Catalog Listings | Course/Exam Schedule
Senior Program | Creative Writing Program | Courses for Writers
Courses for Non-Majors: The Department of English and American Literatures offers a wide variety of courses in literature that are open without prerequisite to all students in the college. These include most 0100 and 0200-level courses and some 0300-level courses. The ENAM 0103, 0204 sequence is intended for declared or potential majors.
Creative writing courses of 0300 and higher are workshop courses for which admission is by prerequisite or approval only. Please be sure to pre-register in the English department office at least one week prior to registration.
Major Program: The Department of English and American Literatures offers a program of intensive study in literature by major writers from the medieval period to the present. It also provides experience in a variety of interpretive methods and cultural contexts and fosters the knowledge and appreciation of literature. The English and American Literatures major is intended to cultivate students' powers of rigorous analysis, whatever their eventual career goals. The major also provides a rich variety of opportunities for critical and creative writing. Course work begins with a core sequence designed to introduce students to close reading, literary theory and criticism, and the historical foundations of literature in English. This core sequence is followed by courses that expose students to the major genres and periods of British, American, and post-colonial literature. Students may elect to pursue independent work by writing a one-semester essay or two-semester thesis during their senior year.
Requirements for the Major: A minimum of twelve courses, including: 1) ENAM 0103; 2) ENAM 0204 or 0201; 3)ENAM 0205; 4)ENAM 0206; 5) an 0200-0300-level ENAM course in narrative fiction (FI); 6) a 0200-0300-level ENAM course in poetry (PO); 7) a 0200-0300-level ENAM course in drama other than Shakespeare (DR); 8) a course on Shakespeare (SH); 9) a 0300-0400-level ENAM or LITS seminar; 10) ENAM 0720, the Senior Comprehensive Exam, taken in Winter Term of Senior Year; and 11) and 12) literature electives. Two courses must involve literature prior to the year 1800, at least one of which one must be in British literature, and neither of which can be 0204 or 0201 (unless both have been taken, whereupon one can be counted) or a class fulfilling the Shakespeare requirement; one course in addition to 0206 must concern American Literature (AL); and one must carry the Literature, Culture, and History (LCH) designation. Students wishing to be candidates for honors in ENAM must elect either a one-term senior critical or creative essay (ENAM 0700 or 0701), or a two term senior critical thesis (ENAM 0710 or ENAM 0711). All students undertaking creative-writing honors projects must have already completed two 0300-level creative writing workshops. LITS 0705, Senior Colloquium in Literary Studies, can also be used to fill the seminar requirement in ENAM.
A student entering the major should discuss a plan for the entire major program with an advisor in the department or with the chair.
Joint Major: A joint major in English and American Literatures requires a minimum of eight courses, including the following: 1) ENAM 0103; 2) ENAM 0204 or 0201; 3) ENAM 206; 4) a 0200 or 0300-level ENAM course in poetry (PO); 5) a 0200 or 0300-level ENAM course in narrative fiction (FI); 6) a 0200 or 0300-level ENAM course in drama (DR); 7) a 0200 or 0300-level course on Shakespeare (SH); and 8) a senior project that brings together aspects of the two majors (typically an essay, thesis, or seminar appropriate to both fields, should such a seminar be available). Joint majors must be approved by the chairs of both departments or programs involved.
Minor: A minor in English and American Literatures requires six courses: 1) ENAM 0103; 2) ENAM 0204 or 0201; 3) ENAM 206; 4) one 0200 or 0300-level ENAM course in poetry (PO); 5) one 0200 or 0300-level ENAM course in narrative fiction (FI); and 6) one 0200 or 0300-level ENAM course in drama (DR).
Senior Program: The senior program includes the required comprehensive seminar and examination (see description below) and an optional one-term essay or a two-term thesis (ENAM 0700, 0701, ENAM 0710, 0711). Students undertaking two-term theses normally begin them in the fall term, take the Comprehensive Seminar and Examination that winter term, and complete their thesis in the spring term. Students completing one-term essays may register for them in either the fall or spring terms of their senior year.
Fall term and spring term senior essays must be submitted no later than the last day of classes. Late essays will receive a grade no higher than C. Senior thesis (two-term projects) must be submitted no later than two weeks before the last day of classes in either term. Late theses will receive a grade no higher than a C and will have no oral examination or outside reader. No one is permitted to register for the second term in a thesis program unless he or she has accomplished and submitted a substantial amount of work during the first term.
Comprehensive Seminar and Examination Program: Each year the department faculty devises a reading list of 12-15 works covering all periods and genres of English, American and post-colonial literature, and each winter term several faculty jointly teach a series of seminars covering these works. (Students will receive the next year's reading list at the end of their junior year). The course will exercise and test skills of close reading, textual analysis, and the application of theoretical ideas. In addition to regular seminars, the senior program includes weekly guest lectures, panel discussions, and related social events. At the conclusion of the winter term, students take an oral examination. The Senior Comprehensive Seminar and Examination is required for completion of the major.
