Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

1103-01 | M 3:35-6:05 | Roden, Frederick

What is the “modern”?  Do we date that period to the “Renaissance” (literally the re-birth, of ancient “classical” learning), now called the “Early Modern period,” to the “renaissance of the twelfth century,” or to Modernity in art, music, and literature (the dawn of the 20th century)?  In this course on literary history organized chronologically, we will examine representative texts of western literature (European and American, and their diasporas) to pose this question in doing the work of cultural studies.  What constructed the “modern” world, and modern sensibilities/subjectivities of the individual?  We will pay close attention to identities: gender, sexuality, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, ableness and otherness, to name a few.  Even as we read “canonical” writers at the center of western civilization, we will also interrogate margins.

Class time will focus on group discussion of the material studied for the given day.  Each meeting will begin with a timed quiz that you will submit by the instructor's deadline to “warm up.”  You will develop two formal papers plus a brief response essay to an art, music, or drama field trip (substitution possible as necessary).  You will write an in-class, cumulative final essay exam that will allow open-book and notebook access.  We will read from an anthology of literature as our primary source.  You must obtain a hard copy of the required course text in the given edition and have it available for reference during class time for page consultation, to follow discussion, and to maintain class participation.  Any Center for Students with Disabilities accommodations must be documented and will impact course requirements accordingly.

Engl 1103 counts for General Education requirement 1-B (Literature).  This course is open to students who have completed first-year writing (1007, 1010, or 1011).  It presumes no prior experience in literary history or criticism.

1103-01 | M 3:35-6:05 | Roden, Frederick

Honors

The Honors section of this course will meet simultaneously with the standard version, whose description is above.  In addition, Honors students will take part in six seminar meetings (one hour each) with the instructor at a mutually convenient time, to be determined.  Honors students will read additional works of history and criticism and will deliver presentations on them in the seminar.  Essays developed from this material may substitute for regular course papers.   

Also offered as: AMST 2200

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

2200-o1 | TuTh 9:30-10:45 | Pierrot, Gregory

This course will focus on texts produced in and about North America --histories, autobiographies, poems, plays, and novels--in the period between initial European incursions and the first decade of the United States. While much of the course will focus on English-language material related principally to the English colonies of North America, we will also read material from and about Spanish, French and Dutch colonies in the same space, but also in the Caribbean. Matters of colonization; religious and political thought; growing regional and national identities; race and gender, and slavery in the region are simultaneously global and local, national and international. We will develop a sense and a picture of the roots of the cultures and literatures of North America.   

We will be reading a variety of authors and genres (poetry, lyrics, sermons, drama, fiction) from the first two volumes of the Norton Anthology, including full works such as a novel and/or a play, covering a time period between the late 15^th century to 1800. Course assignments are a mix of short writing assignments designed to help students practice the parts of the essay, and essays bearing on the readings. Classes will feature a mix of discussion and lecture, with me providing background information on the texts at hand and general lines of analysis, while students are expected to share ideas and study said texts ahead of time. The goal is to introduce and/or improve skills in literary analysis. The course is open to anyone who has taken 1001 or 1007 before, is usually attended by a majority of non-majors.

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

2301W-01 | Sa 10-12:40 | Moeckel-Rieke, Hannelore 

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

2401-01 | TuTh 11:00-12:15 | Brown, Pamela

This powerful, distinctive force breathes all around us in songs, speeches, plays, prayers, legends, and moments of passion. We use it to mark, celebrate or mourn crucial events in our lives and to argue with and change the world. This course will help you become a better reader and listener of poetry by introducing you to some major forms and writers while paying attention to poetry that falls outside the canon. To catch the sound of poetry and sense the craft of writing, we'll listen to readings and listen to poets on poetry. The trick is to find poetry that works on and in you, because everyone feels and reads poetry differently.  

Weekly tasks: Keep up with readings, audio files, and poetry films I assign, and take good notes. I may read aloud or make copies of your writing for the class, so be ready to share what you write.  

Requirements: You must have the following books in hand and bring them to class.   

       Every Shut Eye Ain’t Asleep: an Anthology of Poetry by African-Americans since 1945, ed. Harper and  Walton 

               Native American Songs and Poems, ed. Brian Swann (Dover Thrift) 

               Blake’s Selected Poems, ed. D. Erdman (Dover Thrift) 

              The Classic Tradition of Haiku, ed. Faubion Bowers (Dover Thrift) 

      Packet with poems by contemporary poets, chosen by students 

Midterm (10%) Final (15%) 

Active Participation (15%).  Includes reading aloud, contributing to discussion, and bringing in poetry by other writers, you’d like to share with the class.   

Written work (50%). Frequent responses and worksheets.  Save everything in a dossier (pocket folder), which you’ll hand in during the last week of class. 

Creative project and presentation (10%): choose from making a short film, a piece of music, or an artwork related to a poem, with requirements to be explained in class.   

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011. 

