Prerequisites:  ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011.

ENGL 1616 applies toward GenEd Content Area 1, CLAS Group B

1616W | TuTh 11:00 - 12:15 | Cramer, P. Morgne

“There is only one course open: escape”

J.M. Coetzee (1940-  )

Our course readings focus on the theme of “entrapment and escape." In each novel, essay, short story, or autobiography, characters’ quest for physical safety, for a fuller life, for truth, for imagined alternatives requires some form of irrevocable rift from their present or past circumstances. In some cases, figures are trapped by unjust government (Lewis, Thoreau, Foster) or forced into exile (Acimon, Milosz); others are stuck in compulsive repetitions of outdated roles or harmful family relations (Austen, Baldwin, Lewis). Escape is sometimes a full flight from present life (Winterson). Escape is sometimes of the mind: longing for and imagining alternative futures (Woolf). We will study, among other themes, strategies of resistance while remaining “in place,” as well as the quest narrative of no return.

"I who long for marble columns and pools on the other side of the world where the             swallow dips her wings. . . . An immense pressure is on me. I cannot move without             dislodging the weight of centuries."

Rhoda in Virginia Woolf's The Waves

Course Readings

Henry David Thoreau. Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

John Lewis. Across That Bridge

Jeanette Winterson. The Stone Gods

1. M. Foster. The Machine Stops

James Baldwin. Go Tell It on the Mountain

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Sinclair Lewis, Main Street

Virginia Woolf, Room of One's Own

George Orwell, "The Politics of the English Language" (pdf)

Andre Aciman, Shadow City (pdf)

Czeslaw Milosz. "Who Was I?"; "Notes on Exile"; "Happiness" (pdf)

Prerequisites:  ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

• General Education Requirement:
  • Content Area One (Arts & Humanities - Literature)
• English Major Requirements:
  • 2021-2024 Plans: Core Category: Early Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic History or one of Four Additional Courses
    • Meets one requirement for the Literary Histories and Legacies Track
    • Meets one of NEAG’s Secondary Education British Literature Requirements
• Applies toward the English Minor

2100| M 3:35 - 6:05 | Roden, Fred

For English speakers, the literary production and culture of Britain is the oldest and perhaps the most important tradition of influence. Global literature including cultural output in America has its roots in this history from (before) “Beowulf to Virginia Woolf” (and beyond). This course will provide an introduction to the literary history of Britain (Medieval, Renaissance, Restoration/Enlightenment) to the end of the eighteenth century. As we analyze “canonical” works, we interrogate modern constructions of gender and sexuality, race, religion, ethnicity, dis/ability, and nationhood. We trace these western notions from their original contexts. When we study texts that became the canon (and its borderlands), we explore “what makes a classic.”

Engl 2100 will examine a variety of authors and forms chronologically across British literary/cultural history.  Class will combine lecture and discussion.  Students will take weekly quizzes, write three short (3-page) papers, and develop a cumulative final essay exam (open-book and -notebook) responding to a prompt.  We will also have a field trip concerning comparative cultural production (museum, theatre, and/or music); a substitution is possible for those unavailable to attend.

Engl 2100 is open to any student who has completed Engl 1007 or 1010/1011.  It is strongly recommended for majors.  Engl 2100 counts for the English major’s “Early Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic History” core and the “Literary Histories and Legacies” track (as well as earlier plans of study English B1 requirement and pre-1800 distribution); the English minor; and GenEd 1b.  Under the new Common Curriculum, Engl 2100 serves Topics of Inquiry 2: Cultural Dimensions of Human Experience.  It satisfies the British Literature requirement for TCPCG preparation.  

