ENGL 146
English Grammar
MW 3:20—4:35 Demeter
This course provides an introduction to English grammar for academic writers. It focuses on the study of language in use, including parts of speech, sentence grammar, paragraph structure, and text cohesion. Students will learn to see grammar as a tool that can be used to produce a wide range of rhetorical effects in their own and others’ writing. In addition, students will learn how to search a corpus (a large collection of authentic language) to increase their skills in observing the grammar of English in context. This course is specifically designed for multilingual students, but native speakers of English may take the course with approval from the instructor.
ENGL 150–100
Expository Writing
MWF 9:30—10:20 Evers
English 150 is a three-credit course designed to help students build on basic academic writing skills by further developing the sophistication of their claims, the strategies of argumentation, and the practices of research and source integration. Students will develop strategies for developing compelling and sophisticated claims, reading texts critically, and effectively communicating their views in writing. Students will learn techniques for research, source evaluation, and the development of sophisticated claims through the process of a drafting and revising a substantial researched essay. Topics, readings, and writing assignments vary across individual course sections.
ENGL 150–101
Expository Writing
MWF 9:30—10:20 Spieles
English 150 is a three-credit course designed to help students build on basic academic writing skills by further developing the sophistication of their claims, the strategies of argumentation, and the practices of research and source integration. Students will develop strategies for developing compelling and sophisticated claims, reading texts critically, and effectively communicating their views in writing. Students will learn techniques for research, source evaluation, and the development of sophisticated claims through the process of a drafting and revising a substantial researched essay. Topics, readings, and writing assignments vary across individual course sections.
ENGL 155
Introduction to Rhetoric and Public Speaking
TTh 2:30—3:45 Doll
This course will focus on the theories of rhetoric, the work of developing and preparing a speech and on the art and skill of delivering various kinds of oral presentations. The assignments will: a) Introduce students to the traditions, theories and core principles of public speaking, from Aristotle’s Rhetoric to Cicero to Kenneth Burke. b) Engage them in the five-part “canon of rhetoric” for developing speeches. c) Give them opportunities to develop and deliver several different types of classic speeches, both as a speaker and as a speechwriter.
ENGL 180
Writing Tutorial (1 credit)
TBD Jewell
English 180 is a one-credit writing tutorial class designed to develop students’ expository writing skills through weekly scheduled conferences with a Writing Resource Center Instructor. Goals are to produce clear, well-organized, and mechanically acceptable prose, and to demonstrate learned writing skills throughout the term. Course content is highly individualized based on both the instructor’s initial assessment of the student’s writing and the student’s particular concerns. All students must produce a minimum of 12 pages of finished writing for each credit for which they are enrolled, and complete other assignments as designed by the instructor to assist in meeting course goals.
ENGL 183
Academic Writing Studio
F 11:40—12:30 Assad
ENGL 183 provides practice and training in formal academic writing in a small-group, workshop environment. This class has been developed particularly for international students who have successfully completed FSCC 100 and would like additional writing training as they advance through University Seminars and other writing-intensive classes.
ENGL 203
Introduction to Creative Writing
TTh 2:30—3:45 Thielen
This course acquaints students with opportunities for creative expression across genres. The course primarily focuses on poetry and short fiction – though playwriting, screenwriting, and genres of creative nonfiction will also be explored. We will attend to those elements that make for vivid, effective writing, including relevant detail, lyrical language, and memorable images; inventive metaphor and simile; and authentic voice, setting, and characterization. Taking this course will help to further develop an understanding and practice of creativity in the medium of language and to distinguish among the creative opportunities and constraints of different literary genres.
ENGL 217B
Writing for the Health Professions
TTh 11:30—12:45 Davydov
This course offers practice and training in the professional and technical writing skills common to health professions (e.g., medicine, nursing, dentistry). Attention will be paid to the writing processes of drafting, revising, and editing. Typical assignments include: letters, resumes, personal essays, professional communication genres (e.g., email, reports, patient charts, and histories), and scholarly genres (e.g., abstracts, articles, and reviews). Prereq: ENGL 150 or passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in FSCC, FSNA, FSSO, FSSY, FSTS, or FSCS.
