Fall 2020 Courses - Graduate

English 201: Materials and Methods of Literary Research

M 4:00-6:45 PM (Professor Eastwood)

This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the basic elements of work in the field of literary study. Objectives for the course include introducing students to research materials, tools, various analytical methodologies and critical theories, helping students discover how to apply particular methods to different literary texts, honing analytical and research skills, and gaining experience writing for different audiences. The seminar is organized around the close reading of two very different literary texts (Stoker’s Dracula and Shakespeare’s Hamlet), to which students apply and analyze various critical lenses before researching and producing their own paper for a mock conference, and then revising that work for a research paper to conclude the seminar.

English 224: Studies in Early Modern Literature

R 7:00-9:45 PM (Professor Villagrana)

This course pairs readings in English, Iberian, and colonial primary sources with seminal works of theory and criticism in early modern critical race studies. Students will become familiar with the theoretical frameworks of historicism and cultural studies; practice close reading works with regard to early modern literary conventions; and integrate these analytical approaches in their original research essays.

English 240: Poetry Writing Workshop

M 4:00-6:45 PM (Professor Ashton)

What is prose poetry? How does it differ from flash fiction and the
lyric essay, or is the question of nomenclature merely “a wart on so much happiness,” as Marianne Moore observed? In this graduate level workshop, we’ll consider short forms through the lens of the prose poem, including its historical development, structure, and how prose poetry relates to genre classification and hybridity. Poets and prose writers alike are welcome to read, consider, write, and workshop in their genres through these popular forms.

English 241: Fiction Writing Workshop

R 4:00-6:45 PM (Professor Taylor)

This is the most advanced fiction workshop offered at SJSU. Experimentation, risk- taking, and stretching of all kinds will be encouraged. Students submit two original pieces of fiction for plus a significant revision in lieu of a final exam. The texts for the semester are Best American Short Stories 2019 (eds. Anthony Doerr & Heidi Pitlor) and an anthology of published short stories chosen by the class. Registration priority goes to MFAs with a primary concentration in fiction, followed by those with a secondary concentration in fiction, and finally graduate students in other programs. If you are not in the MFA program, you must submit a writing sample to the instructor before you may register.

English 242: Nonfiction Writing Workshop

W 7:00-9:45 PM (Professor Moriarty)

In this workshop, you will read, discuss, and have the opportunity to write in all the genres of Creative Nonfiction. We will discuss and critique each other’s work, read pieces from well-known practitioners, and explore nonfiction’s many shapes, forms, and possibilities.

English 254: Seminar in Genre Studies in American Literature

M 7:00-9:45 PM (Professor Brada-Williams)

Many key works of twentieth-century American literature seem to straddle the border between a short story collection and a novel. Writers ranging from William Faulkner to Jean Toomer, from Louise Erdrich to Elizabeth Strout have used genre-bending styles to represent specific American communities and their experiences. This course will explore both the impact of ethnic Americans in shaping the genres between short story collections and novels and the impact of these boundary-defying genres have on the ability of Americans to depict community. It will be a semester-long examination of the interrelationship of form and content. While we will discuss the various definitions of these forms, the emphasis of the class will be on exploring the aesthetic and political uses of a variety of American authors’ choices, rather than on determining set genre definitions.

English 256: Seminar in Twentieth Century British Literature

T 4:00-6:45 PM (Professor Krishnaswamy)

At the beginning of the 20th century, Britain was the most powerful empire in the world, the British monarch ruled over a quarter of the world’s population, and my ancestors on the Indian subcontinent in South Asia were British subjects, some engaged in anticolonial struggles against Britain. By end of the 20th century, Britain had fought two world wars, lost its empire, become part of the EU, and experienced an influx of immigrants from the former colonies while the English language had established itself as the dominant lingua franca of the
world. Today, two decades into the 21st century, Britain has Brexited the European Union in an assertion of nationalism and registers significant levels of nostalgia for empire while the country battles the covid-19 global pandemic, the Prime Minister is hospitalized, and British citizens of South Asian origin occupy 4th and 5th positions in the British government’s chain of command. What do these massive transformations tell us about the changing nature of British national identity and what role has literature played in creating, propagating, reinforcing, challenging or subverting representations of national identity? We will seek answers to these questions by exploring the relationship between nation and narration in the selected works of T.S. Eliot, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, E.M. Foster, Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, Graham Greene, Doris Lessing, Jean Rhys, Sam Selvon, Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, Zadie Smith, and others.

English 259: Seminar in Composition Studies

R 4:00-6:45 PM (Professor Baer)

What is writing? Why and how have we studied it? How do we learn it? Seminar members will collaborate to explore the intersections of theory and practice as they design a first year writing course for SJSU students. Each research team’s course design will grow out of our reading, research, and discussion of the theory and practice of rhetoric and writing studies. This collaboration will yield a culminating project from each seminar member: a teaching portfolio that includes a teaching philosophy statement, proposed course syllabus, and sample reading and writing assignment(s) and lesson plan(s). English 259 is a prerequisite or corequisite for Teaching Associates; it is highly recommended for anyone who contemplates teaching writing.

English 291: Literary Practicum

W 7:00-9:45 PM (Professor Anderson)

This 4-unit CR/NC practicum course prepares Creative Writing graduate students to take the MFA exam and develop and begin writing their theses. In ENGL 291, students will customize their exam reading list, draft the thesis abstract and preface, and participate in vital peer reviews. At the beginning of the course, students will consult with their individual thesis committees (comprised of the thesis director and thesis readers) to create a completion plan and throughout the semester, will work under their guidance to complete a publishable manuscript. 

MFA candidates will share drafts with others working in the same
primary genre on the class’ Canvas page. There they will post texts of their thesis abstracts and introductions, as well as portions of their project. In turn, students will receive comments on their drafts from classmates (working in the same primary genre) and from their respective thesis committees.

Beyond preparation for the exam and developing the thesis, ENGL 291 offers crucial professional development opportunities as students will have the chance to meet with literary agents, visiting writers, and editors. The course also provides a forum for a vibrant writing community through Thursday evening readings presented by the Center for Literary Arts.

English 297: Exam preparation for the Master’s Degree

M 7:00-9:45 PM (Professor Stork)

In this 2-unit course, we will strategize for taking the Masters Level Comprehensive Examination. With guidance, you will choose your topics for the take-home portion. We will also discuss the literary terms list and practice analyzing poetry. At the end of the semester, you will take the in-class timed portion of the exam on literary terms and poetic analysis.