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English
220. Introduction to Literature (3) I, II
An inquiry into the basic nature of literature. What prompts humankind to the creation of imaginative literature? What purposes does literature serve in the cultural life of humanity? What are its social, philosophical, spiritual, and esthetic values? Some consideration may be given to techniques and major critical theories, but the focus will be on practical criticism for the nonspecialist. Specific works studied will be representative of several genres, cultures, and periods of literature.
250A-250B. American Literature (3-3) (250A: CAN ENGL 14)
American literature from the colonial period to the present. Semester I: from the beginning to the Civil War. Semester II: Civil War to the present. Recommended for English majors.
260A-260B. English Literature (3-3) I, II
(260A: CAN ENGL 8) (260B: CAN ENGL 10)
English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present, with emphasis on the major works in the literary tradition. Semester I: Ends with the neoclassical period. Semester II: Begins with the Romantic writers.
280. Introduction to Creative Writing (3) I, II
Prerequisite: Africana Studies 120 or Linguistics 100 or Mexican
American Studies 111B or Rhetoric and Writing Studies 100.
Theory and practice of poetry and fiction, with emphasis on basic concepts and techniques. A research paper on a writer, a technique, a period, or a genre required.
281. Creative Writing: Selected Genres (3)
Prerequisite: Rhetoric and Writing Studies 100.
Guidance and extensive practice in writing in one or more of the major genres: poetry, drama, fiction, or the essay. See Class Schedule for specific content.
296. Experimental Topics (1-4)
Selected topics. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496, 596 courses applicable to a bachelor's degree.
301. The Psychological Novel (3) I, II
Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in
Foundations II.C., Humanities.
Psychological novel from its inception to present, including major works from a variety of cultures. Readings designed to aid students in discovering insights which great novelists have unearthed in their explorations of the human psyche.
302. Introducing Shakespeare (3) I, II
Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in
Foundations II.C., Humanities.
Representative tragedies, comedies, and histories. Primarily for the general student not specializing in English or comparative literature. This course does not count toward the English or comparative literature majors. Majors are required to take English 533.
306A-306W. Children's Literature and Advanced Composition
(3-3) I, II
Prerequisites: Rhetoric and Writing Studies 200. English 306A and
306W must be taken concurrently. Satisfies University Upper Division
Writing requirement for students who have completed 60 units, fulfilled
the Writing Competency requirement, and completed the General
Education requirement in Written Communication. Proof of completion of prerequisites required: Test scores or verification of exemption; copy of transcript.
306A: Reading, analysis, and discussion of classic works of children's literature.
306W: Advanced composition; improvement of student skills through writing assignments based upon reading and work in the lecture part. Primarily designed to meet Upper Division Writing and Literature requirements for Liberal Studies-Emphasis in Education, but also open to students with other majors.
405. The Bible as Literature (3) I, II
(Same course as Comparative Literature 405.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in
Foundations II.C., Humanities.
Prose and poetry of the King James version.
491. Contemporary Topics in Literature (3)
Exploration of writers, works and topics in fiction, poetry, drama, and film, emphasizing the relationship between literature and current concerns. Topics include the city in fiction and film, literature and identity, literature of death, literature of contemporary myth and folklore, women in literature. Primarily for the general student not specializing in English or comparative literature. May count only as an elective course toward the English major. May be repeated with new title and content. Maximum credit six units. See Class Schedule for specific content.
493. Literature and Film (3)
Relationships between film and genres of literature, focusing on a critical comparison of the techniques of rhetoric, fiction, and drama and those of film. Topics include literature and film, novel into film, drama and film, reading film. Primarily for the general student not specializing in English or comparative literature. May count only as an elective course toward the English major. May be repeated with new title and content. Maximum credit six units.
494. Modern American Fiction (3) I, II
Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in
Foundations II.C., Humanities.
Representative works by twentieth century American authors such as Cather, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Ellison, Welty, Bellow, Vonnegut, -Heller, Walker, others. Primarily for the general student not specializing in English or comparative literature. May count toward the English major only as an elective.
496. Selected Topics in English (1-4)
Specialized study of a selected topic in literature. May be repeated with new title and content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496, 596 courses applicable to a bachelor's degree. Maximum credit six units.
499. Special Study (1-3) I, II
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and approval of department
chair.
Individual study. Maximum credit six units.
Prerequisite for all 500-level courses: Six lower division units in
courses in literature and/or creative writing.
501. Literature for Children (3) I, II
Critical analysis of literature intended for children. Study of texts and illustrations.