Honors: Departmental honors will be determined on the basis of course grades, essay or thesis grade, and the Comprehensive Seminar and Examination grade. For honors in any of the three categories (honors, high honors, highest honors), college rules specify a minimum average of B in the course grades and a minimum grade of B on the essay or thesis. To qualify for highest honors the department requires a minimum of B+ in each the three areas (course grades average, thesis or essay, and the Comprehensive program). In determining the numerical average of course grades all courses designated ENAM will be counted, as will all other Middlebury courses that fulfill requirements for the major.
ENGLISH LITERATURE
Those students matriculating prior to September of 2006 have the option of fulfilling either the requirements of the Department of English (see description below) or of the Department of English and American Literatures (see description above). Those matriculating in or after September 2006 must fulfill the requirements of the Department of English and American Literatures.
Requirements for the major:The major in English will consist of a minimum of eleven courses, including: (1) ENAM 0103; (2) ENAM 0204 or 0201; (3) ENAM 0205, Contemporary Literary Theory (CR), or a course in literary criticism offered by another department with approval of adviser; (4) a 0200- or 0300-level ENAM course in poetry (PO); (5) a 0200- or 0300-level ENAM course in narrative fiction (FI); (6) a 0200- or 0300-level ENAM course in drama other than Shakespeare (DR); (7) a course on Shakespeare (SH); (8) a 0300- or 0400-level ENAM or LITS seminar; (9) ENAM 0720, the Senior Comprehensive Examination, taken in winter term of the senior year; and (10) and (11) literature courses, one of which must be pre-1800. (Beginning with the class of 2009, 2 pre-1800 courses are required, which can be fulfilled by any two courses dealing with pre-1800 literature except 0204 and the Shakespeare requirement.) Students wishing to be candidates for honors in English must elect either a one-term senior critical or creative essay (ENAM 0700 or ENAM 0701) or a two-term senior critical or creative thesis (ENAM 0710 or ENAM 0711). All students undertaking creative-writing honors projects must have already completed two 0300-level writing workshops. Up to two courses in American Literature may be substituted for the English courses listed above, but this substitution requires approval of the chair of the English department. Courses below that fulfill the genre requirements are designated with the abbreviations FI (Fiction), PO (Poetry), DR (Drama), CR (Criticism), and SH (Shakespeare). LITS 0705, Senior Colloquium in Literary Studies, which focuses on major European works from antiquity through the twentieth century, is also an appropriate selection and can be used to fill the seminar requirement for the English major.
Joint Major: A joint major in English requires a minimum of seven courses, including the following: (1) ENAM 0103; (2) ENAM 0204 or 0201; (3) a 0200- or 0300-level ENAM course in poetry (PO); (4) a 0200 or 0300 level ENAM course in narrative fiction (FI); (5) a 0200- or 0300-level ENAM course in drama (DR); and (6) a course on Shakespeare (SH); a senior project that brings together aspects of the two majors (typically an essay, thesis, or seminar appropriate to both fields, should such a seminar be available). Joint majors must be approved by the chairs of both departments or programs involved.
Minor: ENAM 0103; ENAM 0204 or 0201; one ENAM poetry course at the 0200- or 0300-level; one ENAM drama course at the 0200- or 0300-level; one ENAM narrative fiction course at the 0200- or 0300-level; one additional ENAM literature elective. Note: At least one of the courses selected to complete the minor must be at the 0300 level.
Senior Program: See description under English and American Literatures.
Honors: See description under English and American Literatures.
COLLEGE WRITING PROGRAM
ENAM 0103 satisfies the college writing requirement. Some sections of other courses may also fulfill this requirement; consult the Web catalog for changes and additions.
0100-LEVEL COURSES:
INTRODUCTORY COURSES
These courses are recommended for students, primarily in their first or second years, with interests in comparative, thematic, and theoretical approaches to literature. They are especially suitable for meeting the College distribution requirement.
Core Courses:
The ENAM 0103, ENAM 0204, or ENAM 0201 sequence introduces students to skills of close reading and analytical writing and, in some depth, to writers whose works are regarded as central to the English and American literary traditions. Those intending to major in English are advised to complete the ENAM 0103, ENAM 0204, ENAM 0201, or ENAM 0206 sequence before they elect other courses above the 0200 level. ENAM 0103 is a writing intensive course that meets the College Writing (CW) requirement. ENAM 0103 is a prerequisite to ENAM 0204 and ENAM 0201.
For more information of the Creative Writing Program please click here.