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Credit Programs for Part-time Students

English and Comparative Literature

CMPL 120: Epic and Lyric Traditions

This course focuses on the development of epic and lyric genres, from classical antiquity through to the seventeenth century. The epic tradition will be represented by Virgil’s Aeneid, Dante’s Divine Comedy , Boccaccio’s Decameron, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Lyric selections will focus on works that interact in historically important ways with the epic texts.

Required Texts

Fall and spring semesters:

  • Virgil, The Aeneid, trans. Fitzgerald, Vintage Classics (ISBN 0679729526)
  • de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans. Kibler, Penguin Classics (ISBN 0140445218)
  • Dante, The Portable Dante, trans. Musa, Penguin (ISBN 0142437549)
  • Cervantes, The Adventures of Don Quixote, trans. Cohen, Penguin Classics (ISBN 0140440100)
  • Milton, Paradise Lost, Penguin Classics (ISBN 0140424393)
  • Boccacio, The Decameron, trans. McWilliam, Penguin Books (ISBN 0-140-44930-2)
  • Voltaire, Candide, trans. Butt, Penguin Classics (ISBN 0140440046)

Summer session:

  • all the texts listed above except Voltaire's Candide

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Jenny Flaherty, MA
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 121: English Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries

This course is a survey of the drama, poetry, and prose of the Romantic, Victorian, and Modern periods. This course covers some of the best and best-known works from the Romantic, Victorian, and Modern periods of British literature. You will study not only how and what writers from each period wrote, but why they wrote what they did. Gaining insight into the historical and social contexts of these periods will help you appreciate the works you like least—and will help you articulate better the qualities of the works you love.

Required Texts

  • Abrams and Greenblatt, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 2, 8th edition (2005)
  • Dickens, Hard Times
  • Woolf, To the Lighthouse

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Elizabeth Gualtieri-Reed, PhD
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and 102 or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 123: Introduction to Fiction

This course introduces students to fiction writing through novels and short stories by Hemingway, Faulkner, Wharton, Baldwin, Ellison, Oates, Erdich, Morrison, and others.

Required Texts

  • Charters, ed., The Story and Its Writer, 7th edition
  • Carver, Where I'm Calling From
  • Morrison, Beloved
  • Minot, Monkeys

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Elizabeth Gualtieri-Reed, PhD
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3. Students interested in the Creative Writing Program at UNC-Chapel Hill should not take this course and should refer to the Creative Writing Program's Web site for further information.
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 124: Contemporary Literature

English 124 introduces literature of the past twenty-five years, with an emphasis on cultural forces that influence contemporary writers. The syllabus highlights American writing, including poems and a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, but also samples international short fiction, with works by authors from five continents. English writers are represented by a drama and two novels, but their settings extend beyond the English-speaking world, ranging from Venice to the silent land of Chup. The course looks at the endlessly imaginative ways writers approach contemporary issues, asking questions about the place of history and of mass media in modern literature, and about the power of new technologies to shape our view of reality.

Required Texts

  • Halpern, The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories, (2000), ISBN 0-14-029638-7
  • Wilson, The Piano Lesson (1990), ISBN 0-452-26534-7
  • Winterson, The Passion (1987, 1997), ISBN 0-8021-3522-6
  • Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1991), ISBN 0-140-15737-9
  • Coupland, Hey, Nostradamus! (2003), ISBN 1-582-34415-9
  • Brooks, March (2005), ISBN 0-143-03666-1
  • Auster, Karasik, and Mazzucchelli, City of Glass: The Graphic Novel (2004), ISBN 0-312-42360-8

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: John Paul Middlesworth, PhD
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and 102 or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 125: Introduction to Poetry

Nearly everyone loves some form of poetry—in a popular song, a sentimental poem found on a greeting card, a patriotic hymn, or a beautifully worded epitaph on a gravestone. It is unlike any other artistic form, and each poem conveys a message that cannot be transmitted any other way. In this course, we explore how poetry creates that meaning. ENGL 125 is, most importantly, about learning how to read, hear, and enjoy poetry.

The four main goals of the course:

  1. that you hear poetry when you read it
  2. that you pay attention to all the meaningful details of a poem
  3. that you can discuss poetry critically and in a manner suited to a broader audience
  4. that you gain some historical perspective of English and American poetry, especially within literary history.

