ENGLISH

42 credit hours

WHY STUDY ENGLISH AT Trinity College?

Students with English degrees from Trinity have pursued successful careers in public relations, business/finance, editing/design, marketing, secondary education, higher education as well as enrolling in graduate programs.

DID YOU KNOW?

Graduates from Trinity’s English or English with a Communication minor have done graduate work at places like Northwestern University, University of Connecticut, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, University of Notre Dame, Indiana University, Northern Illinois University, University of Stirling (Scotland), and University of Wisconsin—Madison and others!

WHAT WILL I STUDY?

The English major is designed to prepare you for graduate work in English, law, library science, and careers requiring a strong background in the liberal arts. The English major has a general focus with the opportunity for you to select courses reflecting your particular academic interests. You will learn how to describe the formal features of poetry, fiction and drama and demonstrate knowledge of a wide variety of English literature. You will also learn how to adequately describe the work of literary scholars, apply their methods, and reflect on their methods in light of Christian theology.

COURSEWORK:

Our English major presents a traditional approach to literature, with a focus on British literature and additional coverage of American and World literatures. Students begin with a solid grounding in three central literary genres: Studies in Poetry, Fiction, and Drama (ENG 220, 222, 224). Building on this basis of the genres, students take a three-semester sequence of courses in British literature. Renaissance Literature (ENG 306) covers literature of the 16th and 17th centuries such as John Donne and John Milton, and Romantic Literature (ENG 310) includes the 18th and early 19th centuries, focusing on Wordsworth, Keats, and Shelley. Modern British Literature (ENG 315) continues the historical trajectory to the present, covering authors such as W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot.

To complement the study of British literature, we offer a two-semester sequence in American Literature. The first American literature survey ends at the Civil War (ENG 318: antebellum), studying authors such as Hawthorne and Melville, while the second survey covers American literature after it (ENG 320: postbellum), including Twain and Hemingway.

Two courses feature literature in translation. Classical literature (ENG 302) focuses on Homer and Virgil, while Russian literature (ENG 317) features Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. The course in literary theory (ENG 230) engages the literary thought of several traditions, including structuralism, post-structuralism, and Russian Formalism.

Two final courses offer in-depth analysis of a particular sub-section of English. Shakespeare (ENG 406) studies great plays such as Hamlet, Othello, and Twelfth Night, while British Novel (ENG 420) tracks the development of the novel from Daniel Defoe to James Joyce.

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