PDF version of this chapterCourses of Instruction
English (ENGL)
The terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.
261 English Literature to 1800 (4, FaSpSm) Intensive reading of major writers to 1800.
262 English Literature since 1800 (4, FaSpSm) Intensive reading of major writers, 1800-1950.
263 American Literature (4, FaSpSm) Intensive reading of representative writers.
285m African American Popular Culture (4, Sp) (Enroll in AMST 285m)
303 Introduction to Fiction Writing (4, FaSp) Introduction to the techniques and practice of writing prose fiction.
304 Introduction to Poetry Writing (4, FaSp) Introduction to the techniques and practice of writing poetry.
350 Literature of California (4) Novels, stories, essays, poems, and plays written in and about California from the Gold Rush to the present.
375 Science Fiction (4, Irregular) Investigation of the scope and possibilities of British and American science fiction as a genre, with some attention to its historical development.
390 Special Problems (1-4, FaSp) Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.
392 Visual and Popular Culture (4, FaSp) Course in the theory and practices of "popular culture," highlighting modern and contemporary culture, film, video and popular music, as well as narrative forms.
395 Junior Honors Seminar (4, Sp) Selected subjects; offered in spring only and restricted to honors students.
400 Advanced Expository Writing (2-4, Fa) Intensive practice intended to develop a high level of competence in writing expository prose.
401 The Rhetoric of Written Composition (4) Theories of rhetoric as they apply to written composition, with emphasis upon pedagogical applications. The course is designed for but not limited to prospective teachers of English.
405 Fiction Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) A practical course in composition of prose fiction. Prerequisite: ENGL 303.
406 Poetry Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) A practical course in poetry writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 304.
407 Advanced Fiction Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) Prerequisite: ENGL 405 and/or departmental approval.
408 Advanced Poetry Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) Prerequisite: ENGL 406 and/or departmental approval.
409 The English Language (4) Instruction in the major grammatical systems of the English language, with particular emphasis on their relevance to language activities in the elementary classroom.
410 History and Grammar of Modern English (4, Irregular) History and grammar of modern English as described by current linguistics; comparison with traditional grammar; application of grammar to stylistic analysis.
412 Analysis of Written Persuasion (4, Irregular) Persuasive discourse, including structure, intention, and figurative language; analysis of texts in various humanistic, scientific, and socio-scientific disciplines.
420 English Literature of the Middle Ages (1100-1500) (4, Irregular) Selected studies in major figures, genres, and themes of Middle English literature to Malory, with special emphasis on Chaucer. Prerequisite: ENGL 261.
421 English Literature of the 16th Century (4) Selected studies in the non-dramatic literature of Renaissance England, with emphasis on Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare. Prerequisite: ENGL 261.
422 English Literature of the 17th Century (4) Selected studies of prose and poetry in the age of Bacon, Donne, Jonson, Herbert, Browne, Marvell, and Milton. Prerequisite: ENGL 261.
423 English Literature of the 18th Century (1660-1780) (4) Selected studies in poetry, prose, and fiction of such writers as Defoe, Dryden, Fielding, Richardson, Pope, Swift, and Johnson. Prerequisite: ENGL 261.
424 English Literature of the Romantic Age (1780-1832) (4) Selected studies in major writers, including Blake, Austen, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Mary Shelley, P.B. Shelley, and Keats. Prerequisite: ENGL 262.
425 English Literature of the Victorian Age (1832-1890) (4) Selected studies in the prose and poetry of such figures as Tennyson, Dickens, the Brontes, the Brownings, Hopkins, Arnold, Ruskin, and Newman. Prerequisite: ENGL 262.
426 Modern English Literature (1890-1945) (4) Studies in English literary modernism, including the prose of Conrad, Joyce, and Woolf and the poetry of Pound, Eliot, Yeats, and Auden. Prerequisite: ENGL 262.
430 Shakespeare (4, FaSp) Major history plays, comedies, and tragedies.
440 American Literature to 1865 (4, FaSp) American poetry and prose to the Civil War with special attention to Irving, Cooper, Poe, Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, and Whitman. Corequisite: ENGL 263.
441 American Literature, 1865 to 1920 (4, FaSp) American poetry and prose with special attention to Twain, James, Dickinson, Henry Adams, Crane, and Dreiser. Corequisite: ENGL 263.
442 American Literature, 1920 to the Present (4, FaSp) American poetry, fiction, and drama since World War I with special attention to Eliot, Frost, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, O'Neill, Stevens, Faulkner, and Nabokov. Corequisite: ENGL 263.
445m The Literatures of America: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (4) Introduction to African-American, Chicano, Asian-American, and Native-American literatures -- and to the literary diversity of American cultures.
446 African-American Poetry and Drama (4) Survey of black poetry and plays in America from the Emancipation to the present, with special emphasis on the new poets and dramatists of the current "Black revolution."
