Overview
The English program at Concordia offers a wide variety of courses. As a student, you will receive excellent coverage of all the historical periods of English literature while also having the opportunity to take courses in any areas of special interest. Whether you wish to deepen your knowledge of literary theory, pursue creative writing, or take special topics courses on anything from Arthurian literature to Irish women’s writing — there’s a course for you.
Please note that not every course is taught each year. To see which courses are scheduled, please visit the course timetable.
First-Year Courses
First-year courses in English come in three streams:
- ENG 101 and 102 are meant for international students and English language learners. While these are not ESL-specific courses, they are tailored to students who may require additional help with their writing.
- ENG 111 and 112 provide writing instruction and critical reading skills for domestic students who are not necessarily pursuing a degree in English.
- ENG 120 and 121 are designed for students majoring or minoring in English. These courses provide a historical survey of English literature and also teach key essay writing skills.
Students who require 6 credits of first-year English can switch from one stream to another (e.g., take ENG 111 and ENG 121) but must take one of ENG 101, 111, and 120 and one of ENG 102, 112, and 121.
ENG 101 – Literature and Composition for English Language Learners I
Introduction to literary studies and essay writing. This course is for students whose first language is not English.
ENG 102 – Literature and Composition for English Language Learners II
Intermediate literary studies and essay writing. This course is for students whose first language is not English.
ENG 111 – Literature and Composition I
Introduction to literary studies and essay writing.
ENG 112 – Literature and Composition II
Intermediate literary studies and essay writing.
ENG 120 – British Literature from 1300 to 1800
A survey of English Literature by writers of the British Isles, from its beginnings in medieval times up to 1800.
ENG 121 – British Literature from 1800 to the Present
A survey of English Literature by writers of the British Isles from 1800 to the present.
Intermediate Courses
To ensure that students can access as many senior courses as possible, the English program has classified all intermediate courses as 300-level courses. As soon as you have 6 credits of first-year English, you can take any 300-level course.
ENG 303 – Poetry
Major modes, forms, and kinds of English poetry, with examples from the fourteenth to the twentieth century. Develops basic principles of formal poetic analysis through close readings of poems.
ENG 304 – The Short Story
The short story tradition in English, including its historical development. Critical analysis focuses on stories written in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
ENG 390 – Graphic Literature
A historical and critical survey of a selection of comic books and graphic novels through the lens of publishing history, genre, and aesthetic properties.
ENG 396 – Early Twentieth-Century Drama
Selected early twentieth-century plays from Ibsen to Pinter.
ENG 399 – Classics of Children’s Literature in English
This critical survey of children’s classics examines a variety of genres and introduces students to the development of children’s literature.
ENG 323 – Chaucer
Selections from the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, including The Canterbury Tales.
ENG 324 – The Later Middle Ages
The literature of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England, excluding Chaucer.
ENG 330 – The Early English Renaissance
The literature of sixteenth-century England, including Shakespeare’s non-dramatic poetry, showing the influence of Renaissance ideas and literary forms.
ENG 331 – The Later English Renaissance
The literature of seventeenth-century England, including Milton, in the light of intellectual developments of the period.
ENG 338 – Shakespeare
Representative plays from various periods in Shakespeare’s life and from the different genres: tragedy, comedy, romance, history, and problem plays.
ENG 339 – Further Studies in Shakespeare
Further study of Shakespeare, covering plays not studied in ENG 338.
ENG 340 – Transformation and Trauma: Eighteenth-Century British Literature
A historical and critical survey of eighteenth-century British literature, with specific focus on the themes of transformation and trauma.
ENG 342 – Eighteenth-Century English Novel
A historical survey of the development of the English novel during the eighteenth century. Reading lists will vary but may include novels by some or all of the following authors: Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, Tobias Smollett, Frances Burney, and Jane Austen.
ENG 344 – Jane Austen and Adaptation
A historical and critical survey of a selection of Jane Austen’s novels and their contemporary adaptations into literature, film, and other forms of popular media.
ENG 350 – British Romantic Literature
Representative literature including poetry, fiction, and non-fiction prose of the Romantic period, focusing on selected works of the major Romantic poets Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats.
ENG 354 – Victorian Poetry
Representative works by British poets writing between the 1830s and 1900.
ENG 355 – Currents of Thought in Victorian Prose
An introduction to the political, religious, artistic, educational, and social issues facing the Victorians as examined by some of the greatest prose writers in English, including Carlyle, Ruskin, Newman, Mill, Huxley, Arnold, Morris, and Dickens.
ENG 365 – Early Twentieth-Century British Literature
Representative works from 1900 to 1940.
ENG 366 – Mid-Twentieth Century British Literature
Representative works from 1940 to 1980.
ENG 367 – Contemporary British Literature
Representative works from 1980 to the present.
