to learn how to collect and analyze second-language data.
Contact Dr. Lybeck with questions at
kelybeck@bsu.edu or 5-8409.
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Thurs. 6-8:40 p.m.
Instructor: Karen Lybeck
Prerequisite: English 320 or permission of department chair
While this class is primarily intended for those seeking K-12
licensure in ESL, it is open to undergraduates interested in teaching
English to adult learners in the U.S. or abroad. This course will give
you the opportunity to develop your understanding of second-language
learning and teaching. You will develop this knowledge in two ways:
receptively via readings, presentations and discussions, and
experientially via observations, practice and reflection. This course is
intended to give you a theoretical and methodological base for your
future in teaching. You will review the basic concepts involved in
language education and develop good practices for continued professional
development throughout your career. This semester you will:
- build a knowledge base in second-language education including
such topics as content-based instruction, developing student
proficiency in the four modalities, and incorporating the national
standards in instruction.
- start the process of teacher development through observation,
reflection, and collaboration linking theory and practice through
systematic inquiry.
Contact Dr. Lybeck with questions at
kelybeck@bsu.edu or 5-8409.
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SENIOR SEMINARS
MWF 12-12:50
Instructor: Kenan Metzger
Senior standing required
Today, the word "text" is used to mean more than just printed words.
The book Post-Modernism and the Social Sciences (Rosenau, 1992) defines
and comments on this word as "all phenomenon [sic], all events.
Postmodernists consider everything a text" (p. xiv). In this sense even
people can be read as texts: we are “written” by the cultural forces
around us and can be “read” as the emerging product of all our textual
influences. Poststructuralists take all this a step further, suggesting
that our consciousness is entirely determined by the language
environment. In this class students will examine their own experiences
as English majors and how these experiences have formed them as unique
“texts.” We will read and analyze scholarly works on subjectivity and
authorship to try and determine how each of our individual experiences
is actually shaped by a myriad of influences. The main evaluation will
be an in-depth exploratory research paper that will be presented to the
class and turned in for revision once during the semester before the
final copy is due at the end. This paper will explore the ideas we
examine in the course as well as the students’ own experiences. Contact
Dr. Metzger with any questions at
klmetzger@bsu.edu.
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English 444, sec 2: Literature and Culture in the
American Gilded Age
TR 3:30-4:45
Instructor: Robert Habich
Senior standing required
In this senior seminar we will take an integrated approach to
American letters during the era Mark Twain termed the “Gilded Age,”
roughly from the end of the Civil War (1865) through the election of
Teddy Roosevelt (1901). By examining developments such as urbanization,
immigration, the rise of corporate culture, the “closing of the
frontier,” challenges to racial and gender roles, and the codes that
contextualized these social changes, we will see how literature reflects
and dramatizes the tensions in its cultural and political world. In
addition to attending all classes and reading eight or nine novels and a
broad selection of other works, students will complete weekly “current
events” reports on nineteenth-century events, people, and ideas that
bear on the literature and will help immerse us in the time period. The
rise of photography and the mass media during the Gilded Age gives us
the opportunity to capitalize on visual culture; we will see films, view
collections of pictures, do primary research in newspapers and
magazines. There will be a midterm exam, graded reports, and a
substantial creative or research project (20-25 pages) that will be
presented to the class during the last week of the semester. Contact Dr.
Habich with questions at
rhabich@bsu.edu.
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