Department of English

Welcome to all new Rutgers students! As a first year student, you have an exclusive opportunity to enroll in any of the following seminars. These are small classes specially designed for freshmen only. All of them are standard 3-credit courses. First come-first serve.

Download a PDF copy of this list of First Year Composition Seminars by clicking here.

Just who is Little Red Riding Hood anyway, and why is a wolf eating her grandmother? Why does Bluebeard have a closet-full of dead wives? If the Little Mermaid commits suicide, then where does that talking crab come in? Who is telling whom what, and why? How do the stories change over time and by place? We'll talk and write about the answers to these questions and more as we read tales about little girls in peril, pirates, and the nasties that go bump in the night. This course will function as a bridge into academic writing, requiring writings throughout the semester, and a final five-page portfolio paper.

Section 02 Reflections of Culture: Superheroes and Their Representation of America

This course will involve the tracking of cultural and political reflections throughout various superhero collections. We will explore how comics have evolved throughout the last 50 years, and what they say about the culture in which they were written. We will look closely at how superheroes reflect concerns about race, gender, disability, political instability, consumer culture, and religion. Some of the texts we will use will include Chocolat, Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Preacher, X-Men, and The X-Statix. The course requirements will include two 6-8 page papers and one 10-12 page paper.

Section 03 Exploring the Holocaust through Academic Writing
Instructor: Jason Cash MWF 9:05-10:00

This course seeks to establish foundational skills in academic writing by exploring the Holocaust and its impact from the 1930s through today. After we discuss the summer novel, we will study first hand accounts, including Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl, Elie Wiesel’s Night, and Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz. Also, historical texts such as The Cunning of History by Richard Rubenstein will be studied. The course will incorporate short fiction and poetry, as well as films such as Schindler’s List and Cabaret in an effort to understand history as reflected in art. Finally, students will read Doug Wright’s play I Am My Own Wife, in an aim to grasp the full breadth of the Holocaust’s cultural relevance. Students will use the material to build well-reasoned arguments, displaying an understanding of English grammar and the ability to defend a thesis. Writings will range from journal responses to five-page papers, undergoing multiple, thorough revisions.

                    Section 04        Not Just Capes and Tights: The Graphic Novel as a Literary Medium
Instructor: Peter Bryant                 MWF 9:05-10:00

This course will involve looking at a spectrum of graphic novels that do not fall into the common perception of "super-hero books." After reading the summer novel, we will explore the ways that graphic novels can complicate our notions of "literariness" and challenge our perceptions of what designates literature. We will examine how these works upset conventional terms like memoir, journalism and literature. Some of the texts we use will include Chocolat, Maus, Persepolis, Black Hole, and Sandman. The course requirements will include two 6-8 page papers and one 10-12 page paper.

Section 05 History, Memory, and Imagination
Instructor: Sarah Byker James MWF 10:10 to 11:05

Do you ever wonder how much you can trust your memories? Do you have questions about the reliability of conventional versions of history? In this course, we will examine how stories make us and how we make ve questions about the reliability of conventional versions of history? ourselves through the stories we tell. In addition to the summer novel Chocolat, all of the readings for this course will, in some way, question the line between events and their retelling, between fiction and non-fiction, between historical truth and narrative, sometimes metaphorical, truth. One of our texts for the semester will be Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, which places its readers not only in the no man’s land of the Vietnam War, but also in an uncertain narrative zone where stories are shared, later dismantled as lies, and then often shakily retold yet again. We will also explore essays, poems, images, and songs that demonstrate and interrogate the slippery borders between what we remember and what we create. Finally, and most importantly, the development of your writing will be the focus of our work together. During the semester, you will write a personal narrative (wrestling with and shaping your own memories) and two analytical essays

Section 06 Children's Myths, Journeys and Quests
Instructor: Erica Maxwell MWF 11:15-12:10

Peter Pan doesn't have to grow up, but most other children eventually will. And as they do, adults from Barrie to Baum to Neil Gaiman write for them stories telling them how they should be doing it. Some stories are odes to the majority adult "because I said so" school, and others a bit devious. The class will discuss a variety of children's passages into adult thinking, responsibility, and sexuality, over time and cultural space. This course will function as a bridge into academic writing, requiring writings throughout the semester, and a final five-page portfolio paper.

