Fall 2018 Courses
Interpreting Literature (UCLR 100E)
Section: 001 #5600
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 8:15 - 9:05 AM LSC
Section: 002 #5601
Instructor: C. Jergenson
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 8:15 – 9:05 AM LSC
This course introduces students to the study of literature. The texts we will read vary greatly in terms of genre, form, and historical context, but they are united by certain common concerns. One of these concerns is the relationship between humans and the natural world. Through our readings of texts by Elizabeth Bishop, Edward Albee, Ursula K. Le Guin, Jeff Vandermeer, and others, we will consider the ways in which literary texts critique modern society’s impact on the environment, seek to represent nature through literary forms, and complicate conventional distinctions between human and animal, society and nature, and so on.
Our readings of these texts will provide us with opportunities to learn, discuss, and apply some of the core concepts and methods associated with literary analysis. Developing a critical awareness of our reading practices will help us to understand the ways in which we derive meaning from literary texts. What is literature? Why do we read it? How should we determine what a text means? Assignments will include response papers, essays, and exams.
Section: 003 #5602
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 8:15 - 9:05 AM LSC
Section: 004 #5603
Instructor: M. Bradshaw
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 9:20 - 10:10 AM LSC
In this section of Loyola’s foundational course in literary studies we will focus on literature written in and about Chicago, from the 19th century to the present. Texts will include Simon Pokagon, The Red Man’s Rebuke, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross, poems and short stories by Chicago authors such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Li-Young Lee, Carl Sandburg, Stuart Dybek, and Sandra Cisneros.
This course will require students to read closely and analyze carefully a representative variety of prose, poetry, and drama, master key literary and critical terms, and explore a variety of core critical approaches to conceptual questions about literature and its study. What is literature? Why does it matter? How has it been conceived in different times and places? Where does meaning come from in literature? What is literary interpretation and what role does it have in the production of literary meaning? How are literary works related to culture and society and how do they reflect—and reflect on—questions of value and the diversity of human experience?
Literature at Work
Section: 005 #5604
Instructor: J. Fiorelli
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 9:20 - 10:10 AM LSC
This foundational course in literary studies will require students to read closely and analyze carefully a representative variety of prose, poetry, and drama; master key literary and critical terms; and explore a variety of core critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. This course will also explore important conceptual questions about literature and its study, to help students develop the skills of analysis and interpretation needed to approach literature in a sophisticated manner.
To do this, this course examines literature about work. Work is an essential part of human existence; while it is often a source of pleasure and satisfaction, work has predominantly been a site of exploitation. Thus, literature about work often addresses the nature and effects of oppressive work conditions, the larger forces at play, and how workers respond to oppression. Literature about labor therefore engages deeply in a range of factors affecting people’s lives, including race, class, gender, and immigration and migration, as well as various connections among these. Finally, this literature raises important questions about its social function: How can literature represent the conditions and experiences of work? How can it engage the audience in the interests of economic and social justice? How can it help us consider the future of work? We will address such questions as we examine a variety of works of poetry, drama, and fiction. Texts will be drawn primarily, but not exclusively, from twentieth-century American literature, including authors such as Ann Petry, Milton Murayama, and Helena Maria Viramontes. Course requirements will include active reading, written homework and quizzes, and class participation, as well as two literary analysis essays. There may, as well, be a required field trip to see a theater production on campus but outside of class.
Section: 006 #5605
Instructor: E. Bayley
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 10:25 - 11:15 AM LSC
This is a foundational literature course that explores a variety of critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. In particular, we will be looking at the concepts of dying, death and grieving and discuss how these concepts are depicted in a number of different poems, plays and short stories. These topics are often difficult topics to discuss and yet, they are inevitable realities in each of our lives. Thus, we will use texts, by a number of different American authors, such as Willa Cather, Raymond Carver, Mary Oliver, James Baldwin and more, to explore what dying, death and grieving might consist of, not only personally but also in a larger social context. The method of assessment will include pop quizzes, papers, and classroom participation.
Section: 007 #5606
Instructor: K. Quirk
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 10:25 - 11:15 AM LSC
We have all read and interpreted literature before. For this course, however, we will strive to do so in more complex, informed, and autonomous ways. We will work toward this goal by reading a lot of poetry, drama, and fiction, and then analyzing it in detail. Another of our goals will be to develop a better critical vocabulary and analytical approach to these types of literature. Writing assignments (both formal and informal) will emphasize individual engagement and literary analysis of the works we read but will also seek to improve general writing skills. There will be regular “low-stakes” writing exercises as well as some “creative” writing exercises intended to help us understand literature better by practicing literary writing. More broadly, however, I hope we will all learn to approach literature in a more attentive, engaged, and ultimately pleasurable manner. Ideally, we will not only learn about literature and literary techniques but will also try to relish the pleasure of literary reading. Readings will likely include a broad sampling of poets and poetry, an ancient Greek drama and a modern drama, short stories that are both realistic and experimental in form, and one short novel.
Section: 008 #5607
Instructor: P. Sorenson
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 11:30 - 12:20 PM LSC
Over the course of the semester, we will be exploring three principal literary genres: fiction, poetry, and drama. We will emphasize the historical contexts in which these stories, poems, and plays were written, and we will examine a variety of critical postures with which to interpret these texts. Students will also be asked to establish their own claims by way of shorter responses and longer formal essays. As we read, we will always ask why literature matters: Why do we choose to read? What can stories or lyrics teach us? How does literature participate in the building of our cultural and individual points of view? Our class’s theme will be “Remembering/ Dismembering.” We will read works—such as Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Raúl Zurita’s Purgatory—that suggest the links between truth, memory, forgetfulness, and our bodies. We will explore how literature can act as a form of remembering, a way to reassemble ourselves. Ultimately, we will investigate how literature puts us together and takes us apart.
Section: 009 #5608
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 11:30 - 12:20 PM LSC
Section: 010 #5609
Instructor: E. Bayley
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 12:35 – 1:25 PM LSC
This is a foundational literature course that explores a variety of critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. In particular, we will be looking at the concepts of dying, death and grieving and discuss how these concepts are depicted in a number of different poems, plays and short stories. These topics are often difficult topics to discuss and yet, they are inevitable realities in each of our lives. Thus, we will use texts, by a number of different American authors, such as Willa Cather, Raymond Carver, Mary Oliver, James Baldwin and more, to explore what dying, death and grieving might consist of, not only personally but also in a larger social context. The method of assessment will include pop quizzes, papers, and classroom participation.
Section: 011 #5610
Instructor: J. Cragwall
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 12:35 - 1:25 PM LSC
Why should we care about literature?
We’ll start historically: who before us has cared about literature, and why? We’ll study the pressure texts put on their historical moment, and how they’re shaped by it in surprising ways: for example, our discussion of Shakespeare will start with the formation of “Shakespeare” as a figure, often at odds with the “evidence” of the poems, of canonical standards throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a program that affected even the spelling of his poems. We’ll read some authors who were white, male, and rich (and some who weren’t): how has literature been used to promote a series of questions and assumptions that they may have shared (sometimes called “the canon”), and how has it, even in these same authors, blown apart all the stereotypes and orthodoxies we’d expect to find? We’ll watch the invention not only of English (and then British) culture, but of the English language itself, its twists and triumphs, detours and degenerations—and most importantly, we’ll watch as language, especially literary language, is fashioned into the greatest vehicle of social and aesthetic contest.
