English

This is a course designed for students whose High School English grades indicate that they need preparation for the demands of College-level reading and writing. Through individual and group work, students will learn to develop their vocabulary, to recognize parts of speech and their function, and to understand and respond appropriately to various forms of oral and written English.

Students are automatically placed in Preparation for College English if they are graduates of French High Schools, and have obtained a grade inferior to 75% in the Secondary V English as Second Language course. (Graduates of French High Schools who have passed an Enriched English course will be placed in Introduction to College English)

*Non-program credits

The objective of the course is to enable students to recognize the structure and ideas in these literary texts and to produce written and oral work that is clear, well organized, grammatically correct, and effective. The emphasis is on the drafting, editing, and polishing of about eight short to medium-length compositions. Students will devote three hours per week to practical writing skills and one hour per week to theory.

This course is designed to study certain works of literature, to study films made of these works, and to compare the work on the printed page with the work on the screen. The student is expected to learn the vocabulary of film criticism, as well as that of literary criticism.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge defined poetry as "the best words in the best order." This course is designed to introduce students to the ways in which poets express ideas and emotions by choosing and organizing images and words. The students will analyze a selection of poems of diverse genres from various historical periods and design a project which reflects their appreciation of a particular poet or poetic form.

"Nature, not art, makes us all storytellers," writes critic Barbara Hardy. "Daily and nightly we devise fictions and chronicles, calling some of them daydreams or dreams, some of them nightmares, some of them truths, records, reports, and plans. Some of them we call, or refuse to call, lies." This course introduces the student to a wide and entertaining selection of short narratives from a variety of times and cultures.

This course will focus on works from a single genre of a specific literary period. Examples of literary period include the Renaissance, the British Romantic period, the Victorian period, and Modernism.

Literary Nonfiction is narrative based on facts, real events, and real people, which also employs literary devices and techniques that are typically associated with fiction (characterization, plot, figurative language, etc.) This course will focus on a nonfiction novel or collection of nonfiction stories chosen by the instructor. In addition to a close reading of the text(s), will examine the author’s approaches and techniques in researching and writing. As well, we explore the idea of "truth" and how, or whether, truth can be wholly communicated in this genre of storytelling.

A detailed study of the work of a single author (or combination of authors) from the perspective of his or her treatment of a genre such as the novel, the short story, poetry or drama. Choice of author(s) may vary from semester to semester depending on instructor.

This course examines the development of the modern mystery story. The first few meetings deal with the history of the “tale of ratiocination”, the Gothic horror story, the thriller, the murder mystery, and the spy novel. Subsequent classes are devoted to a study of four or five examples by writers such as Poe, Doyle, Chesterton, Rohmer, Christie, Sayers, Innes, Hammet, and Chandler.

An exploration into the nature and varieties of one or more genres of Canadian literature and their relationship to literary and historical contexts. At the discretion of the instructor, course material will include the systematic study of such genres as poetry, the short story, the novella, the novel, radio and stage plays, travel writing, etc. It may also consider such genre-related elements as the satiric, the comic, the documentary, the gothic and the fantastic.

Changes in our work, family and society are reflected in the popular works produced in each era. This course examines the development of adventure, horror, romance and other popular genres. Students will be encouraged to both question the functions of popular literature in our society and to apply the techniques of literary analysis to their favorite books.

Plays are not really literature: they are scripts. From ritual to documentary, from ancient Greece to contemporary Canada, word and gesture are inseparable. The course develops ways of reacting to plays as physical events, explores a variety of plays through live readings, and gives a history and description of the principal forms of theatre.

This course is a survey of contemporary Canadian and non-Canadian postmodern texts. We will consider the different meanings of postmodernism, using the texts to develop this understanding. Focus will be on works that break classifications or boundaries - between fiction and nonfiction, author and narrator, the concept of truth in history, gender, and so on.

This course is an exploration of literary humour as a genre – that is, an exploration of what makes literary humour distinct both from other forms of humour (such as stand-up, physical humour, practical jokes, cinematic humour, etc.) and from other forms of literature (such as tragedy, autobiography, the short story, etc.). Although literary humour borrows from and insinuates itself into many other genres, our starting assumption will be that there are threads of techniques and traditions that can be traced as they weave through the comic works from the Western world – and that these will allow us to develop an accurate and insightful understanding of how literary humour began, developed, and continues to change today.

In this class, students will be given the opportunity to explore the genre of sports literature, predominantly through short fiction, essays, and some films such as documentaries and features. These modes will be used to analyze the literary conventions within this genre, on a variety of sports ranging from the traditional team sports to non-traditional, extreme sports.

