Summer Session I: June 1 – June 25, 2020
All June session courses will be taught Online
300- Level Literature Courses
Please note: 300-level classes assume some background and prior experience at the 200-level. Students should complete two 200 level courses before embarking on 300 level work. Generally, these classes require two shorter essays and one longer assignment or final paper involving research or reference to secondary materials.
ENGL 31890
Detective Fiction
7971 Sec. 1AA Chet Kozlowski M TU W TH 8:30am – 11:05am
Detective novels, a.k.a. whodunits, have been a staple of popular American literature since the 1930s. An escapist response to the rigors of WWI and Prohibition, this subgenre of Pulp appealed to the masses by offering vicarious trips into the dark side of human nature, under revealing aspects of ourselves while seeking “the truth.” This course examines the work of writers such as Raymond Chandler (“The Big Sleep”), Dorothy B. Hughes (“In a Lonely Place”), and when possible their film adaptions, in a wild ride of thrills, chills, double crosses, kingpins, and femme fatales.
ENGL 34200
Advanced Grammar
7799 Sec. 1AA Anna Voisard M TU W TH 8:30am – 11:05am
Advanced Grammar reviews principles of traditional English grammar and usage (parts of speech, sentence structures, punctuation, pronoun/verb form/agreement, etc.) for English majors and minors, especially for those who plan to teach or work as tutors or editors. It is not a remedial course for non-majors who struggle with writing problems, though many non-majors take it. There is a custom-published workbook for the course, and used copies of it are not allowed.
ENGL 36405
Fantastic Voyages in American Literature
8552 Sec. 1MM Alexander Magnet M TU W TH 2:30pm – 5:05pm
In this class, we will read several novels and stories about journeys that can, in some way or another, be described as part of the literature of the fantastic—literature that features the “unreal” in order to question, critique, and imagine alternatives to the “real” of today. Stories about voyages explore similar questions and longings. A voyager may be trying to escape or searching for something different and new. Together, we will examine what the characters in these texts are looking for, what they are running from, what they encounter along the way, and what it means that none of them finds exactly what they expected. The reading list may include Angela Carter, N. K. Jemisin, Matt Johnson, Marjorie Liu, and Edgar Allan Poe. Because we do our best thinking about literature by writing about it, you will write and revise several formal assignments for this course, along with a number of informal responses on discussion boards on Blackboard. Because of the pandemic, we will meet on Zoom for class discussions. If you don’t have the technology to meet on Zoom, you can still complete the course by replacing in-person participation with more writing assignments and more participation on the discussion boards.
Creative Writing Courses
ENGL 22000
Introduction to Creative Writing
8553 Sec. 1AA Felice Neals M TU W TH 8:30am – 11:05am
Introduction to Creative Writing is a practical and workshop class that introduces writers to the elements of poetry, fiction and drama and is open to beginning and continuing writers. Class work will include reading the work of established writers in various genres, studying the craft of writing, and will involve considerable creative writing within and outside the boundaries of those genres. There are no prerequisites.Students in this course will participate in a variety of possible activities, including but not limited to: group writing, workshop, technique-specific practices, reading and group discussion, and more. These activities are meant to support the purpose of the class, which is to familiarize the student with the techniques of writing, poetry, fiction and drama.
ENGL 22100
Prerequisite: English 22000
Intermediate Creative Writing: Reading as Writers
7798 Sec. 1LL Suzanne Weyn M T W TH 11:30am – 2:05pm
Reading and Writing go together. This Intermediate Creative Writing Workshop links reading and discussing poems, short stories (fiction), and drama with improving your own writing in those three genres. You will read the texts as writers, becoming more aware of the tools of each genre, as you do so. Then comes presentation of your own work in a workshop format, (outlined in class) culminating in a Final Manuscript. This class will be conducted completely online using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, available to all City College students.
ENGL 32200
Prerequisite: English 22100
Workshop in Drama
7944 Sec.1LL Marc Palmieri M TU W TH 11:30am – 2:05pm
This is a creative writing workshop in the playwriting form. We will discuss the art form and what it offers storytellers, examine the work of established writers, experiment with basic dramatic situations as prompts for longer work, and read and analyze, technically and artistically, a full-length play together. Your playwriting for this course must be original works or adaptations of your own prose work. We will evaluate one another’s work and share feedback. Please note: We will work on stage plays, not screenplays. Each student will have his or her work read by fellow class members.
Summer Session II: July 6 – July 30, 2020
All July session courses will be taught Online
300- Level Literature Courses
Please note: 300-level classes assume some background and prior experience at the 200-level. Students should complete two 200 level courses before embarking on 300 level work. Generally, these classes require two shorter essays and one longer assignment or final paper involving research or reference to secondary materials.
ENGL 37900
Selected Topics in Literature and Science: 21st Century Ecopoetics
9435 Sec. 2MM Robert Balun M TU W TH 2:30pm – 5:05pm
Ecopoetics is the study of literature that is concerned with ecology and nature. However, beyond just literature about nature, this course will examine how ecology and nature have become complicated in the 21st century, the age of the Anthropocene (don’t worry, we will define Anthropocene and other key terms).
In the 21st century, humans are now confronted with a growing awareness of their impact on the earth, its environments, and its non-human inhabitants. From this perspective, how does one meaningfully engage with climate change, ecological collapse, ecological justice, and non-human beings in literature, art, and culture? How do we think about the climate crisis? How do we think about nature? How do we write about the climate crisis? How can the study of ecopoetics actually help us thinkabout the complicated, interconnected social and environmental challenges of the 21st century at large?
Ultimately, in this class, we will discuss these profound questions raised by the study of ecopoetics, questions of what it means to be human, to live in an organized society, on a finite earth, now, and 100 years from now.
ENGL 38201
Selected Topics in Literature and Philosophy: Great Writers on Life During Bad Times
12286 Sec. 2AA Mark Hoffman M TU W TH 8:30am – 11:05am
This course will examine the works of some influential writers who examined how individuals and societies responded to catastrophic events. The selections will include those from writers who experienced or wrote about a plague/disease, natural disaster, or human-made calamity. The class will cover literature from ancient Greece to contemporary times, and will include plays, poetry, short stories, a novel, and excerpts from longer works. Among the authors that will be read, discussed, and written about are Camus, Boccaccio, Shakespeare, Kushner, Sophocles, and Roth.
Creative Writing Course
ENGL 22000
Introduction to Creative Writing
7800 Sec. 2LL G.D. Peters M T W TH 11:30am – 2:05pm
ENGL 22000 is an undergraduate, two-hundred level course, which is a prerequisite to the 300 level workshops. In this course you will become familiar with literary elements, terminology, and stylistic devices, such as voice, setting, structure, character and characterization, dialogue, exposition, symbolism, imagery, figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration) and so forth, all of which will form a foundation for your writing, and prepare you for the 300 level workshops.
This is a reading- and writing-intensive course for beginning writers who are curious to explore various genres of creative writing, and we will explore four genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and drama. We will read and write in each of these genres, and each of you will produce short works in several of these. We will also engage in the close reading (and discussion) of published literature in each genre.