ENG 381 – Canadian Literature to 1900
A critical and historical study of representative Canadian literature to 1900.
ENG 382 – Early Twentieth-Century Canadian Literature
A critical and historical study of representative Canadian literature from 1900 to 1940.
ENG 383 – Mid-Twentieth Century Canadian Literature
A critical and historical study of representative Canadian literature from 1940 to 1980.
ENG 384 – Contemporary Canadian Literature
A critical and historical study of representative Canadian literature from 1980 to the present.
ENG 388 – Contemporary Indigenous Literature
A critical survey of the literature of Indigenous peoples in Canada from the 1980s to the present.
ENG 392 – American Literature to 1900
Representative works up to 1900 by American writers such as Emerson, Hawthorne, Poe, Stowe, Whitman, Melville, Dickinson, Twain, James, and Chopin.
ENG 393 – Early Twentieth-Century American Literature
Representative works of American novelists, poets, and playwrights from 1900 to 1940.
ENG 394 – Mid-Twentieth Century American Literature
Representative works of prose, drama, and poetry by American writers from 1940 to 1980.
ENG 395 – Contemporary American Literature
Representative works of American novelists, poets and playwrights since 1980.
ENG 397 – International English Literature I
A literary and cultural study of representative international literature in English from 1950 to 1980.
ENG 398 – International English Literature II
A literary and cultural study of representative international literature in English since 1980.
Fourth-Year Courses
ENG 405 – Special Topics in English Literature: European Literature in the Middle Ages
This course focuses on representative literature from the European Middle Ages. Examples include Grettir’s Saga (Old Norse), The Song of Roland (French), Tristan and Isolde (German), The Romance of the Rose (French), and Dante’s Inferno (Italian). Actual selections may vary with each offering. All texts are studied in translation.
ENG 407 – Special Topics in English Literature: Introduction to James Joyce’s Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
This course will involve close textual readings of Joyce’s first two major works: a brilliant collection of 15 stories concerned with Joyce’s view of the paralysis of Irish society and his autobiographical first novel.
ENG 408 – Special Topics in English: Representations of Mental Illness in Victorian Literature
A literary survey of representations of mental illness in Victorian literature.
ENG 409 – Special Topics in English: Deconstructing Canadian Literature
A study of canon formation in Canadian Literature, performing critical reading across genres and time-periods to better examine what forces shape and define Canadian Literature as an object of study.
ENG 410 – Special Topics in English: Arthurian Literature
A critical and historical study of major developments in chivalric romance.
ENG 411 – Special Topics in English: Irish Women’s Writing
A critical and historical study of major developments in contemporary Irish women’s writing.
ENG 480 – Independent Studies
In consultation with members of the English Department, the student will undertake an independent study of an approved topic. A student must first secure approval for his or her topic from both a supervising professor and the Department Chair before being permitted to register for this course.
ENG 491 – Literary Criticism I
A seminar in literary theory and applied criticism. Students will survey primarily a variety of traditional critical approaches to the middle of the twentieth century, and apply some of these approaches to selected texts.
ENG 492 – Literary Criticism II
A seminar in literary theory and applied criticism. Students will survey primarily a variety of twentieth-century and contemporary approaches, and apply some of these approaches to selected texts.
Writing Courses
WRI 300 – Essay Writing (Non-fiction)
A seminar on the principles and techniques of good expository writing, including the basic analysis essay, the comparative essay, and the research essay. Workshop format with regular discussion and analysis of students’ and other writers’ work.
WRI 310 – Introduction to Creative Non-Fiction
An essay-writing seminar focusing on creative non-fiction, including memoirs, personal essays, and literary journalism. Students study professional examples of these forms of creative prose and the ways in which their authors employ literary devices such as authorial voice, characterization, dialogue, and expressive language. With the help of a workshop process, students will produce original literary essays.
WRI 391 – Introduction to Creative Writing: Fiction
Introductory seminar in fiction writing. Includes a study of models of excellent writing, especially from the twentieth century, and discussion of students’ own work, focusing on the techniques of fiction writing: plot, characterization, point of view, style, tone, and the role of the literary artist. Not a composition or remedial course.
WRI 392 – Introduction to Creative Writing: Poetry
Introductory seminar in poetry writing. Through close study of a broad range of poetic forms – and through discussion of literary devices such as imagery, figurative language, rhyme, rhythm and metre – students will improve their understanding of the art and craft of poetry writing. By the end of the course, students will have written and revised a portfolio of poems.
WRI 401 – Magazine Editing and Production
Students will learn a range of magazine editing skills, from peer review to layout and typography. The class includes a Work Integrated Learning component and will produce one issue of the English program’s undergraduate journal.
Note: WRI 401 is a 6-credit course