Fall 2022 English Course Schedule - Ohio Wesleyan University
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Fall
2022
English Course
Schedule
ENG 100.7
MWF 10-10:50 Exploring Creative Writing
Butcher
This course is designed for non-majors or potential majors who want to study
and explore a variety of creative writing genres—in this case, literary fiction,
nonfiction, and poetry—before enrolling in a single-genre workshop with our
core creative writing faculty. The goal of this course is to help new Ohio Wes-
leyan creative writers self-identify and form a larger literary community here on
campus while growing creatively as individuals. Throughout the course of the
semester, students will read and discuss a wide variety of contemporary and
canonical texts while simultaneously drafting similar material through exercises
that target genre as well as point-of-view, form, voice, structure, and basic ele-
ments of craft. Students will study and dissect genre-specific passages, begin to
develop and implement a literary vocabulary, and cultivate critical editorial
skills for responding to their classmates’ work. Students should expect to pro-
duce ample creative writing throughout the semester, share this work with oth-
ers regularly in a formal workshop environment, and offer abundant thoughtful
verbal and written feedback. Course work will culminate in a final portfolio
comprised of original and substantially revised drafts of all formal assignments
and a thoughtful reflection on the revision process for each assignment. This
course features readings by men, women, and non-binary authors, as well as
writers from a variety of diverse backgrounds and identities, including
LGBTQIA+, African American, Latino, and Native authors, and students will
have the opportunity to meet and connect with the department’s visiting Poets
& Writer guest. Writing Course.
1
ENG 105
Various times College Writing Seminar
Various professors
A focus on writing as a tool for learning and communicating. Students will de-
velop critical thinking skills, productive writing habits, and a style appropriate
for college-level writing. Several short papers and one longer paper are taken
through stages of the writing process. Instructional formats include class discus-
sion, workshop sessions, and individual conferences. A sequence of library as-
signments introduces students to the use of Beeghly Library resources as an
integral part of the liberal arts education.
2
ENG 145.1 Reading the Global Kitchen
MWF 2:10-3
Comorau
In “Reading the Global Kitchen,” we will read novels, poetry, and memoirs
about food, eating, and cooking. We will consider how our foodways and our
relationships to them characterize our cultures and ourselves, thinking through
issues of home, family, labor, and migration among others. Books will include
novels like Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss and Monique Truong’s The
Book of Salt, which connect cooks and eaters across the world, memoirs with
recipes like Diana Abu-Jaber’s The Language of Baklava and Austin Clarke’s
Pigtails and Breadfruit. Books like Tsetse Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions,
and films like The Lunchbox and Kings of Pastry will ask us how food can de-
fine us as people, communities, and nations. In addition, students may explore
cookbooks, visual art, and podcasts and write about ways in which food and
literature intertwine. Diversity Course.
3
ENG 145.2 Imagining America
TR 2:40-4
Caplan
This class will consider how American writers as different as Anne Bradstreet,
Frederick Douglass, and Junot Diaz have imagined our country. The novelist,
short story writer, and scholar, Viet Thanh Nguyen expressed the idea that in-
spired this class:
I believe deeply that stories are fundamental to how we see ourselves as people,
as citizens, as Americans. Even for people who don’t think of themselves as
professional storytellers, in fact we are always telling stories to ourselves . . .
And storytelling becomes one terrain where we fight over what it means to be
an American.
We will read poems, novels, short stories, and a novella and watch a movie that
seek to define “what it means to be an American.” We will learn to read litera-
ture more closely and carefully, in the hope of better understanding America and
its literature, as well as the complicated, shifting relationship between literature
and politics. Diversity Course. Writing Course.
4
ENG 176.1
TR 10-11:50
On the Margins:
Monsters, Elves and other Marvelous Creatures
DeMarco
In Image on the Edge, the Mar-
gins of Medieval Art, Michael
Camille describes the ability of
sometimes outrageous drawings
bordering medieval manuscripts
"to gloss, parody, modernize, and
problematize the text's authority
while never totally undermining
it." This course examines literary
and cultural depictions of individuals, groups, and fantastic creatures that exist-
ed on the margins of medieval society. What should we make of their uncanny
resemblance to elements of our mundane world? What functions did these crea-
tures play in both challenging cultural norms and maintaining societal values?
We start by looking at visual depictions of monstrous and fantastic creatures in
medieval maps and bestiaries (some from our own Rare Book collections).
We'll then explore Marie de France's marvelous Celtic tales about shape-
shifting werewolves; the darker depictions of fairies (elves) in the anonymous
Breton lays, Sir Orfeo and Sir Degare; and the legend of the shape-shifting
dragon-mermaid woman, Melusine. We’ll then look at the warrior saint Joan of
Arc, and the giants and hybrid creatures of Mandeville's Travels.
Fulfills university distribution Group III/Humanities. English Department Brit-
ish Literature and pre-1800 requirements. Medieval and Renaissance Studies
(Foundation course).
