Department of English

ENGL 99, College Reading and Critical Thinking, 2 Units

Students actively work to develop prerequisite skills needed to handle the reading demands in a college-level setting. This course is also designed to prepare the limited reader with critical reading material representing controversial issues that are commonly the subject of college debate. This course is required during the first semester for students with SAT I Verbal of 470 and below or ACT Reading at 19 and below. Credit for this course does not count toward graduation.

ENGL 100, Writing Strategies, 3 Units

Diagnostic assessment, group work, and individualized instruction are utilized in this course to improve skills in the grammatical and mechanical features of academic writing including clear, cohesive paragraphs, and essays for diverse purposes and audiences. This is a first-semester, required course for students entering with a SAT I Verbal/SAT Critical Reading score of 470 and below; or ACT English of 19 and below. Does not meet the General Education requirement for University Skills and Requirements. This course counts as elective credit.

ENGL 102, Study Skills and Strategies, 1 Unit

This course helps students become effective, efficient learners. It covers such topics as learning styles, motivational patterns, time management, test taking, study-reading, and note taking.

ENGL 111, Studies in Literature, 3 Units

This course is topically driven according to the most engaging themes, ideas, or bodies of literature, helping students develop skills in literary analysis, genre recognition, and creative expression. Students learn to read, think about, and enjoy great literary works of the past and present. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

Prerequisite: One of the following: SAT Critical Reading 480+, SAT Writing 500+, SAT Redesigned Evidence Based Reading and Writing 530+, ACT Writing 8+, ACT English 20+, TESL 102, ALCI Level 4.

ENGL 211, Film Analysis and Criticism, 3 Units

This course focuses on analyzing and writing about film as a narrative and visual medium, emphasizing the terms, methods, and techniques of film analysis. Students will write about films in terms of plot structure, character development, themes, genres, and literary sources. They will practice a variety of genres, from film reviews to film criticism and theory.

ENGL 212, Literary Critical Strategies, 3 Units

This course introduces majors to specialties within the discipline of English, as well as to literary theory and criticism, including but not limited to major approaches and theories such as Feminist Literary Theory, New Historicism, Marxist Literary Theory, Christian or Theological Approaches, and Postcolonial Theory. Special emphasis will be given to practice in close reading and the application of traditional and electronic research skills in the humanities.

ENGL 215, Introduction to Creative Writing, 3 Units

This course introduces students to poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and script writing, and what it takes to write successfully today in each of these genres. Wide reading introduces students to what is being done in each genre and facilitates writing in them. By the end of the semester, students complete a portfolio of several drafts of their work in each creative writing genre.

Prerequisite: C or above in WRIT 110

ENGL 222, English Literature to 1789, 3 Units

A chronological study of English literature from the beginning through the Neoclassical period is provided in this course. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

ENGL 224, World Literature to the Renaissance, 3 Units

In this course, students review world literature in order to broaden students' literary horizons and expand their understanding of the forms, content, and cultural contexts in which literature is written. Students discover new literatures to further explore and enjoy, and this new enjoyment sheds light on their own literary traditions. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

Prerequisite: WRIT 110

ENGL 232, English Literature Since 1789, 3 Units

English Literature Since 1789 is a 3-unit, lower-division General Education English course that provides a chronological survey of Romantic, Victorian, and Modern literature in multiple genres (poetry, fiction, drama, non-fiction), seeking to place each work in its historical and cultural context. Priority will be given to questions about the literary imagination and human culture. How does literature inspire, nourish, and sustain our search for truth, goodness, and beauty, and what difference does it make to read such literature from a thoughtful Christian perspective? This course is recommended especially for students who intend to study abroad at Oxford University. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

ENGL 234, World Literature Since the Renaissance, 3 Units

The goal of this class is to familiarize students with some major authors of literature outside of England and America, between 1500 and the present. The term World Literature is not meant to imply that there is a unitary literature of the world, but that literature is a product of all languages and cultures and therefore is worldwide phenomenon. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