502. Adolescence in Literature (3)
Prerequisite: Six units in literature.
Works centrally concerned with an adolescent protagonist. Includes both traditional novels of development (Bildungsroman) and contemporary young adult novels.
507. The History of Literary Criticism (3)
Principles and practices of literary criticism from Greek times to the twentieth century.
508W. The Writing of Criticism (3) I, II
Prerequisites: Satisfies University Upper Division Writing requirement for students who have completed 60 units, fulfilled the Writing
Competency requirement, and completed the General Education
requirement in Written Communication. Proof of completion of prerequisites required: Test scores or verification of exemption; copy of
transcript.
Theory and practice of literary criticism. Emphasis on the work of important critics and on development of student's own critical writing.
510. Teaching Literature (3)
Prerequisite: Six units in 500-level literature courses.
Theory and practice of teaching literature in high schools, colleges, and universities; various critical approaches (such as feminist, new historical deconstruction, reader response) to literature and their implications for teaching and developing teaching styles.
519. American Ethnic Literatures (3) I, II
Prerequisite: Six units in literature.
Works from American ethnic literatures, with emphasis on formerly excluded traditions as African-American, Hispanic and Chicano, Asian-American, and American Indian.
520. African-American Literary Tradition (3)
Prerequisite: Six units in literature.
African-American literature from its eighteenth century beginnings to the present. Early political and social concerns and concomitant utilitarian forms; aesthetic concerns and forms in nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
522. American Literature, 1800-1860 (3) I, II
Representative works by American writers from 1800 to 1860; likely to include works by Emerson, Hawthorne, Melville, Poe, H.B. Stowe, Thoreau, Whitman, others.
523. American Literature, 1860-1920 (3) I, II
Representative works by American writers from 1860 to 1920; likely to include works by Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, others.
524. American Literature, 1920-1950 (3) I, II
Representative works by American writers from 1920 to 1950; likely to include works by Willa Cather, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, Eugene O'Neill, K.A. Porter, Ezra Pound, John Steinbeck, others.
525. American Literature, 1950 to Present (3) I, II
American writers from 1950 to the present; likely to include works by Edward Albee, Saul Bellow, Allen Ginsberg, Joseph Heller, Maxine Hong Kingston, Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Kurt Vonnegut, Eudora Welty, others.
526. Topics in American Literature (3)
Topics in American literature to include the literature of the south, Black writers in America, the frontier and American literature, the outcast in American literature, the immigrant experience in American Literature. May be repeated with new title and content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units.
527. Genre Studies in American Literature (3)
Study of a specific literary genre: overview of the genre's development in American literature (the American novel, the American short story, American poetry) or focus on a narrower period (the modern American novel, the contemporary American novel, American autobiographies, others). May be repeated with new title and content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units.
528. Individual American Authors (3)
Works of a major American author or, if useful comparisons and juxtapositions warrant it, the works of two or three authors: Melville, Twain, James, Faulkner, Steinbeck, Nabokov, Morrison; or Pound and Eliot, Emerson and Thoreau, Vonnegut and Barth, Rich and Levertov, others. See Class Schedule for specific content. May be repeated with new title and content. Maximum credit six units.
530. Chaucer (3)
Chaucer's works, with emphasis on The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde.
531. Renaissance Literature (3)
English poetry and prose from 1485 to 1603.
533. Shakespeare (3) I, II
An introduction to the writings of Shakespeare. This course cannot be used in place of English 302 to satisfy General Education requirements.
534. Study of Shakespeare (3)
Prerequisite: English 533.
Advanced study of Shakespeare's achievement as a poet and playwright.
536. Seventeenth Century Literature (3)
English poetry and prose from 1603 to 1660.
537. Milton (3)
Milton's writings, with emphasis on Paradise Lost.
538A-538B. Restoration and Eighteenth Century Literature (3-3)
English literature in the neoclassical era. Semester I: Dryden, Swift, Pope, and their contemporaries. Semester II: Writers of the middle and late eighteenth century.
540A-540B. English Fiction (3-3)
The development of English fiction from its beginnings to the end of the nineteenth century. Semester I: The eighteenth century. Semester II: The nineteenth century.
541A-541B. English Drama (3-3)
English dramatic literature from its beginnings to the nineteenth century. Semester I: The period from the beginning to 1642. Semester II: The period following reopening of the theatres in 1660.
542. Romantic Literature (3)
Representative British works from the 1790s to the 1830s by such writers as Wollstonecraft, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Austen, and Scott.