This course will examine novels written for, and marketed to young adults. These are often problem narratives, with characters negotiating issues faced by teenagers: identity, expression (voice and silence), relationships, materialism, sexuality, racism, difference, bullying, delinquency, and crime. This genre of “young adult novel” is thus problem-based and plot-driven. To appeal to young adults, authors must write shorter, more direct narratives than they would for the adult market. This genre has been highly profitable for the publishing business since the turn of the twentieth century, and so this publishing history will be studied as a context to this course’s reading material. Students will be encouraged to question, for instance, the changes in the genre over the century, the transformation in teenage identity, and the effectiveness of adults writing novels for teenagers. Using these young adult novels as a vector, this course will trace the history of teenagers and how popular fiction (as part of popular culture) has influenced our ideas about the teenage girl and boy.

Science fiction is a continuation and blend of Utopian literature and satire, of mythology and fantasy, of the grotesque, the millennial, and the apocalyptic. In a word, it is visionary. This course not only explores how and why science fiction is important, but also how skillful and crafted science fiction writing can be. Readings are from Wells, Verne, Clarke, Le Guin, Niven, Asimov, Ellison, Anderson, Bradbury and Varley.

This course is an in-depth study of the graphic novel as a genre that sprang from unlikely historical origins. Lectures will be an examination of visual rhetoric in literature, history, journalism and popular culture. How did this genre evolve from simple line drawings and superhero fantasy to become accepted by mainstream society? The class will analyze examples using theories to attempt to legitimize graphic novels as literature. Other topics for this class include: gender stereotypes, sexuality, war, racism, and drug abuse. How are cultural icons developed and how do they evolve? What are the thematic layers to these characters and their stories?

“In some ways, creative nonfiction is like jazz—it’s a rich mix of flavors, ideas, and techniques, some of which are newly invented and others as old as writing itself.” Creative nonfiction tells true stories in a way that is entertaining, skillfully crafted, and memorable. In this course, we will explore sub-genres of nonfiction that touch on areas such as love and relationships, the natural world, the human mind, and personal experiences. These may take the form of personal essays, memoirs, articles, and excerpts of books, among others.

This course examines the literary and socio-historical elements of weird fiction – a type of literature that is closely connected with horror, fantasy, and science-fiction, yet tends to often challenge or subvert the traditional conventions that are typically associated with these genres. The course traces the history of weird fiction starting from the late 19th and early 20th centuries up to the last couple of decades which have witnessed a revival of the weird. The course will also provide students with opportunities to reflect upon philosophical questions regarding the strange and uncanny and what they reveal about society.

Students can expect to study short literary works by Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Ligotti as well as other weird writers. They will also engage with creative and experimental forms of writing with the goal of creating their own work(s) of weird fiction.

This course will focus on thematic concerns of a specific literary period. Examples of literary period include the Renaissance, the British Romantic period, the Victorian period, and Modernism.

This course explores the 19th Century portrayal of the vampire as a theme in fiction, taking into account the romantic background as well as the historical context, particularly Victorian London, of this intriguing figure. Students will explore the origins – dare I say bloodlines — of contemporary vampires, such as those found on TV, in films and popular novels. The focus of the course will be on the Victorian novels: Carmilla, by Sheridan LeFanu, and of course Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

From Batman to Walter White, we have long been fascinated by the anti-hero and the anti-heroine. Neither wholly good nor evil, the anti-hero usually does the right thing, but often for the wrong reasons—or vice-versa. In this course, we will study several incarnations of the anti-hero in contemporary literature, in texts by authors such as Poe, Atwood, Oates, Moore, Bardwell, Kureishi, Ishiguro, and Nolan.

This course will attempt to reveal the wealth and complexity of Native Writing in Canada. Among issues covered are Aboriginal rights, family relationships, and the environment. The course includes works by women and men of many tribal affiliations and from various geographic regions of Canada. Their many voices are heard in a fascinating selection of songs, short stories, poems, plays and essays.

This course is concerned with terror and mystery in Romantic literature. We study the significance of the Gothic, discover how it originated, and estimate what it adds to our enjoyment of reading. Course content includes works by Horace Walpole, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, S. T. Coleridge, R. L. Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, A. Conan Doyle, E. A. Poe and other writers.

The study of myths is the study of beginnings, of gods and demons, of heroes and villains. In this course we explore the patterns of action, conflict, character types and themes which constitute myth. The influence of C. G. Jung and Joseph Campbell on the psychological and sometimes mystical interpretations of myth is also examined.