Prerequisite: WRIT 110

ENGL 244, American Literature to 1865, 3 Units

This course is a survey of American literature from its beginnings to 1865. Students examine major writers and literary movements in America through the Civil War. Topics may include colonialism, Puritanism, religious dissent, captivity narratives, slavery, abolitionism, deism, national identity, race, gender, realism, romance, self-reliance, transcendentalism, and so on. The course also examines the role of religion in American literature and literary history, as well as minority literature that has vastly expanded the literary canon. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

Prerequisite: WRIT 110

ENGL 254, American Literature Since 1865, 3 Units

This course will be a survey of American literature from the Civil War period to the present. Topics to be discussed include the Civil War; slavery and emancipation; literary movements including realism, regionalism, naturalism, modernism, and postmodernism; race and ethnicity; immigration and assimilation; gender and sexuality; the Great Migration; lynching; consumerism and suburbanization; globalization and transnationalism; and so on. Students will read and analyze American literature in historical context, asking whether and to what extent literary texts perform cultural work in the real world. We will also consider the role that religion has played in American literature and literary history, examining such issues as belief and unbelief, religion and secularism, pluralism and tolerance. Finally, we will study various American ethnic literatures that have vastly expanded the literary canon. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

ENGL 301, Creative Writing: Fiction, 3 Units

In a writing workshop, students read, analyze, and write prose fiction, concentrating on plot, character, setting, and theme in the short story.

ENGL 302, Creative Writing: Poetry, 3 Units

Students survey trends in the prior century's English language poetry in support of their own writing of both an analytical paper and a poetry portfolio that includes traditional and free forms.

ENGL 303, Creative Writing: Drama and Film, 3 Units

This course examines the art and craft of writing for the stage, film, or television. Students learn to analyze and evaluate their audience, their writing tasks, and their communication goals, and then match these exterior concerns of craft to their interior quest to say something meaningful to themselves and others.

ENGL 304, Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction, 3 Units

This course examines the art and technique of creative nonfiction. Students analyze fictional techniques such as plot and characterization, and learn to use them in writing about subjects of their own choosing. Some focus is given to the art of memoir as a literary genre.

ENGL 311, Film and Literature, 3 Units

This course examines similarities and differences between film and literature, with an emphasis on film as a narrative and visual medium. Using the terms, methods, and techniques of film analysis, students will analyze and write about film and literature in terms of plot structure, character development, themes, genres, and so on. Some attention is given to theories of adaptation as well as film criticism and theory.

Prerequisite: WRIT 110 or enrollment in the Honors College

ENGL 324H, World Literature to the Renaissance - Honors, 3 Units

Students review world literature from Confucius to Dante. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

Prerequisite: To enroll in the course, must be a student admitted to the Honors Program and be considered a member in "active" status.

ENGL 360, Technical and Professional Writing, 3 Units

This course acquaints students with the writing conventions of the professional and technical communities. It helps students understand writing as an essential analytical and communication tool in the professional world and gives them experience in writing proposals, incorporating graphics, and writing for clients to solve problems encountered in that world.

Prerequisite: WRIT 110

ENGL 361, Freelance Magazine Article Writing, 3 Units

This course provides training in writing and marketing various types of nonfiction articles in professional magazines. Students gain experience in writing such articles as book reviews, personal experience articles, personal profiles, how-to articles, devotional articles, and human interest features.

ENGL 364, American Ethnic Literature, 3 Units

This course will study American ethnic literature. Students will read works by American writers from various ethnic groups in the United States (e.g. African American, Asian American, Jewish, Chicano, and Euro-American writers who address issues of race and ethnicity). Major topics include the American Dream, literary canon formation, gender, equality, race, ethnicity, immigration, multiculturalism, assimilation/acculturation, and religion, This course is intended to give you practice in close reading and literary interpretation and to emphasize the value of literature and the reading experience. English 364 aims to expand your ability to interact with American ethnic literature through analysis, interpretation, and criticism. Meets the General Education Requirement: Intercultural Competence. 

Prerequisite: WRIT 110

ENGL 374, African American Literature, 3 Units

This course examines African American literature from its beginnings in oral tradition to the present. Selected readings vary. Topics to be addressed may include race, class, ethnicity, gender, language, slavery, equality, freedom, folklore, miscegenation, passing, pluralism, religion, segregation, syncretism, canon formation, and more.

