English Courses

Course Detail: An introductory course in critical thinking, reading and writing, this course teaches students how to analyze both ideas and texts and how to communicate that analysis in clear, coherent prose. Various rhetorical strategies will be followed, and texts from a variety of areas will be studied. Emphasis is placed on the writing process itself: planning, execution, and revision. Students will also learn to evaluate the quality of sources on the web and in print. Required for Sophomores. Prerequisites: none.

Course Detail: This course in critical thinking and writing, required for Sophomores, is equivalent to a college-level course in composition and literature, and uses 19th Century American Literature as a point of reference. Students learn how to analyze texts and translate their ideas into the form of the standard college essay. Prerequisites: EN091.

Course Detail: This course, required for Juniors, covers American literature published after 1900. Students will develop analytical skills and polish their writing techniques through research assignments that ask them to cite reliable web resources as well as print articles and scholarly books to support their own interpretations of American literary works. Prerequisites: none.

Course Detail: This two-term sequence is a college-level British literature survey covering major works and authors from the Old English period through the 21st century. Historical background and critical interpretation of works of poetry, drama, and prose are to be emphasized through web research and consultation of online databases. Further development of analytical writing techniques will take place through both short and long interpretive essay assignments. Prerequisites: EN 101 and one English elective in Junior year.

Course Detail: This two-term sequence is a college-level British literature survey covering major works and authors from the Old English period through the 21st century. Historical background and critical interpretation of works of poetry, drama, and prose are to be emphasized through web research and consultation of online databases. Further development of analytical writing techniques will take place through both short and long interpretive essay assignments. Prerequisites: EN 101 and one English elective in Junior year.

Course Detail: Students will study the fundamental principles of how journalists work: gathering, writing, reporting, and editing the news. Discusses the relationship between the media and society throughout history and the influence of one on the other. Explores various theoretical approaches to understanding and explaining the communication process and how it affects society. The course will also emphasize how to interact with news in the age of social media and ever-broadening technology, as well as how to tell the difference between truth and fiction. Prerequisites: None

Course Detail: An introductory course in the analysis of film as a means of story-telling through the use of dramatic and pictorial technique. The only truly new art form since the dawn of history, the movies have shaped modern culture in remarkable ways. We will watch and discuss an array of American movies, representing a variety of genres, for both their literary qualities of character and theme, and the techniques of directing, acting and cinematography that produce them. Writing intensive. Prerequisites: none.

Course Detail: This course is an approach to Shakespeare that combines literary analysis with dramatic performance. Characters and ideas will be studied, but so will their dramatic interactions, by taking key scenes and enacting them as well as reading them. Five plays will be selected from such favorites as Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, 1 Henry IV, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard II. Prerequisites: none. Recommended for second term Sophomores and above.

Course Detail: This course will survey classic works of Gothic Literature from the 19th century, while also exploring some of the historical, social, artistic, and even scientific and economic contexts of those classic texts. The course will include an exploration of classic film versions of these Gothic texts that were produced and released in the early 20th century. Therefore, this course will not only explore the original versions of classic works of Gothic literature and film, but it will also reveal some of the interdisciplinary origins and contexts of these Gothic classics that contributed to the still popular films of the Gothic that students are more familiar with in current popular culture. Texts may include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Film versions and adaptations may include Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931/1941), and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). Prerequisites: Sophomore English.

Course Detail: In this survey course, students will read several important works of African-American literature as they study the contributions of Black authors to American culture. They will examine how African-American lives continue to be impacted by the legacies of slavery, segregation, and prejudice. Students may read genres of texts from slave narratives to modern novels. Authors discussed may include Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Nella Larsen, Lorraine Hansberry, and Toni Morrison. Student writing will be a major component of the course. Prerequisite: EN091

Course Detail: This course develops a student’s talent in writing short stories and poetry. The workload includes regular exercises and assignments. Besides writing their own creative pieces, students will analyze literary works. Prerequisites: EN101.

