ENGL 2010 Course Topics

In this section we will explore the connection between humanity and animals and discuss how that connection has evolved over time. We will analyze viewpoints that challenge the established boundaries between people and animals, leading us to then challenge the ethics of our behavior toward animals. As we study these issues, students will learn how to use persuasive techniques to create their own research-based argument.

Were you afraid of the monster under your bed? Do you love scary movies? Are you ready for the zombies to come? This section of English 2010 focuses on arguments about monsters and stories about monsters ranging from those told by the Greeks, medieval legend, classic movie monsters and urban legend and their connections to fear, identity, and culture. It should also provide you with perspective on the way cultures and people interpret values because monsters behave differently over time and across cultures.

Stories are integral to the human experience. Humans have told stories to explain the world and our own connections to it and each other since the beginning. In this class, we will explore the functions of mythological stories in our lives, including monsters, both literal and fictional, the role of the oral tradition in storytelling, the structure of the hero’s journey, and what makes someone a hero or a monster.

This section of ENGL 2010 uses the themes and structure of mythology and the classification and definitions of mythical monsters to explore how stories play a role in our own lives and how we assign the “roles” of hero and monster and why. The major assignments build on one another to practice the skills of academic writing. Assignments include a flash memoir exploring our own personal connection with monsters, an argumentative paper defining what makes a monster, a detailed proposal/annotated bibliography, and a final 10-page research paper tracing the story of a “monster” from its creation and through the changes that occur with time and shifts in cultures/values, and more.

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Stories are integral to the human experience. Humans have told stories to explain the world and our own connections to it and each other since the beginning. In this class, we will explore the functions of a myth, the role of the oral tradition in storytelling, the structure of the hero’s journey, and what makes a story a “myth”.

This section of ENGL 2010 uses the themes and structure of mythology to explore the roles of stories in our lives and articulate how mythology is used to define the undefinable. The major assignments build on one another to practice the skills of academic writing. Assignments include a flash memoir exploring our own personal connection with myths, a short argumentative paper defining what makes a myth, a detailed proposal/annotated bibliography, and a final 10-page research paper tracing a mythical story or figure from its creation and through the changes that occur with time amd shifts in cultures/values, and more.

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This class discusses the genre of science fiction in literature, film, and television. Science Fiction is made up of stories that are beyond our known world or are an alternative to reality due to the plausible application of technology. Sci-fi is part of a broader genre called speculative fiction which includes dystopian and fantasy, both of which sometimes cross over with science fiction but are not the same thing. Our class will define what science fiction is (and isn’t) and the social and emotional influence it has. We look at its origins, how it has evolved, and how attitudes toward it have changed. We’ll read some short stories and even watch a couple of movies and shows. Students will be permitted to pursue their own interests and niches as they research and argue their perspective on sci-fi. It is not necessary to be versed in any science fiction to take this class.

Alcoholics. Domestic workers. Neo-Nazis. Stay-at-home moms. Depressed teens. Such is the cast of characters we’ll discover behind the façade of suburban decorum.

For many Americans, suburbia is where we situate our ambitions for upward mobility and economic security, our ideals of freedom, and our longings for social harmony and spiritual uplift. However, the reality of the suburbs is often quite different: cookie-cutter houses, despotic homeowner associations, keeping up with the Joneses, backbreaking mortgages, and xenophobia. Sadly, the promises and dreams of suburbia are often illusive and unrealized.

Exploring representations of the American suburbs from 1945 to the present, we’ll ask a number of tough questions: Is suburbia a classless place? Are there different types of suburbs? Who’s allowed into the suburbs and who’s kept out? Engaging a novel, a short story, films, and a play, as well as literary criticism and selected historical and sociological studies, we’ll attempt to answer these questions by examining a diverse range of suburban and urban spaces, from the white-collar suburbs of John Cheever’s “The Country Husband,” to the impoverished, cramped housing on Chicago’s South Side in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, to the changing demographics and turf wars of Venice Beach, California, to the final glowing years of the placid Detroit suburbs in Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Virgin Suicides.

Ideas of “good” and “bad” are essential to how we function as a society and as individuals, but those concepts are also proportionally difficult to define. Who gets to decide who the villains and the heroes are? What happens when we disagree? Our definitions of villainy matter, but our reasoning does, too.

This section of ENGL 2010 uses pop culture and entry-level moral philosophy to explore who gets labeled a villain and why. Major assignments build on one another and include a paper defining villainy according to a specific moral philosophy, a detailed proposal/annotated bibliography, and a final 10-page research paper applying the “villain” label to a character, person, company, idea, or other entity–OR defending a “villain” in an attempt to clear their name.

This class discusses gaming and gamers. Gaming is a multi-billion-dollar industry. With such a wide variety of games and devices available to users, our class will define what a game is and the social, physical, and emotional influence games have. We look at subjects such as addiction, sexism, and benefits in relation to gaming, as well as future technologies in the making. In addition, we look at specific games out there in relation to these topics, as well as watch Let’s Play and Streaming of others playing games and you’ll get to play a little bit yourself! Students will be permitted to pursue their own gaming interests and niches as they research and argue their perspective on games, gaming, and gamers.  It is not necessary to be a gamer or know anything about gaming to take this class.