ENGL 377, Shakespeare, 3 Units

Students in this course undertake a representative study of Shakespeare's sonnets, dramas, comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances.

Prerequisite: WRIT 110

ENGL 384, Women Writers, 3 Units

This course will enable students to read and analyze literary works by women, which have often been excluded by anthology editors and marginalized in survey courses. Students will also gain a broader understanding of the political, social, and cultural factors surrounding these writers and texts. Topics will vary, but might include Women Poets, Women Novelists, 19th Century British Women Writers, 20th Century American Women Writers, Medieval Women Writers, Women Writing Science Fiction.

Prerequisite: WRIT 110

ENGL 386, Contemporary Global Writers, 3 Units

Students will read short fiction, creative nonfiction, and novels by contemporary global writers of the 21st century. Students will examine assumptions about ethnic and national identities, immigration, cosmopolitanism, global citizenship, and literary cultures around the world. This class will consider the role and reputation of the United States and of Christianity abroad. Student will look at the literary techniques and use of point of view to create an insider's perspective into a culture.

Prerequisite: WRIT 110 or enrollment in the Honors College

ENGL 387, Contemporary Writers, 3 Units

This course introduces students to current trends in literature. Students will read short stories and novels by contemporary writers, paying special attention to the craft, structure, and literary techniques of their work. Students will develop strategies of literary analysis and may respond to these works with literary experimentation of their own at different points in the semester. In this course, we will also examine the role of Christianity in contemporary literature.

Prerequisite: WRIT 110 or Honors standing

ENGL 402, Principles of Language, 3 Units

This course provides an introductory survey of the nature and use of language: basic speech sounds, syllable structure, word formation, grammar systems, language acquisition and variation, historical aspects of language change, and their relevance to language teachers.

ENGL 404, Approaches to Grammar, 3 Units

Traditional and modern analyses of grammar are covered, providing a grounding in the traditional eight parts of speech and a grounding in the modern 12 lexical categories and their subcategories; a study of phrase, clause, and sentence types; and an overview of transformational and other modern perspectives on grammar and grammar teaching.

Prerequisite: ENGL 402

ENGL 405, American English Language History, 3 Units

A study of the origins and development of the English language within the Indo-European language family, and the growth of American English as a unique and dynamic variety among the several major offshoots of British English is the focus of this course.

Prerequisite: ENGL 404

ENGL 406, Writing 3: Advanced Composition, 3 Units

This course is especially for students contemplating teaching at the elementary or secondary level, and of interest to students wanting to learn more about their own writing processes and writing instruction. It includes direct instruction and practice in writing in various forms, examining various composition theories and practices, and observing and practicing the teaching of composition, all based on the idea that writing is best learned through writing and learning how to teach it. Meets the General Education Requirement: Writing 3: Writing in the Disciplines. 

Prerequisite: Writing 2

ENGL 410, American Novel, 3 Units

Students engage in extensive reading and analysis of selected romances and novels from 1800 to the present. This course traces the development of the genre in its American form and content.

ENGL 425, Advanced Creative Writing, 3 Units

In a workshop setting, students read, write, analyze, and critique advanced work in one of the following areas: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or playwriting/screenwriting.

Prerequisite: One of the following: ENGL 301, ENGL 302, ENGL 303, ENGL 304

ENGL 434, Children's Literature, 3 Units

Literature, classical as well as contemporary, interesting to children through adolescence and of value to all who work with children either professionally or as parents, is covered in this course.

ENGL 436, Adolescent Literature, 3 Units

This course is a study of literature for adolescent readers, traditionally those in the teen years. It aims to acquaint the students with both popular and enduring works and provides close critical reading of both. Criticisms of adolescent literature, as well as classroom applications for the works, are included in the class. The course is an upper-division elective in English, and of particular use to students planning to teach.

Prerequisite: WRIT 110; ENGL 111 or ENGL 212

ENGL 466, British Novel, 3 Units

Students explore the origins and development of British fiction, reading representative novels from the 18th century to the present.