Section 07 Achilles to Anakin: Reflections on the Hero
Instructor: David Solomon TTh 8:00-9:20

In recent years, many of our most popular films and television shows have been about heroes. Be it Jack Bauer defying all odds on 24 or Spider-Man swinging back across movie screens in this summer’s Spider-Man 3, heroes continue to command our attention. However, this “hero worship” is not a new or unique phenomenon. Tales of heroes have inspired and entertained people in countless societies long before television and motion pictures. In this course, we will examine our fascination with heroes: why are we drawn to them as much as we are and what does this attraction tell us about ourselves? Through our study of a variety of heroes both ancient and modern, we hope to uncover some fundamental truths about who we are and what we value. But beyond that, quite simply, heroes are fun, and we’ll also examine why they are box office blockbusters time and time again. Our study includes heroes both in text and in film. After discussing the summer novel, we will focus on heroic epics, beginning with Homer’s The Iliad and moving forward to such works as Tolkien’s The Hobbit and our most popular modern-day epic, Star Wars. Along the way, we will also address medieval hero lore and modern superheroes. Our study of heroes provides a fun and interesting backdrop for our primary focus, which is to prepare students for the level and quality of writing expected at the college level and beyond. Students will be responsible for three major essays which will prepare students for various forms of college writing, as well as a group presentation.

Section 08 Myth, Magic, and Imagination
Instructor: David Solomon TTh 9:30-10:50

“Everything old is new again.” We can apply this sentiment to many aspects of popular culture. In pop music, artists make new hits by sampling old ones. Many blockbusters at movie box offices are remakes of movies that were originally made at least twenty years earlier. Even auto makers have called on the past in recent years with cars such as the PT Cruiser and the re-invention of the VW Beetle. When it comes to what is popular, sticking to an old formula is a key to success. In many ways, this holds true in myths, legends and magical tales as well. No matter how different they may seem, mythic and magical tales written in recent years owe a great deal to age-old tales from thousands of years ago. This course will attempt a comparative mythology and look at modern retellings of ancient myths; for example, how is Star Wars’ Anakin Skywalker related to the ancient Greeks’ Oedipus? We’ll also consider modern renditions of ancient classics. Writing in the academy is based on building upon knowledge and work that has come before; in this course, we will look at the ways in which writing in literature and other media does the same. Major readings and viewings include Chocolat, Oedipus the King, The Iliad, The Hobbit and Star Wars, as well as a consideration of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces and several other shorter works. The primary goal for this course is to prepare students for the level and quality of writing expected at the college level and beyond. Students are responsible for three major essays as well as a group presentation.

Blanc

he DuBois, the tragic character of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, says that she is "very adaptable-to circumstances." But could the same be said about the emotional and plot-driven elements of today's modern dramas as they are translated to film? This question will be examined in detail as we learn to think as literary, theater, and film critics. After reading Chocolat, we will read Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire, and Margaret Edson's Wit, examining the elements of character and plot as we discuss the techniques and challenges of staging a modern theater production. We will then watch the film translations of each play, paying particular attention to changes that deeply affect the thematic and dramatic elements of the initial stage production. We will develop our scholarly writing skills through a series of both formal and informal writing assignments, with emphasis placed on revision. Major requirements include four 600-700 word essays of varying mode, a final portfolio that demonstrates the student's substantial revision to course assignments, active participation, and a journal.

Section 10 The Excellent Art of Adaptation

Instructor: Carla Spataro MWF 11:15-12:10

Have you ever wondered what was really going on in that cornfield in Field of Dreams, or what kind of short story would inspire a film-maker to portray, sympathetically, murderous circus performers? During the course of this semester we will examine the usually expansive transformation of a great short-story into a great film. We will read a variety of stories from multiple genres and discuss the relative success of both the written and the film version of each story. Book-ending the semester will be the novels Chocolat and Dracula. If you’ve never read Dracula before I guarantee that it will

surprise you. Each week we will examine a new story/film for which you will be expected to write a response paper. The purpose of the response papers is to help you develop a strong thesis for further analysis in your longer essays. Twice during the semester we will spend several class periods engaging in peer critique. You will be asked to watch most of the films on your own before the class period during which they will be discussed but on occasion, we will have group screenings. Films: Field of Dreams; Momento; Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House; Ghost World; Rashomon; Freaks; 2001: A Space Odyssey; Nosferatu (1929); Dracula (1931); Bram Stoker’s Dracula; A Christmas Story

In this writing seminar, we’ll explore the darker side of romance with the temptations of Chocolat, the bunny boiler Fatal Attraction, the twisted dramatic monologues of Robert Browning, and the disturbingly erotic Wuthering Heights. When love goes wrong, it can go seriously wrong. As we channel the dead spirits of some of love’s most famous martyrs, we’ll also learn how to do writing that isn’t boring—that says something—and that really matters. The focus is on mad love. The process is writing.

