Course Descriptions
English (EN)
EN 091 Reading Improvement I (4)
This basic course in the key skills is necessary for the successful study and comprehension of college-level reading material. Skills highlighted are: building vocabulary through context clues and word analysis, finding main ideas, determining significant details and relationships of ideas, outlining, understanding graphic material, practicing critical reading, and interpreting figurative language. Credit not applicable to degree requirements. Credit/no credit.
EN 100 Essentials of English Composition (4)
This course offers practice in writing short essays and prepares students for success in EN 101 while offering elective credit toward a degree. Emphasis is on paragraph and essay organization and on identifying ideas that support the writer’s central purpose.
EN 101 Introduction to Expository Writing (3)
Instruction and practice in writing, editing, and revising short narrative and expository essays. The course instructs the basics of organization and clear expression and use of Standard Edited American English. Offered every semester.
EN 102 Expository Writing (3)
Instruction and practice in writing short-to-medium-length expository essays and in writing from sources. Skills required for research and research writing are emphasized, such as summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, evaluation, and synthesizing. The course includes instruction and practice in writing a multi-source research paper of substantial length. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: EN 101 or placement by exam.
EN 201 Types of Literature (3)
Introduction to the study of literature through reading, discussion, and written analysis of major works ranging from ancient to contemporary. The course includes exemplary works from all major genres and diverse cultures. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: EN 102.
EN 255 Short Story and Novel (3)
This introductory literature course surveys classical, modern, and contemporary short stories and novels from around the world. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: EN 102.
EN 256 Poetry and Drama (3)
This course examines classical and modern works primarily of major English, Continental, and American authors. Offered annually. Prerequisite: EN 102.
EN 280 Special Topics (3)
This course provides selected topics in introductory literature (to be announced). Topics include, but are not limited to African American Literature. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: EN 102.
EN 285 Multigenerational Family Narratives (3)
This introductory literature course examines several multigenerational family narratives (novels and films) from around the world, with a focus on histories of colonialism, intergenerational trauma, immigration, and the building and sustaining of community. Prerequisite: EN 102.
English 102 and Communication 101 are prerequisites for all upper division courses.
EN 302 Creative Writing: Fiction (3)
Study of the techniques of the contemporary short story and practice in writing short stories and sketches. Offered alternate years.
EN 303 Creative Writing: Poetry (3)
Study of the techniques of contemporary poetry and practice in writing metric and free verse poems. Offered alternate years.
EN 305 Multicultural Literature (3)
This course explores issues of personal and group identity through the study of modern and contemporary fiction and non- fiction. Students will examine cultural pluralism in American society through writing, discussion, reading and research. Study of authors may include Morrison, Momaday, Kingston, Tan, Angelou, Silko, and others.
EN 307 Nature Writing (3)
This is an advanced, interdisciplinary writing course focusing on environmental themes. Nature Writing centers on reading and writing non-fiction, including journals, letters and essays. Authors figuring prominently in the course include Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Annie Dillard, and Gary Snyder. Offered annually.
EN 308 Climate Fiction (3)
We are now living on a planet suffering from the initial effects of climate change. Let us explore how literature may serve as our guide as we begin to imagine how we might live with, and possibly mitigate, these effects in the future. We will read a diverse set of stories from across a wide range of genres, including realism, science fiction, and fantasy. While the vast majority of futures depicted in climate fiction are dystopian, if not outright post-apocalyptic, one of our primary goals in this course will be to move from this obsession with dystopia to an understanding of the importance of imagining utopia, even when facing the bleakest of possible futures. Offered annually.
EN 309 YA Fiction: Comas, Catastrophes & Cats (3)
This course navigates the symbols of Comas, Catastrophes, and Cats in Young Adult ff A) Fiction. Students will explore a wide range of YA fiction that focuses on innovative family structures, and learn how to interpret these texts for both individual research and secondary classroom use.
EN 314 Backgrounds in American Literature (3)
This historical survey offers a broad-based introduction to American literature. Our readings encounter examples of Native American and kanaka maoli literatures, European narratives of exploration and settlement, and fiction, poetry, and drama of the last three centuries. Literary/ historical contexts will include the genres of the Captivity Narrative and the Sentimental novel as well as productions associated with Transcendentalism, Realism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. Required for English majors and minors. No Prerequisites.
EN 315 Backgrounds in British Literature (3)
Foundational study of major British literature from medieval and Elizabethan to the present. Required for English majors. Offered annually. Prerequisite: Any 200-level English offering.