ENGL 480, Contemporary Literary Criticism, 3 Units

This course explores theories about literature and critical approaches to literature. The testing of theories and the working out of the critical approaches occur through studying excerpts from selected works of literature. This course may be interesting not only to English majors, but also to students of philosophy, theology, and history, for what one learns about critical approaches to a literary text can be applied to all texts.

ENGL 486, Topics in Film Analysis, 3 Units

This course examines the terms, methods, and techniques of film analysis in the context of a special topic that varies each semester depending on the instructor (e.g., Film Noir, Images of Women in Film, Shakespeare on Film, The Western). Emphasis is on formal analysis of film language, with consideration of other critical approaches to film.

ENGL 487, Literary Movements, 3 Units

Students in this course study the literary texts, historical contexts, and critical debates of a significant literary period or movement. Course content may include exploration of corresponding cultural phenomena such as visual and performing arts, music, and film. Possible periods include Romantic, Postmodern, Classical, and Medieval. Selection varies depending on student interest and faculty availability. Repeatable once towards the literature concentration.

ENGL 488, Significant Authors, 3 Units

Students in this course undertake intensive study of one, two, or three major authors. Possible authors include Chaucer, Dickinson, Austen and Woolf, C.S. Lewis, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and Mark Twain, among others. Selection varies depending on student interest and faculty availability. Repeatable once toward the literature concentration.

ENGL 489, Literary Topics, 3 Units

Students in this course study literary topics and genres in English, American, and world literature. Possible topics include images of women in literature, religious autobiography, science fiction, and literature of the American West, among others. Selection varies depending on student interest and faculty availability. Repeatable once toward the Literature Concentration.

ENGL 490, Writing Internship, 3 Units

This course allows for practical application of the writing skills learned in the classroom. Internships are arranged individually for students and supervised directly by the instructor. Experiences may include working for publishers, magazines, public relations firms, or other organizations in which writing is emphasized. Enrollment is contingent upon department approval. Meets the General Education Requirement: Integrative and Applied Learning. 

Prerequisite: Instructor Consent

ENGL 491, Teaching Assistantship, 1-3 Units

The English Teaching Assistantship is a 1-3-unit, upper-division English course that provides upperclassmen with an opportunity for hands-on learning about how to plan and execute a college-level literature and/or writing course. Enrollees will be mentored one-on-one by a full-time English professor in two or more of the following tasks: Research and development of syllabi and/or lecture materials, planning and leading whole-class or small group discussion, creating and managing Student Learning Outcomes through relevant assessments, applying and/or utilizing rubrics, course-related record-keeping, and offering scaffolding to struggling students.

Prerequisite: at least 6 units of ENGL at the 200 level or above

ENGL 496, English and the Professions, 3 Units

This course is designed to help students integrate their Christian faith and values with their private and public lives as professionals in careers established for the English major, such as teaching, ministry, law, business, medicine, government service, and library science. Assigned readings, class discussions, and required essays allow students to practice skills acquired in the major and articulate faith integration. Meets the General Education Requirement: Integrative and Applied Learning. 

Prerequisite: Writing 2

ENGL 497, Readings, 1-4 Units

Consists of a program of study concentrating on assigned readings, discussions, and writing arranged between and designed by a student of upper-division standing and a full-time professor. An independent study fee is assessed for each enrollment in this class.

ENGL 498, Directed Research, 1-4 Units

This course provides instruction in research design and technique, and gives students experience in the research process. The 1-unit expectation encompasses no fewer than 30 hours of work with accompanying reading, log, writing, and seminar presentation within the department or in a university research symposium. No more than 1 unit may be used to fulfill preparatory readings requirement. An independent study fee is assessed for each enrollment in this class.

Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing

ENGL 499, Thesis/Project, 1-4 Units

This is a senior-level "capstone" type of independent study/research experience, involving the student in a unique project with a sophisticated level of research, synthesis, analysis, and communication. The 1-unit expectation encompasses no fewer than 30 hours of work with accompanying readings, log, instructor discussions, and writing of summary analysis and conclusions. The thesis or project may result in formal thesis, published article, or electronic media. No more than 1 unit may be used to fulfill preparatory readings requirement. An independent study fee is assessed for each enrollment in this class.

