Program Overview

English Major (B.A.)

The general English major has two objectives: provide students with a common core of literary experience and expertise, and offer them the opportunity to shape a course of study suited to their personal interests. By offering flexible requirements, students are encouraged to devise a path through coursework that has an intelligent rationale.

Description

Students whose primary interest is in literary studies can focus on the many offerings in that area; those who have a special interest in writing can take multiple writing courses in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry writing (in addition to literature courses). Alternatively, they can match up courses from different areas in the department (say, literature and writing courses focused on poetry). The major requirements encourage students to sample a range of courses in literature, linguistics, creative or nonfiction writing, and English teaching, so that students become familiar with the various strands of inquiry that compose contemporary English studies.

Degree Requirements

• Minimum Credit Requirement: 128 credits
• Minimum Residency Requirement: 32 credits must be taken at UNH
• Minimum GPA: 2.0 required for conferral
• Core Curriculum Required: Discovery & Writing Program Requirements
• Foreign Language Requirement: Yes

Major Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum of 40 credits of English courses with a minimum grade of C-.
2. The required minimum overall GPA is 2.0.
3. Only one online course may count toward major requirements.
4. Capstone must be completed with a minimum grade of C.
5. ENGL courses may not be double-counted across English major requirements.

Required Courses

Foundational Surveys

• Early Literature: Select one course from the following:
  • ENGL 512: British Literature I Age of Heroes: Beowulf to Dr. Faustus
  • ENGL 513W: British Literature II Age of Revolutions: Shakespeare to Austen
• Modern Literature: Select one course from the following:
  • ENGL 514W: British Literature III: Revolts, Renewals, Migrations
  • ENGL 516W: American Literature II Money, Migration, and Modernity: Huck Finn to Beloved
  • ENGL 581: Reading the Postcolonial Experience

Linguistics & Writing

Select one course from the following:

• ENGL 501: Introduction to Creative Nonfiction
• ENGL 502: Professional and Technical Writing
• ENGL 503: Persuasive Writing
• ENGL 526: Introduction to Fiction Writing
• ENGL 527: Introduction to Poetry Writing
• ENGL 534: 21st Century Journalism: How the News Works
• ENGL 623: Creative Nonfiction
• ENGL 625: Intermediate Fiction Writing Workshop
• ENGL 625A: Intermediate Fiction Writing Workshop: Screenwriting
• ENGL 627: Intermediate Poetry Writing Workshop
• ENGL 701: Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop
• ENGL 703T: Travel Writing
• ENGL 752: History of the English Language
• ENGL 791: English Grammar

Genres or Theory

Select one course from the following:

• ENGL 510: Introduction to the Digital Humanities
• ENGL 518W: Bible as Literature
• ENGL 520: Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
• ENGL 533: Introduction to Film Studies
• ENGL 555: Science Fiction
• ENGL 575: Sex and Sensibility: The Rise of Chick Lit
• ENGL 616A: Studies in Film/Genre
• ENGL 616B: Studies in Film/Authorship
• ENGL 616C: Studies in Film/Culture and Ideology
• ENGL 616D: Studies in Film/Narrative and Style
• ENGL 618: Film Theory
• ENGL 655: Reading in all Directions: Comics and Graphic Narrative
• ENGL 714: Critical Skills
• ENGL 736: Environmental Theory

Community and Cultures

Select one course from the following:

• ENGL 550: Introduction to the Literature and Culture of Race
• ENGL 690: African American Literature
• ENGL 738: Asian American Studies
• ENGL 778: Race and Gender in Film and Popular Culture

Literature before 1800

Select one course from the following:

• ENGL 657: Shakespeare
• ENGL 751: Medieval Romance
• ENGL 758: Advanced Shakespeare
• ENGL 759: Milton

Literature after 1800

Select one course from the following:

• ENGL 693: Special Topics in Literature
• ENGL 742: American Literature
• ENGL 775: Modern Irish Literature: A Changing Landscape
• ENGL 777: The English Novel in the World
• ENGL 784: English Novel of the 19th Century

Electives

Select two additional ENGL courses at the 600 or 700 level.

Capstone

• ENGL 787: English Major Seminar

Sample Degree Plan

This sample degree plan serves as a general guide; students collaborate with their academic advisor to develop a personalized degree plan to meet their academic goals and program requirements.

Program Learning Outcomes

All undergraduate English majors acquire the same core skills, including:

• Proficiency in analytical writing, critical thinking, and public-speaking.
• Knowledge of important literary genres and subgenres.
• Fluency in literary terminology.
• A broad understanding of British and American literature, from the medieval period in England and the moment of first contact in America to the present day.
• Demonstrated proficiency in writing an analytical essay that offers a sophisticated close-reading or explication of a literary text.
• Demonstrated proficiency in literary research and in writing an extended thesis-driven research paper in which sources are correctly and responsibly cited.
• Demonstrated understanding of how to read across the color line in the US and/or how to analyze literary works written in English from outside the UK and the US--from India, Africa, and the Caribbean, for example.