Writing Major
The writing major is offered by the Department of English and is designed to prepare students for personal creative development and for a wide range of professional careers. It places equal emphasis on creative and professional writing, preparing students to write clearly and expressively.
The writing major requires a minimum of 30 hours, and is designed to be foundational and flexible.
Foundations (12 hrs.)
One of three foundational courses for majors and potential majors in English, Literature Matters introduces students to a central set of problems in contemporary literary studies (for example, Identity and Empire, Shakespeare to Ondaatje). The course includes important canonical works as well as neglected or emerging writers. There is a focus on how to read and understand literature; how reading and writing literature influence identity, meaning and value; and how to develop strategies for reading, discussing, and writing about literary works. Attention is also given to narrative structure. Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in this course in the spring semester of their freshman or sophomore year. Offered spring semester. May be repeated when topics vary.
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. Students intensively investigate modern English grammar and usage. The course acquaints students with models of understanding and teaching grammar and with opportunities for experimenting with a variety of styles.
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. This course introduces students to advanced research skills in literary studies. It focuses upon the central questions in literary studies and provides students with the critical and theoretical background to make sense of these questions.
Prerequisite: ENGL 301 and senior status. This seminar-style course provides a capstone for both the English and Writing majors. Students will do independent research and synthesize their education at Drury, looking backward at how they have developed, and forward to where they will go next.
Imaginative Writing (6 hrs.)
Choose two courses from the following:
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. Students learn techniques for and practice in writing fiction. The course focuses on student workshops.
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. Students learn techniques for and practice in writing poetry.
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. Students learn techniques for and practice writing nonfiction.
Prerequisite: ENGL 266 or ENGL 267 or ENGL 268. By participating in writing workshops, students learn advanced techniques for and practice in writing fiction.
Prerequisite: ENGL 266 or ENGL 267 or ENGL 268. This course trains students in advanced techniques for and practice in writing poetry.
Prerequisite: ENGL 266 or ENGL 267 or ENGL 268. This course provides advanced study of different kinds of nonfiction writing, with a practical emphasis aimed at preparing apprentice writers to publish their work as they become familiar with a wide range of publications.
Students study play and film structure, character creation and the art of writing dialogue. Course responsibilities include the writing of two short plays and/or films.
Professional Writing and Editing (6 hrs.)
Choose two courses from the following:
Provides a writing foundation for multiple disciplines, including print journalism, broadcasting, web and public relations. Students will learn about compiling information effectively for audiences and presenting content through social media.
It is recommended that students have completed prerequisite ENGL 253 in order to be successful in this course. A practical course devoted to publishing and editing in both print and electronic media.
This course gives students practical experience researching and writing grant applications for not-for-profit agencies. Students from all disciplines are welcome.
Prerequisite: ARTZ 123, ENGL 200, ARTZ 210. This course provides an opportunity to explore book binding, book structures, limited-edition runs and writing for small?press publishing.
Interns must have at least 60 credit hours, completed appropriate coursework and have a minimum GPA of 2.5 prior to registering for academic credit. Also, approval must be obtained from the student's faculty sponsor and required forms must be completed by the deadline. Note: *Architecture, Music Therapy and Education majors do not register internships through Career Planning & Development. These students need to speak with his/her advisor regarding credit requirements and options.
Advanced Writing Workshop. 3 hours. Prerequisite: Any 300-level imaginative writing course such as THTR 354, ENGL 366, ENGL 367, or ENGL 368. This intensive workshop provides writing majors a final opportunity to refine their poetry and prose. Students will be required to submit their work for publication and to create a professional portfolio.
Literature (3 hrs.)
Choose one 300- or 400-level literature course:
A study of British and American literary works written by women. Particular consideration will be given to feminist modes of inquiry and critical thought as well as to the contributions of women in literary scholarship.
This course provides an in-depth study of a single author’s literary work. May be repeated when authors vary.
This course focuses on the literature of ancient and medieval cultures. Themes vary annually and may include “Representing Good and Evil in the Middle Ages” or “Forms of Love in the Middle Ages.” Counts for the Medieval and Renaissance Studies minor when content focuses on the Middle Ages. This course may be repeated when content varies.
This course asks students to investigate selected topics in literature and culture of the Renaissance through the eighteenth century, including European, British and other cultures. This course may be repeated when content varies.
This course requires students to engage the literature and culture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular attention to interdisciplinary study of Victorian, post-Victorian, Modernist and Post-modern cultures in the Americas and Europe. This course may be repeated when content varies.
This course investigates trends in recent literature, written in or translated into English. Texts will date from about 1980 and later. This course may be repeated when content varies.
The backgrounds of African-American culture in African and Caribbean literatures, as well as the history of black American literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with focus on the contemporary scene.
A survey of French and Francophone writers such as Chrétien de Troyes, Molière, Balzac, Flaubert, Camus, Sartre, Maryse Condé and an investigation of literary movements: courtly romance, classicism, the Enlightenment, realism, romanticism, symbolism, existentialism and postcolonial discourse. The course is conducted in English; no previous knowledge of French is necessary.
Students read Shakespeare’s plays with a focus on the moral component of his drama. We ask how Shakespeare understood what it meant to live well, and how he understood good and evil and the problems of achieving moral clarity and moral maturity, in our personal and in our public lives.
