The goal of this course is to review grammar and develop vocabulary building strategies to refine oral and written expression. Speaking and writing assignments are designed to expand communicative competence. Assignments are based on models and materials drawn from contemporary media (newspapers and magazines, television, web). The models, materials, topics and assignments vary from semester to semester.

How Arguments Work takes students through the techniques they will need to respond to readings and make sophisticated arguments in any college class. This is a practical guide to argumentation with strategies and templates for the kinds of assignments students will commonly encounter. It covers rhetorical concepts in everyday language and explores how arguments can build trust and move readers.

This is a class designed to get to the heart of fiction by starting with the simplest of myths, moving into short stories, and finally finishing with a novel.

We'll look at the beginning origins of the tale and see how it slowly grew from being something largely contained in plot devices to being something more attuned to character studies before finally showing you how bonkers some fiction can be.

Many elements of our world will be played with and looked at through different view points in an attempt to stir something in the student. As Kafka said, "A book must be an axe for the frozen sea within us."

We'll look at how the short story isn't so much different or a new thing, but is often the one most overlooked. People celebrate poems and Shakespearean plays, and the greatest novels of the time, as they should...but too often we overlook the brilliance of the short story, yet...for many of us, it is the preferred style to enjoy. And in many ways, it is just a poem in prose form, and as Poe said, it was intended to create a trance-like state, "an exaltation of the soul which cannot be long sustained."

In this course, the student will examine James Joyce's aesthetic and artistic sensibilities through close readings of his major works, placing special emphasis on Ulysses. First, the student will take a look at the life and times of James Joyce to understand his context. Then, the student will then progress through his works chronologically. By the end of this course, you will not only have read and thought critically about a number of his most celebrated works, but will have evaluated the reasons for Joyce's prestigious position within the English canon. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: place the works of James Joyce in the context of historical events and literary developments (in Ireland as well as the broader literary community) contemporaneous to their creation; discuss the theme of place in Joyce's works, especially in The Dubliners; more specifically, students will be able to describe the notion of place in Joyce's works as it relates to identity; identify the literary strategies and techniques Joyce uses in his works and cite examples of them from the texts read in class; trace the evolution of Joyce's writing style across his different books and compare the development of shared themes in his various novels; identify and discuss the main recurring themes in James's work, including immobility, religion, and maturation, and cite examples of these from his specific texts; summarize the use of language in Joyce's works, specifically Finnegans Wake, and point to this as an example of Joyce's unique aesthetic. (English Literature 406)

A seven-week module for high intermediate ESL students who need to develop better listening comprehension and oral skills. The workshop involves short speaking and listening assignments with extensive exercises in accurate comprehension, pronunciation, stress and intonation, and expression of ideas.

Emphasis on the analytical reading of lyric poetry in England and the United States. Syllabus usually includes Shakespeare's sonnets, Donne, Keats, Dickinson, Frost, Eliot, Marianne Moore, Lowell, Rich, and Bishop. This subject is an introduction to poetry as a genre; most of our texts are originally written in English. We read poems from the Renaissance through the 17th and 18th centuries, Romanticism, and Modernism. Focus will be on analytic reading, on literary history, and on the development of the genre and its forms; in writing we attend to techniques of persuasion and of honest evidenced sequential argumentation. Poets to be read will include William Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, William Wordsworth, John Keats, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, and some contemporary writers.

The Medieval Period, or the Middle Ages, occurred between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the European Renaissance. The student will identify and examine the forms, genres, literary conventions, and topics of concern that typify medieval literature. This course will approach literature as a product of specific historical and cultural circumstances, including topics such as Anglo-Saxon England and Old English poetry; Anglo-Norman England and the Romances; and Middle English Literature. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: situate the literature of the Medieval period within its historical context, particularly in relation to the development of Christian culture; explain the relevance of central themes in Medieval texts, including those relating to economic, social, and religious issues; recognize and identify the different genres in which Medieval writers worked and explain these genres relate to one another both historically and stylistically; identify the stylistic and formal elements of Medieval poetry and prose; define and use important literary terms related to major works of the Medieval period; trace the evolution of language (Old, Middle, and New English) within the context of Medieval literature; describe the literature of the period as a product of oral culture; identify and describe the alliterative line. (English Literature 201)