5
ENG 180 A
MWF 11-11:50 Narratives (1): The Short Story
Butcher
This course is designed to
explore the influence and
importance of storytelling,
taking as its premise the
idea that the art of story-
telling extends beyond
simple social behavior to
create a mode of thought-
fully and intellectually
engaging society and com-
ponents of identity and
culture. As such, students
will read a variety of short
stories from both classic
and contemporary writers, and together, we’ll discuss the ways in which their
authors employ literary elements to evidence these historical, cultural, and so-
cial issues in an efficient and artful manner. In particular, we’ll ask of each text
the following: how does the short story transcend place and time to take on uni-
versal meaning, what literary elements help shape it and, more importantly, how
does the story create meaning from art? In short: we’ll be trying to figure out
how, exactly, short stories function and why, but it is my hope, more than any-
thing, that you’ll use this class as an opportunity to consider, fight, and question
the world around you. This course features readings by men, women, and non-
binary authors, as well as
writers from a variety of di-
verse backgrounds and iden-
tities, including LGBTQIA+,
African American, Latino
and, Native authors, and stu-
dents will have the oppor-
tunity to meet and connect
with the department’s visit-
ing Poets & Writer guest.
Writing Option Available.
6
ENG 182 M
MWF 11-11:50
Narratives (2): The Novella
Butcher
In this course, we’ll strengthen our understanding of the way narrative develops,
functions, and shapes writing over time
through a selection of longer-form fiction read-
ings. More specifically, we’ll analyze and dis-
cuss five novellas and ask of each how the plot
structure, character development, and narrative
arc are developed and sustained throughout the
duration of the work. We’ll consider, too, the
value and function of the novella form and will
no doubt debate whether such a unique qualifi-
er is even necessary to distinguish a text longer
than a short story, certainly, but shorter than a
novel. Above all, we’ll continue to deepen our
understanding of narrative, strengthen our abil-
ities as close readers and writers, and develop
a unique
space and
ability to
converse
about inter-
pretation,
art, and liter-
ature. This course features readings by writ-
ers from a variety of diverse backgrounds and
identities, including LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC
authors. Writing Option Available.
7
8
ENG 216 Poetry I
TR 10-11:50 Caplan
We will learn how to write more interesting, artful, and engaging poetry by
writing, reading, and discussing poetry. No previous experience with it is need-
ed. The students will learn how poetry works so they can develop their own ar-
tistic styles and express their own interests. We also will enjoy a class visit from
Anni Liu, OWU class of 2013, whose poetry collection Border Vista won the
2021 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize from Persea Books. Writing Course.
ENG 250 Introduction to Literary Study
MW 2:10-3:30 Long
This course is an introduction to literary studies. It serves two main purposes:
(1) to help students acquire the analytical skills to interpret works of literature
written across a range of time periods in a variety of genres; and (2) to help stu-
dents reflect upon the value and purpose of literary studies in contemporary cul-
ture as well as in their own lives. By the end of the semester students should
have acquired a solid foundation in the skills necessary to succeed as a major in
English should they choose to do so, as well as a sense of why they might wish
to do so. Because we will be discussing works from across a broad timeframe, I
have selected a theme to tie together our various investigations: love. All of our
primary readings will grapple with the topic of love, mostly of the romantic/
erotic sort, but with occasional excursions into other varieties of affection (e.g.,
friendship, familial love, etc.). Writing Requirement.
9ENG 254 Introduction to Film
TR 2:40-4
Laamanen
In this introduction to film studies, we will explore the history of the cinema and
its evolution from the short silent films of the early 1900s to the special effects
laden blockbusters of our time. In addition to this broader historical perspective,
we will consider important film movements and significant films that illustrate
radical shifts in cinema’s artistic potential. We will consider a diverse group of
films and genres ranging from American to international, classic to contempo-
rary, and blockbusters to
arthouse. Students will gain
foundational skills in film
analysis, as they master
technical vocabulary, con-
template critical perspec-
tives, and pay close atten-
tion to the myriad ways that
film makes meaning
through sound and image.
10ENG 318
TR 1:10-2:30
Playwriting
Stephens
“The play’s the thing…” Join fellow lovers of the page and the stage and re-
lease your inner Shakespeare (or August Wilson or Marsha Norman…). In this
class, we will analyze traditional play structure, study the nature and process of
playwriting as an art form, and explore how playwrights develop ideas through
character and action. Each week, you
will complete writing assignments and exercis-
es, share your work, and respond to others'
writing. Your work will culminate in the com-
pletion of two short one-act plays. An adven-
turous spirit and openness to collaboration
strongly recommended! Prerequisite: ENG
105 (or credit) plus a college theatre or college
creative writing course, or permission of the
instructor. Cross-listed as THEA 369. Writ-
ing Course.
11ENG 350 The Victorians
MWF 11-11:50
Allison
The Victorian age (c. 1832-
1901) saw unprecedented
technological, social, and
political transfor-
mations. Indeed, the Victo-
rians were probably the first
people in history to experi-
ence “future shock”: the dis-
orientation that comes when
the pace of change is too
rapid for human beings to
process. In this class, we
will read widely in the ex-
traordinary literature that
arose in response to these
transformations. Texts will
include fiction by Stevenson,
Dickens, and Eliot; poetry
by Tennyson and the Brown-
ings; and non-fiction prose
by Darwin, Nightingale, and
Ruskin. We will also find
time to read some nonsense
poetry and working-class
literature—and to savor what
is probably the funniest play
in the English language.
Oscar Wilde
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