Course Detail: Satire is arguably the most difficult form of writing to master. It requires a thorough understanding of argumentation and essay writing strategies, the specific issue for discussion, and how humor works. This class will be a study of all three of these topics and how they work together to produce a satirical piece of writing. The course will begin with a review of argumentation and research strategies before moving on to study the tools of satire, including irony, parody, exaggeration, hyperbole, and more. We will also discuss the importance of satire in western culture and the impact it has had historically and today by examining classic pieces of satire such as Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and modern examples from movies, TV, and the internet. This is a writing intensive class. Prerequisites: Sophomore English.

Course Detail: This course explores Victorian women's thoughts and feelings as evinced in their writings as well as their own lives. Students will explore class distinction/birthright and gender in relation to the design of a woman's life as well as the pull of duty and family obligation. Prerequisites: none.

Course Detail: Dystopian fiction is set in a world in which something has gone horribly wrong, leading to the dissolution of civilization or the corruption of society. In this course, students will read dystopian works by a variety of authors and explore the political, philosophical, and material consequences envisioned by such creators. Assigned works may include Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omegas," and other dystopian texts. Students should expect to complete several essays and projects for the course. Prerequisite: EN091

Course Detail: In this course, students will discuss and study works of literature that are outside of the traditional literary canon because the authors' identities are considered "other" or non-normative. The class will also provide students with the chance to discuss what is subversive about these writers and how the time in which they were writing informed what they wrote. We will also be looking at how intersections of identity inform the construction of the self, especially in the face of repressive forces. Students will participate in seminar-style class meetings in which we will discuss the reading and their responses to it. There will also be a writing component that requires students to do close readings, make researched arguments, and reflect on their personal experiences. Throughout the course of the semester, students will also be introduced to critical theory concerning "Otherness" and gender studies, as well as specific writing surrounding the works we will be reading. Authors we read may include James Baldwin, Patricia Highsmith, Tony Kushner, and Oscar Wilde, among others. Prerequisites: AP Language and Composition OR American Literature II, or approval of instructor.

Course Detail: This course, required for Juniors, introduces students to the fundamentals of public speaking while also helping them further develop their written communication skills. Students will use digital media to make presentations and projects that engage their audiences. Prerequisites: none.

Course Detail: In this course, students will further cultivate the skills acquired in Speech Communications as they prepare and deliver multimedia presentations on contemporary issues, their studies at ASMS, and, if applicable, their ongoing research projects. The coursework is intended to professionalize students by molding them into confident communicators. Prerequisites: EN239.

Course Detail: The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts and the development and revision of thoughtful, evidence-centered, analytical and argumentative writing. Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and texts with a greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own compositional abilities and awareness as writers. Course readings feature expository, analytical, personal, and argumentative texts from a variety of authors and historical contexts. Prerequisites: Junior year.

Course Detail: The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts and the development and revision of thoughtful, evidence-centered, analytical and argumentative writing. Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and texts with a greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own compositional abilities and awareness as writers. Course readings feature expository, analytical, personal, and argumentative texts from a variety of authors and historical contexts. Prerequisites: Junior year.

Course Detail: The course is intended to prepare students wishing to take the AP English Literature exam. It will cover the more comprehensive AP reading list as well as train them for the particular tasks required by the standardized test itself. The course is a two term commitment. Students will also work with online scholarly databases to compose college-level research essays. The reading load is heavy; as a result, students are asked to sign up before the summer break so that they will be able to prepare. Prerequisites: Senior standing and permission of instructor.

Course Detail: The course is intended to prepare students wishing to take the AP English Literature exam. It will cover the more comprehensive AP reading list as well as train them for the particular tasks required by the standardized test itself. The course is a two term commitment. Students will also work with online scholarly databases to compose college-level research essays. The reading load is heavy; as a result, students are asked to sign up before the summer break so that they will be able to prepare. Prerequisites: Senior standing and permission of instructor.

Course Detail: This course will introduce the elements of drama and performance and will survey dramatic works from ancient Greece to modern day with an emphasis on how playwrights reflect the social, political, and cultural environments of their own time and place. Students will examine how human experiences that span time and geographical space are explored and expressed in representative works from around the globe. Authors discussed may include Sophocles, Christopher Marlowe, Aphra Behn, Henrik Ibsen, Samuel Becket, and August Wilson. Student writing will be a major component of the course. Prerequisite: EN091