Franklin & Marshall College

English

A list of regularly offered courses follows. The indication of when a course will be offered is based on the best projection of the department and can be subject to change.

Please note the key for the following abbreviations: (A) Arts; (H) Humanities; (S) Social Sciences; (N) Natural Sciences with Laboratory; (LS) Language Studies requirement; (NSP) Natural Science in Perspective; (NW) Non-Western Cultures requirement.

Required Majors Courses in British and American Literature

Studies in Pre-1800 Literature. (H) Every Semester

These courses examine selected issues and ideas in the traditions of British and American literature in the historical periods before 1800. ENG 201 covers British Literature from the Medieval Period; ENG 202 examines British Literature from the Renaissance; ENG 203 treats British Literature from the Restoration and the 18th century; ENG 206 treats American Literature from its beginnings through the 1830s; ENG 256 examines African-American Literature from the colonial period through the 19th century.

201. Studies in Medieval Literature. (H) Every Semester

202. Studies in Renaissance Literature. (H) Every Semester

This course examines the ideological upheaval that characterizes the English Renaissance—a time of classical rebirth, religious reformation, and new world discovery. We will consider these themes of Time and Mortality, Fate and Chance in poetry, prose, and drama by Sidney, Spenser, Elizabeth I, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, Wroth, Milton, and others. K. Bossert

203. Studies in Eighteenth-Century Literature. (H) Every Semester

This course examines selected literature from a period of enormous British expansion and change. The so-called “long eighteenth century” sees great shifts of populations to the city, the rapid growth of the British Empire, the rise of science, the rise of the novel, debates about gender, slavery, social class and human nature. Social, intellectual and literary developments between 1660 and 1800 still shape our modern world. Shanafelt

206. Studies in American Literature 1. (H) Fall 2011

The course examines selected texts from Euro-American contact to the early American republic. Works include familiar literary genres (novels, poems, plays) alongside less familiar forms (political pamphlets, sermons, spiritual autobiographies). Jaros

256. African-American Literature I. (H) Every Fall

Significant writers from the colonial period through the 19th century are studied to establish the Black literary tradition in the developing nation. Same as AFS/AMS 256. Bernard

Studies in Post-1800 Literature. (H) Every Semester

These courses examine selected issues and ideas in the traditions of British and American literature in the historical periods after 1800. ENG 204 covers British literature in the 19th century; ENG 207 covers American Literature from the founding of the Republic to the Civil War; ENG 208 extends from the Civil War through World War II. ENG 210 treats 20th-century literature written in English; ENG 257 examines African-American Literature of the 20th century. Staff

204. Nineteenth-Century British Literature and After. (H) Every Semester

This course begins by examining the poetic revolution marked by the publication of the Lyrical Bal- lads in 1789; move and poetry of the Victorian era; and deal with late-Victorian anxieties through Tennyson’s In Memoriam, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. The last two works, published at the very end of the century, will also help us look forward to the concerns of the 20th. Mongia

207. Studies in American Literature 2. (H) Spring 2012

This course examines selected texts from the antebellum period, ranging from the beginnings of professional authorship and self-conscious literary nationalism to mid-nineteenth-century political and aesthetic movements and debates.

208. Studies in American Literature 3. (H) Jaros Fall 2011

210. Studies in Twentieth-Century Literature. (H) Spring 2012

This course will focus on the work of twentieth-century British, American, or other Anglophone writers. Abravanel

257. African-American Literature II. (H) Every Spring

Selected writers from the Harlem Renaissance through the Black Aesthetics movement comprise the modern Black literary tradition in America. Same as AFS/AMS 257. Bernard

Electives

160. Modern Drama. (H) (W) Spring 2012

This course explores 20th-century drama and performance from around the world. We will read works written in English from Nigeria, South Africa, Ireland, English, and America. We’ll also watch several performances as videos. Along the way, we will persistently pose the questions of how performance can address important social issues and how it can offer insight for change. Abravanel

