English Major (ENG)
The English Department’s curriculum is designed to develop students’ understanding of the English language and the literature written in that language while also fostering analytical ability and writing skills. Students who complete the English major will comprehend the historical and cultural context of literature and will see literature as a reflection of diverse cultures.
They will learn how to use the written word to communicate clearly, effectively, accurately, logically, and gracefully. They will also be able to speak and write effectively on a wide range of literary issues and to apply analytical reasoning to literary texts.
Students have many opportunities for involvement outside the classroom. They may join the English honor society (Sigma Tau Delta), write for the campus newspaper (The Georgetonian), and contribute to and edit the student literary magazine (Inscape). Qualified students may tutor their peers in the Writing Center and in literature survey classes.
Many of our English majors go on to graduate school in journalism, literary studies, law, ministry, communications, or creative writing. Upon graduation, others enter a variety of fields, such as personnel management, public relations, writing, business, or teaching. A student majoring in English will develop the flexibility of mind that comes from a broadly based liberal arts education.
Students who successfully complete the English major will:
- demonstrate core knowledge of the English literary tradition;
- show familiarity with key works of American and world literature;
- apply understanding of diverse historical and cultural contexts to literature;
- speak skillfully on a range of literary topics;
- read literature analytically;
- communicate skillfully in writing.
Additionally, students who are English majors with a creative writing emphasis or who are creative writing minors will demonstrate:
- improvement in their creative writing in one or more of three genres: fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction;
- an ability to apply editing skills to their own writing by effective revision;
- an ability to apply editing skills to the writing of others, both by line editing and writing reading responses; and
- a capacity to apply analytical reasoning to literature to discuss not only its formal elements such as plot and imagery, but also to discuss the techniques that writers have used to achieve these effects.
For more information about the English major leading to a teaching certification please contact the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education.
DEGREE TYPE: BACHELOR OF ARTS (BA)
PROGRAM CONTACT: Dr. Steve Carter
A minimum of fifteen hours must be taken at the 300-level or above.
| Core Courses | 21 hours |
| Required Course Selections | 9 hours |
| English Literature Before 1700 | |
| English Literature Between 1700 and 1900 | |
| Ethnic and World Literature | |
| Elective Courses | 9 hours |
| Total | 39 |
Core Courses
Chronological survey of English literature from Beowulf through Milton.
Shakespeare’s art and craft through study of important plays: comedies, tragedies, and histories.
Required Course Selections
English Literature Before 1700
Select one course from the following:
Studies in the original language of English poetry, prose, and drama, excluding Chaucer.
Literature of the English Renaissance, excluding the works of Shakespeare and Milton.
A study of the works of Chaucer, particularly the Canterbury Tales, with emphasis on Chaucer’s contribution to the development of the English language.
Critical study of Milton’s major and minor works to estimate his present day literary and political significance.
Selected studies in medieval and/or Renaissance literature. Specific topics to be announced during advanced registration.
English Literature Between 1700 and 1900
Select one course from the following:
The novel as a prose form, from its introduction to the beginning of the twentieth century.
Ethnic and World Literature
Select one course from the following:
A survey of modern poetry, drama, and fiction written during the first half of the twentieth century.
A survey of Native American literature from indigenous oral traditions through contemporary works.
A survey of African-American literature from 1745 to the present.
A chronological survey of women writers across three successive cultural eras, epochs, or movements.
A study of the genre of poetry from 1900 to the present.
A study of the development of modern drama from Henrik Ibsen to the present.
Elective Courses
Select nine hours in English courses excluding first-year composition (ENG111, 112, and 200; note, however, that ENG 196 can be used as an elective).