We’ll read novels and poems, plays and pornography, ranging from 1600 to around 1900. We (well, you) will also write papers, take exams, and be flogged—the entire range of academic abjection, in one convenient course.
Section: 012 #5611
Instructor: L. Goldstein
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 12:35 - 1:25 PM LSC
In this course, we will read, discuss and write about texts that define ecology and the response of human life within it. We will be exploring science fiction novels, short stories of Afro-futurism, ancient plays about what animals represent and teach us about our mythical connections to democracy, and weird poetry that creates its own ecology. You will be introduced to multiple strategies to approach and interpret challenging texts that range from the ancient to the contemporary, including both traditional and experimental forms. Materials include: Aristophanes’ The Birds, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, short stories by Octavia Butler, the African film Pumzi, and the poetry of W.B. Yeats, Wallace Stevens, CA Conrad and other contemporary poets. There is a strong focus on race and gender in this course. Writing assignments include one short response, a midterm essay, and a final exam.
Section: 013 #5612
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 12:35 - 1:25 PM LSC
Interpreting Literature, Interpreting Society
Section: 014 #5613
Instructor: F. Staidum
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 1:40 – 2:30 PM LSC
Humans have long committed their desires, hopes, fears, and beliefs to oral and written text, and as a result, any meaningful study of literature is more than a simple study of the “make believe” but an interpretation of the broader human condition (i.e., the state of humanity, how we treat each other, our relationships to love and violence, etc.). In this section of UCLR 100E, we explore the relationship between literature and society, especially how literary works have engaged the social ills of racism, sexism, and economic inequality.
As a foundational course in literary studies, students will survey an illustrative body of prose, poetry, and drama; apply fundamental literary and critical terms; and practice introductory interpretive methods. In addition to sampling so-called “canonical” literature, this section especially emphasizes key works by women and people of color, including Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Stetson, Amy Tan, August Wilson, Sherman Alexie, and Claudia Rankin.
Women and the Home
Section: 015 #5614
Instructor: E. Weeks-Stogner
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 1:40 – 2:30 PM LSC
This foundational course in literary studies will require students to closely read and carefully analyze a representative variety of prose, poetry, and drama; master key literary and critical terms; and explore a variety of core critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. This course will also explore important conceptual questions about literature and its study in order to help students develop the skills of analysis and interpretation needed to approach literature in a sophisticated manner.
The theme of this course is women and the domestic sphere. Through an examination of literary texts from a wide range of genres and periods, we will explore the varied and rich ways in which authors have represented women’s relationships with the home and femininity. Texts covered will include Louisa May Alcott’s Behind a Mask, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and a selection of poems, essays, speeches, short stories, and television episodes. Course requirements include (1) engaged reading of all assigned texts, demonstrated through annotation assignments and reading quizzes; (2) active class participation; (3) a series of short literary analysis written assignments; and (4) midterm and final exams.
Section: 016 #5615
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 1:40 - 2:30 PM LSC
Section: 017 #5616
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 2:45 - 3:35 PM LSC
Women and the Home
Section: 018 #5617
Instructor: E. Weeks-Stogner
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 2:45 - 3:35 PM LSC
This foundational course in literary studies will require students to closely read and carefully analyze a representative variety of prose, poetry, and drama; master key literary and critical terms; and explore a variety of core critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. This course will also explore important conceptual questions about literature and its study in order to help students develop the skills of analysis and interpretation needed to approach literature in a sophisticated manner.
The theme of this course is women and the domestic sphere. Through an examination of literary texts from a wide range of genres and periods, we will explore the varied and rich ways in which authors have represented women’s relationships with the home and femininity. Texts covered will include Louisa May Alcott’s Behind a Mask, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and a selection of poems, essays, speeches, short stories, and television episodes. Course requirements include (1) engaged reading of all assigned texts, demonstrated through annotation assignments and reading quizzes; (2) active class participation; (3) a series of short literary analysis written assignments; and (4) midterm and final exams.
Section: 019 #5618
Instructor: D. Scheier
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 1:40 – 2:30 PM LSC
The theme for UCLR 100E-019 in Interpreting Literature is "The Road of Belonging: The Twists and Turns of the Hero’s Journey." Throughout history, authors have written about the search of self, both through literal and figurative journeys. Thus, we will look at a variety of writers that span several decades of contemporary literature to synthesize themes like Joseph Campbell’s the monomyth, aka the hero's journey, to the themes of identity and belonging.
We will look at some of the most magnetic writers from around the world that deal with these interlaced themes. While we will mostly focus on contemporary literature, we will also look at some Victorian, naturalism, early modernism, and some ancient Greek literature. Instead of going down works in chronological order, we will base our readings on themes of identity formation. Our texts will address the ways in which one examines their role as self and other in fiction and society, and how it relates to other mediums (film, television, music, art, etc.). We will look at some of the ways in which gender, racial, ethnic and social roles shape, corrupt, reflect, and sustain our ideas about who we are.
The interdisciplinary nature of this class will encourage students to think critically about the connections between these works of literature, as well as the connection to their own lives. The hero’s journey is not just about characters in literature, but it is very much about the very real lives we lead.
This is a foundational course of literary studies. We will explore a variety of prose, poetry, and drama. Students will learn fundamental literary and critical terms, and explore diverse approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. Students will write several short creative pieces that borrow from the course materials as well as short review essays, and essays investigating a significant author and their publications.
Section: 020 #5619
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 2:45 - 3:35 PM LSC
Section: 021 #5621
Instructor: A. Galus
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 8:30 - 9:45 AM LSC
The world has ended many times over, at least in myths and stories from around the world. What is the reason for the enduring popularity of dystopian and post-apocalyptic literature? What anxieties about our world are revealed by our fascination with these genres? In this course, we will explore dystopian worlds in fiction, poetry, drama, and film, and question why utopian impulses so frequently go awry. Through formal and informal writing as well as class discussion, you will have the chance to discover what you think and learn to communicate it effectively. Authors studied may include Anne Washburn, Margaret Atwood, M.T. Anderson, Aldous Huxley, and others.
How to Do Things With Texts
Section: 022 #5622
Instructor: A. Welch
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 8:30 - 9:45 AM LSC
This course is about how to do things with texts, and about how texts can do things with us. We will learn 1) to ask literary questions of texts, 2) to understand and make meaning out of difficult texts, 3) to strengthen and critique the understandings we develop, and 4) to come to terms with the questions and problems that literature poses to us.
By exploring short fiction, poetry, and drama, we’ll become familiar with some of the traditions and conventions that texts draw upon in order to create meaning. Reading, in this sense, is not only about running our eyes over the page; reading includes the thinking, writing, and speaking that surrounds and synthesizes the process of looking at a sequence of words. Accordingly, writing and discussion will feature centrally in this course. These processes will allow us to give shape to our reading and thinking, and thereby to sharpen and refine our reading and thinking into argument.
Readings will include Lydia Davis, John Keats, Virginia Woolf, Anne Carson, David Foster Wallace, Ocean Vuong, Harryette Mullen, Annie Baker, and Sophocles.
