Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
English
Courses 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.
ENGL 105x Creative Writing for Non-Majors (4, max 8, FaSp) Introductory workshop in writing poetry, short fiction and nonfiction for love of the written and spoken word. Not for English major or English (Creative Writing) major credit.
ENGL 250gm The African Diaspora (4, FaSp) (Enroll in AMST 250gm)
ENGL 261 English Literature to 1800 (4, FaSpSm) Intensive reading of major writers to 1800.
ENGL 262 English Literature since 1800 (4, FaSpSm) Intensive reading of major writers, 1800–1950.
ENGL 263 American Literature (4, FaSpSm) Intensive reading of representative writers.
ENGL 285m African American Popular Culture (4, Sp) (Enroll in AMST 285m)
ENGL 290 Cultural Studies: Theories and Methods (4, FaSpSm) Introduction to the theories, methods, and history of cultural studies, with coverage of contemporary debates over censorship and the politics of authorship, seriality and originality.
ENGL 298 Introduction to the Genre of Fiction (4, FaSpSm) An introduction to the close reading of fiction and the understanding of the genre as an aesthetic and historical phenomenon.
ENGL 299 Introduction to the Genre of Poetry (4, FaSp) Historical survey of the traditions of lyric poetry from Shakespeare to the contemporary, examining the genre’s multiple forms of literary, visual, and aural expression.
ENGL 302 Writing Narrative (4, FaSpSm) Introduction to the techniques and practice of writing narrative in fiction and literary non-fiction.
ENGL 303 Introduction to Fiction Writing (4, FaSp) Introduction to the techniques and practice of writing prose fiction.
ENGL 304 Introduction to Poetry Writing (4, FaSp) Introduction to the techniques and practice of writing poetry.
ENGL 305 Introduction to Nonfiction Writing (4, FaSp) Introduction to the techniques and practice of lyric essay, memoir, personal narrative, and scientific, medical, nature, culinary and travel writing.
ENGL 310 Editing for Writers (4) Practical course in relations between editing and the creative process in fiction, poetry, and exposition.
ENGL 350 Literature of California (4) Novels, stories, essays, poems, and plays written in and about California from the Gold Rush to the present.
ENGL 355 Anglo-American Law and Literature (4, max 8, FaSpSm) Examination of legal problems and concepts in English and American literature. Recommended preparation: CORE 102 or ARLT 100; WRIT 150.
ENGL 375 Science Fiction (4, FaSp) Investigation of the scope and possibilities of British and American science fiction as a genre, with some attention to its historical development.
ENGL 376 Comics and Graphic Novels (4, FaSpSm) Introduction to issues in visual and popular culture, focused on critical and historical interpretation of words and images in comic books and graphic novels.
ENGL 390 Special Problems (1–4, FaSp) Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 395 Junior Honors Seminar (4, Sp) Selected subjects; offered in spring only and restricted to honors students.
ENGL 400 Advanced Expository Writing (2–4, Fa) Intensive practice intended to develop a high level of competence in writing expository prose.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 404 The Writer in the Community (2–4, max 8, FaSp) Apprenticeship with experienced writer-teachers, providing students with a pedagogical framework and practical experience for teaching creative writing in schools and community settings.
ENGL 405 Fiction Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) A practical course in composition of prose fiction. Prerequisite: ENGL 303 or ENGL 305.
ENGL 406 Poetry Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) A practical course in poetry writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 304.
ENGL 407 Advanced Fiction Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) Prerequisite: ENGL 405.
ENGL 408 Advanced Poetry Writing (4, max 8, FaSp) Prerequisite: ENGL 406.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 410 History and Grammar of Modern English (4, FaSp) History and grammar of modern English as described by current linguistics; comparison with traditional grammar; application of grammar to stylistic analysis.
ENGL 412 Analysis of Written Persuasion (4, FaSp) Persuasive discourse, including structure, intention, and figurative language; analysis of texts in various humanistic, scientific, and socio-scientific disciplines.
ENGL 420 English Literature of the Middle Ages (1100–1500) (4, FaSp) Selected studies in major figures, genres, and themes of Middle English literature to Malory, with special emphasis on Chaucer. Prerequisite: ENGL 261.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 430 Shakespeare (4, FaSp) Major history plays, comedies, and tragedies.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 444m Native American Literature (4, FaSp) Survey of Native American literature, including oral traditions and print genres, such as short story, poetry, novel, and autobiography, from 1700 to the present. Recommended preparation: ENGL 263.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.”
ENGL 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.
ENGL 448m Chicano and Latino Literature (4, FaSp) (Enroll in AMST 448m)
ENGL 449m Asian American Literature (4, FaSp) (Enroll in AMST 449m)
ENGL 451 Periods and Genres in American Literature (4, max 8, FaSp) 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 454 Aesthetic Philosophy and Theory (4) (Enroll in COLT 454)
ENGL 455 Contemporary Prose (4) Study of prose written in English since 1945, principally fiction of the past two decades.
ENGL 456 Contemporary Poetry (4) Study of poetry written in English since 1945, with special emphasis on the last two decades.
ENGL 461 English Drama to 1800 (4, FaSp) Representative plays, especially those of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Restoration periods. Corequisite: ENGL 261.
ENGL 462 British and American Drama 1800–1950 (4, FaSp) Representative plays of England, Ireland, and the United States, especially those written after 1890. Corequisite: ENGL 262.
ENGL 463 Contemporary Drama (4) Selected British, Irish, and American drama from the post World War II period (1945 to the present).