ENGL 301/401
Linguistic Analysis
TTh 10:00—11:15 Schaffer
This course offers introductory analysis of modern English from various theoretical perspectives (e.g., structural, sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, and cognitive linguistic). In particular, the course provides an introduction to theoretical concepts and methods of linguistics, such as morphology, phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and dialects, as well as writing systems and the nature and form of grammar. It is designed for any student with interest in language or its use; no prior linguistic background is assumed. This course provides humanities and social science students with training in the description and explanation of important technical aspects of language. This course also provides students of communication disorders with a basic foundation in language science, crucial information to understanding language acquisition. Graduate students who are interested in language studies can enroll in ENGL 401 for an opportunity to explore language and linguistic theory beyond the requirements of ENGL 301 with additional readings and a longer seminar paper or project.
ENGL 302
English Literature since 1800
MWF 10:35—11:25 Kelly, C
This course introduces students to British literature from the Romantic era to present through a wide range of works across multiple genres. Students will learn to place these literary texts in their appropriate contexts, offer independent assessments/interpretations of them using discipline-specific methods, and present those interpretations in multiple modes (written, oral, visual) and to multiple audiences. We will also use our readings to examine what it means to study British literature: What makes our readings British? What makes them literary? Why should they be included in an anthology as representative? To that end, along with close reading papers, an annotated bibliography, quizzes, and discussion board posts, students will also design an author-focused course unit and craft a “philosophy of literature and literary study.”
ENGL 304/304C
Intermediate Poetry Workshop
TTh 2:30—3:45 Lucas
The official purpose of this course is to develop your understanding of poetry through rigorous reading, writing, and critique. The unofficial—but much more important—purpose of this course is to develop your understanding of yourself and of the world through the rigorous study and writing of poetry. More specifically, this course continues the work of English 214 in the practices of close reading, the drafting of poems, and the writing workshop. We will refine our craft in the poems we write and workshop each week, through our readings in poetry and critical prose, and through two critical essays of our own.
ENGL 307/307C
Sports Journalism
MW 7:00—8:15 Polverine
Develop concepts and practices in this specialized area of journalism. This will be a multimedia reporting course where social media, print, and video journalism techniques will be the focus. Fact-checking, breaking sports news, engagement, and analysis will be also be emphasized. The class will take two field trips. One to WKYC TV 3 to meet the sports team and also to an Indians game to work in real-time as a sports journalist.
This will be a fast-paced, spirited class.
ENGL 307/307C
Journalism and Criticism
Professional Critical Writing
T 4:25 to 7:00 Simakis
Everybody’s a critic, right? Not so fast. Informed, thoughtful criticism is more than a few lines in an online review or a thumbs up emoji. Skillful critical writing — about art, culture, media and government — helps us better understand ourselves and the world. Students will analyze some of the best critical and opinion writing in America, past and present. The class will learn tricks of the trade from local and national critics, interview directors, authors and other artists and explore the idea of expertise. The bulk of the class will focus on techniques for writing incisive critical reviews of theater, film (both features and documentaries), books and other genres as well as persuasive columns and essays. Students will be required to attend live theater performances and talk backs in and around Cleveland’s Playhouse Square and screenings and events at the Cleveland International Film Festival. Capstone students will also present their work at the public capstone presentation at the end of the semester.
ENGL 309/309C
Immersion Journalism
Video Journalism/Documentary Filmmaking
M 4:25—6:55 Sheeler
Students will learn the skills to capture and edit professional-quality audio and video while evaluating the best examples of short video journalism that show and tell true stories that make a difference. Students will learn the essential skills of multimedia storytelling using professional equipment provided by the English Department (some students may also wish to use their own equipment). Students will complete various audio and video assignments throughout the semester. At the end of the course, each student will report, shoot, and edit a mini documentary which will be posted on the website clevelandlifestories.com. Capstone students are required to produce a longer documentary, and present the video at the public capstone presentation at the end of the semester.
ENGL 325/325C/425/THTR335
Shakespeare
Comedies and Romances
MW 3:20—4:35 Orlock
The course – a combination of lecture and class discussion – will explore selected comedies and romances of William Shakespeare. Through close reading and critical analysis – supported by viewing video productions of the plays – we’ll consider these complex works both as literary texts and scripts intended for performance on the stage, and see how the characters indulge not only in language and poetry, but also in love, laughter, marriage, betrayal, lust, wit, and grief.