161. First-Year Seminar: Science Fiction. (H) (W) Fall 2011

Comprising a broad survey of twentieth- and early twenty-first-century science fiction, our readings will include 4 novels and numerous works of short fiction. Although science fiction has its roots much earlier in literary history, we’ll begin in the so-called “Golden Age” of science fiction (beginning in the ‘30’s), then move through the “New Wave” that begins in the ‘60’s, Cyberpunk and more. Mueller

162. First-Year Seminar: America from Outside. (H) (W) Fall 2011

This course examines the history of texts — from Columbus to Tocqueville to Kafka and beyond — that observe, depict, and critique America from outside. What, we will ask, are America’s defining features in these texts, and how do writers invoke, transform, and judge them? How might the international construction of “America” reshape our understanding of the nation? Jaros

163. Myth and Fairytale. (H) (W) Fall 2011

Myth and fairytale inform our lives in deep, often unexamined ways. In this course we’ll look at a number of these tales, which shape our attitudes, our expectations, and our culture in often-unexamined ways. We’ll also compare a number of myths and fairytales with versions from other times and cul- tures. We’ll examine various theories and approaches as well as some literary interpretations — films, poetry, fiction—and discuss ways in which the meaning and even utility of these tales shift over time. These perspectives will be explored in various papers and shared through class presentations. Throughout the whole semester we’ll question the relevance of these stories, and how knowledge of them can add dimension to our own lives. Hall

169. Caribbean Literature. (H) Spring 2012

This course focuses on Anglophone (English-language) Caribbean literature of the twentieth century, a rich and varied body of work that has recently produced two Nobel Prize winners, Derek Walcott and V. S. Naipaul. We will explore how Caribbean literature grapples with issues of race, gender, nationalism, independence, decolonization, the ethics of violence, the vernacular art of reggae music, and the formation of a literary tradition. Same as AFS 169. Abravanel

171. First-Year Seminar: Doomsday. (H) (W) Fall 2011

This course examines Doomsday literature across periods and cultures, mapping varied expectations for “the end time” from the ancients to the moderns. We will investigate the degree to which many literary depictions of Doomsday are metaphorical, and we will consider what these depictions suggest apart from eschatological prophecy. Doomsday themes frequently boom during times of ideological crisis, and we will also consider Doomsday rhetoric as it is used to inspire hope and fear in the face of potential catastrophe. K. Bossert

174. First-Year Seminar: Words, Words, Words. (H) (W) Fall 2011

What do an ancient bishop, a law professor, a computer hacker, and a comic book artist have in common? Predictably, words. Each of these writers is in love with the beauty of words and fascinated by the power of words. This seminar studies words as things in and of themselves. How do words function? How do we understand them? How do we get them to do the work we want, and how come they so often resist that work? As the course progresses we will consider the modern technological advances that are moving us away from a wordy literate culture towards a picture-filled visual culture. Readings will include St. Augustine (De Doctrina Christiana), Stanley Fish (How to Write a Sentence), Neal Stephenson (In the Beginning Was the Commandline), and Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics), among others. R. Bossert

212. Shakespearean Literature. (H) Spring 2012

This course will focus on brothers, sisters, and sibling rivalries in Shakespeare’s plays. Readings may include Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, and King Lear. This course also provides a general introduction to Shakespeare’s language and dramatic literature: we will read comedies, tragedies, and histories; discuss text; analyze film adaptations; consider Shakespeare’s relationship to modern culture; and attend a live performance. K. Bossert

231. Women Writers I. (H) Fall 2011

A study of the experiences of women as presented in selected British and American literature from the Middle Ages through the 19th century, as presented from a variety of cultural perspectives. We will consider various readings of the texts, including those that emphasize feminist theory and historical context. Among others, we will be reading Jane Austen, Aphra Behn, Anne Bradstreet, the Brontës, George Eliot and Mary Wollstonecraft. Same as WGS 231. Hartman

233. Women Writers II. (H) Fall 2012

A study of the changing world of American and British women in the 20th century as portrayed by women writers. The critical emphasis will be on feminist theory and the political, social and cultural background of the times. Among others, we will read works by Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Anne Sexton, Edith Wharton and Virginia Woolf. Same as WGS 233. Hartman