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

• General Education Requirements:
  • Content Area Four (Diversity & Multiculturalism - USA)
  • The W version of this course satisfies a Writing Competency requirement
• English Major Requirements: 
  • 2008-2016 Plans: Section B.3 (Multi-Period, Multi-Cultural, & Ethnic-Lit Courses) or F (Elective Courses) and Distribution Requirement 2 (At least one course must concern ethnic or post-colonial literatures in English) 
  • 2017 - 2020 Plan: Section B.2 (American Literature) or F (Elective courses)
  • 2021-2024 Plans: Core Category: Antiracism, Globality, and Embodiment (Group 1) or one of Four Additional Courses
    • Meets one requirement for the Literature, Antiracism, and Social Justice Track
    • Meets one requirement for the Literary Histories and Legacies Track
• Meets NEAG’s Secondary Education Multicultural Literature requirements or one of the American Literature requirement

2214| M 12:20 - 2:50 | Pierrot, Greg

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

• General Education Requirement:
  • Content Area 1 (Arts & Humanities - Literature)
• English Major Requirements:
  • 2021-2024 Plans: One of Four Additional Courses
    • Meets the Literary Genres or Methods requirement for the Creative Writing Track
    • Meets the Cultural, Genre, and Media Studies requirement for the English Teaching Track
• Meets one of NEAG’s Secondary Education Genre Courses requirements

2401W| W 3:35 - 6:05| Newell, Mary 

In this study of the chief forms and traditions of poetry in English, we will read and analyze both lyric and narrative poetry in standard forms such as the sonnet and ode, as well as more experimental poetry such as erasure and found poems; we will also consider the hybrid form of prose poetry. You will gain practice in evaluating various styles and forms of poetry through class lectures and exchanges and in the writing assignments. We will also consider the many uses of poetry from personal expression to social protest. This process can deepen your enjoyment and appreciation of poetry and perhaps inspire you to write your own. As a writing intensive course, ENGL 2401W will provide opportunities for enhancing your writing skills, both for academic writing and, optionally, poetic composition.

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

• General Education Requirement:
  • Content Area One (Arts & Humanities - Literature)
• English Major Requirements:
  • 2021-2024 Plans: One of Four Additional Courses
    • Meets the Literary Genres or Methods requirement for the Creative Writing Track
    • Meets the Cultural, Genre, and Media Studies requirement for the English Teaching Track
• Meets one of NEAG’s Secondary Education Genre Courses requirements

2407| TuTh 2:00 - 3:15 | Gorkemli, Serkan

In this course, we’ll study the theory and history of the short story as a literary form and read its fine examples by significant American and international writers (textbook: The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, 10th compact edition, by Ann Charters). Lectures and class discussions will focus on the literary elements of plot, character, setting, point of view, style, and theme in the assigned short stories, and you will write textual analyses.

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

• General Education Requirements:
  • Content Area One (Arts & Humanities -Literature)
  • The W version of this course satisfies a Writing Competency requirement
• English Major Requirements:
  • 2008-2020Plans: Section F (Elective Courses); Optional Concentration
    • Elective for the Concentration in Creative Writing
  • 2021-2023 Plans: One of Four Additional Courses
    • Meets the Literary Genres or Methods requirement for the Creative Writing Track
    • Meets one requirement for the Cultural Studies/Media Studies Track
    • Meets the Cultural, Genre, and Media Studies requirement for the English Teaching Track
• Applies toward the English Minor 

2413W| Sa 10:00-12:30 | Moeckel-Rieke, Hannelore

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 

• General Education Requirements:
  • Content Area One (Arts & Humanities -Literature)
  • The W version of this course satisfies a Writing Competency requirement
• English Major Requirements:
  • 2008-2020Plans: Section F (Elective Courses); Optional Concentration
    • Elective for the Concentration in Creative Writing
  • 2021-2023 Plans: One of Four Additional Courses
    • Meets the Literary Genres or Methods requirement for the Creative Writing Track
    • Meets one requirement for the Cultural Studies/Media Studies Track
    • Meets the Cultural, Genre, and Media Studies requirement for the English Teaching Track
• Applies toward the English Minor 

2413W| W 9:05 - 11:35 | Pierrot, Greg 

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011 or 3800; open to English majors, others with instructor consent.