In addition to the play texts, supplementary reading – along with individual student research projects presented in a seminar environment – will help establish a multi-dimensional perspective of the Elizabethan Age, and provide insight re the degree to which Shakespeare embedded in these plays the political intrigue, social issues, and ethical dilemmas of the world around him. A key component of the semester’s discussion will reflect upon the relevance of these romances and comedies to 21st century life and culture.
ENGL 365E/365EC/465E/WLIT365E
(meets diversity requirement)
Immigrant Literature
TTh 11:30 to 12:45 Marling
“Give me your tired, your poor// your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” wrote Emma Lazarus in 1883. The idea of the U.S. as a golden land of opportunity is both old and enduringly renewed. The conflict between the idea and the reality, whether in the barrio of the Southwest or the slums of New York, has provided some of the best American fiction of the last century. Together we will explore the common themes and contrasting legacies of this experience.
No special background is needed to take this course, which meets the Diversity Requirement. It is suitable for foreign students with reasonable preparation in writing papers in English, for undergraduate and graduate students in English, for engineering students and interested auditors.
Requirements include faithful attendance, regular participation, 1 oral report, 2 short papers, and a longer final paper. We will view one film and a selection (not all) of the following novels:
My Antonia – Willa Cather. Pocho – Jose Antonio Villarreal. Bless Me Ultima – Anaya. The House on Mango Street – Cisneros. Hunger of Memory – Rodriquez. Lost in Translation – Hoffman. Call it Sleep – Roth. Angela’s Ashes – McCourt. Jasmine – Bharati Mukherjee. Woman Warrior — Hong Kingston. Joy Luck Club –Amy Tan. The Bread-Givers — Anzia Yezierska. Paper Fish — De Rosa. Breath, Eyes, Memory — Danticat.
ENGL 367/467
Introduction to Film
TTh 1:00—2:15 (class)
T 7:00—9:15 p.m. (screening) Spadoni
An introduction to the art of film. Each week we’ll take an element of film form (editing, cinematography, sound, and so on) and examine how filmmakers work with this element to produce effects. Most weeks we’ll also screen a whole film and discuss it in light of the week’s focus. Films screened will include masterworks of the silent era, foreign films, Hollywood studio-era classics, and more recent cinema. Undergrads: This course has no prerequisites. First year students are welcome in this class. Students take a scheduled quiz, midterm, and final exam. Grad students (registered for ENGL 467) satisfy the same requirements as the undergrads, but their final essay will be an extended research project, in connection with which they submit a proposal, outline, partial draft, and other related assignments.
ENGL 368/368C/468
Topics in Film
Film Genres
TTh 10:00—11:15 (class)
Th 7:00—9:15 p.m. (screening) Spadoni
An introduction to the concept of the film genre. We’ll read essays on the theory, criticism, and history of film genres while examining three: film noir, westerns, and melodramas. Screening and discussing a film most weeks, we’ll ask general questions about the nature, functioning, and development of film genres while looking at these particular ones. Class discussions and student essays will center on close analyses of individual films. ENGL 368 has no prerequisites, including Introduction to Film. First year students are welcome in this class.
Undergrads (registered for ENGL 368) write two essays (5-6 and 8-10 pages), take part in a group presentation, and take occasional brief quizzes (lowest is dropped). Capstone students (ENGL 368C) will have met the film capstone prerequisites described at case.edu/film and will do the same work as the ENGL 368 students, except their final essay will be an extended project, in connection with which they submit a proposal, outline, partial draft, and other related assignments. Grad students (ENGL 468) satisfy the same requirements as students registered for ENGL 368, except their final essay will be an extended research project, in connection with which they submit a proposal, outline, partial draft, and other related assignments.
ENGL 368/368C/468
Topics in Film
The Detecive in Film and Fiction
TTh 2:30 to 3:45 Marling
A survey of the rich tradition of international detective fiction adapted to film. After establishing a base in the literary tradition established by Edgar Allan Poe, we will read Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Chester Himes, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Sjöwall/Wahlöö, Walter Mosely, Sara Paretsky, and Jonathan Nolan). Then we will view the classic films based on their works. Some of the possibilities are:
The Fall of the House of Usher; The Sign of Four; The Hound of the Baskervilles; Murder on the Orient Express; The Maltese Falcon; Double Indemnity; The Postman Always Rings Twice; Murder, My Lovely; Chinatown; Roshomon; Murder, She Said; Cotton Comes to Harlem; and Memento.