245. Baseball in American Literature and Culture. (H) Spring 2012

How do the history of baseball, writings about baseball and the playing of the “national pastime” reflect and shape American values, social conflicts and identity? An exploration through readings in baseball literature and history. Topics include: American idealism and the American Dream; democracy and free enterprise; race and class conflicts; hero worship; patriotism; ethics (including corruption and disillusionment); and masculine identity. Same as AMS 245. O’Hara

251. Modern American Drama. (A) Fall 2012

A literary and theatrical examination of representative American drama from the Revolution to the present, emphasizing developments since 1920. The focus of this study is on how and why Americans have been depicted onstage as they have and the powerful effect this range of depictions has had on American identity and the American imagination. Same as AMS/TDF 251. C. Davis

260. Nature and Literature. (H) Fall 2011

Readings from a variety of traditions, periods, disciplines and genres to discover diverse assumptions about nature and humanity’s relation to it. Readings from both Western and non-Western cultures, though with emphasis on the British and Euro-American traditions. Such broad exploration across vast divides of time and culture should not only teach us about varied understandings of nature but also encourage self-consciousness as we form our own conceptions of what nature is and how we ought best to interact with and in it. Same as ENV 260. Mueller

270. Reading Characters in American Literature. (H) Fall 2011

This course centers on an important but elusive term in early and antebellum American literature and culture: character. We’ll read novels, memoirs, tales, and poems that ask a number of related questions: What constitutes individual character? Is it possible to ”read” a person like a book? And how can printed texts both depict character and contribute to its formation? Jaros

272. African Literature. (H) Spring 2012

African Literature will, among other things, devote attention to the social, political, historical, and economic backgrounds from which this literature emerged. The course will also explore the historical development of African literature, including its roots in the oral tradition; the representation of African culture and the African world view in African literature; African aesthetics and the evaluation and analysis of African literature; and the language problem confronting African authors. Same as AFS/LIT 272. Bernard

273. Gothic Novel. (H) Fall 2011

In this course, we will examine several developments in the history of the gothic novel, from its origins in Horace Walpole’s novella The Castle of Otranto (1764) to Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw (1898). Along the way, we will read fiction that explores the potential for gothic terror in the supernatural, in the law, in science, in religion, in love, and in psychological disorders. Although the gothic novel explicitly tells stories of strange or unnatural occurrences, it is a genre authors use to exploit and analyze real-world anxieties about various instantiations of modernity, including religious and racial diversity, economic and political shifts, non-normative gender and sexuality, and even (self-reflexively) the immoral influence of fiction on young readers. Shanafelt

274. Writing and Community. (H) Fall 2011

This Community-Based Learning course will give students the opportunity to experience and reflect upon the role of the creative writer-as-educator. Students will meet for weekly seminar-style discussions on exemplary poems, stories and essays, their own and each other’s creative writing, and essays on creative pedagogy. Students will also work in teams to create and lead a creative writing workshop in a local public elementary school. Sherin Wright

315. Introduction to Literary Theory. (H) Every Spring

As Jonathan Culler states, “Theory offers not a set of solutions but the prospect of further thought. It calls for commitment to the work of reading, of challenging presuppositions, of questioning the assumptions on which you proceed.” Students in this course will be introduced to theoretical schools and concepts that shape the study of literature and the practice of literary analysis. Students enroll- ing in this course should have taken at least one college-level literature course. Recommended for students considering graduate studies in English. K. Bossert

Writing Courses

Writing courses, to which admission is only by permission of the instructor, are limited to enrollments of no more than 15 students.