English 2600 is a major Methods requirement and an English minor elective.

2600|Th 5:30 - 8:00 |Roden, Frederick

What makes an English major?  What can you “do” with that degree?  What does it mean to become a literary critic or a literary historian?

This course will tackle these questions through practical and theoretical examples.  What is the pleasure of the text -- why do we read?  How might we write “critically” – and how can we while maintaining our own voices, given the abundance of sources and media available?  Is there anything new to “say,” and how do we speak in our own words?

English 2600 is intended for the student interested in reading and writing about literature.  Creative writers will find that all criticism is also creative: that the work of literary analysis is a work of art.  We start here, as we explore what it means to define ourselves by the written word.

We will consider the history of reading and writing, as well as the development of the formal study of literature in the university.  How did specialization in literary studies begin; what does it mean to define that in the English language tradition (whether “Anglophone” literature or works in translation); and what is the range of interests possible for earning an undergraduate degree in this field?

We will pay particular attention to the tension between reading and writing for “pleasure,” training that puts our voices in conversation with other specialists, and what it means to become a “professional” in this field.  We will work closely with the Center for Career Development to understand the variety of positions English majors pursue.  We will emphasize the importance of growing portable skills not solely to apply them, but to live out our passions through a vocation, not just a job.  You will meet UConn English alumni who are pursuing many different paths.

In English 2600 you’ll answer for yourself the question “what are you going to do with an English major?”  We will practice that art and science of literary criticism as we read classic works of literature, learn how they became classics, and what the profession of literary studies is.  We will work closely with the UConn Libraries not only to strengthen our research skills and citation formats, develop digital proficiency and theoretical breadth, but also to recognize, learn to read and to produce the professional writing of our discipline.

English 2600 will teach you what it means to be an English major, minor, or professional in this field; to share who you are with peers, colleagues, employers, family, and friends.

Class will run as lecture and discussion.  Expect weekly reading and writing assignments (as journal entries) from primary (“literature”) and secondary sources (theory and applied criticism).  You will develop an annotated bibliography of scholarly works in your field(s) of interest.  You will write critically about texts of your choice in a term paper and final exam.  You will also have career-related writing opportunities, such as drafting your resume and exploring internships and job opportunities.

English 2600 is a major Methods requirement and an English minor elective. 

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 

3020W | Tu 5:30-8:00 | Powell, Mick

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011

Also offered as WGSS 3609

• General Education Requirement:
  • Content Area Four (Diversity & Multiculturalism – USA)
• English Major Requirements:
  • 2008-2020 Plans: Section F (Elective courses); Optional Concentration
  • 2021-2023 Plans: Core Category: Antiracism, Globality, and Embodiment (Group 2) or one of Four Additional Courses
    • Meets one requirement for the Literature, Antiracism, and Social Justice Track
• Meets one of NEAG’s Multicultural Literature Requirements for IB/M or TCPCG 

3609| TuTh 12:30 - 1:45 |Cramer, Patricia

This course focuses on literature and film by women from Sappho (c 610‐570 BCE), Jane Austen (1775‐1817), and Anne Bronte (1820-1849) through to contemporary artists Julia Alvarez (b. 1950), Deepa Mehta (b. 1950), Hanan al-Shaykh (b. 1945), Nawal el Saadawi (1931‐ 2021). We will read feminist manifestoes and poems by, e.g., Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), Virginia Woolf (1882‐1941), Judy Grahn (1940--), Audre Lorde (1934-1992, Adrienne Rich (1929-2012), and Pat Parker (1944). We will pay particular attention to commonalities and differences in our author’s renderings of women’s lives and aspirations; sexual and domestic violence; survival and resistance strategies; escape and accommodation; romantic love. The course emphasis is on close readings, group discussions, speaking and writing in your own voice, developing fresh insights from your own point of view. Core assignments are an in-class standpoint presentation and a final creative project