Requirements: beyond attendance and participation, three short papers on works, genres, and techniques, and one long analysis (10 pages). Please note: you must buy physical books and bring them to class on appropriate days. Students are responsible for viewing all required films on their own.
ENGL 369
Children’s Literature
20th-Century (1930-2020)
MW 12:45—2:00 Vrettos
This is the companion course to CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: 1865-1929, though each course can be taken on its own. The course examines classics of children’s and young adult literature from the 1930’s to the present. We will focus on narrative and thematic developments in the genre, changing conceptions of childhood, the historical contexts in which these stories were written, as well as their influence on later writers and debts to earlier ones. Beginning with The Hobbit and ending with Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, texts will include C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, White’s Charlotte’s Web, Sharp’s The Rescuers, Merrill’s The Pushcart War, Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and/or James and the Giant Peach, Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy, Konigsberg’s From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and Curtis’s Bud, Not Buddy. We may also spend a week studying the visual rhetoric of children’s picture books, with a visiting instructor. Requirements include attendance and active participation in class discussion and a choice of paper assignment plans (the equivalent of three 5-7pp. papers). There will, in addition, be informal oral reports, short in-class writings, weekly Canvas posts, occasional quizzes, and a take-home final essay exam. Prerequisite: FSEM (or equivalent).
ENGL 370/370C
Comics and the Graphic Novel
TTh 10:00—11:15 Ricca
An exploration into the medium of comics and the graphic novel with emphasis — and outright questioning — of how it fits into larger literary contexts. We will read works by Alan Moore (Watchmen), Kelly Sue DeConnick (Bitch Planet), G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel), and many others, including superhero comics, YA books, and standalone graphic novels. Our goals are to understand what comics are and the various theories of reading them. We will also ask: Comics began less than one hundred years ago as disposable entertainment — how should we view them today? Classwork will include collaborative work, short papers, and a larger end-of-semester project.
ENGL 372/372C/472
American Dark Comedy
W 4:25—6:55 Clune
The surrealist Andre Breton invented the term “black comedy” to describe a form of laughter that acts as a corrosive fluid, demolishing the most basic assumptions and values of social life. This course explores masterpieces of American dark humor. We will read fiction by writers including Melville, Wharton, West, Schuyler, and Acker. Through close attention to these works, we will investigate the value of laughing at life, the religious dimension of dark humor, and the new forms of thought and experience negativity makes possible. Written work will include one short paper and one seminar paper, along with several response papers.
ENGL 380
Department Seminar
Two Irishmen & a Scot Walk into a Theatre: The Plays of Wilde, Shaw, and Barrie
MW 4:50—6:05 Orlock
The seminar will examine the dramatic works of Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and Sir James Barrie. Through a discussion-based process of textual exploration, the class will consider how these playwrights – while of the same historical era – display three very different approaches to stagecraft and the dramatic art. In addition, the seminar conversation will encompass a wide range of political and social issues, most notably the changing roles of women – both actual and perceived – as Britain careens into the 20th century. But we’ll also be dealing with wit, romance, domestic conflict, heartbreak, occasional references to Downton Abbey, and, of course, Captain Hook.
ENGL 386/486
Studies in Literature and Culture
TTh 2:30—3:45 Devenot
This class explores how literary writers have envisioned the role of narrative in dismantling entrenched systems of power. Reading texts from Romanticism to the present day, our authors share a common concern with introducing alternative schemata and modes of cognition into communal language in order to undermine the power structures of dominant society. Throughout, we will explore how each of these authors experimented with the ways that non-ordinary language can alter the contours of ordinary experience by introducing new ways to think, speak, and measure. Their work highlighted the extent to which consensus versions of reality depend on ordinary language for cogency and coherency, supporting the illusion that we are self-sufficient individuals separate from each other and from the natural world. By drawing awareness to our innate relationality and interconnectivity, they positioned their texts as a new class of “systemic” medicine capable of operating on consciousness at the societal scale: a novel means of challenging maladaptive cultural norms that are so deeply entrenched as to appear inevitable or unchangeable. Drawing on recent research in medicine and cognitive science, students will consider literature’s role in dismantling the prejudices that underlie humankind’s ongoing complicity in the environmental and humanitarian crises afflicting our planet.