Section: 023 #5623
Instructor: J. Eighan
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 8:30 - 9:45 AM LSC
In this course, we will read and analyze works of fiction, poetry, and drama to gain a better understanding of what constitutes literature. We will observe how authors utilize literary techniques, which will serve as the basis of our analyses of the texts. While we will read a variety of different works, our course will fundamentally explore “the Monster” in literature. In particular, we will examine character psychology, and consider how themes of identity and the “monstrous body” contribute to our overall understanding of these texts.
This foundational course in literary studies will require students to read closely and analyze carefully a representative variety of prose, poetry, and drama, master key literary and critical terms, and explore a variety of core critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. This course will also explore important conceptual questions about literature and its study. What is literature? Why does it matter? How has it been conceived in different times and places? How do we envision the relationships among author, text, and reader or audience? What is the difference between reading a literary work in its historical context and in the light of our own contemporary time? Where does meaning come from in literature? What is literary interpretation and what role does it have in the production of literary meaning? How are literary works related to culture and society and how do they reflect – and reflect on – questions of value and the diversity of human experience? Exploring these questions will help students develop the skills of analysis and interpretation needed to approach literature in a sophisticated manner.
Section: 024 #5624
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 10:00 - 11:15 AM LSC
Section: 025 #5625
Instructor: T. Koppang
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 11:30 - 12:45 PM LSC
It’s easy to find your comfort zone. It’s difficult to understand someone else’s. Engaging with literature can help to shape our sense of self-identity, but it can also provide a means to step outside of ourselves. It can present other people, other worlds, and other ways of understanding what makes us... well, us.
This course will expose you to a variety of (mostly American) literature from the late 19th to early 21st centuries. Students will learn to read, analyze, discuss, and write about literature across a variety of genres, but especially prose and poetry. The focus will be on exploring the different ways in which literature can (and perhaps should) challenge your sense of comfort and self-identity. Finally, as this is a foundational course, you will learn the skills necessary to appreciate and write about literature at a college level.
How to Do Things With Texts
Section: 026 #5626
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 11:30 - 12:45 PM LSC
This course is about how to do things with texts, and about how texts can do things with us. We will learn 1) to ask literary questions of texts, 2) to understand and make meaning out of difficult texts, 3) to strengthen and critique the understandings we develop, and 4) to come to terms with the questions and problems that literature poses to us.
By exploring short fiction, poetry, and drama, we’ll become familiar with some of the traditions and conventions that texts draw upon in order to create meaning. Reading, in this sense, is not only about running our eyes over the page; reading includes the thinking, writing, and speaking that surrounds and synthesizes the process of looking at a sequence of words. Accordingly, writing and discussion will feature centrally in this course. These processes will allow us to give shape to our reading and thinking, and thereby to sharpen and refine our reading and thinking into argument.
Readings will include Lydia Davis, John Keats, Virginia Woolf, Anne Carson, David Foster Wallace, Ocean Vuong, Harryette Mullen, Annie Baker, and Sophocles.
Section: 027 #5627
Instructor: J. Hinkson
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 - 2:15 PM LSC
This foundational course in literary studies will require students to read closely and analyze carefully a representative variety of prose, poetry, and drama, master key literary and critical terms, and explore a variety of core critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. This course will also explore important conceptual questions about literature and its study. What is literature? Why does it matter? How has it been conceived in different times and places? How do we envision the relationships among author, text, and reader or audience? What is the difference between reading a literary work in its historical context and in the light of our own contemporary time? Where does meaning come from in literature? What is literary interpretation and what role does it have in the production of literary meaning? How are literary works related to culture and society and how do they reflect – and reflect on – questions of value and the diversity of human experience? Exploring these questions will help students develop the skills of analysis and interpretation needed to approach literature in a sophisticated manner.
Interpreting Literature: Personal and Political Hauntings in American Literature
Section: 028 #5628
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 2:30 - 3:45 PM LSC
The foundational course of literary studies requires students to read closely and analyze carefully a representative variety of poetry, prose, and drama, master key literary and critical terms, and explore a variety of core critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature. This section explores the interpretation of American literary works that are “haunted” by the past. The novels, poems, and dramatic works that we will interpret speak in the voices of real or imagined Americans in history, or obsessively struggle to represent those voices and earlier events. The works also focus on complex and uncomfortable, even taboo, American problems—racial conflict, sexual abuse, violence, political upheaval, etc.—but they also explore opportunities for change and for the expansion of freedom. Course authors may include George Saunders, Jesmyn Ward, Maggie Nelson, Erika L. Sanchez, and Cathy Park Hong, among others. Course requirements include exams, 2-4 critical essays, and active class participation.
Section: 029 #5629
Instructor: S. Weller
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 2:30 - 3:45 PM LSC
Section: 030 #6784
Instructor: E. Datskou
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 11:30 - 12:20 PM LSC
This foundational course of literary studies will require students to read closely and analyze carefully a variety of Gothic fiction, poetry, and drama from the 19th century to today. Using a mix of informal and formal writing assignments and in-class discussion, we will ask what the Gothic is, how it has been represented over time, and what it says about its contemporary society. Within these discussions, we will explore a variety of core critical approaches to the analysis and interpretation of literature and master key and critical terms. Authors may include Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Sheridan Le Fanu, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Flannery O’Connor, Anne Rice, and Edward Albee.
Advanced Writing: Business (ENGL 210)
Section: 20W #1992
Instructor: J. Janangelo
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 2:30 – 3:45 WTC
Our course covers the rhetorical principles of effective writing, focusing on particular types of discourse practiced in business and professional settings. You will gain experience reading and writing texts pertinent to business communication including: memos, proposals, letters, and resumes. There will be individual and collaborative projects; you will also give a group presentation.
Our course is writing intensive. We will use a process approach to writing, emphasizing problem-solving, prewriting strategies, and editing and revision skills. Our class is a workshop. As such, much of our time will be devoted to small group discussions and exercises. You will plan and share some of your writing with your peers and with me in draft conferences. That gives you a chance to exchange ideas, get assistance, participate in peer-editing, and receive feedback on your work. We will discuss our readings and projects in class. According to school policy, a student’s lack of appropriate course prerequisites constitutes grounds for being withdrawn from the class at any time. Because class conversations are integral to our work, regular attendance is essential. If you are absent, please contact someone from class to find out what you missed.
This course is writing-intensive.
Section: 60W #2760
Instructor: J. Janangelo
3.0 credit hours Lecture
M 7:00 – 9:30 PM WTC
Our course covers the rhetorical principles of effective writing, focusing on particular types of discourse practiced in business and professional settings. You will gain experience reading and writing texts pertinent to business communication including: memos, proposals, letters, and resumes. There will be individual and collaborative projects; you will also give a group presentation.
Our course is writing intensive. We will use a process approach to writing, emphasizing problem-solving, prewriting strategies, and editing and revision skills. Our class is a workshop. As such, much of our time will be devoted to small group discussions and exercises. You will plan and share some of your writing with your peers and with me in draft conferences. That gives you a chance to exchange ideas, get assistance, participate in peer-editing, and receive feedback on your work. We will discuss our readings and projects in class. According to school policy, a student’s lack of appropriate course prerequisites constitutes grounds for being withdrawn from the class at any time. Because class conversations are integral to our work, regular attendance is essential. If you are absent, please contact someone from class to find out what you missed.