543. Victorian Literature (3)
Representative British works from 1837 to 1890 by such writers as Carlyle, Tennyson, Ruskin, Browning, Dickens, Arnold, Eliot, and Pater.
544. British Literature, 1890-1918 (3)
Representative British works from 1890 to 1918 by such writers as Hardy, Gissing, Shaw, Conrad, Yeats, Wells, Forster, Mansfield, and the World War I poets.
547. British Literature, 1918-1950 (3)
Representative British works from 1918 to 1950 by such writers as Joyce, Woolf, Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, Mansfield, Huxley, Bowen, Greene, Auden, Orwell, and Thomas.
548. British Literature, 1950 to Present (3)
Representative British works from 1950 to the present by such writers as Golding, Amis, Murdoch, Lessing, Pinter, Hughes, Fowles, Stoppard, Drabble, and Ishiguro.
549. Topics in English Literature (3)
The works of Spenser, the metaphysical school of poetry, the English satirists, major movements in contemporary English fiction, and the like. May be repeated with new title and content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units.
560A. British Literature, Beginnings Through the Eighteenth Century (3) I, II
Survey of major British writers, with emphasis on reading of complete works. From the beginnings to the neoclassical period. Especially appropriate for those who will teach British literature, and for those proceeding on to graduate study.
560B. British Literature, Romanticism to the Present (3) I, II
Survey of major British writers, with emphasis on reading of complete works. Begins with the Romantic writers. Especially appropriate for those who will teach British literature, and for those proceeding on to graduate study.
570. Techniques of Poetry (3)
Prerequisite: English 280.
Techniques of poetry from the creative writer's point of view. Introduction to critical and theoretical literature on poetry. Includes a creative writing workshop.
571. Techniques of the Short Story (3)
Prerequisite: English 280.
Techniques of the short story from the writer's point of view. Introduction to critical and theoretical literature on the short story. Includes a creative writing workshop.
573. Techniques of the Novel (3)
Prerequisite: English 280.
Techniques of the novel from the writer's point of view. Introduction to critical and theoretical literature on the novel. Includes a creative writing workshop.
576. Literary Editing and Publishing (3)
Prerequisite: English 280.
Principles and practices of editing and literary publishing. Workshop on small press publishing. Includes editing and publishing workshop.
577. Techniques of Screenwriting (3)
Prerequisite: English 280 or Television, Film, and New Media 110 or
410 for television, film, and new media majors.
Techniques of screenwriting. Introduction to critical and theoretical literature on screenwriting. Includes a creative writing workshop.
579. Topics in Creative Writing (3)
Prerequisite: English 280.
Techniques of creative writing focusing on a specialized genre such as comedy, science fiction, and biography. Study of the critical and theoretical literature on the genre. Includes a creative writing workshop. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units.
580. Writing of Poetry (3) I, II
Prerequisite: English 570.
A creative writing workshop in poetry. Continuation of English 570. Maximum credit six units.
581W. Writing of Fiction (3) I, II
Prerequisites: English 280. Satisfies University Upper Division
Writing requirement for students who have completed 60 units, fulfilled
the Writing Competency requirement, and completed the General Education requirement in Written Communication. Proof of completion of
prerequisites required: Test scores or verification of exemption; copy
of transcript.
A creative writing workshop in fiction. Continuation of English 571. Maximum credit six units.
583. Writing Long Narrative (3)
Prerequisite: English 573.
A creative writing workshop in long narrative, especially the novella or novel. Continuation of English 573. Maximum credit six units.
584W. Writing Informal Essays (3) I, II
Prerequisites: English 280. Satisfies University Upper Division
Writing requirement for students who have completed 60 units, fulfilled
the Writing Competency requirement, and completed the General Education requirement in Written Communication. Proof of completion of
prerequisites required: Test scores or verification of exemption; copy
of transcript.
A creative writing workshop in nonfiction, especially the essay as an art form. Maximum credit six units.
587. Writing the Screenplay (3)
Prerequisite: English 577 or Television, Film, and New Media 110 or
410 for television, film, and new media majors.
A creative writing workshop in screenwriting with emphasis on the feature film. Continuation of English 577. Includes playwriting and revising a television script or short film. Maximum credit six units.
596. Selected Topics in English (1-3)
Selected topics in English. May be repeated with new content and approval of instructor. See Class Schedule for specific content. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496, 596 courses applicable to a bachelor's degree. Maximum credit of six units of 596 applicable to a bachelor's or master's degree. Maximum combined credit of six units of 596 and 696 applicable to a 30-unit master's degree.
Comparative Literature
(See this section of catalog under Comparative Literature.)
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