Prerequisite: Upper-division writing intensive course or instructor consent; and junior or senior standing

ENGL 500, The Christian Imagination, 3 Units

Students in this course will explore the history of Christian Aesthetics, especially as it applies to the reading and writing of literature. They will engage with thinkers representing a broad range of historical periods, geographic locations, and faith traditions, seeking to understand various ways that Christians have understood the role of the arts in church and culture. After surveying this variety of approaches, students will begin refining their own convictions about the relationship between literature and faith and begin articulating their own sense of vocation as writers, readers, scholars, critics, and teachers. Students will respond to the extensive reading in this class by writing a scholarly paper.

ENGL 510, Literature and the Bible, 3 Units

Students in this course develop critical strategies for using the Bible as a tool for literary study, learning various ways the Bible has been read as literature, as well as the special challenges of reading the Bible as a sacred text. They gain expertise in bringing the Bible into conversation with secular literature and culture in ways that open rather than shut down dialogue. They also examine biblical imagery, symbols, archetypes, and other storytelling devices in literary and other texts, making applications to genres pertinent to their concentration - for example, poetry and the Bible, parables in film and literature, or critical analysis of biblical archetypes in the work of a particular author or group of authors.

ENGL 520, Literature and Theology, 3 Units

Students in this course read, discuss, and critically analyze literary texts that deal directly or implicitly with religious themes. The main goal is to integrate the study of literary texts with insights gleaned from Christian theology and the Bible; to that end, students familiarize themselves with one or several theological themes within the Christian tradition and develop this theme (or cluster of themes) through analysis of one or several literary texts. The culminating project is a publishable (or conference-worthy) critical paper that examines one or several literary texts from a theologically informed Christian perspective. Theological themes vary according to the interests of students and faculty; previous topics included secularism and the sacred, the problem of evil, materialism vs. supernaturalism, sacramental imagination, social justice, poverty, the sacred land, Christ figures, prodigal sons and daughters, and illness, suffering, and death.

ENGL 530, British Literature Seminar, 3 Units

This course studies various special topics in British literature and culture, including but not limited to authors, genres, movements, periods, and methodologies in British literary studies. Students will study a range of authors and texts as well as relevant secondary sources.

ENGL 540, American Literature Seminar, 3 Units

Students in this course explore various special topics in American literature and culture, including but not limited to authors, genres, movements, periods, and methodologies in American literary studies. Students study a range of authors and texts, as well as relevant secondary sources.

ENGL 550, World Literature Seminar, 3 Units

This course covers various special topics in world literature and culture, including but not limited to authors, genres, movements, periods, and methodologies in comparative literature and literary studies. Students study a range of authors and texts, as well as relevant secondary sources.

ENGL 560, Creative Writing Seminar, 3 Units

The creative writing workshop will enable students to create original texts in a creative genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, or hybrid genres) by studying existing texts in that genre, exploring writing craft, and working through revision techniques.

ENGL 568, Writing for Religious Audiences, 3 Units

Millions of readers across the world enjoy works written specifically for a Christian audience. The daily devotional magazine The Upper Room, for example, has a worldwide readership of 2 million. Charles Stanley's In Touch magazine has a readership of 1 million for the print and online versions of the publication. Students in this course will learn to write for this large Christian audience and how to market their work to editors and agents. They will focus on the types of articles that are particularly open to freelance writers, such as book reviews, personal experience articles, and personal profiles. They will also learn and practice the process of writing a book proposal and sample chapters for a non-fiction book targeted to the Christian market. Students will participate in an off-campus professional writers conference where they will pitch their article or book ideas to editors and agents.

ENGL 570, Graduate Research Methods in English, 3 Units

The goal of this class is to help students make the intellectual and emotional transition from undergraduate to graduate work, empower students with the key skills they will need during their graduate work, and prepare them for work and/or further study beyond the MA. The course will introduce students to graduate level standards for doing and presenting research in English and its related disciplines. It will enlarge and deepen students' repertoire of skills in effectively using available research tools, including library databases, WorldCat, Link+, etc. Students will build on the skills acquired as undergraduates in finding, critically evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources in order to make a contribution to the existing scholarly discourse. Students will learn to recognize how and where their individual interests and worldview intersect with, challenge, and speak to the larger academic community. Students will also learn to formulate, deepen, and pursue graduate level questions of scholarly interest over a sustained period of time. This class will prepare students for their other graduate level classes in the MA program and equip students to function as independent scholars outside the umbrella of a professor's guidance. Students who intend to pursue doctoral work, the legal field, or other careers involving research are strongly encouraged to take this class. Students who have been away from study for more than a year are also strongly encouraged to take this class.