This course is writing-intensive.
Section: 61W #3330
Instructor: M. Meinhardt
3.0 credit hours Lecture
W 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM WTC
Business Writing is a seminar designed to build and improve effective communication practices for use in the business community. The ideas of “personal professionalism” and “priority of purposes” guide an exploration of business writing genres ranging from correspondence to memos, and from employment documents to executive summaries. Collaboration, peer interaction, and individual economy direct the creation of a series of writing projects that use revision and research as a necessary step in the writing process.
Section: 62W #4028
Instructor: J. Janangelo
3.0 credit hours Lecture
R 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM WTC
Our course covers the rhetorical principles of effective writing, focusing on particular types of discourse practiced in business and professional settings. You will gain experience reading and writing texts pertinent to business communication including: memos, proposals, letters, and resumes. There will be individual and collaborative projects; you will also give a group presentation.
Our course is writing intensive. We will use a process approach to writing, emphasizing problem-solving, prewriting strategies, and editing and revision skills. Our class is a workshop. As such, much of our time will be devoted to small group discussions and exercises. You will plan and share some of your writing with your peers and with me in draft conferences. That gives you a chance to exchange ideas, get assistance, participate in peer-editing, and receive feedback on your work. We will discuss our readings and projects in class. According to school policy, a student’s lack of appropriate course prerequisites constitutes grounds for being withdrawn from the class at any time. Because class conversations are integral to our work, regular attendance is essential. If you are absent, please contact someone from class to find out what you missed.
This course is writing-intensive.
Writing for Pre-Law Students (ENGL 211)
Section: 63W #3642
Instructor: D. Gorski
3.0 credit hours Lecture
M 7:00 – 9:30 PM WTC
In this course, students will learn to develop the writing skills used by law school students and attorneys to prepare case briefs, office memoranda, and pre-trial motions. Students will also learn how to answer essay examination questions of the type given in law school and on a state bar examination. In class, students will develop the verbal abilities necessary to take a legal position and defend it with statements of fact and conclusions of law. Realistic hypothetical fact patterns will be analyzed using the IRAC method: issue, rule, application, and conclusion. Learning how to cite to legal authorities is a central part of the course. Readings include judicial opinions, state and federal statutes, and law review articles. The course is taught by a practicing attorney, and assumes no prior legal studies by the students.
Theory/Practice Tutoring (ENGL 220)
Section: 1WE #2417
Instructor: A. Kessel
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 2:30 - 3:45 PM LSC
English 220 is a seminar designed to prepare students to serve as tutors in the Loyola University Chicago Writing Center. This course is open to students from all majors who have a passion for clear written communication. We will explore the theory and practice of peer tutoring through reading and discussion of research as well as through practical experience. In this course you will learn how to help others become better writers while improving your own writing and critical thinking skills. You will become part of a community of fellow peer tutors and gain experience that will benefit you in a variety of careers. The service-learning component consists of approximately 20-25 hours of observation and tutoring in the Writing Center. The writing intensive component includes several short essays and a group research paper. Students who wish to be enrolled in this course must obtain a short recommendation from a faculty member who can speak to the student’s writing ability and interpersonal skills. Recommendations should be emailed to Amy Kessel (akessel@luc.edu). Those who excel in the course will be eligible to work as paid writing tutors.
ENGL 220-1WE is a writing intensive class.
Exploring Poetry (ENGL 271)
Section: 001 #5647
Instructor: M. Lutze
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 11:30 – 12:20 PM LSC
In this poetry course, we will focalize our exploration on epic poetry. The readings in this course will track the historical development of the epic and the ways in which its iterations responded to and adapted the traditional form. This course is designed to not only assist you in learning how to read poetry well but also to foster a deeper appreciation for poetry through the study of this particular genre. In order to accomplish this, lectures on the foundations of reading poetry and a study of various poetic devices will be incorporated throughout the semester. In order to grasp the creative and structural variety within the epic form, we will strategically read from a selection of epics. Readings will likely include selections from Virgil, Beowulf, Spenser, Milton, Pope, and Brooks. Throughout the semester, we will attempt to recognize the poetic devices at play in chosen readings; however, we will also endeavor to never overlook the importance of the poems’ content for its own sake. Requirements will include active participation in class discussions, short essays, and both a midterm and final exam.
Section: 02W #3660
Instructor: D. Chinitz
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 10:00 – 11:15 AM LSC
Section: 03W #5648
Instructor: J. Biester
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 11:30 – 12:45 PM LSC
This class will provide an introduction to the understanding and analysis of poetry through the study of a wide range of poems in English. We will consider various motives for writing and reading poetry, and various methods of reading it. Because this course is writing intensive, there will be frequent brief writing assignments, both in and out of class. The required textbook is Introduction to Poetry, (13th Edition), edited by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Requirements will include participation in class discussions, several papers, a midterm, and a final.
Section: 04W #5649
Instructor: J. Biester
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 PM LSC
This class will provide an introduction to the understanding and analysis of poetry through the study of a wide range of poems in English. We will consider various motives for writing and reading poetry, and various methods of reading it. Because this course is writing intensive, there will be frequent brief writing assignments, both in and out of class. The required textbook is Introduction to Poetry, (13th Edition), edited by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Requirements will include participation in class discussions, several papers, a midterm, and a final.
Exploring Drama (ENGL 272)
Section: 05W #3661
Instructor: T. Boyle
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 12:35 – 1:25 PM LSC
This course of studies will include texts that actively analyze the importance of religion on the creative imagination, in particular Catholicism. The quest for meaning, whether religious or secular, can lead to some interesting works of drama. Modernist theater, for instance, with its quest for newness, has sought to dramatize the problems associated with religious faith (Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot). While the depictions can sometimes be sympathetic, sometimes skeptical, there is an underlying affirmation, and legitimization of the immense influence religion has had on forming our understanding of life. In this class, we will also explore the movement away from the classical form of drama towards what Brecht calls ‘epic theatre’.
Exploring Drama covers literature from 20th Century and 21st Century
Section: 06W #5650
Instructor: E. Wheatley
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 10:00 – 11:15 AM LSC
This course surveys English, American, and Anglophone drama from the Middle Ages to the present, along with some plays and drama theory from beyond the Anglophone world that influenced writers in English. Special attention will be paid to literary, social, and historical innovations and conventions that have defined the genre, its performance, and its reception in various periods. The final grade will be based on class participation, essays, and mid-term and final exams.
Exploring Fiction (ENGL 273)
Section: 002 #5653
Instructor: J. Kerkering
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 11:30 – 12:45 PM LSC
This course examines works by important American novelists from the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. Class discussions will address formal and thematic features of these writings. Based on these discussions, students will write papers that draw upon the readings to support original and consequential interpretations.
