English Major, Literature Concentration

Professors Caplan, Carpenter, DeMarco, Hipsky, Olmstead
Associate Professors Allison, Comorau, Long, Poremski, Ryan
Assistant Professor Butcher
Part-time Professors Burns, Richards
Part-time Associate Professor Stephens
Senior Lecturer Stull

English majors develop both reading and writing skills. They gain a wide knowledge of authors, of texts originally written in English, of the English language, and of interpretive approaches to literature. They read literary works and watch films selected to illustrate the linguistic connections among texts, historical perspectives, cultural contexts, the development of English as a language, and the canon, its critics, and its alternatives. The major and minor foster curiosity about language, and the conviction that literature and film enrich human experience.

In English courses, students develop close reading skills—heightening their awareness of the conventions of literary and cinematic form, structure, language, genre, and rhetoric—and are introduced to current critical methods. Throughout the major, students test and revise their notions of what makes literature literature. They cultivate sensitivity to language as a medium of thought and communication, and they learn to ask penetrating questions about texts and language.

English majors and minors become thoroughly acquainted with the writing process, sensitive to the rhetorical situation, and alert to the demands for correctness and precision. Creative Writing majors develop a sense of voice, style, and tone, and practice adapting the conventions of various literary genres.

The English department expects that its students will explore the relationship of language and literature to social and cultural issues. It hopes they will become habitual, morally engaged readers, appreciating literature’s function in developing an imaginative sensitivity to and disciplined regard for the relation between words and the world, the writer and the work, the representing self and the represented other.

The English major and minor also provide practical preparation for the world of work. They equip students to communicate clearly, to write effectively, and to read critically and accurately. These skills are fundamental for success in numerous professions and occupations, especially in the age of the Internet.

Many English courses do not carry prerequisites. In general, however, courses at the 100 and 200 levels are most appropriate for first-year students and sophomores, or for those students who have not previously taken a college literature course. Upper-level students and those who have previously taken a college literature course may take courses at all levels.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will learn how to situate diverse literary, cinematic, and cultural texts within social, historical, and aesthetic contexts, including the history of literary periods and genres as well as the history of English as a global language.

2. Students will cultivate close reading skills, including the ability to recognize and analyze literary language, forms, and conventions, as well as a sensitivity to language itself as a medium of communication and expression.

3. Student will develop writing skills, including the ability to construct a thesis-driven argument supported by textual evidence and research, as well as facility with using or adapting the conventions of literary genres to argumentative or artistic purposes.

4. Students will come to appreciate the manifold ways in which literary, cinematic, and cultural texts enrich human experience, contributing to a person’s ability to understand the world and self in new ways.

Major Requirements

Majors may concentrate on literature or creative writing. ENG 150 is required for all English majors, and prospective and declared majors are strongly encouraged to take ENG 150 in their first or second year, before enrolling in upper-level courses. However, if a Junior or Senior English major has not yet taken ENG 150 and has successfully completed several upper-level English courses, then the student may petition to the Department chair to substitute ENG 380 for ENG 150 . Unless this petition is approved by the chair, ENG 150 will be required to complete the major. Students are encouraged to plan ahead with regard to required seminars and advanced workshops.

Requirements for each concentration are:

Literature Concentration: ENG 150 , one theme course (ENG 145 , ENG 176 , both ENG 180 and ENG 182 , ENG 224 , ENG 226 , ENG 228 , ENG 266 ), 2 British literature courses (ENG 330 - ENG 354 ), one American literature course (ENG 268 , ENG 273 , ENG 278 , and ENG 360 - ENG 374 ), one language or upper-level writing course (ENG 260 , ENG 265 , ENG 391 , or ENG 395 ), one seminar, the portfolio (ENG 410 ); 3 electives (any English courses except ENG 105 , ENG 495 , and ENG 496 ). At least one course must deal with literature written prior to 1800.

Note(s):

ENG 105 does not count toward the major. Apprenticeships, while encouraged, are viewed as an extension of the major, not as a substitute for a regular course. ENG 495 and ENG 496 do not count toward the major.

A course taken credit/no entry may not be counted toward the major. At least seven courses must be taken at Ohio Wesleyan.

Teaching Licensure, Adolescent-to-Young Adult Language Arts (7-12)

Requirements for the Adolescent-To-Young Adult (7-12) License in Language Arts are NOT identical to requirements for the English major. Students seeking licensure should ensure that they fulfill English major requirements and professional education requirements as well as licensure requirements. The minimal requirements for teaching secondary English (according to state nomenclature, “Integrated Language Arts, Adolescence to Young Adult”) include the following content-area courses:

COMPOSITION; ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS — three courses:

ENG 105 (exempted students must substitute another writing course);
Upper-Level Writing — one course (select from ENG 260, ENG 265, or ENG 310);
Linguistics or History of English — one course (select from ENG 391 or ENG 395);

AMERICAN LITERATURE — two courses (select from ENG 224, ENG 226, ENG 268, ENG 273, ENG 278, ENG 360, ENG 362, ENG 369, ENG 372, ENG 374, ENG 486; ENG 150 may count as either American OR British, but not both; also possible, depending on the topic: ENG 176, ENG 415);

BRITISH LITERATURE — two courses (select from ENG 228, ENG 330, ENG 334, ENG 336, ENG 338, ENG 340, ENG 342, ENG 344, ENG 346, ENG 348, ENG 350, ENG 352, ENG 354, ENG 484; ENG 150 may count as either American OR British, but not both; also possible, depending on the topic: ENG 176, ENG 415);

WORLD LITERATURE — one course (select from ENG 342 [may not also be used as a British literature course]);

NON-PRINT MEDIA — one course (select from ENG 254 or ENG 310 [may also count as upper-level writing]);

ETHNIC OR WOMEN WRITERS — one course; courses used to fulfill this requirement may also be used to fulfill other requirements (select from ENG 224, ENG 266, ENG 268, ENG 273, ENG 278, ENG 350, ENG 352, ENG 354, ENG 362, ENG 369, ENG 372, ENG 374; other courses in English or humanities/classics might be used to fulfill the requirement as well, depending on their content—check with your instructor or education advisor).