In this course, the student will examine the writings of a diverse group of medieval women and analyze the perceptions of reality that they present, taking into account critics' views on their works as well. The student will begin by acquainting ourselves with the major socio-historical developments that shaped women's role in the period. The student will then take a look at some major feminist and gender/sex-related approaches to literature, followed by readings of women-authored texts, examining their styles, techniques, and representations of the world around them. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: explain Medievalism as both a historical period and a movement in literature and the arts; provide an account of the role of women in the Middle Ages; explain the general intellectual climate of the Middle Ages; explain the significance of the Fall of the Roman Empire; explain the importance of Medieval oral traditions, the rise of literacy, cultures of chivalry, courtly love, Scholasticism, and the Church; describe the lives of Medieval women, wives, virgins, lovers, and mothers; explain the relationship between Medieval women and the Church in terms of theology, emerging religious communities, persecution, nunnery, scripture, hagiography, martyrdom, and sainthood; discuss Medieval concepts of gender and sexuality; explain the notion of secular female authorship; describe Medieval class structure and especially the nature of aristocratic and working-class women in the Middle Ages; identify and describe the formal and structural conventions of the Medieval lay; detail the themes of love, desire, romance, marriage, widowhood, and literary self-expression in the Medieval text; describe the major tenets, ideals, and ideas investigated in ChaucerĺÎĺĺÎĺs Canterbury Tales, especially from the perspective of the women in this complex text. (English Literature 407)

This course will ask what makes poetry 'modern?' The student will discuss the cultural and political history of the period as well as the major movements that comprise 'modern poetry,' stopping to become acquainted with its noteworthy practitioners and perform close-readings of their works. By the end of this course, the student will have critically explored the concept of modern poetry, identifying its characteristic techniques, concerns, and figures. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: describe Modernity/Modernism as both a historical period and a movement in art and literature; define and differentiate between the terms modern, modernism, and modernity; define Victorianism and explain its relationship to Modernism; describe the nature of turn-of-the-twentieth-century poetry in both England and France; define Symbolism, Dandyism, Aestheticism, and Decadence; provide accounts of the origins of the Great War, life in Edwardian England, and World War II; list, compare, and contrast the major authors of the early 1900s, of World War I, the Lost Generation, World War II, the Great Depression, the Holocaust, High Modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the post-WWII period. (English Literature 408)

This work is an OER Book Review by Elise Allen. Inside this work, Elise Allen provides thoughtful insight into the original work, and examines its effect in academic writing.

This seminar addresses the inherent challenges of translating poetry from different languages, cultures and eras. Students do some translation of their own, though accommodations are made if a student lacks even a basic knowledge of any foreign language.

In this course, the student will study the poetry of John Milton, focusing on the texts and contexts that are relevant to Milton's oeuvre. Who was John Milton, and how did he manage to write Paradise Lost? By the end of this course, the student will possess a comprehensive understanding of Milton, his times, and his works. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: explain the social and historical context of John Milton's work; define some of the most important ideas related to Milton's life and times, including (but not limited to) Calvinism, Puritanism, Protestantism, Neo-Classicism, and Predestination; provide accounts of the life of Charles I, the significance of the British Commonwealth, and the Restoration of the Monarchy; explain Milton's major philosophies, his politics, and his religious beliefs; describe Milton's chosen literary forms and rhetoric; provide a brief account of Milton's life, his relationship to Cavalier Poetry, his early elegies and eulogies, and his pastoral elegies, sonnets, and odes; list and describe the major plot developments that occur in Paradise Lost as well as Paradise Regained; analyze and describe both Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained in terms of their respective treatments of Biblical versions of Heaven and Hell, the Creation, Predestination, gender relations, representations of human nature, and the Fall of humankind; discuss the formal aspects and structure of both Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained and analyze and describe both of these works in terms of their epic styles and conventions. (English Literature 402)

This course is designed to help the student improve his or her writing ability, which is necessary for ongoing success in all academic subjects. Coursework focuses on critical reading and analytic writing in response to readings with emphasis on organization, unity, coherence, and adequate development; an introduction to the expository essay; and a review of the rules and conventions of standard written English. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: recognize organizing principles, including the relationship between sentences; outline the relationships between main ideas and subordinate ideas within assigned readings; write analytical paragraphs in response to readings; recognize main and secondary points, making somewhat fine distinctions; make simple deductions from a series of facts; use punctuation correctly; demonstrate sound principles of reading critically; craft short essays employing a variety of organizational patterns; narrow a topic, write a clear and focused thesis statement, and create an outline with main and subordinate ideas; support the thesis statement with sufficient appropriate primary and secondary points and details; craft appropriate introductions and conclusions; use transitional words and expressions and employ a variety of sentence patterns to improve coherence; proofread to eliminate spelling and usage errors. This free course may be completed online at any time. It has been developed through a partnership with the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges; the Saylor Foundation has modified some WSBCTC materials. (English 000)