20th Century War Stories
Section: 003 #5654
Instructor: J. Wexler
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 PM LSC
War stories shape soldiers’ expectations of combat, and the experience of combat shapes soldiers’ stories. This core course will examine this interaction in examples from WW I to the present. We will ask how formal elements of fiction such as point of view, character foils, plot, imagery, and symbolism are used to represent the extremity of combat. Requirements include three essays, short responses to each book, and a final exam. Texts:
All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque
Death of a Hero, Aldington
Farewell to Arms, Hemingway
Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut
365 Days, Glasser
The Things They Carried, O’Brien
Redeployment, Klay
Section: 004 #5656
Instructor: J. Glover
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 2:30 – 3:45 PM LSC
Why do people enjoy reading stories about made-up characters? This course will offer students an introduction to prose fiction as a mode of literary representation. It will aim to acquaint students with the historical development of fictional characters, as well as the many techniques authors use to creation fictional worlds. Most of our energy will be devoted to reading and discussing short stories and novels, but we will range across genres from realism to science fiction.
Section: 006 #6690
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 PM LSC
Section: 07W #5657
Instructor: P. Jacob
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 2:45 – 3:35 PM LSC
Section: 21W #5658
Instructor: T. Kim
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 12:35 – 1:25 PM WTC
This course focuses on the understanding, appreciation, and criticism of prose fiction. In particular, the class will select a seminal novel (or novels) such as Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, and/or Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays and then study not only the novel’s aesthetic function but its creation, distribution, reception, and historicity. Theories of the novel will supplement the primary texts.
Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of fiction as a means of exploring human experience and will be exposed to the creative process. Students will also be introduced to key technical terms necessary for the analysis of fiction as discourse.
Exploring Shakespeare (ENGL 274)
Section: 08W #3152
Instructor: J. Knapp
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 10:25 – 11:15 PM LSC
This section of English 274 will offer an introduction to the major genres of Shakespearean drama (comedy, history, tragedy and romance). The course will place Shakespeare’s treatment of these dramatic genres in historical context. Shakespeare’s England was a period shaped by a tumultuous religious reformation, the emergence of modern science, and shifting economic and political realities. We will examine the development of Shakespeare’s art beginning with some early plays, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard II, and then turning to tragedies and romances such as Othello, King Lear and The Winter’s Tale. The primary text will be David Bevington’s edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. As a writing intensive course there will be numerous writing assignments in addition to formal papers. There will also be a midterm and a final.
ENGL 274-10W is a writing intensive class.
African-American Literature Post-1900 (ENGL 282)
Section: 09W #6672
Instructor: B. Ahad
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 11:30 – 12:45 PM LSC
While the activist movement, Black Lives Matter, has garnered national attention since its inception in 2013, African-American literature has been asserting the value of black lives since the late 18th century. We will focus on the ways that black writers and intellectuals (in the past and in the “now”) have attempted to argued for their humanity, citizenship, and freedom in the U.S. for over two centuries. To complement our readings we will incorporate films, music, and visual art to demonstrate the multiple and diverse ways that black artistic culture has served as a means of political resistance, reflection and inspiration. Requirements for the course include regular quizzes and a long essay (12-15 pages) written in stages over the course of the semester.
This course fulfills the multicultural requirement and the post-1900 requirement.
Women in Literature (ENGL 283)
Section: 10W #2153
Instructor: J. B. Bouson
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 10:00 – 11:15 AM LSC
“If women have learned many of the ways they interpret their lives from the narrative schemata of novels and stories,” writes Joanne Fry, “they can also gain from fiction new insights into the narrative processes of constructing meaning.” Crosslisted with Women’s Studies, English 283 is designed to meet the “literary knowledge and experience” requirements of the Loyola Core. Focusing on literature written by 20th- and 21st-century women authors, this course is designed to help students gain knowledge of women’s lives and writings; to show them the difference gender makes to the writing, reading, and interpretation of literature; to train them in the analysis of literature; and to teach them how to describe, analyze, and formulate arguments about literary texts. Analyzing representative works of fiction written by women authors, this course will investigate the important cultural and gender scripts and psychological dramas encoded in the works read, paying special attention to the various ways the authors represent coming of age, the female body, romantic love, mother-child relationships, female friendships, and female aging in their works. The authors covered will include Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, Jamaica Kincaid, Toni Morrison, and May Sarton. There will be quizzes, papers, a midterm and a final exam.
Section: 11W #5830
Instructor: J. B. Bouson
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 LSC
“If women have learned many of the ways they interpret their lives from the narrative schemata of novels and stories,” writes Joanne Fry, “they can also gain from fiction new insights into the narrative processes of constructing meaning.” Crosslisted with Women’s Studies, English 283 is designed to meet the “literary knowledge and experience” requirements of the Loyola Core. Focusing on literature written by 20th- and 21st-century women authors, this course is designed to help students gain knowledge of women’s lives and writings; to show them the difference gender makes to the writing, reading, and interpretation of literature; to train them in the analysis of literature; and to teach them how to describe, analyze, and formulate arguments about literary texts. Analyzing representative works of fiction written by women authors, this course will investigate the important cultural and gender scripts and psychological dramas encoded in the works read, paying special attention to the various ways the authors represent coming of age, the female body, romantic love, mother-child relationships, female friendships, and female aging in their works. The authors covered will include Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, Jamaica Kincaid, Toni Morrison, and May Sarton. There will be quizzes, papers, a midterm and a final exam.
Transwomen in Literature
Section: 12W #5831
Instructor: P. Caughie
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 2:30 – 3:45 PM LSC
This course is a study in narrative literature focused on fiction and memoirs by and about trans* subjects. Such writings disrupt narrative conventions by defying pronominal stability, temporal continuity, and natural progression, all elements of more conventional novels and memoirs that trace the course of a subject’s life. As such, trans* narratives can be read as a distinct genre, but they also require us to rethink the conventions of any life writing, raising the question, What are the consequences for living of telling a different kind of story? We will also consider the impact of transgender studies on feminism. What happens to feminist theory when the very object of its theorizing—gender and sexual difference—seems to be undermined by transgender writings?
Readings include various forms of life writing, both fiction and nonfiction, as well as essays in feminist and transgender theories. Primary works include case studies of transgender from the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness (1928); Man into Woman (1933), the life narrative of Lili Elbe, and The Danish Girl, Tom Hooper’s film version of that story; Jan Morris’s Conundrum (1974); Jennifer Boylan’s She’s Not There (2003); Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts (2015); and Juliet Jacques’s Trans: A Memoir (2015).
This writing-intensive course combines informal lectures with class discussions. Frequent writing will encourage us to think critically as well as personally about the readings. A series of structured writing assignments will focus on specific skills (such as summary and argument) and specific elements of writing about literature (such as close reading and comparison). We will share our writing and comment on one another’s papers in writing workshops.
Note: This course can be taken for credit as an “engaged learning” course (ENGL 394/WSGS 398) for those students who would like to work approximately 10 hours per week on the comparative scholarly print and digital edition of Man into Woman, which I am co-editing with a German scholar. See me as soon as possible, no later than the first day of class, if you are interested in this option.
Nature in Literature (ENGL 288)
Section: 14W #4619
Instructor: E. Bayley
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 1:40 – 2:30 PM LSC
In this course we will use a number of different Ecocritical, non-fiction approaches to explore and interpret different pieces of American literature and look at how the natural world, which includes humans, is represented, treated, understood, and further, misused or abused. Readings will include poetry, short-stories, a novel, and a number of theoretical approaches to Ecocriticism. Assignments in the semester will include writing papers, peer reviews, quizzes/in-class reflections, and classroom participation.
