PDF version - Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

English
E298 Field Exploration 1-5 credits
E300 Dimensions of Literature 3 credits
This general education course is designed to give students an understanding of some major writers,
themes, or trends of literature (American, English, or World) in its larger context – cultural, historical,
philosophical, theological, etc. Themes or concepts that serve as points of departure in the investigation
of literary history or cultural and individual expression vary from semester to semester (see specific titles
on course schedule).
E302 An American Conflict: The Individual vs Society 3 credits
Especially because of its strong historical emphasis on the individual and individualism, there has always
existed in American culture a dynamic tension between the individual and society. This course explores
how major American authors have chosen to present and interpret this theme by tracing it from its roots
in early American literature to its most sophisticated expression in works written during the latter half of
the 19th and first part of the 20th century. Offered in alternate fall semesters. Prerequisite: E250.
E303 Imagining Nature in Early American Literature 3 credits
This course focuses on the relationship between the American literary imagination and nature. It
examines how early American romantic, naturalistic, and modernist authors have imaginatively
perceived the relationship between nature and humanity. Students read and discuss American literary
texts that embody a variety of perspectives on this relationship, leading to a deeper understanding of
this pervasive cultural theme. Offered in alternate fall semesters. Prerequisite: E250.
E306 American Dreamers 3 credits
This course focuses on the theme of identity in American literature since the start of the 20th century
and, in particular, on those authors and texts that explore the topic of identity in relation to the
American dream. Students read and discuss a variety of American literary texts that embody varying
perspectives on this relationship. These perspectives include, but are not limited to, the following:
gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, geographical location, and religious affiliation. Offered in alternate
spring semesters. Prerequisite: E250.
E307 American Modernism 3 credits
American Modernism studies the major American authors who were writing between the two world
wars and the Modernist literary movement of which they were a part. Students examine a variety
of poetry and fiction to identify the changes in form that emerged around the time of World War I;
students make connections between the content and form of literature and what was happening
in world history and in the world of art; and students consider the individual innovations of writers
within the broad aesthetic movement known as Modernism. Offered in alternate spring semesters.
Prerequisite: E250.
E315 Early British Literature: Christianity and Its Others 3 credits
In this course, students explore the advent and establishment of Christianity as the dominant mode
of discourse in the Medieval and Early Modern periods of British Literature. This investigation hinges
upon exposure to countercurrents which Christianity operated against as it established its primacy
(such as paganism, Judaism, Islam), as well as to tensions within Christianity itself (heresies, humanism,
patriarchy v. feminism, and the division between Catholicism and Protestantism). While the course thus
is historical and cultural in its overall theme, the emphasis is on close reading and discussion of literary
texts. Offered in alternate fall semesters. Prerequisite: E250.
E316 Early British Literature: From Romance to Epic 3 credits
In this course students explore the development of medieval British Romance especially from its Celtic
and French origins, then proceed to examine Spenser’s fusion of romance with epic in the context of
the rising vogue of the epic in the Early Modern period, and conclude in a sustained engagement with
105 105