ENGL 398
Professional Communication for Engineers
TBD Staff
English 398 introduces principles and strategies for effective communication in both academic and workplace engineering settings. Through analysis of case studies and of academic and professional genres, this course develops the oral and written communication skills that characterize successful engineers. Students will prepare professional documents that focus specifically on communicating academic and technical knowledge to diverse audiences. Because such documents are always situated within professional, social, and rhetorical contexts, this course also requires students to explain and justify their communicative choices in order to become adept in navigating the rhetorical environments they will encounter as professional engineers. As a SAGES Departmental Seminar, English 398 also prepares students for the writing they will do in Capstone projects.
Note: ENGL 398 complements ENGR 398, a 1-credit co-requisite lecture course, which introduces major practical, theoretical, and ethical issues that shape the environment for communication among professional engineers. For details of the ENGR 398 objectives, work commitments, grade breakdown, and assignments, please see the separate syllabus for that course.
Additional Note: ENGL 398 is a departmental seminar, and as such, the workload and time commitment outside of class time will be demanding. Be prepared and plan ahead. Beginning assignments early, particularly near the end of the semester as things get busier, will allow you to finish on time and submit your best work. This course asks you to develop your writing skills while also honing your professional skills, including time management, organization, and punctuality. By the end of English 398, students should be able to:
- Produce written texts in a variety of professional genres – texts that communicate effectively and adhere to professional ethical standards.
- Deliver clear and professional oral presentations on a range of engineering topics.
- Reflect on and justify the rhetorical choices involved in planning, writing, revising, and presenting academic and professional engineering documents.
- Summarize the research writing of an academic engineer for a non-technical audience.
- Demonstrate the ability to work as part of a research team, coordinating workflow and collaboratively presenting outcomes.
- Synthesize the academic research and professional best practices related to an engineering project in the student’s field.
- Produce and refine an array of personal professional documents.
- Demonstrate the capacity for life-long learning through sustained reflection, revision, and research.
ENGL 406
Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction
W 2:15—4:45 Grimm
“Rules for the first draft: Do it…. Do it quickly.”
–Stephen Koch (Writer’s Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction)
This is an intensive course for students who want to try their hand at a novel, and who have already had substantial experience in writing prose fiction. Students will produce a working synopsis and go on to write and workshop 80-100 pp. of a novel. Readings will include the work of contemporary novelists, as well as various theoretical approaches to the text and the author. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor.
ENGL 415
Academic Research and Writing
TTH 2:30—3:45 Codita
The course focuses on the skills that graduate students need in order to write research papers. Students will learn how to organize ideas, synthesize material from written and other sources, and develop organizational and rhetorical skills appropriate to their discipline. Students will also learn how to use reflection and self-assessment to become more independent and competent writers. Activities include analyzing discipline-specific academic texts, writing in a variety of academic genres, and revising.
This course is specifically designed for multilingual students but native speakers of English may take the course with instructor’s approval.
ENGL 504
Creative Writing Theory and Practice
T 4:25—6:55 Gridley
This course is designed to prepare MA and PhD candidates in English to teach ENGL 203 (Introduction to Creative Writing). It is a required course for any graduate student seeking a practicum in creative writing. The course will operate as a hybrid seminar/workshop. Students will examine and discuss creative writing and teaching practices while producing their own works of creative writing for exchange and critique. Recommended preparation: completion of a creative writing workshop at the undergraduate or graduate level.
ENGL 520
Modern Literature and Periodical Studies
M 4:25-6:55 Koenigsberger
The seminar takes up the relation of literary production, especially fiction, to periodical publication in the age usually called “Edwardian” – the years bridging the fin-de-siecle and the postwar emergence of “high” modernisms. As a range of periodical publication comes to be folded into major digital initiatives – the Modernist Journals Project (Brown U. and U of Tulsa), Pulp Magazines Project (U of West Florida), and Blue Mountain Project (Princeton U.) – literary study of the modern age increasingly complicates a canon that comprises only monumental publications in the form of the book. The seminar encourages consideration – both separately and together – of this age of “literature in transition” (as a prominent journal of the period terms it) and of the recent (re)turn to periodical studies in the humanities more generally. We’ll start with some classic formulations of Edwardian literature and recent contributions to periodical studies, before attending closely to literary texts and the print environments in which they initially appeared – and the new digital ecosystems in which they have been resurrected.