Major with Literature Concentration / Major with Writing Concentration / Major with Adolescence Education / Minor with Literature Concentration / Minor with Writing Concentration

The English Major

Students who major in English choose either a literature concentration or a writing concentration. Both paths lead the student toward that combination of particular skills and general sensibility that is the hallmark of a liberal arts education.

A student who chooses the literature concentration will work toward:

• Enhanced ability as a critical reader and writer, able to make, express, and justify reasoned discriminations.
• Intimate knowledge of several of the major texts in British and American literature, together with some notion of how these texts have attained and kept their power.
• Knowledge of the way critical assumptions and standards vary according to historical, cultural, or political context.
• Awareness of the connection between literature and history, politics, religion, patterns of social organization, and other aspects of the human enterprise.

We know these are lofty goals, but we are committed to helping students achieve them. Our purpose is to graduate students who possess not only specialized literary knowledge and a lifelong love of reading but also a broad perspective on the essential role of narrative in the construction of our lives, our communities, and our histories.

A student who chooses the writing concentration moves through a focused program in writing toward:

• Enhanced ability as a critical reader and writer, able to make, express, and justify reasoned discriminations.
• A thorough understanding of the writing process, in both its cognitive and practical dimensions.
• Knowledge of various rhetorical traditions and their links to their cultural contexts.
• Increased versatility as a writer, able to analyze the context for writing and respond to it effectively through multiple strategies and voices.

Within the writing concentration, students will find two tracks: creative writing and technical/professional writing. Courses in the creative writing track explore fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and memoir. Students in the technical/professional writing track focus on the various kinds of writing in the workplace, including writing in and for electronic media. Students may tailor the tracks to suit their own needs and interests. Upper-level courses in both tracks are taught by faculty with practical experience as professional writers. Both tracks culminate in a capstone course for seniors.

What English Majors Do After Graduation:

English majors will be prepared for careers in a number of fields. English majors from St. John Fisher are currently employed in advertising, public relations, fundraising and grant writing, publishing, law, technical writing, public administration, and teaching. The work an English major does in his/her courses builds many valuable skills that the student can offer prospective employers, such as:

• Clear, correct, and forceful writing.
• Careful, analytical thinking and a creative approach to problem solving.
• Research and organizational skills, such as knowing how to find information, how to separate relevant from irrelevant facts and issues, how to synthesize material from varied sources, and how to organize and present material to particular audiences with different expertise and interests.
• The ability to learn new information quickly and to adapt to it—a flexibility that is very important in a working world where technical training is apt to become obsolete in three to five years and where most people change careers several times.

Course and Core Requirements

ENGL 101C (or its equivalent) and a 199C Writing and Research course from any department are prerequisites for most English courses. There are no prerequisites for English courses that satisfy any Perspectives Tier category of the Core Curriculum. First-year students with AP credit in English may take any 200-level English course concurrently with 101C or 199C.

English major with a Literature concentration

• Introductory course: (3)

ENGL 200C Introduction to Literary Analysis

• Three Survey courses chosen from: (9)

ENGL 293 P1 Early English Literature
ENGL 294 Milton through the Romantics
ENGL 295 English Literature, Victorians to the Present
ENGL 297 The Emergence of American Literature
ENGL 298 American Literature from 1880 to the Present

*note that 2 of the 3 must be early lit: 293, 294, or 297

• Three additional English courses at or above the 200 level (9)

• One ethnic American or world literature course (3)

ENGL 220D P1 Modern African American Literature
ENGL 262C CC Topics in Ethnicity and Literature
ENGL 241D CC Asian American Literature
ENGL 335 Studies in African American Lit
ENGL 336 Studies in Native American Lit
ENGL337 Ethnicities in/and Lit

• Three additional literature courses at the 300 level (9)

• ENGL 420 Senior Seminar (3)

Total: 36 credits

English major with a Writing concentration

• Introductory courses: (12)

ENGL 200C Literary Analysis
ENGL 251 Intro to Creative Nonfiction - OR-
ENGL 253 Intro to Creative Writing
ENGL 258 The Essay
ENGL 259 Argument and Persuasion

• Four 300-level Writing courses (12)

One Advanced Practices course
One Theories, Contexts, Communities course
Two additional courses from Advanced Practices and/or Theories, Contexts, Communities

• Two literature courses , at least one at or beyond the 300-level (6)

• One additional English course at or beyond the 200-level (3)

• One Capstone course: (3)

ENGL 425 Writing Seminar

Total: 36 credits

Additional Requirements for Students Seeking Adolescence Teaching Certification In English

Students seeking Adolescence Teaching Certification must complete the courses outlined for an English major with a literature concentration and must complete the following specific requirements:

Adolescence Education Major: (37)

The major includes Education courses, field experiences and student teaching. See Education for details.

• ENGL 203C The History of English (3)

• ENGL 270C Peer Consulting in Writing (4)

• One ethnic American literature course chosen from: (3)

ENGL 220D P1 Modern African American Literature
ENGL 262C CC Topics in Ethnicity and Literature
ENGL 241D CC Asian American Literature
ENGL 335 Studies in African American Lit
ENGL 336 Studies in Native American Lit
ENGL337 Ethnicities in/and Lit

• One World literature course chosen from: (3)

ENGL 238D CC Postcolonial Literature
ENGL 248 P5 World Literature
ENGL 347 Studies in Postcolonialism

• One Shakespeare course: (3)

ENGL 212C P1 Shakespeare at the Movies
ENGL 312C P1 Advanced Shakespeare Seminar

Note: These requirements may add additional credits to the content area of the English major. As early as possible, students should consult with an Education advisor to set up a program leading to certification.

Minor in Writing

The Writing minor requires 18 credits as follows:

ENGL 200C Literary Analysis (3)

• Choose one from: (3)

ENGL 251 Intro to Creative Writing Non Fiction
ENGL 253 Intro to Creative Writing
ENGL 258 The Essay
ENGL 259 Argument and Persuasion

• One course from Advanced Practices (3)

• One course from Theories, Contexts, Communities (3)

• Two additional writing electives, at least one of which must be at the 300 level (6)

Total: 18 credits

Minor in Literature

The Literature minor requires 18 credits as follows:

• ENGL 200C Introduction to Literary Analysis (3)

• Five additional literature courses, at least one of which must focus on British literature and at least two of which must be at the 300 level or beyond. (15)

Total: 18 credits

Note: Only one course applied to a student’s major may also be used to meet a requirement in the student’s Writing or English Literature minor.

A grade point average of 2.00 is required of all courses taken in residence that may be applied to the minor.