105. College Rhetoric: Selected Topics. (H) (W) Every Semester

Readings in selected topics. Writing assignments closely linked to the readings will explore rhetorical strategies and the writing process: planning, drafting, revising and editing essays. Use and documentation of outside sources. Recent topics include: American Road Trip, Monsters, In and Out of Africa. Staff

Creative Writing Courses

225. Introduction to Creative Writing. (A) Every Semester A general introduction to the modes and means of writing poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction with an emphasis on writing exercises and revision. Students will be introduced to the workshop method of critiquing student writing. Ford, Hall, Lantz, Montemarano

381. Writing Fiction. (A) Fall 2011

A workshop for students who have found fiction writing a satisfying means of self-expression and who now are ready to raise their work to a higher level. Students will write and significantly revise two or more short stories. What we read in this class — student work as well as contemporary published fiction — we will read as writers, meaning: with extreme attention to craft. We shall concern ourselves with the many choices writers make and the effects of these choices. We will practice writing dazzling sentences. Permission of the instructor required. Montemarano

382. Writing Poetry. (A) Spring 2012

A workshop focused on generating and criticizing student poetry. Weekly poetry assignments will be according to subject matter (the elegy, the political poem, the love poem, etc.), lyricism and experi- ments in form. A rich selection of weekly readings of American and world poetry will be our guide as we work towards further mastery of poetic craft. The semester will culminate in a portfolio of student work. Students of all majors are encouraged to take the course. Permission of the instructor required. Ford

383. Dramatic Writing. (A) Fall 2011

The writing of short plays under close supervision. Permission of the instructor required. Same as TDF 383. Silberman

384. Writing Nonfiction. (A) 2011 – 2012

For confident writers ready to find their voices in a genre that claims to tell the truth without making it up. Assignments center on pieces suited for today’s magazines, newspapers and online publications: opinion pieces, memoir, restaurant and movie reviews, editorials, travel sketches, investigative reports. Readings from contemporary nonfiction writers, some chosen by the class. Emphasis on reading and responding to each other’s work. Good writers, including non-majors, welcome. Permission of instructor required. O’Hara

480. Advanced Creative Writing Workshop. (A) Every Spring

This is an advanced workshop for writers of fiction, poetry, nonfiction or drama. Each student will use the semester to finish writing, revising and organizing a creative writing thesis — a body of the student’s best work. Participants will read and discuss their own and each other’s theses-in-progress. Students will be expected to revise and tighten individual poems or stories, to shape their theses and to understand the aesthetic choices they are making. Each student must write an introduction to his or her thesis. Permission of the instructor required. Ford, Montemarano

Seminars

Seminars, to which students are admitted only by permission of the instructor, are limited to enrollments of no more than 15 students. Seminars examine various topics, issues and authors.

Victorian Nightmares. (H) Fall 2011

The year 2000 marked the hundredth anniversary of Sigmund Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams and a good moment to explore the bad dreams that scared the Victorians even as they enjoyed vastly improved daytime lives made possible by unprecedented developments in technology and industry. What gave rise to those political, economic, domestic, and sexual anxieties that haunt Victorian literature? Readings are drawn from nineteenth-century British literature, science, anthropology, and economics. We begin with a young girl falling down a rabbit’s hole (Alice in Wonderland) and close with a vampire flying into a women’s bedroom window (Dracula). In between, we encounter all manner of things that went bump in the Victorian night. Permission of the instructor required. O’Hara

India in English. (H) Fall 2011

This course explores contemporary Indian prose in English, with greatest emphasis on fiction. Beginning with the writers called “Anglo-Indian,” we’ll undertake a chronological survey of Indian writing as it has developed over the last 60 years. The bulk of our attention will be devoted to writers who’ve published since 1980, when Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children appeared. Nonfiction (essays, political writing, and a few selections from memoirs) will pepper a course mostly devoted to fiction by writers such as Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, and Kiran Nagakar. Permission of the instructor required. Mongia

Arthurian Legends. (H) Spring 2012

This seminar intensively examines the cultural history of the Arthur myth through the Middle Ages and contemporary literature and popular culture. Readings will begin with some of the Celtic background to the legends of King Arthur, and will then address the history of the romance narrative tradition in the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chretien de Troyes, and Thomas Malory. We will also consider ways that the Arthurian tradition has been revised and revisited in more recent contexts, from the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, to novels such as T. H. White’s The Once and Future King, to films like Boorman’s Excalibur and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Permission of the instructor required. Huber

490. Independent Study.

Independent study directed by the English staff. See chairperson for guidelines and permission.