Literature
Brochure
|
Beth Baldwin ● Abby Bardi ● Bridget
Brennan ● Michael Gavin ●
Robert Goldberg ● Sarah Gottschall Mary Greene ● Michele Hardy ● Mahbub Jamal ● Selina Jamil ● Leela Kapai ● Melinda Kramer ● Odeana Kramer● Paul Madachy Wendy Perkins ● Mary Stevenson ● Gledy Wariebi ● Earl Yarington |
This course will explore British literature of the 19th
and 20th century. A selection of poetry, short fiction and short novels will
help students investigate literary conventions and questions of gender, class,
race, starting in the Romantic period and moving through the Victorian, Modern,
and Post-Modern periods. Students will participate in creative group projects,
watch films, write several short papers, take a midterm and final, and perhaps
go on a field trip.
ENGLISH 2050: American Literature FROM THE BEGINNINGS TO THE LATE 19th
CENTURY
This course will trace revolution and change in America
from the earliest inhabitants through the age of exploration, the colonial
period, the writers of 1776, culminating in the Romantic period in New England
and the writers of the Civil War. It will also examine some writings by women
of the period, explorers’ journals, slave narratives, autobiography, letters, captivity
tales and Native American tradition to see how women’s, men’s, slaves’ and
masters’ lives changed in America.
ENGLISH 2070: AMERICAN LITERATURE FROM THE
LATE 19th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT
This course is a survey of American writers from the late
19th century to the present. Lectures will give the context of the time
in which the writers produced their work and emphasize other aspects of our
cultural heritage as reflected in their writing. This course will cover writers
from Walt Whitman to Toni Morrison and other contemporary writers.
ENGLISH 2110:
WORLD LITERATURE FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE PRESENT
The course will focus primarily on selected
representative works of the modern period from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and
the Western hemisphere. Among many writers to be studied are Balzac, Dostoevsky,
Ibsen, Achebe, Soyinka, Gordimer, Mishima, Beckett, Walcott, Naipaul, Rushdie,
Mahfouz, Neruda, and Marquez. Discussion of selections from all genres-poetry,
fiction, drama, and essays-will help us identify important literary
movements-romanticism, realism, naturalism, symbolism-and explore themes, such
as imperialism, colonialism, human rights, women’s rights, and cultural
perspectives on interpersonal relationships.
ENGLISH 2130: AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
I: Pre-1800s to 1920s
The course is designed to expose students to the early
literary richness of African Americans before the Harlem Renaissance,
providing a literary journey from Africa via the Caribbean to the shores of
America through the use of African epic, folklore (orature), narratives,
essays, speeches, letters, and documents. Work may include a combination of
essays, quizzes and a technology-based research project.
ENGLISH 2140: AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
II: 1910 to the PRESENT
This course will begin with the writers of the Harlem
Renaissance, explore the literature of War, Peace, Protest and Resolve in the
‘60’s, and provide an emphasis on black nationalist poetry. A formal research
project is required, as are essays, quizzes and oral presentations. Authors
covered may include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larson, Sonia
Sanchez, LeRoi Jones, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Maya Angelou.
ENGLISH 2150: CREATIVE WRITING
Creative Writing is an intensive writing workshop in
which students will explore the genres of creative writing: fiction, poetry and
drama. Class will consist of lecture, discussion, exercises and peer-led
critiquing. An emphasis will be placed on the importance of revision of
original work. This workshop will be supplemented with the distribution of
appropriate handouts to be decided by the instructor. Prerequisite: Successful
completion of EGL 1020, EGL 1100, EGL 1320, or EGL 1340. This course does not fulfill the Humanities
general education requirement.
ENGLISH 2210: THE SHAKESPEARE PLAYS
This is an immersion course that provides an introduction
to Shakespearean drama and poetry. Through the study of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Coriolanus, and The Tempest, the
subgenres of comedy, tragedy, history and romance will be explored. Apart from
the six representative plays, we will also study a handful of sonnets. It is
expected that the close reading of the plays and sonnets will lead to a clear
understanding of the changing interest, themes and dramatic skills of William
Shakespeare.