EN 319 Studies in Shakespeare (3)
This survey studies representative comedies, histories, tragedies, problem plays, and sonnets composed by Shakespeare. This course is thus asking what Shakespeare is, equally important, how we read Shakespeare, and finally, what do we do today with Shakespeare. Also central to this course is situating Shakespeare within the period of Early Modern English, and the articulation of major artists, works, and ideas of the period. Students are to define various literary critical approaches to the period and apply those to given texts. Offered annually.
EN 362 Advanced Expository Writing (3)
This is an advanced writing course focusing on expository essays from logical and rhetorical principles, especially modes of definition, assertion, and proof. Particular emphasis will be on clarity of expression, coherence, and style. Offered alternate years.
EN 371 Aulama Literary Magazine and Publication (3)
This workshop provides students with experience in graphics, layout, presentation, design and writing for publication. Open to any student working on Aulama, the student literary magazine, and other related publications. May be repeated for a maximum of six semester hours.
EN 380 Dramatic Writing for Stage, Film and TV (3)
This is a craft-based writing class designed to enhance a student’s creative voice through the medium of script writing for theatrical productions. Students will receive an overview on the history of theatre, read and view established plays, then critique various genres, including dramas, comedies, tragedies and musicals. Students are required to attend at least one theatrical performance in the community, and must be present at all film viewings.
EN 402 Advanced Fiction Writing (3)
Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Grade of ‘C’ or better in EN 302.
EN 403 Advanced Poetry Writing (3)
Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Grade of ‘C’ or better in EN 303.
EN 422 Modern Pacific Literature (3)
This course introduces students to significant works of contemporary literature and film produced by indigenous Pacific islanders and explores issues of anti-colonialism, modernization, and traditional culture. Works include writers from across Oceania, including a sampling of works from Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Offered annually.
EN 430 Women’s Literature (3)
This survey course examines various literary works and genres of writing from women around the world. Students will explore women’s changing roles in society, and analyze how female writers from different countries and different eras approach themes like multiculturalism, politics, racism, social economics, and gender relations. Offered alternate years.
EN 432 Contemporary American Literature (3)
English 432 offers a broad survey of US literatures, 1940-Present. With attention to writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, Jack Kerouac, John Okada, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ralph Ellison, Art Spiegelman, and Leslie Marmon Silko, we shall consider artistic responses to WWII, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and political and social conflicts in the US. At the same time, discussions will encounter philosophical and cultural movements such as Modernism, Postmodernism, Feminism, and Postcolonial/Fourth World activism. No prerequisites.
EN 463 Movies That Matter: Worldly Doc Films (3)
In this general education capstone course, we will study a selection of documentary films that have attempted to help us see the world anew, including several films from the Pacific region. Through our collective viewing of these non-fictional movies from around the world, we will hone our foundational skills of critical thinking, writing, oral communication, information literacy, and knowledge of beauty and creativity. We also will work to relate the messages of these films to the Marianist characteristics. Regardless of your particular program of study, this interdisciplinary course will address interests and issues across the curriculum, Our project-based learning approach will require an individual research project and a collaborative group presentation.
EN 480 Special Topics (3)
These advanced courses are designed for majors. These topics include, but are not limited to British period courses such as Romantic Poetry, and Victorian Literature. Other topics may include The Black Body in Hip Hop and American Popular culture, Language Issues and Origins, Literature and Film, and Postcolonial Gothic. May be repeated.
EN 482 Film and Literature (3)
In this course, we will explore the ways in which film functions as a significant artistic force in its own right, as well as how fictional texts might themselves respond to and refract cinematic motifs. Familiarizing ourselves with the basics of film language, we shall examine faithful, loose, and revisionist cinematic adaptations of fictional texts. Our primary texts will range from short-stories and novels to silent films, classical Hollywood blockbusters, and international films.
EN 490 Directed Study (1 to 3)
Individualized study on a topic arranged with a program advisor. Prerequisites: EN 314 and EN 315, and Junior or Senior standing with consent of advisor.
EN 497 Hawai'i: Images and Stories (3)
This general education capstone course will cover the literary and visual texts produced in and about Hawai‘i from pre-territory to the present. Students will review a range of creative and critical work in order to examine Hawai‘i as a contested site. The readings and texts will map out and contextualize the struggle for land, language, and identity. Additional readings and videos will focus on the Marianist presence in Hawai‘i.
EN 499 Senior Seminar (3)
This is the capstone seminar for English undergraduates. Offered annually. Prerequisites: EN 314 and EN 315; open only to Seniors in the major.