A detailed study of the work of a single author (or combinations of authors) from a thematic perspective. Choice of author(s) may vary from semester to semester depending on instructor preference.

One of today’s major concerns is the well-being and perhaps the very survival of the environment. This course presents the diverse voices and forms of environment writing. It draws from the rich variety of classic sources such as Thoreau, Carson, and Mowat, and from contemporary authors such as Lopez, Ehrlich and Dillard. It will explore themes which cover over 200 years of concern for the world in which we live. The text will include essays, articles, short stories, and poems by explorers, naturalists, scientists, poets, philosophers, and fiction writers.

This course examines how the act of travelling has impacted literary output in English. This course offers a selection of texts that experiment with travel writing, and in doing so, tackles concepts as diverse as pilgrimage, colonial gaze, self-referential criticism, as well as representations of otherness in English Literature. We’ll read and discuss different types of classic and contemporary travel writing by the greatest travel writers through diverse temporal and geographical settings.

This course will focus on thematic concerns of gender and sexuality in literary works. We will subject conventional notions of masculinity, femininity, and heterosexuality to theoretical analysis.

This course will provide students with an introduction to theatre history and to some of the important themes in plays of various historical epochs, from Ancient Greece to the contemporary dramatic scene. Our first emphasis will be on exploring themes through the critical and literary analyses of the plays themselves, but recognizing the essential differences between drama and other forms of literature, i.e., poetry or fiction. Other important focuses of the course will be: live readings, aspects of performance and staging, the socially created meaning of theatre, including interaction between audience and stage, and the connections between theatre and political and religious institutions.

Literary poetry and popular music have co-existed since at least the sixteenth century. So-called “broadside ballads” predate the works of Shakespeare and Shakespeare himself incorporated songs into his comedies. Other famous poets (Robert Burns, William Blake, Langston Hughes, etc.) have written or inspired songs and many popular songwriters (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Gord Downie, etc.) have written or been inspired by poetry. This course examines poetry and popular music from a thematic perspective to discover their mutual influence within a specific time period. Along with poetry drawn from such traditions as the ballad, the lyric, beat poetry, and slam poetry, the course will examine popular songs in a range of genres such as folk, blues, rock, pop, hip-hop, and other musical forms. Some attention may also be given to representations of popular music and artists in literary poetry and fiction.

The course explores the interplay between three fundamental components of being human: time, memory, and witnessing. Students will read a variety of texts, both fiction and non-fiction, to examine these components and investigate questions such as: what are the effects of time on memory? Does truth depend on witnessing? Is there a shared understanding of these components?

“With his rebellious attitude, varied monikers, self-appointed titles, and dizzying array of costume changes, the devil is pretty much a quintessential diva — just with a few added demands.” A fascinating and controversial figure, the devil has enjoyed a multitude of incarnations in books, poems, short stories, graphic novels, music, and film. This course explores the many faces of the devil as he is represented in various creative works, from Milton’s Paradise Lost to Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel The Sandman.

This class will explore a variety of texts, both fiction and non-fiction, to examine the concept of viral thinking and its related themes. We will explore the following questions (among others) in literature: How do new ideas and beliefs get disseminated? Who can and cannot disseminate new ideas and beliefs? How do these ideas catch on and become part of popular thought? What are the results and consequences if people do not adhere to the dominant belief system? What if an individual or group is in opposition to these commonly held beliefs?

Confessional poets emerged in North America in the late 1950s, recounting private experiences previously considered unsuitable for conventional poetry. In this course students will read and respond to confessional poetry on a range of previously taboo subjects, such as mental illness, addiction, and sexuality, from authors such as Plath, Sexton, Lowell, Snodgrass, Cohen, Peacock and MacEwan. Students will have the opportunity to experiment with poetic forms in a supportive and non-judgemental environment. As a result, students will analyze how form impacts the reader’s response and the poet’s message, considering whether unconventional themes can be contained within conventional forms, or more experimental forms?

Sports as Identity is a study of athletes and fans as represented in novels and nonfiction narratives. The principle aim of this course is to examine how authors construct social identity through sports involvement. A secondary aim of Sports as Identity is for students to deepen their understanding and use of interpretive strategies beyond simply identifying themes. Topics include agency, choice, constraints, belonging, commitment, self-worth, hope, leadership, acceptance, and access. What are the effects of athletic achievement on adolescents? How does fan culture affect families? What is the influence of sports on individual, family, and community identity? What happens when poverty and race, wealth and professionalism are among the historical and cultural contexts of sports narratives? These and other questions will help guide students’ reading and writing.