Required Texts

  • Ferguson, Salter, and Stallworthy,The Norton Anthology of Poetry, shorter 5th edition (2004), ISBN 0393979210
  • The American Heritage Dictionary

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Laura Kees, PhD
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and 102 or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 128: Major American Authors

This course is a study of major American authors, mainly from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Authors include Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass, Whitman, Thomas Pynchon, and others. Through the readings, we will focus on exploring questions of individualism in America—the quest for self-knowledge, self-expression, and personal freedom.

In this course you will be expected to

  • read all required texts
  • participate in online discussions via the discussion forum
  • submit “free writing” exercises
  • complete several papers and online projects
  • complete a final exam.

Required Texts

  • Chopin, The Awakening
  • Hawthorne, House of the Seven Gables
  • Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
  • Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
  • Whitman, Leaves of Grass
  • Morrison, Beloved

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Heather Ross, MA
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and 102 or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 130: Introduction to Fiction Writing

This course examines the basic techniques of fiction, with related writing exercises involving elements such as point of view, characterization, and dialogue. The course includes discussion of student exercises and readings in short fiction.

Required Texts

  • Burroway, Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, 7th edition (2007)
  • Cassill and Bausch, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 7th edition (2005)

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Richard Krawiec, MA
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3. Students interested in the Creative Writing Program at UNC-Chapel Hill should not consider taking this course and should refer to the Creative Writing Program's Web site for further information.
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and 102 or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 131: Introduction to Poetry Writing

In this course, students are immersed in the writing and reading of poetry in order to become more knowledgeable, skilled, and confident writers of poetry. The course is run workshop-style. Students spend half their time writing poems and giving feedback on others’ work. Since there is no writing poetry without reading poetry, the balance of students' time is spent studying various formal techniques and writing responses to reading assignments.

With steady participation and effort through the semester, students can expect to have a strong and polished manuscript of eight to ten poems ready at the end.

Required Text

  • The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th edition (2004)

You may purchase the textbook at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Requirements for Fall Semester 2008

  • High-speed Internet Connection
    This course requires a high-speed Internet connection. In addition, your computer must meet these requirements. You will be required to register (free) and download software from Second Life.
  • Weekly Meeting on Second Life, an Online Virtual Community
    This course requires that you attend a weekly poetry workshop by visiting an online, 3D virtual world called Second Life at a designated time. You are encouraged to visit Second Life before the course begins to familiarize yourself with it.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Tessa Nicholas, MFA
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3. Students interested in the Creative Writing Program at UNC-Chapel Hill should not consider taking this course and should refer to the Creative Writing Program's Web site for further information.
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and 102 or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 206: Intermediate Fiction Writing

This course builds on the short story writing skills introduced in ENGL 130. Exercises allow students to develop the beginning, middle, and end of stories, to work with imagery, and to listen for their own voice and style. In addition to these exercises, students write two complete short stories and revise one.

Required Texts

  • Burroway, Writing Fiction, 7th edition (2007)
  • Cassill and Bausch, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 7th edition (2005)

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Richard Krawiec, MA
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3. Students interested in the Creative Writing Program at UNC-Chapel Hill should not consider taking this course and should refer to the Creative Writing Program's Web site for further information.
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101, 102, and 130; or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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ENGL 313: Grammar of Current English

This course is a study of modern English grammar (traditional, structural, and transformational) with special attention to such current problems as the confusion of grammatical terminology, attacks on traditional rules, and conflict between prescriptive and descriptive grammar. The course is designed for prospective English teachers, but others may take it.

Required Texts

  • Kolln and Funk, Understanding English Grammar, 7th edition (2005)
  • A hardback college dictionary, such as the American Heritage College Dictionary

You may purchase the textbooks at the Higher Grounds bookstore in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates.

Special Course Requirement

This course includes three oral exams. Students will be required to call the instructor (in Pembroke, North Carolina) at a prearranged time to take exams. Long-distance costs will be the responsibility of the student.

Course Details

  • Instructor: Mark Canada, PhD
  • Department: English and Comparative Literature
  • Credit hours: 3
  • Prerequisites: ENGL 101, 102, and 130; or permission of instructor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill perspectives/requirements fulfilled: The Office of Undergraduate Curricula has links to information about which perspectives this course fulfills under the “Pre-2006 Curriculum” and which requirements it fulfills under the new curriculum (see “2006 Curriculum”).
  • View sample course syllabus.

link How to Enroll

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