""Reading Poetry" has several aims: primarily, to increase the ways you can become more engaged and curious readers of poetry; to increase your confidence as writers thinking about literary texts; and to provide you with the language for literary description. The course is not designed as a historical survey course but rather as an introductory approach to poetry from various directions -- as public or private utterances; as arranged imaginative shapes; and as psychological worlds, for example. One perspective offered is that poetry offers intellectual, moral and linguistic pleasures as well as difficulties to our private lives as readers and to our public lives as writers. Expect to hear and read poems aloud and to memorize lines; the class format will be group discussion, occasional lecture."

This course will introduce the student to the range of drama written and performed in England and Continental Europe between roughly 1660 and 1800. The student will explore the major plays, players, and playhouses from this era in conjunction with a thorough and in-depth historical contextualization. The course will focus on Restoration and eighteenth-century drama from various nationalistic perspectives, investigating the various genres that were prevalent during that time period. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: provide an introduction to and brief overview of both the Restoration and the eighteenth-century in terms of their history, politics, and culture and especially their drama; identify and describe the major movements and developments in the theatre of this era (including, for example, heroic drama, pathetic drama, Restoration comedy, sentimental comedy, political satire, and opera); compare and contrast the British drama from these eras to that of both Germany and France and especially in the context of the work of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Friedrich Schiller, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Pierre de Marivaux, and Voltaire. (English Literature 412)

This is a course for Dutch (Bachelor) students who need or want to pay some extra attention to their English language skills. In this course you will find four modules with theory and exercises on Listening, Grammar, Vocabulary and Writing. We will also give you links to useful websites. We strongly recommend that you do not try to do this course in as short a time as possible: learning skills takes time, so you will benefit optimally from the course if you spend weeks, rather than days on it.

I realize that "Modes of Assertion" is a rather cryptic title for the course. What we will explore are ways of modulating the force of an assertion. This will engage us in formal semantics and pragmatics, the theory of speech acts and performative utterances, and quite a bit of empirical work on a not-too-well understood complex of data. It is obvious that he made a big mistake. If you're like me you didn't feel much of a difference. But now see what happens when you embed the two sentences: We have to fire him, because he obviously made a big mistake. We have to fire him, because it is obvious that he made a big mistake. One of the two examples is unremarkable, the other suggests that the reason he needs to be fired is not that he made a big mistake but the fact that it is obvious that he did. We will try to understand what is going on here and look at related constructions not just in English but also German (with its famous discourse particles like ja ) and Quechua and Tibetan (with their systems of evidentiality-marking, as recently studied in dissertations from Stanford and UCLA).

In this course, the student will study the ways in which the Victorian novel represented social, political, scientific, philosophical, and cultural concerns. The course will analyze the context in which the Victorian novel flourished, followed by analyzing the forms, concerns, and impulses of a number of prominent Victorian novels, discussing what makes each novel ĺÎĺĺĺŤVictorian.Ą_ĺĺö Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: provide an introduction and overview to the Victorian era and the Victorian novel; explain and define 'Victorianism' as both a historical period and as a movement in art and literature; explain and describe the major concerns of the Victorian novel; identify the major forms of the Victorian novel; discuss the Victorian authorship and novelistic impulses of the most canonical Victorian authors including, for example, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, the BrontĄ_Ě_̨ Sisters, Joseph Conrad, Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, and Anthony Trollope. (English Literature 410)

This collection of Victorian Poetry and Fiction on the Great Writers Inspire site includes a selection of writers we feel to be particularly inspiring in an age dominated by authors and literature. It includes audio and video lectures and short talks, downloadable electronic texts and eBooks, and background contextual resources curated by specialists at the University of Oxford. This landing page allows users to explore topics such as The Victorian Gothic, Victorian Publishing History, Literature and Religion as well as majors authors.

Includes:

Introduction to Reading Literature
Emphasis in Reading and Writing
Using the Quest to Understand Literature
Introduction to Fiction Part 1: Structure and Consequences
Introduction to Fiction Part 2: Resourceful Source Material
Introduction to Fiction Part 3: Sounding the Symbols
Introduction to Fiction Part 4: Setting the Symbols
Introduction to Fiction Part 5: People Playing Symbols
Introduction - Essays Tracts and Other Writings
Introduction to Poetry