It is recommended that students have completed ENGL 301 in order to be successful in this course. Students study works outside the Anglo-American tradition. May be repeated when topics vary.
It is recommended that students have completed ENGL 200 in order to be successful in this course. Students will read literary texts to better understand the nature of ethical issues, the limits of various ethical models, and how literature can help us develop capacities to make wise ethical decisions.
This course traces the roots of contemporary thinking about the land in literature both ancient and modern. We will read a series of texts from the Bible, classical Greek culture, early modern England, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Students should develop a sophisticated, wide-ranging understanding of how contemporary American culture has imagined (and treated) the natural world.
Literature of the southern American states in the context of the South’s characteristic cultural identity.
Selected Topics are courses of an experimental nature that provide students a wide variety of study opportunities and experiences. Selected Topics offer both the department and the students the opportunity to explore areas of special interest in a structured classroom setting. Selected Topics courses (course numbers 290, 390, 490) will have variable titles and vary in credit from 1-3 semester hours. Selected Topic courses may not be taken as a Directed Study offering.
Elective (3 hrs.)
Choose one:
A study of mythic literature in ancient, medieval and contemporary cultures, with close attention to the archetypal codes revealed in all mythologies, and universal narrative structures.
This course explores the role of attorneys in film and literature. Using a wide range of texts, the course examines how lawyers can be represented as either heroes, who use law to fight social injustice or villains, whose mastery of the law enables them to overpower others, especially the voiceless. Students will consider why attorneys are viewed through these competing lenses and how these stories and images help us understand our own struggles to gain agency and freedom in an increasingly complex and diverse world.
A survey of major international and American film accomplishments beginning with Griffith and Chaplin and continuing through contemporary directors such as Bergman, Fellini and Allen. Some attention will be given to film technique, theory and analysis.
It is recommended that students have completed prerequisite ENGL 253 in order to be successful in this course. A practical course devoted to publishing and editing in both print and electronic media.
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. Students learn techniques for and practice in writing fiction. The course focuses on student workshops.
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. Students learn techniques for and practice in writing poetry.
Prerequisite: DAY-None. CCPS-ENGL 150. Students learn techniques for and practice writing nonfiction.
A study of British and American literary works written by women. Particular consideration will be given to feminist modes of inquiry and critical thought as well as to the contributions of women in literary scholarship.
This course provides an in-depth study of a single author’s literary work. May be repeated when authors vary.
This course focuses on the literature of ancient and medieval cultures. Themes vary annually and may include “Representing Good and Evil in the Middle Ages” or “Forms of Love in the Middle Ages.” Counts for the Medieval and Renaissance Studies minor when content focuses on the Middle Ages. This course may be repeated when content varies.
This course asks students to investigate selected topics in literature and culture of the Renaissance through the eighteenth century, including European, British and other cultures. This course may be repeated when content varies.
This course requires students to engage the literature and culture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular attention to interdisciplinary study of Victorian, post-Victorian, Modernist and Post-modern cultures in the Americas and Europe. This course may be repeated when content varies.
This course investigates trends in recent literature, written in or translated into English. Texts will date from about 1980 and later. This course may be repeated when content varies.
The backgrounds of African-American culture in African and Caribbean literatures, as well as the history of black American literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with focus on the contemporary scene.
This course gives students practical experience researching and writing grant applications for not-for-profit agencies. Students from all disciplines are welcome.
Students read Shakespeare’s plays with a focus on the moral component of his drama. We ask how Shakespeare understood what it meant to live well, and how he understood good and evil and the problems of achieving moral clarity and moral maturity, in our personal and in our public lives.
It is recommended that students have completed ENGL 301 in order to be successful in this course. Students study works outside the Anglo-American tradition. May be repeated when topics vary.
It is recommended that students have completed ENGL 200 in order to be successful in this course. Students will read literary texts to better understand the nature of ethical issues, the limits of various ethical models, and how literature can help us develop capacities to make wise ethical decisions.
Prerequisite: ARTZ 123, ENGL 200, ARTZ 210. This course provides an opportunity to explore book binding, book structures, limited-edition runs and writing for small?press publishing.
Prerequisite: ENGL 266 or ENGL 267 or ENGL 268. By participating in writing workshops, students learn advanced techniques for and practice in writing fiction.
Prerequisite: ENGL 266 or ENGL 267 or ENGL 268. This course trains students in advanced techniques for and practice in writing poetry.
Prerequisite: ENGL 266 or ENGL 267 or ENGL 268. This course provides advanced study of different kinds of nonfiction writing, with a practical emphasis aimed at preparing apprentice writers to publish their work as they become familiar with a wide range of publications.
This course traces the roots of contemporary thinking about the land in literature both ancient and modern. We will read a series of texts from the Bible, classical Greek culture, early modern England, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Students should develop a sophisticated, wide-ranging understanding of how contemporary American culture has imagined (and treated) the natural world.
Literature of the southern American states in the context of the South’s characteristic cultural identity.
Many students double major in both English and Writing. In addition to the 30 hours above, completion of two Survey courses, one Advanced Literature course and one additional elective course will make it possible for students to major in both English and Writing (total of 42 hours).