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 467 The Modern Novel (4, FaSp) Studies of the narrative experiments and innovations in fiction following the realist novel; emphasis on gender, empire and class and the pluralities of “modernisms.”
ENGL 469 Women in English Literature before 1800 (4) English poetry, plays, novels, and discursive prose by and about women from 1375 to 1800.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 471 Literary Genres and Film (4, FaSp) Literary studies in the relationship between fiction and drama and their adaptation as films.
ENGL 472 Literature and Related Arts (4, FaSp) An examination of how literature and related arts intersect in a particular cultural milieu. Selected topics.
ENGL 473 Literature and Society (4, FaSp) 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.
ENGL 474m Literature, Nationality and Otherness (4, FaSp) 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.
ENGL 475 Politics and the Novel (4) (Enroll in COLT 475)
ENGL 476m Images of Women in Contemporary Culture (4, FaSp) Representations of women and gender relations in contemporary literature and mass culture, using the tools of feminist, literary, and political theory.
ENGL 478m Sexual/Textual Diversity (4, FaSp) Questions of gay and lesbian identity, expression and experience in a variety of literary and cultural forms; emphasis on sexual politics, equality and difference.
ENGL 479 History of Literary Criticism (4, FaSp) Philosophies of literary criticism from Plato to the end of the 19th century; the relationship between literary criticism and its contemporary literature.
ENGL 480 Modern Literary Criticism: Theory and Practice (4, FaSp) Analysis of philosophies and methods of modern schools of criticism; writing critical essays.
ENGL 481 Narrative Forms in Literature and Film (4, FaSp) Critical approaches to narrative form in literature and film; readings and films from several genres and periods, emphasis on gender, ethnic, and cultural studies.
ENGL 490x Directed Research (1–8, max 12, FaSp) Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit.
ENGL 491 Senior Seminar in Literary Studies (4, FaSpSm) Selected problems in literary history and criticism.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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 491.
ENGL 497 Senior Seminar in Early Modern Studies (4, Sp) Intensive engagement with current research, problems, and methodologies in Early Modern discourses and cultures. Required capstone seminar for interdepartmental minor in early modern studies. Open only to seniors; open only to early modern studies minors.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 501 History of Literary and Cultural Theory (4) The assumptions and practices of major theorists and theoretical schools from Plato to literary modernism.
ENGL 502 Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory (4) The assumptions and practices of major post-modern theorists and theoretical schools.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 507 Rhetoric and Language (4) Examination of critical and linguistic theories; may include the changing structures of English discourse, cognitive poetics, and discourse analysis.
ENGL 508 History, Theories and Practice of Cultural Studies (4, max 12, FaSp) Looking at specific case histories, this course introduces students to the basic methods, theories and activities in cultural studies.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 530 Restoration and 18th Century British Literatures and Cultures (4, max 12) Studies in prose, poetry, drama, and culture of the period 1660–1800.
ENGL 535 Literatures and Cultures of the Romantic Period (4, max 12) Studies in British literature and culture, from the 1790s to 1830s, including gender and genre, authorship and authenticity, “romance” and revolution, forms of belief and doubt, and other topics.
ENGL 536 Literatures and Cultures of the Victorian Period (4, max 12) Studies in British literature and society, 1837–1901, including gender and genre, industrialism, science and technology, empire and race, new forms of media and narrative, and other topics.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 563 Poetry and Prose Into Drama (4, Fa) (Enroll in THTR 501)
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 593 Practicum in Teaching the Liberal Arts (2, FaSp) (Enroll in MDA 593)
ENGL 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.
ENGL 599 Special Topics (2–4, max 8) Thematic, theoretical, or experimental studies in British and American literatures and cultures. (Duplicates credit in former ENGL 699.)
ENGL 600x Preparing Articles for Publication in Scholarly Journals (2, FaSp) Development of strategies for preparing articles for publication in scholarly journals. Aspects of publication will include abstracts, introductions, argumentation, style and footnotes. Open only to Ph.D. students in English and English (Creative Writing). Not for degree credit for English and English (Creative Writing) students. Graded CR/NC.
ENGL 605 The History of Rhetoric (4, max 12) Studies in European and American rhetoric and their contexts.
ENGL 606 Rhetoric and the Teaching of Writing (4, max 12) Studies in the rhetoric of written composition, critical theory and pedagogy, and other topics.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 640 Individual Writers (4, max 12) Studies in major and minor, canonic and non-canonic writers.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 678 Seminar in Film Theory and Medium Specificity (4, max 8) (Enroll in CTCS 678)
ENGL 679 Seminar in Genre and/or Narrative Theory (4, max 8) (Enroll in CTCS 679)
ENGL 695 Graduate Fiction Form and Theory (4, max 12) Seminar. Studies in fiction form and function or critical theory.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 698 Graduate Poetry Form and Theory (4, max 12) Seminar. Studies in poetry form and function or critical theory.
ENGL 700x Theories and Practices of Professional Development I (2, FaSp) A structured environment in which to craft a research project, write a dissertation prospectus, and define areas of professional expertise. Graded CR/NC. Not available for degree credit. Recommended preparation: passage of screening exam.
ENGL 701x Theories and Practices of Professional Development II (2, Fa) This two-credit course helps ABD students craft their professional identities and placement materials as they make the transition from graduate school to their academic position. Not available for degree credit. Graded CR/NC.
ENGL 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.
ENGL 794abcdz Doctoral Dissertation (2-2-2-2-0) Credit on acceptance of dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.