This course will focus on the active reading of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.  The course will approach the book via its historical context and its cultural legacy, both as a product of an individual artist and as a part of a broader, popular mythology.  Hence, in addition to the text itself, students will read examples of the various interpretive approaches to Melville’s epic and the themes therein, such as capitalism, religion, democracy, race, and even gender.

The American “open road” is frequently depicted in literature, movies, and songs. This course examines some of the popular myths, images, and symbols associated with the road genre and considers the ways in which travelers’ experiences represent larger changes or issues in society. Students can expect to analyze various themes in road narratives such as social mobility, freedom, rebellion, reinvention, the search for the “American Dream”, and the promise of escape.

This course has two main objectives: first, to ensure that students continue to develop their critical thinking and language skills and become familiar with writing conventions such as referencing and summarizing; second, to ensure that students acquire a specific knowledge of the language skills they will need to succeed in their program. In English for Social Sciences, the specific language skills students will study include how to distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly texts relevant to the social sciences, how to identify, analyze, and critique the arguments made in them, how to write well-structured and persuasive essays in clear and grammatical English, and how to read and thoroughly comprehend case studies, reports, articles, and other materials drawn from social-science publications

This course has two main objectives: first, to ensure that students continue to develop their critical thinking and language skills and become familiar with writing conventions such as referencing and summarizing; second, to ensure that students acquire a specific knowledge of the language skills they will need to succeed in their program. In English for the Arts, the specific language skills students will study include how to read and respond to art criticism, how to provide clear, concise, and accurate cultural and historical context for works of art, artists, and artistic movements, and how to effectively write documents connected with the world of the arts, including artist biographies, formal letters, project proposals, etc.

This course has two main objectives: first, to ensure that students continue to develop their critical thinking and language skills and become familiar with writing conventions such as referencing and summarizing; second, to ensure that students acquire a specific knowledge of the language skills they will need to succeed in their program. In English for AMT and CIS, the specific language skills students will study include how to identify, analyze, and employ the rhetorical strategies characteristic of the business world, how to identify and respond to a variety of formal and informal registers in spoken and written English, and how to understand the differences between the types of language used within and between businesses, clients, employees and management.

This course has two main objectives: first, to ensure that students continue to develop their critical thinking and language skills and become familiar with writing conventions such as referencing and summarizing; second, to ensure that students acquire a specific knowledge of the language skills they will need to succeed in their program. In English for Nursing, the specific language skills the students will study include specialized vocabulary, how to distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly texts relevant to Nursing, how to identify, analyse, and critique the arguments made in them, and how to write a well-structured and persuasive essay in clear and grammatical English. Students will study research methodology and how to read and thoroughly comprehend case studies, reports, articles, and other materials related to Nursing such as reflexive and objective writing.

This course has two main objectives: first, to ensure that students continue to develop their critical thinking and language skills and become familiar with writing conventions such as referencing and summarizing; second, to ensure that students acquire a specific knowledge of the language skills they will need to succeed in their program. In English for Special Care Counselling, the specific language skills the students will study include specialized vocabulary, how to distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly texts relevant to Special Care, how to identify, analyse, and critique the arguments made in them, and how to write a well-structured and persuasive essay in clear and grammatical English. Students will study research methodology and how to read and thoroughly comprehend case studies, reports, articles, and other materials related to Special Care Counselling such as reflexive and objective writing.

This course has two main objectives: first, to ensure that students continue to develop their critical thinking and language skills and become familiar with writing conventions such as referencing and summarizing; second, to ensure that students acquire a specific knowledge of the language skills they will need to succeed in their program. In English for the Sciences and CSM, the specific language skills students will study include how to write grammatically and stylistically correct scientific discourse, how to provide clear, concise, and accurate context for scientific events, presentations, and/or discoveries, and how to evaluate and offer constructive criticism about a variety of scientific texts.

This course has two main objectives: first, to ensure that students continue to develop their critical thinking and language skills and become familiar with writing conventions such as referencing and summarizing; second, to ensure that students acquire a specific knowledge of the language skills they will need to succeed in their program. In English for Languages and Communication, the specific language skills students will study include how to identify, analyze, and discuss a range of human (and, where appropriate, non-human) modes of communication, including non-verbal (e.g. visual, olfactory, etc.), oral, and written modes, and how to analyze the communication methods used in various arts, their historical development and role in their respective media.