For one shining decade—the 1970s—the American movie industry took enormous risks and broke barriers in giving film audiences what television could not: mature themes, frankly explored. As we learn how to write academic essays, we’ll examine the work of auteur directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Milos Forman, and Roman Polanski. As we read critical literature on film and film-making, we’ll develop a richer appreciation of this medium.

Section 01: The Creative Spirit and Community

Instructor: Candice Kaup MWF 9:05am – 10:00am

This course will examine the relationship between the creative individual voice and his or her community. Our journey begins with Chocolat, where single mother – and chocolatier – Vianne and her daughter arrive in the small French town of Lansquenet-sour-Tannes on the winds of carnival, bringing change through chocolate. We will then cross the Atlantic and read essays from the 2006 collection of Best American Essays, focusing on how writers use non-fiction, firsthand accounts of events in their lives to make their individual experiences and observations accessible and universal. Finally, we will narrow our focus to our own state as we read and analyze some of New Jersey’s finest poets including, of course, Camden’s own Walt Whitman. New Jersey has a rich literary tradition that involves innovative use of language and a world view that is expansive yet uniquely local. To provide perspective, we will also review other (non-Jersey) poets.

Section 02: Narrative Force and Form
Instructor: Candice Kaup

In this course we will examine the differing effects of various narrative choices and the art of storytelling. We will begin by exploring the dual narrative in Chocolat, a novel in which the reader encounters two distinct narrators offering different views of the same events. We will then investigate the effect and place of the personal essay in contemporary America where the first person narrative is most common in all forms of communication. Following the study of the essay form, we will apply our knowledge of differing narratives and literary techniques to different forms of poetry, looking at both verse and prose forms and how poetic technique has developed in New Jersey, specifically.

Section 03: The Composition of Cultural Noise

Instructor: Elizabeth (Betsy) Allen

As a nation comprised primarily of immigrant people, American society can be a noisy conglomerate of languages, customs, values, and perspectives. While finding one’s place within this cultural cacophony can be frustrating for the newly arrived, beginning a journey in a foreign land can also be a hope-filled time of promise and opportunity. As a newly arrived scholar from high school immigrating to the university, you too will find the process of acclimation challenging as you learn the ways of communication, behavior and thinking particular to academic scholarship. In this course we will explore the themes of migration, cultural encounter and translation of meaning by reading Joanne Harris' Chocolat (required freshman reading), Fae Myenne Ng's Bone, and several other shorter pieces available through the library's e-reserve. This literature will also allow us to critically reflect upon the concept of cultural transition and the parallel journey you are making with these characters as immigrants to college culture and writing.

Section 04: Crossing the Cultural Divide through Composition

Instructor: Elizabeth (Betsy) Allen Tu-Th 11:00-12:20

Leaving behind one homeland to begin life in another can be much like the high school to college transition that many students face during their first year at the university. Both experiences encompass feelings of fear, hope, elation and despair, as well as cultural conflict. Through our study of Joanne Harris' Chocolat (required freshman reading), Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, film, short stories and essays, students will generate three compositions which examine the themes that arise in crossing cultural boundaries. The reflective essay, position paper and creative letter from the perspective of a literary character will allow us to reflect upon the cultural border crossings involved in the college transition. The final project for this course involves the adaptation of one written piece into a different creative form (e.g. turning one of essay into a poem or designing a poster based on the thesis and supporting points of the position paper, etc.). All students will present a final portfolio for evaluation at the end of the semester.

An examination of the big questions and the way our culture addresses them. If you're wondering about the meaning of life, come and hear what your classmates think, and discover the wide variety of answers offered by other religions and cultures.

Many issues which are of critical importance to our society get a lot of attention, but not very much careful attention. Even if everyone has a right to an opinion, isn't there still a difference between an opinion that is justified and one that is not? Isn't it important to avoid being duped? This is a course to help you see through the hype on issues like the death penalty, abortion, censorship, affirmative action, the meaning of art, and the existence of God, by focusing attention on the basics of critical thinking

An examination of the law and the legal system in

America

from the perspective of the ethical and moral implications of legal decisions and how these often become complex and competing interests.