Human Values in Literature (ENGL 290)
Section: 007 #3037
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 8:15 - 9:05 AM LSC
Section: 008 #4620
Instructor: D. Richards
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 2:45 – 3:35 PM LSC
A Bengal tiger, a poet's cocker spaniel, buttered lobster, and Derrida's cat. Animals in 20th and 21st century literature are portrayed as symbols, sidekicks, meals, and metaphors. In this section of Human Values in Literature, we will interrogate the human/animal distinction as well as discuss the ethical use and depiction of literary animals. Some of the questions we will ask will focus on real-world treatment of animals, while others will focus on the ways literature uses animals as metaphors for the human condition. Is there a correlation between anthropomorphic artistic tendencies to the ecological devastation occurring in our world today? In what ways do we humanize and simplify animals in our texts, and what does this do to our perception of animals in the world?
By critically examining these questions, among others, we can begin to understand why "human" values are necessarily bound up with our perceived position as a species.
Section: 15W #5833
Instructor: H. Mann
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 PM LSC
Adopting an international and cross-disciplinary perspective, this section of English 290 will examine the portrayal of human values in modern and contemporary works by selected non-western writers from Africa, the West Indies, South Asia, and USA. Our main aim will be to examine the extent to which the societies under study (and the individuals who constitute them) share universal values and the extent to which these societies and their values are predicated upon culture specific norms and expectations. To this end, we will consider the role of nationalism, tradition, religion, race, ethnicity, gender, and class/caste in the conception and practice of such values. In addition, we will analyze the cultural bases of contributing literary techniques, including structure, language, narrative focus, and characterization among others, to arrive at comparative assessments of the portrayal of human values in modern world literature.
This course is Writing Intensive; satisfies 3 credits of the Core Curriculum Tier-II requirement in Literary Knowledge & Experience; counts as a 200-level elective for both the English major and minor; and meets the 3-credit multicultural requirement of the English major.
Section: 203 #5834
Instructor: TBA
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 PM LSC
Advanced Writing (ENGL 310)
Section: 16W #4621
Instructor: E. Hopwood
3.0 credit hours Lecture
T 4:15 - 6:45 PM LSC
The focus of this Advanced Composition class will be Writing with/in New Media. From text editors to Twitterbots, we will practice writing in and across modalities and technologies
that are both “old” and “new,” familiar and unfamiliar. We will consider how communication is mediated and remediated in the digital age, and we will draw connections between historical moments of print culture with that of contemporary technological advancement, considering, for instance, the many ways that technology has shaped the way we read and interpret (and, indeed, are ourselves read and interpreted). Some topics we will explore include emerging digital genres (websites, blogs, memes), digital storytelling, multimodal discourses, type and typography, and representation and remediation. This is a Writing-Intensive course.
The Writing of Poetry (ENGL 317)
Section: 009 #1805
Instructor: L. Goldstein
3.0 credit hours Lecture
M 2:45 - 5:15 PM LSC
This course approaches the writing of poetry as both a study and craft that requires reading, exploration, practice, and sharing. We read a unique work of contemporary poetry each week as a framework for discussion, but the core of the course is student writing. The workshop element of the course is focused on experimentation with language to foster each student’s own creativity and delight in creating work both as a group and on their own. Our work includes in-class collective and collaborative writing experiments, prompts for writing in between sessions, and presentations of student poetry for review by the group. Students produce a final collection of poetry in a self-published chapbook and give a reading of their work for the final.
Section: 010 #1807
Instructor: A. Baker
3.0 credit hours Lecture
M 4:15 – 6:45 PM LSC
This course offers practice and instruction in the techniques and analysis of poetry through reading, writing, discussing, and revising poems. We will give particular attention to the unique challenges and opportunities facing beginning poets as we first seek to channel our ideas and life experiences into poetry, to find and then develop our own voices in relation to not only our own impulses but to "the tradition" and the aesthetically diverse and fascinating world of contemporary poetry. The poems you write will be carefully read and critiqued by both your classmates and the instructor. The culmination of the course will be to compile a portfolio of the work you have written over the term.
Section: 011 #3038
Instructor: N. Hoks
3.0 credit hours Lecture
T 2:30 - 5:00 PM LSC
This course invites students to explore some of the most basic elements of writing poems, using work by contemporary, modern, and canonical poets as our guide. We’ll practice traditional poetic devices, familiarize ourselves with formal elements of poetry (such as the line and image), and explore creative strategies for writing, crafting, and revising original work. About half of each class will be devoted to workshopping students’ original writing, and class participation will be a key component.
The Writing of Fiction (ENGL 318)
Section: 012 #1808
Instructor: B. Harper
3.0 credit hours Lecture
M 2:45 – 5:15 PM LSC
This course will explore a wide variety of narrative styles as a means to consider how stories are built. Students will read fiction by established masters as well as contemporary practitioners, across a range of forms from traditional short stories to short-short and micro-narratives. In discussion, we will isolate and examine the basic elements of story craft—point of view, pacing, character development, etc.—in an effort to define the ways in which a good narrative impacts its audience, from plot concept to word choice. Over the course of the semester, the conversation will turn inward, as students submit several of their own works of fiction for consideration in workshop.
Section: 013 #2618
Instructor: C. Woods
3.0 credit hours Lecture
T 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM LSC
Students in this fiction writing workshop will produce one piece of very short fiction and two short stories, all of which we will read and discuss together. Students will study masters of the genre such as Flannery O’Connor, Raymond Carver, and Dorothy Parker as well as contemporary writers like Ha Jin, Jennifer Egan, ZZ Packer, and Junot Diaz. Using these writers as guides, we'll practice crafting plots that move, dialogue that crackles, and characters who live and breathe, and we’ll help one another learn along the way. Thoughtful participation in workshop will thus be crucial to students’ success in this course. At the end of the semester, students will assemble a final portfolio.
Section: 600 #1890
Instructor: D. Kaplan
3.0 credit hours Lecture
W 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM LSC
Students will be introduced to the art and craft of writing fiction through (a) reading master writers such as Sherman Alexie, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Proulx, Haruki Murakami, Donald Barthelme, and others, to analyze their craft; (b) writing three original short stories; and (c ) having these stories discussed and critiqued by the instructor and by fellow students in a supportive workshop environment. Class participation is emphasized. Fulfills a Core Expressive Arts Requirement.
Writing Creative Nonfiction (ENGL 319)
Section: 014 #3451
Instructor: H. Axelrod
3.0 credit hours Lecture
R 2:30 – 5:00 PM LSC
This is a workshop course in creative nonfiction, the fastest growing genre in publishing. It’s thriving in personal essay columns in magazines and newspapers, in memoirs, and in new hybrid forms. Indeed, perhaps the only way to define creative nonfiction is to identify its constitutive elements: facts and subjectivity. Nonfiction means the given facts of the work are true—not courtroom testimony-level true, but fairly reliably-accurate true—and subjectivity means that the writer is using those facts to get at more than the facts, to take a personally distinctive look at a topic, or issue, or period of her life, and often, whether explicitly or not, at some larger underlying question.
In class, we’ll read, analyze, and discuss the works of creative nonfiction writers as models for your own writing. This is a workshop, so you’ll hear from each other what’s working on the page in your own writing and what isn’t—which will help develop your ear as you read and your instincts as you write. You’ll learn about narrative distance, scene and exposition, and various elements of craft, with a focus on voice and diction. You’ll also learn to offer thoughtful commentary on the work of your classmates. The goal is for you to become a better reader and writer of creative nonfiction.
Chaucer (ENGL 322)
Section: 015 #5835
Instructor: E. Wheatley
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 PM LSC
This course will focus on some of the most important poems of Geoffrey Chaucer, including dream visions and a selection of The Canterbury Tales. We will also read works important to Chaucer, such as Macrobius’ writings on dreams, and some of his likely source texts. Critical readings will engage with these works in their historical and literary-historical contexts. The grade will be based on class participation, weekly responses, two essays, a Middle English pronunciation exam, a mid-term translation exam, and a final exam.
Brit Lit: The Renaissance (ENGL 325)
Section: 016 #1809
Instructor: C. Kendrick
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 1:40 - 2:30 PM LSC
Plays of Shakespeare (ENGL 326)
Section: 017 #1810
Instructor: J. Knapp
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 9:20 – 10:10 AM LSC
This course will focus on a selection of Shakespeare’s plays in all the major genres (comedy, history, tragedy, and romance). We will read the plays through a variety of critical approaches, taking into account the historical context in which they were produced. To emphasize the importance of drama as intended for theatrical performance, we will view recorded performances, and, if possible, attend a local theatrical performance. Over the course of the semester we will explore the development of drama in England, the material history of the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage, and the political and cultural place of the theater in Shakespeare’s England. Plays may include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, Richard II, Henry V, Othello, King Lear, and The Winter’s Tale. The primary text will be David Bevington’s edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. There will be papers, a midterm and a final.
Brit Lit: Romantic Period (ENGL 335)
Section: 018 #4626
Instructor: J. Cragwall
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MWF 10:25 – 11:15 AM LSC
In the last decade of the eighteenth century, the most powerful earthly king was beheaded, the institution of monarchy annihilated, and a God who had been heretofore supposed “Almighty” overthrown. “The French Revolution is,” conceded even Edmund Burke, its greatest British opponent, “all circumstances taken together … the most astonishing thing that has hitherto happened in the world.” We’ll study this time of exuberance, dispute, and outburst, in which every inherited piety and orthodoxy seemed debatable. We’ll read poets and novelists, of course—but we’ll also read lunatics and prophets, opium addicts and slave traders, “blue-stocking” feminists and the “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Lord Byron. In William Wordsworth, we’ll find the first poetry created out of a “language really used by men”; in Mary Wollstonecraft, a fiery annunciation that “it is time to affect a revolution in female manners”; in John Keats, we’ll delight in verse dismissed as “mental masturbation.” We’ll follow the rise of Napoleon, the fall of the Slave Trade, and the foundation of Australia—in newspapers and magazine articles, political pamphlets and diaries, as well as the parlors of Jane Austen. Fulfills post-1700, pre-1900 requirement. Papers, exams, molecular gastronomy.
Brit Lit: Victorian Period (ENGL 340)
Section: 019 #1811
Instructor: M. Clarke
3.0 credit hours Lecture
T 2:30 – 5:00 PM LSC
The purpose of this course is to guide students toward better understanding and appreciation of Victorian literature, that is, literature written in England between 1837 and 1901. Its goals include helping students improve their ability to analyze and interpret literature, and to understand the ideas, attitudes, and techniques that characterize the literature of this. Lectures will provide information on intellectual and cultural contexts in which the literature was written, and class discussions will encourage students to reflect on and respond to the works that continue to have a presence in contemporary culture. We will read essays, poems, short fiction, one play, and at least one novel written during the period. This course fulfills the post-1700/pre-1900 period requirement for English majors. Assignments consist of in-class reflection papers (some to be written in class and others at home), a term paper, mid-term and final examination.
Contemporary Critical Theory (ENGL 354)
Section: 020 #3039
Instructor: P. Caughie
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 11:30 - 12:45 PM LSC
“The main effect of theory,” writes Jonathan Culler, “is the disputing of ‘common sense’” (Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, 4). Whether the topic is language or reality, sex or race, literature or authors, theory refuses to take such concepts at face value, as “givens.” Theory teaches us how to question what we often take for granted. If this course succeeds, then, it should produce a kind of crisis—a crisis of meaning, a crisis of confidence, a crisis of language—as we unlearn certain habitual ways of thinking. We will read theories from a range of disciplines (e.g., linguistics, literature, history, sociology, psychoanalysis, philosophy) and “schools” (e.g., formalism, structuralism, deconstruction, feminism, Marxism) from the 1960s through the present to understand how the theory revolution has changed the study of literature and culture. We will also read literature, but not simply to “apply” the theory to a work. We will also read literature as theory, just as we will “close read” theory as a type of literature. Requirements include two essays (3-5 and 6-8 pages), responses to the readings, an oral presentation or “class lead,” and a final exam.
The Modern Novel (ENGL 371)
"Make It New"
Section: 17W #5836
Instructor: J. Wexler
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 10:00 – 11:15 AM LSC
The new narrative forms that emerged in the first half of the twentieth century reflected the period’s radical cultural changes. We will examine the ways social upheavals influenced fiction by focusing on psychological theories, feminism, and aesthetic movements. Requirements include three essays, short responses to each book, and a final exam.
Texts:
Heart of Darkness, Conrad
Three Lives, Stein
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce
The Secret Agent, Conrad
Farewell to Arms, Hemingway
Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf
A Bend in the River, Naipual
Studies in Amer. Lit Post-1900 (ENGL 379C)
Section: 021 #5837
Instructor: D. Chinitz
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 1:00 – 2:15 AM LSC
Our topic will be the literature and culture of the Jazz Age, an era of rapid and profound social change. The course will be interdisciplinary: we will cross over into music, film, and the visual arts in order to study the culture of the 1920s more comprehensively, and to examine the interaction among the arts as the age of modernism reached its peak. We will read works by such authors as Edna St. Vincent Millay, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eugene O’Neill, T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cummings, Nella Larsen, and Langston Hughes. Topics to be discussed include the cult of the primitive; the rise of the New Woman; high and low culture; representations of race; and the relationship of jazz to all these phenomena.
Theology & Literature (ENGL 383)
Section: 001 #6685
Instructor: G. Wolfe
3.0 credit hours Lecture
W 4:15 – 6:45 PM LSC
Advanced African-American Lit Post-1900 (ENGL 384C)
The Civil War and the Contemporary Literary Imagination
Section: 022 #4628
Instructor: B. Ahad
3.0 credit hours Lecture
TR 2:30 - 3:45 PM LSC
The Civil War ended in 1865 but its most notable figures—Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Ulysses G. Grant, Harriet Tubman, among others—continue to provide ample material for writers in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This course will examine a range of contemporary literary texts, films, and cultural objects that re-imagine the Civil War era and some of its major (and lesser known) figures. In addition to considering the diverse and varied ways that recent authors and artists represent this historical moment and these historical figures, we also pursue the following questions: Why does this era endure in the contemporary artistic imagination? What is our (social, political) investment in the Civil War? In what ways do the issues surrounding the war (slavery, the “meaning” of America, “states rights,” etc.] remain relevant and unreconciled for us in the 21st c.? Course readings will cover a spectrum of “texts,” including Edward P. Jones’s novel The Known World, Kara Walker’s pictorials, George Saunders’s novel Lincoln in the Bardo, the 2012 film, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” Suzan-Lori Parks’s “The America Play,” and the podcast “Uncivil.” Course requirements include regular attendance and discussion, bi-weekly “podcast posts” on Sakai, weekly reading quizzes, a midterm, and a final project. This is an advanced course so students should be prepared to do a significant amount of reading at a relatively fast pace.
This course fulfills the multicultural requirement and the post-1900 historical period requirement.
Advanced Seminar: (ENGL 390)
The Brontës
Section: 18W #4292
Instructor: M. Clarke
3.0 credit hours Lecture
T 2:30 – 5:00 PM LSC
In this course we will examine the works of a family of gifted writers, the Brontës, whose works continue to rise in the estimation of both the popular and the scholarly reading audience. We will read Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Villette, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey and Tenant of Wildfell Hall, as well as examples of the poetry written by each sister. In order to understand the works better, the class will also discuss certain key biographical and critical studies. Because this course is a seminar, students will have ample time for discussion, and each student will be asked to lead the class for brief periods. Lectures will include information on the history of the novel and essentials of novel criticism. This course is Writing-intensive, and fulfills the pre-1900, post-1700 English major requirement.
Advanced Creative Nonfiction (ENGL 392)
Section:19W #4630
Instructor: H. Axelrod
3.0 credit hours Lecture
F 2:45 – 5:15 PM LSC
In this advanced workshop in creative nonfiction, we’ll develop a keen sense of craft by reading each other’s work and the work of some of the finest writers in the genre, including Joan Didion, Ralph Ellison, Teju Cole, Meghan Daum, and Leslie Jamison. We’ll pay particular attention to questions of voice, narrative distance, narrative immediacy, personal research, hybrids, concept essays, dialogue, and story. We’ll also have Skype visits from established authors working in the field, who will be willing to answer your questions about everything from writing habits to publishing. Through writing, reading, and workshopping, we’ll work to build a common vocabulary and orientation in the genre, and you’ll also be working to develop your own individual orientation, so that you become more comfortable and innovative as a writer.
Teaching English to Adults (ENGL 393)
Section: 02E #1812
Instructor: J. Heckman
3.0 credit hours Lecture
MTWR 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM LSC
Engaging with Jesuit values. This course offers an excellent opportunity for service learning and practical experience in tutoring adults in written and spoken English at the Loyola Community Literacy Center, located in Loyola Hall, 1110 W. Loyola Avenue, 2nd floor conference room, across the street from Mertz.
While the Literacy Center offers community adults an opportunity to improve their skills, it also gives student-tutors the chance to serve their community and to engage with their Jesuit education. One student tutor said, “The Literacy Center has taught me the true value of giving, and this is perhaps the most valuable lesson I’ve learned at Loyola.”
No previous tutoring experience is necessary. When taken for 3 credit hours, this course satisfies the Core Engaged Learning-Service Learning Internship requirement. The course is open to second-semester freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, although incoming freshmen are always welcome to tutor as volunteers and take the course at a later date.
Students tutor adult learners, most of whom are immigrants, refugees, or international visitors whose skills in their native language range from their being highly educated professionals to being perhaps illiterate, even in their own language, and who may know some English or no English. Students also tutor some native English speakers preparing for the GED or improving their literacy skills.
The Center is open for tutoring M-Th evenings during the fall and spring semesters from 7-9:30 pm when the university is in session. 1 credit hour students tutor one evening per week; 2 and 3 credit hour students tutor two evenings a week. In addition, there are 5 class meetings scheduled just before tutoring hours; 3 credit Core students meet for a 6th session.
If students have never tutored at the Center, they must attend one evening of orientation. Students keep a weekly journal of their experiences and responses to assigned readings; examine a textbook and journal articles concerned with literacy, language, and adult education; submit ten of their journals and five short papers throughout the semester; prepare a final paper or project; and, for 3 credit hour students, read and report on one additional text of their choice related to the work of the Center, to adult literacy, to the culture of their learners, or to any topic suggested by their tutoring experience.
Students who have taken this course have found it to be a challenging and exciting experience, even life changing as they help neighborhood adults improve their skills. Another student-tutor wrote, "Tutoring at the Loyola University Community Literacy Center was easily one of the best experiences I have ever been granted at Loyola University. That is coming from a student who has studied abroad three times, has volunteered elsewhere, and has had a number of internships. Never have I felt so connected to my own values. Tutoring at the center reminded me of my passions and allowed me to help others and make friends in the process… I am truly privileged to have learned about my learners’ cultures and personal experiences. They’ve taught me to not judge cultures from an American standpoint and to instead take every culture at face value."
More information can be found at www.luc.edu/literacy. Follow the links to "tutoring" and then "course credit tutoring" for a complete description of English 393/Honors 290.
Internship (ENGL 394)
Section: 03E #1813
Instructor: J. Cragwall
Honors Tutorial: (ENGL 395)
Heroism, Banditry and Manhood
Section: 20W #1814
Instructor: P. Eggert
3.0 credit hours Lecture
M 2:45 – 5:15 PM LSC
Growing up demands compromise. Incipient revolt normally gives way to conventionality and domesticity. But what happens when it doesn’t? Literature is full of such cases: but why? This course looks historically at the problem via imaginative explorations of outlawry, heroism and crises in manhood from the fifteenth to the early twenty-first centuries. The course spans poetry, manifesto, novels and films and explores the nature of adaptation as a wide-reaching phenomenon of popular, literary and stage culture. This is an advanced course. It involves a gentle introduction to the methods of the graduate seminar.
Advanced Writing Workshop: Poetry (ENGL 397)
Section: 21W #1923
Instructor: A. Baker
3.0 credit hours Lecture
T 2:30 – 5:00 PM LSC
In this advanced poetry workshop, we will seek to deepen our engagement with poetry as an art form—both as readers and writers. Through reading, writing, and workshopping, we will grow more familiar with the anatomy and texture of poetry: image, word, voice, syntactical configurations, rhetorical devices— stanza, line, punctuation, and page. Your work will be given a great deal of individual attention in our workshops, and you will be offered the opportunity to work very closely with the instructor as you write and revise your final project for the course—a portfolio of your best work.`
Advanced Writing: Fiction (ENGL 398)
Section: 22W #1815
Instructor: D. Kaplan
3.0 credit hours Lecture
R 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM LSC
This is a fiction writing workshop for those who have already taken English 318 (a prerequisite), which builds upon concepts of fictional art and craft studied there. Students will write original stories which will be discussed and critiqued by the instructor and by one's fellow writers in a supportive workshop environment. Students will also read and discuss the craft of master fiction writers, such as Sherman Alexie, Haruki Murakami, Joy Williams, Richard Ford, and others. Class participation is emphasized.
Special Studies in Literature (ENGL 399)
Section: 024 #1816
Instructor: J. Cragwall