447m African-American Narrative (4) Development of the novel in African-American literature beginning with the anti-slavery fiction of William W. Brown and his pre-Emancipation contemporaries and concluding with the emerging novelists of the late sixties.
448m Chicano and Latino Literature (4) Development of the poetry, essay, short story, and novel of the Chicano and Latino peoples of the United States, with particular emphasis on the differentiating characteristics between the multiple cultures that constitute the Latino populations.
449m Asian-American Literature (4, Irregular) Survey of Asian-American literature from the earliest time to the present; development of prose, poetry, and novel.
451 Periods and Genres in American Literature (4, max 8, Irregular) A concentrated reading and criticism of the works of one period or one genre of American literature; for example, colonial literature, the American Renaissance, American poetry, American drama.
452 Modern Poetry (4) Study of poetry written in English from 1900 to 1945, with special emphasis on American modernists of the first two decades. Recommended preparation: ENGL 262, ENGL 263.
454 Aesthetic Philosophy and Theory (4) (Enroll in COLT 454)
455 Contemporary Prose (4) Study of prose written in English since 1945, principally fiction of the past two decades.
456 Contemporary Poetry (4) Study of poetry written in English since 1945, with special emphasis on the last two decades.
461 English Drama to 1800 (4, Irregular) Representative plays, especially those of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Restoration periods. Corequisite: ENGL 261.
462 British and American Drama 1800-1950 (4, Irregular) Representative plays of England, Ireland, and the United States, especially those written after 1890. Corequisite: ENGL 262.
463 Contemporary Drama (4) Selected British, Irish, and American drama from the post World War II period (1945 to the present).
465 The English Novel to 1800 (4) Theory and practice of fiction in works of writers such as Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, Burney, and Smollett. Corequisite: ENGL 261.
466 The 19th Century English Novel (4) Theory and practice of fiction in works of major writers such as Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Meredith, and Hardy. Corequisite: ENGL 262.
467 The Modern Novel (4, Irregular) Studies of the narrative experiments and innovations in fiction following the realist novel; emphasis on gender, empire and class and the pluralities of "modernisms."
469 Women in English Literature before 1800 (4) English poetry, plays, novels, and discursive prose by and about women from 1375 to 1800.
470 Women in English and American Literature after 1800 (4) Women as writers and as subjects, with special emphasis on feminist and liberationist traditions and on changing female images after 1800.
471 Literary Genres and Film (4, Irregular) Literary studies in the relationship between fiction and drama and their adaptation as films.
472 Literature and Related Arts (4, Irregular) An examination of how literature and related arts intersect in a particular cultural milieu. Selected topics.
473 Literature and Society (4) Theoretical and applied studies of literature in English as social activity and cultural production; its expression of, and influence upon, social values, concepts, and behavior.
474m Literature, Nationality and Otherness (4) English literature written about or in the British colonies and their post-colonial nations, including African, Asian, Pacific, and American countries. Emphasis on texts by other than British and United States authors. Completion of general education literature requirement highly recommended.
475 Politics and the Novel (4) (Enroll in COLT 475)
476m Images of Women in Contemporary Culture (4) Representations of women and gender relations in contemporary literature and mass culture, using the tools of feminist, literary, and political theory.
478m Sexual/Textual Diversity (4) Questions of gay and lesbian identity, expression and experience in a variety of literary and cultural forms; emphasis on sexual politics, equality and difference.
479 History of Literary Criticism (4) Philosophies of literary criticism from Plato to the end of the 19th century; the relationship between literary criticism and its contemporary literature.
480 Modern Literary Criticism: Theory and Practice (4) Analysis of philosophies and methods of modern schools of criticism; writing critical essays.
481 Narrative Forms in Literature and Film (4) Critical approaches to narrative form in literature and film; readings and films from several genres and periods, emphasis on gender, ethnic, and cultural studies.
490x Directed Research (2-8, max 8, FaSp) Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
491 Senior Seminar in Literary Studies (4) Selected problems in literary history and criticism.
495 Senior Honors Seminar (4, Fa) Advanced seminar involving extensive reading, research, and discussions. Selected subjects; offered in Fall only and restricted to Honors students.
496 Senior Honors Thesis (4, Sp) Seminar in workshop form to accompany completion of Senior Honors Thesis. Bi-weekly meetings to complete thesis according to contract. Prerequisite: ENGL 395, ENGL 495.
499 Special Topics (2-4, max 8, FaSp) Studies in the works of one or more authors, or in the development of a theme or genre.
501 History of Literary and Cultural Theory (4) The assumptions and practices of major theorists and theoretical schools from Plato to literary modernism.
502 Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory (4) The assumptions and practices of major post-modern theorists and theoretical schools.
503 Theories of History, Ideology and Politics (4) The principal ways in which history, ideology, and politics have informed the study of literary and cultural discourse.