2411-01 | Th 6:30 - 9:oo pm |Distance Learning | Cramer, Morgne

This course is shaped around the notion of "popular" as "intended for or suited to the understanding or taste of ordinary people"; "liked or admired by many people, or by a particular person or group" (OED). We will read poetry, drama/film, literary manifestos, novels, and short stories that target "common readers," yet have simultaneously achieved prestigious literary awards or acclaim. Many, but not all of our works, likely because of their popular appeal, have been adapted to films, some of which you will be assigned to view as accompaniment to the readings. Literary theory will come from the authors themselves as online interviews and/or in standpoint prose.

Your own writing will be a series of response papers culminating in a final prose piece based on the "familiar" or "informal" essay. A familiar essay is a short prose composition characterized by the personal quality of the writing and the distinctive voice or persona of the essayist. One course unit will, in fact, focus on short "familiar" essays by, e.g., Andre Aciman, Charles Lamb, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, James Baldwin, Irena Klepfisz, Judy Grahn.

Required texts:

Alice Walker, The Color Purple (1982)

Judy Grahn, The Work of a Common Woman (1964-1977)

Langston Hughes, Not Without Laughter (1930)

Charles Blow, Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2014)

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys (2019)

Adrienne Rich, The Dream of a Common Language (1974-1977)

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011. Not open to students who have passed ENGL 3621 when taught as "The Graphic Novel."

2413W-01 | TuTh 8:00-9:15 | Pierrot, Gregory

Memory, History and the Graphic Novel

From its roots in ancestral art, hieroglyphics, friezes and tapestries to modern-day graphic novels, storytelling in images has long been focused on the recording of events, private and collective. This course will look at a variety of comics and graphic novels exploring stories at the confluence of memory and history: looking at first-person, individual trajectories in the turmoil of world events, and how the medium Scott McCloud defines as "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence" makes for unique and specific approaches to the portrayal and understanding of history. Does history look different in pictures? Does subjectivity? We will try to answer these questions and many more, mastering critical tools of graphic art analysis as we explore the works of Kate Beaton, Art Spiegelmann, Kyle Walker, to name but a few. 

 Here is the list of texts from the last time the course was taught—it will be slightly different this time around:

-Kyle Baker, Nat Turner 0810972271 

-Jonathan Fetter-Volm, Ari Kelman, Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War 9780809094745 

-Art Spiegelman, Maus 0679406417 

-John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell, March trilogy 1603093958 

-GB Tran, Vietnamerica 9780345508720 

-Khalil, Pratap Chatterjee, Verax: The True History of Whistleblowers, Drone Warfare and Mass Surveillance 1627793550

Assignments will include discussion questions about readings to post on HuskyCT; two 4-5pp reading responses; one final essay, and writing exercises, as well as activities bearing on the graphic novel as genre and art (storyboarding, drawing, etc.). In class, we will discuss the particulars of the graphic novel form, discuss and analyze readings with an eye for writing about them. I will also lecture as necessary on the texts themselves and the historical events they refer to. The course is open to, and has previously attracted, a majority of non-majors. It involves writing literary analysis but is accessible to non-majors aware of the expectations of the course.

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher. Cannot be taken for credit after passing ENGL 3011.

3013W-01 | TuTh 12:30-1:45 | Brown, Pamela

Why are most blogs forgettable? Few are written in a stylish and compelling way full of distinctive personality, relying instead on visuals and flashy media.  In this course you will focus on writing on a variety of topics, not design. You will check out free blogging platforms and use one to create your own free website, and then post your best entries. To discover fresh new ways of connecting with readers, you will respond to prompts asking for fresh angles on politics, media, music, movies, food, books, local events, family histories, and other topics.  By writing frequently, listening to readers' reactions, and learning to revise effectively you will gain a more lively, distinctive style.  

What to expect: 

A workshop-based course that provides a sounding board for your story ideas; you’ll also seek out writers you admire. 

Your blog will be non-commercial. You won't be designing or writing for sales or business.     

Each week you'll write a new post and revise a previous one, developing your creative and journalistic writing skills.  

My grading system and feedback will guide you on generating stories and revising. 

You'll serve as a reader for others; learn how to edit your posts; and help others improve.  

By the end you will have 14 finished posts and pick 10 to publish on your new blog. 

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

3613-01 | TuTh 3:30-4:45 | Gorkemli, Serkan

In this course, we will read novels about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) experiences. Class discussions and assignments will focus on the elements of fiction and pre-Stonewall and contemporary representations in coming-of-age and coming-out texts. In addition, we will learn about LGBTQ+ history and the theories of gender and sexuality. This knowledge will help us locate literary texts in their cultural and historical contexts. In this manner, we will view literary works as authors’ creative intervention in society and politics concerning LGBTQ+ identities. This approach to texts will also highlight other identity categories, such as race, ethnicity, class, and religious affiliation. Students will write textual analyses about the texts assigned. Any student who has taken English 1007, 1010, 1011, or 2011 is welcome to take the course. For any further questions, email serkan.gorkemli@uconn.edu