ENGL 580, Critical Theory Seminar, 3 Units

This course introduces students to critical theory in the context of a specific theme, theoretical movement, or literary topic. Students will examine and practice models of critique and cultural analysis, considering how literature and language develops in particular social and material conditions. Topics will cover both major theoretical movements in critical theory, such as post-structuralism, reader-response, queer theory, hermeneutics, and post-colonial studies, as well as emerging theoretical approaches, such as affect studies, critical race studies, eco-criticism, historical phenomenology, new formalism, and transnational studies. Course assignments are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills required to do interdisciplinary work in literary studies.

ENGL 590, Writing Center Pedagogy and Practice, 3 Units

In this course, students will explore the pedagogical theory behind writing centers and, at a basic level, composition courses. Students will also learn to apply the theory in their own interactions with students, potentially in Azusa Pacific University's Writing Center while enrolled in the Master's program, and/or in their future careers. In addition, students will come to better understand the complexities of writing processes, what successful writing processes look like, process and post-process theory, and how to improve their own processes.

ENGL 591, Literature Pedagogy for Adult Audiences, 3 Units

In this course, students will deepen their work of developing the literary mind as they apply their knowledge of literature to processes of planning, implementing, assessing, and reflecting on lessons, materials (including media), and curricula for adolescent and adult learners. To accomplish these competencies, students will read, discuss, and critically analyze texts and media that deal directly or implicitly with the study of literature, learning theory (e.g., envisionment, transactional theory of the literary work, formalism), and the Common Core State Standards. They will practice research-based teaching pedagogy that addresses the needs of diverse learners (e.g., generational, cultural, linguistic, learning styles, learning needs) at the secondary or college level. Observation of, and interviews with, expert teachers, coupled with curricular (lesson and syllabus) planning, teaching, research, discussion, application, and assessment will provide students with a practical foundation for teaching from a theologically-informed Christian perspective.

ENGL 592, Introduction to Composition Studies, 3 Units

This course provides an introduction to the rich, diverse field that is Composition studies today. The focus in the course is on learning about pedagogy that encourages effective writing, though some reading in theory is recommended to deepen awareness of how unexamined theory can lead to ineffective classroom practices. Topics of focus will include teaching process, understanding discourse models, using assessment for effective learning, studying composition historiographies, understanding how social, expressivist, and cognitive approaches to writing and language are important to pedagogies, understanding post-process theories of rhetoric, and learning new and various ways to assess writing.

ENGL 598, Thesis/Portfolio, 3 Units

Completion of a faculty-approved capstone project is a degree requirement for the MA in English. Students have three options to fulfill this requirement: 1) literary critical thesis; 2) a creative writing portfolio; or 3) a curriculum portfolio. For detailed instructions, see the MA in English Handbook available in the English Department. The capstone project allows students the liberty to critically explore areas of interest to them. The goal is for students to use the skills and knowledge that they have developed in the program to create a scholarly project that can be used to advance their career in the field of literary studies. Ultimately, the capstone project should serve as culminating evidence that student scholars have thought deeply about the discipline and the ways that faith informs, shapes, and enables the creation, appreciation, and interpretation of literature.

Prerequisite: Instructor permission required

ENGL 599, Independent Study, 1-3 Units

In this course students pursue a program of individual study with a supervising faculty member on a subject or interest not covered in regular course offerings, which is developed in consultation with the faculty member and approved by the department chair.

PREN 111, Studies in Literature, 3 Units

Topics in Literature (3 units): Topically driven according to the most engaging themes, ideas or bodies of literature, this course develops students' skills in literary analysis, genre recognition and creative expression. Its purpose is to help students think critically and read expansively. Meets GE requirements for Humanities: Literature. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature.