Catalog

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English

Through a wide range of course offerings the Department of English seeks to develop each student's capacity for reading—the intense, concerned involvement with textual expression. All courses are intended to foster critical reading, writing, and thinking, in which "criticism" is at once passionate appreciation, historical understanding, and the perpetual rethinking of values. More specifically, the English major prepares students for careers such as teaching, publishing, and writing, for graduate study in literature, and for graduate programs leading to the study or practice of medicine or law. Though the department embodies a variety of teaching styles and interests, the faculty all believe in the art of patient, engaged reading as both knowledge and pleasure.

Departmental offerings are intended to be taken in sequence. Courses at the 100 level are open to all students. Courses at the 200 level are more difficult in both the amount of material covered and the level of inquiry; they also address questions of theory and methodology in more self-conscious ways. Most 200-level courses have prerequisites. Seminars at the 300 level are generally for juniors and seniors who have completed several English courses (the latter requirement may be waived at the discretion of the instructor for certain interdisciplinary majors). More information on the English department is available on the website (www.bates.edu/ENG.xml).

Major Requirements

Majors must complete eleven courses of which a minimum of seven must be taken from Bates faculty in the English department. Students may receive no more than two credits for junior-semester-abroad courses, and, normally, no more than two credits for junior-year-abroad courses. Under special circumstances, and upon written petition to the English department, junior-year-abroad students may receive credit for three courses. One course credit is granted for Advanced Placement scores of four or five, but these credits count only toward overall graduation requirements, not toward the eleven-course major requirement. No English Short Term courses can be counted toward the major.

The eleven courses required for the major must include one or two courses at the 100 level and nine or ten courses at the 200 level or above. Upper-level courses must include: a) three courses on literature before 1800; b) one course emphasizing critical thinking; c) two junior-senior seminars; and d) a senior thesis (English 457), which may be undertaken independently or as part of a junior-senior seminar (457A with a thesis written through 395A, for example). Although writing a thesis through a seminar may fulfill both a seminar requirement and the thesis requirement, it counts as a single course credit.

First-Year Seminar 291, 323, 333, 334, 335, 341, 359, and 379 may count toward the major as the equivalent of 100-level courses.

Students may count one course in creative writing toward the major.

Students may count any two literature courses outside the department toward the English major, including foreign-literature courses (with a primary focus on literature rather than on language instruction), or literature courses offered by the Department of Theater and Dance (with a primary emphasis on literature not production). Foreign-literature courses include those focusing on Greek and Latin literature; the English department strongly recommends that majors take a course in Homer, Virgil, Ovid, or classical mythology. These courses are listed under the Program in Classical and Medieval Studies.

Creative Writing

English majors may elect a program in creative writing. This program is intended to complement and enhance the English major and to add structure and a sense of purpose to those students already committed to creative writing. Students who wish to write a creative thesis must undertake this program.

Requirements for the focus on creative writing include:

1) Two introductory courses in the writing of prose (291), poetry (292), or drama (Theater 240).

2) One advanced course in the writing of prose or poetry (391 or 392).

3) Three related courses in the English department or in the literature of a foreign language.

4) A one- or two-semester thesis (nonhonors) in which the student writes and revises a portfolio of creative work.

Students who elect the creative writing concentration must fulfill all English major requirements but may count toward them one creative writing course as well as the related literature courses and thesis.

Honors

With departmental approval, students may write a two-semester honors thesis in the senior year. Majors who wish to present themselves as potential honors candidates are encouraged to register for at least one junior-senior seminar in their junior year. Majors who elect to participate in a junior-year-abroad program and who also want to present themselves as honors candidates must submit evidence of broadly comparable course work or independent study pursued elsewhere; such persons are encouraged to consult with the department before their departure or early in their year abroad. At the end of their junior year, prospective honors candidates must submit a two-page proposal and a one-page bibliography; those wishing to write a two-semester creative thesis must submit a one-page description of a project and a substantial writing sample. Both are due at the department chair's office on the first Friday of the Short Term.

Graduate Study

Students planning to do graduate work should seek advice early concerning their undergraduate program, the range of graduate school experience, and vocational options. Graduate programs frequently require reading proficiency in up to two foreign languages, so it is strongly recommended that prospective graduate students achieve at least a two-year proficiency in a classical (Latin, Greek) or modern language.

Pass/Fail Grading Option

Pass/fail grading may not be elected for courses counting toward the major.

Courses

ENG 110. Seven Modern Irish Poets.

A study of the work of seven significant twentieth- and twenty-first-century Irish poets, especially as they respond to the complications of Ireland's social and political history. Beginning with concentrated study of key poems by W. B. Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh, students then examine work by contemporary inheritors of these major figures' legacies: Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Eavan Boland, Nuala ni Dhomnhaill, and Paul Muldoon. Not open to students who have received credit for English 264. Enrollment limited to 50. [W1] R. Farnsworth.
Concentrations