ENGLISH 2230:
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
This course will examine a wide variety of children’s
books, classic and contemporary. This course will also examine and discuss the
genres of children’s literature such as picture books, fantasy, science
fiction, historical fiction, biography, information, mystery, and realistic
contemporary fiction. Additionally, students will learn to evaluate children’s
books using relevant literary criteria, and consider some of the theoretical
problems and issues in the discipline of children’s literature.
NOTE: EGL 2230 will fulfill the EDCI 443 requirement for
Elementary Education majors at UMCP. It will not fulfill the required EDCI 443A
for Early Childhood Education. For this program, it will transfer as an
elective only.
This course will explore the various relationships
between film and literature with a thematic emphasis on self and society. We
will be reading selected novels (Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness), short
stories, and a play (Romeo and Juliet) and examining how these works
have been adapted to film. Students will complete a research project that
incorporates film theory.
ENGLISH 2390: STUDIES IN BIBLICAL
LITERATURE: THE NEW TESTAMENT
This course offers an analysis of the Bible as literature
with emphasis on major ideas and characters of the New Testament.
ENGLISH 2410: MYTHOLOGY, LEGEND, FOLKLORE
This class examines the mythological underpinnings of
Western civilization and its literature as well as myths, legends, and folklore
of other cultures. Beginning with the
myths of the Greeks, we will focus on the influence of myth on literature from
ancient times to the present, including Arthurian legend and comparative
folklore.
ENGLISH 2430: SURVEY OF SCIENCE FICTION
Skeptics say Science Fiction is dead. What do you say?
Some of the greatest writers in the world have written superbly crafted and
wonderfully entertaining Science Fiction, built from a foundation of mythology
and folklore. In our journey through the realms of Sci-Fi, in print and film,
we will discuss history, themes, and forms, including “hard” SF (focusing on science and
technology), “speculative” SF (looking at the human condition”), and SF that
encounters the problems of time travel, future, Utopias, and aliens, concluding
our voyage with cyberpunk fiction. Come and explore the fantastic worlds of
science fiction with me, and let’s see where it will take us.
ENGLISH 2440: SURVEY OF MYSTERY AND DETECTIVE FICTION
Study of the literary genre of mystery and detective
fiction, presenting an historical overview of the genre from its 19th century
beginnings through the “golden age” of the early 20th century and the “hard
boiled” detectives of the 1930s to contemporary writers as well as ethnic,
regional, and international authors.
Students will read the fiction and also view selected films, analyzing
the elements of mystery, its literary roots, and its reflection of cultural
contests and issues. Authors include Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle,
Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Walter Mosley, Sue Grafton, Tony Hillerman,
and Laurie R. King.
ENGLISH 2500: WOMEN IN LITERATURE
Before this course begins, you will read four paperback
novels: The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), Parable
of the Sower (Octavia Butler), and The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula
leGuin). During the week, the group will read some short stories and articles.
Grades will come from quizzes, tests, and creative or scholarly papers. Group projects and film viewings, as well as
lively discussions, will culminate two weeks after the course ends in the
submission of a special project or paper on some aspect of women in science
fiction, or “feminist fabulation” as Maureen Barr calls it. For more information, call
301-322-0594.
Most
200-level English courses fulfill PGCC’s literature requirement and transfer to
the University of Maryland and to colleges across the country. For clarification and/or information about
the transfer of these courses, please see a counselor. All courses are three credits.
See Department’s brochure “Which 2000-Level English Course Should I Take?” for
details about the current semester’s offerings.
* Weekend class.
Because of the reading required before the first meeting of a weekend
class, students will not be permitted to register for that section after class
starts. Required texts will be announced
by the instructor.
EGL 1020; 1000;
1320 or 134
Prince George's
Community College English Department (301) 322-0561
