The English Major with Literature Concentration (40 hours) includes a thorough overview of classical, British, and American literature and then allows for individual choices within a range of categories from historical context courses, genre courses, author courses, and deep exploration courses around a theme/idea or on praxis that helps students prepare for life beyond Wheaton. All students take a senior seminar, which focuses on the interrelationship of literature and theory from a Christian perspective.
The English Major with a Literature Concentration requires a minimum of 40 hours, but students may count up to 52 hours in English toward graduation. Additional hours are encouraged for students planning graduate work.
Requirements
Note: These are new requirements that will apply to incoming new majors effective Fall 2022. Please contact us at english@wheaton.edu if you have questions.
Foundational Courses (12 hours):
| ENGL 155: | Reading Writers: Introduction to Literary Studies |
| or ENGL 156: | Reading Writers: Introduction to Literary Studies (Shakspeare) |
| or: | any 100-level ENGL course with an LE tag |
| ENGL 215: | Literary Traditions through Time: Classical and Early British |
| ENGL 221: | Contemporary Literary Conversations |
Historical Context Courses (12 Hours):
Select 4 credits in each category
| Pre-18th century | |
|---|---|
| ENGL 329: | Old English Language and Literature |
| ENGL 331: | Medieval Literature |
| ENGL 336: | Renaissance |
| ENGL 337: | Seventeenth-Century Literature |
| 18th and 19th centuries | |
| ENGL 338: | Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature |
| ENGL 341: | Early American Literature |
| ENGL 352: | Transatlantic Crossroads in Modern Literature |
| ENGL 355: | The Romantic Period |
| ENGL 361: | Victorian Literature |
| 20th and 21st centuries | |
| ENGL 342: | American Modernism/Global Modernism |
| ENGL 343: | American Literature after 1945 |
| ENGL 344: | Diverse Traditions in 20th-Century American Literature |
| ENGL 364: | British Modernism: 1900-1939 |
| ENGL 365: | British Literature after 1939 |
| ENGL 366: | British Black and Asian Literature |
| ENGL 367: | Postcolonial Literature |
| ENGL 371: | Modern European Literature |
Literature Concentration (16 hours)
Deeper Focus Courses (12 Hours):
Select 4 credits in each category
| Genre | |
|---|---|
| ENGL 421: | American Literature: Beginnings to Romanticism (4) |
| ENGL 422: | American Literature: Realism to Modernism (4) |
| ENGL 423: | American Literature: after 1945 |
| ENGL 424: | Science Fiction (2) |
| ENGL 425: | Fairy Tales (2) |
| ENGL 426: | Children's Literature |
| ENGL 427: | Young Adult Literature |
| ENGL 428: | Magical Realist Literature and Film |
| ENGL 431: | Christianity and Fantasy |
| Exploration | |
| ENGL 415: | The Archeology of Texts: Bibliographical Investigation |
| ENGL 433: | Varied Literary Topics (2 or 4 Credits) |
| ENGL 434: | Modern Literacy Theory |
| ENGL 435: | History of Literary Critcism |
| ENGL 442: | History of the English Language |
| ENGL 443: | Literature of the Bible |
| ENGL 444: | Christianity and Crime |
| ENGL 445: | Literature and Place |
| ENGL 446: | Advanced Research and Writing |
| ENGW 471: | Teaching and Writing |
| Authors | |
| ENGL 388: | Jane Austen in Her Time and Ours |
| ENGL 461: | Selected Authors (2 credits) |
| ENGL 462: | Selected Authors (4 credits) |
| ENGL 463: | Shakespeare |
| ENGL 469: | C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien |
| ENGL 471: | Emily Dickinson |
| ENGL 472: | Herman Melville |
| ENGL 473: | Louisa May Alcott |
| ENGL 474: | T.S. Eliot |
| ENGL 475: | William Carlos Williams and Wallace Stevens |
| ENGL 476: | Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes |
| ENGL 478: | Flannery O'Connor |
| ENGL 481: | James Baldwin |
| ENGL 482: | Cormac McCarthy |
| ENGL 483: | David Foster Wallace |
| ENGL 485: | Achebe and Adichie |
| ENGL 486: | Studies in Wade Center/Special Collections Authors (2 Credits) |
| ENGL 486: | Studies in Wade Center/Special Collections Authors (4 Credits) |
Integrative Senior Seminar:
| ENGL 494: | Senior Seminar in English |