504 Theories of Race, Class, and Gender (4) The principal methods and assumptions by which race, class, and gender have been studied in reference to literary and cultural discourse.
505 Rhetoric to 1700 (4) The cultural history of rhetoric (theories, practices, teaching) from the early Greeks through the beginnings of rationalism.
506 Rhetoric and Composition, 1700 to the Present (4) The cultural history of rhetoric and composition (theories, practices, teaching) from the beginnings of rationalism to the present.
507 Rhetoric and Language (4) Examination of critical and linguistic theories; may include the changing structures of English discourse, cognitive poetics, and discourse analysis.
510 Medieval English Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Investigations of chivalry and romance, allegory, drama, popular literature in the Middle Ages, the reception of medieval literature, and other topics.
520 Renaissance English Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in poetry and patronage, the popular tradition in literature and drama, the social and sexual dynamics of comedy, historical and cultural uses of genres, among other topics.
530 Restoration and 18th Century British Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in prose, poetry, drama, and culture of the period 1660-1800.
540 19th Century British Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in the Romantics and Victorians, gender and genre, the new woman and the novel, authorship and the marketplace, science, imperialism, the crisis of narrative, and other topics.
550 20th Century British Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in literary modernism, critical scrutiny and moral seriousness, poetry and politics, the Irish revival, and other topics.
560 Early American Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in the literature of discovery, exploration and conquest, the Puritan migration, literary genres in Colonial America, history and myth of American origins, and other topics.
563 Poetry and Prose Into Drama (4, Fa) (Enroll in THTR 501)
570 18th Century American Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in the rhetoric, literature, and language of the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary periods, narrative and polemical writing, the American Enlightenment, and other topics.
580 19th Century American Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in canonic and non-canonic literature in the American Renaissance, cultural nationalism, the consequences of race, immigration, expansion, urbanization, science, and the marketplace, and other topics.
590 Directed Research (1-12) Research leading to the master's degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.
591 20th Century American Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in rural and urban fictions, modernism, the shift from imagism and symbolism to confessional poetry, recovered writers, hemispheric traditions, literature and kindred arts, and other topics.
592 Contemporary British and American Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in contemporary women and ethnic writers, "extra-literary" forms (journalism, autobiography), the theatre of the absurd, post-modern fabulations, and other modes and issues since World War II.
595 Literary Studies Across Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in Empire and Commonwealth literatures, post-colonialism, American hemispheric connections, African-American literary discourse, Asian-American writers, dialects and the folk, and other topics.
605 The History of Rhetoric (4, max 12) Studies in European and American rhetoric and their contexts.
606 Rhetoric and the Teaching of Writing (4, max 12) Studies in the rhetoric of written composition, critical theory and pedagogy, and other topics.
610 Theory and Criticism (4, max 12) Studies in meaning and meaning-making, form, comparative theory, theories of history and culture, theory in the classroom, and other topics.
620 Literature and Interdisciplinary Studies (4, max 12) Issues and theory of studying literature in relation to history, science, politics, psychology, religion, sociology, media, the visual arts, and other disciplines.
630 Studies in Gender (4, max 12) History and ideology of gender studies, feminist theory, gay and lesbian discourse, and other studies in feminisms and masculinities in relation to literature.
640 Individual Writers (4, max 12) Studies in major and minor, canonic and non-canonic writers.
650 Multicultural Literary Studies (4, max 12) Theories of race and ethnicity, cultural imperialism, discourse of power and class, literatures of the Americas, and other topics.
660 Studies in Genre (4, max 12) History, transformation, and theory of genre; studies in epic, lyric, drama, comedy, tragedy, the novel, biography, essay, and other forms.
678 Seminar in Film Theory and Genre Specificity (4) (Enroll in CTCS 678)
679 Seminar in Genre and/or Narrative Theory (4) (Enroll in CTCS 679)
695 Graduate Fiction Form and Theory (4, max 12) Seminar. Studies in fiction form and function or critical theory. Open only to Creative Writing Ph.D. degree candidates.
696 Graduate Poetry Writing Workshop (4, max 12) Intensive practicum in advanced level poetry writing, intended to develop high level creative compositional ability. Open only to Creative Writing Ph.D. degree candidates.
697 Graduate Fiction Writing Workshop (4, max 12) Intensive practicum in advanced level fiction writing, intended to develop high level creative compositional ability. Open only to Creative Writing Ph.D. degree candidates.
698 Graduate Poetry Form and Theory (4, max 12) Seminar. Studies in poetry form and function or critical theory. Open only to Creative Writing Ph.D. students.
699 Special Topics (4) Thematic, theoretical, or experimental studies in British and American literatures and cultures.
790 Research (1-12) Research leading to the doctorate. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.
794abcdz Doctoral Dissertation (2-2-2-2-0) Credit on acceptance of dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.