Literature Program Undergraduate Major
To obtain a degree in English Literature, you’ll need to follow the path outlined below.
Note: Click here for: Information on a Minor in English Literature.
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The English Major consists of 12 courses (36 credits):
- One Englit 0505, "Lectures in Literature".
- Three Developmental Courses.
- Three Historical Period Courses.
- Five electives (to be taken from the ENGLIT or ENGWRT curriculum).
Note: Click on a course title to
review
a sample syllabus.
1. Englit 0505, "Lectures in Literature"
You should take this course as early as possible. No prerequisites. Lectures of 120 students plus recitation of about 20 students each. Click on titles for further information.
2. Three Developmental Courses
The developmental courses should be taken in the following order:
Englit 0500—W, Introduction to Critical Reading
Prerequisites: Students must have successfully completed their composition requirement (Seminar in Composition) before taking this course.It is a good idea to take this as soon as possible, even if you haven’t yet decided on or declared the major.
Englit 1900—W, Junior Seminar
Prerequisites: Englit 0500, and one period course.Englit 1909—W, Senior Seminar
Prerequisites: Englit 0500, Englit 1900, and three period courses.
3. Three Historical Period Courses
English Lit majors are required to take one from each of the following three groups. Not all of these courses will be offered every semester, though they will be offered every year.
Group I:
Englit 1100, Medieval Imagination
Englit 1125, Renaissance in England
Englit 1135, Early Modern Literatures in EnglishGroup II:
Englit 1150, Enlightenment to Revolution
Englit 1200, American Literature to 1860
Englit 1175, 19th-Century British LiteratureGroup III:
Englit 1220, Emergence of Modern America 1860-1914
Englit 1325, The Modernist Tradition
Englit 1380, World Literature in English
4. Five Elective Courses
All elective courses must be from the 0500 level or above, and at least two must be at the 1000 level.
Plan ahead: Some courses, especially at the 1000 level, are not offered every semester. Students should take elective courses appropriate to their intellectual development and interests.
Course Information:
Englit 0500-W, Introduction to Critical Reading
Englit 1900-W, Junior Seminar
Englit 1909/1910-W, Senior Seminar
Historical Period Courses
Independent Studies
Englit 0500-W, Introduction to Critical Reading
The aim of Englit 0500 is to introduce students to the methods and techniques of literary critical analysis by studying three to four primary literary texts drawn from different periods and genres. These will be read in conjunction with several critical essays written about those texts from a variety of critical and theoretical positions. This concentration on a few texts and a variety of approaches should enable students to explore the cultural and political implications of different interpretations as well as to understand critical debate and revision as crucial aspects of literary and cultural interpretation. The sequence of written assignments enables students to understand the interpretative stakes of revision in the context of both their own work and the assigned critical readings.
Because this course is the first required in the sequence for English majors, one or two sections each term are reserved for majors. All sections of the course prepare students for the upper-level period survey courses and the Junior Seminar.
Englit 1900-W, Junior Seminar
This seminar will articulate conceptual relationships among the multiple historical periods that English literature majors encounter as part of their studies. The seminar will raise theoretical issues about what it means to read historically. This suggests a course that thinks through specific historical literacies or reading practices, or that attends to changes in the history of texts and textuality. It also suggests a course that thinks through the historical organization of the field and of critical practices, focusing on such theoretical issues as questions of periodization, notions of "tradition" and the "contemporary," national frames and crossings, classification of texts (e.g., literature/non-literature, "high and low," "classic"). As the seminar which students will take near the mid-point of their careers as English majors (usually in the junior year), this course should also provide opportunities for students to reflect upon their involvement in the study of English Literature.
Students will be required to write a substantial final essay as the culmination of their work in the course. Consequently, this is also the place in the curriculum where students should do some work in bibliographic and research methods. As a prerequisite, students should have already taken Introduction to Critical Reading and at least one of the historical period courses.
Englit 1909/1910-W, Senior Seminar
An in-depth study of a particular topic, author, or theme, the Senior Seminar is organized around two principles. On the one hand, students are invited to reflect on the discipline of English studies, and to think critically and work creatively with the knowledge and practices they have learned during their time at Pitt. On the other hand, the seminar is the place where students are encouraged to think about their future in relation to their continuing intellectual development: to graduate school in English or Education, or to other careers and vocations.
The research and communication skills that students have acquired are put into play in the seminar as students, in class, present their own ideas in relation to others. This work can take the form of individual or group presentations. A substantial, high quality, thoroughly researched paper is expected. Senior seminars are limited to 18 majors and have a variety of topics. In the past, seminars have focused on Modern Poetry, Work and Play in Literature, Dramatizing American Women, James Joyce, Jane Austen, King Lear, and Literature and Architecture. Two or three seminars are offered each semester, so students are encouraged to check out the topics which interest them. Majors must have completed the Junior Seminar and three historical period courses before entering the Senior Seminar.
Historical Period Courses
Although these are all upper-level courses, they do not presume that you already know about the periods in question. They intend to introduce you to them. They are most useful when taken early in your career so that they can enrich the subsequent, more specialized courses you take later. In their conception, execution and continuing evolution, these courses never treat history as an inert background to the literature read in class. Instead, they find ways to enable the literary-historical past to surprise and disturb our contemporary expectations of it. So you will encounter texts that depart from the mainstream and, perhaps, materials from disciplines other than English literature. For some professors, literary history might involve a necessary conversation with social and political history. For others it might mean a consideration of that which constitutes the past and the ways in which it is encountered.
Independent Studies
Independent studies (Englit 1901) are designed to accommodate students who urgently need to pursue a course of study not covered in the regular departmental offerings. They cannot replicate courses that already exist in the department. The College of Arts and Sciences permits a maximum of 24 credits to be taken in independent studies. A full-time faculty member in the English Department must direct an independent study. Students must obtain the individual faculty's permission before proceeding with such a course of study.
Undergraduate Minor in English Literature
An undergraduate minor in English Literature would help students in a variety of majors to represent significant expertise they have accrued in this field on their transcripts. The structure of the minor will also help direct students with a significant interest in English Literature to sequences and sets of courses that are designed to develop their interest: they can take a mini-curriculum rather than just a smattering of electives. A minor in English Literature is a desirable supplement to many degrees across the College of Arts and Sciences because it provides insights into cultural traditions and practices, develops students' abilities to write analytical arguments, and promotes critical thinking.
Academic Requirements:
The minor will consist of 18 credits and comprise the following courses:
- Englit 0500-W, Introduction to Critical Reading
- Englit 1900-W, Junior Seminar
(Students must have completed Englit 0500 and at least one period course before taking the Junior Seminar.)
At least two of the period courses:
- Englit 1100, Medieval Imagination
- Englit 1125, Renaissance in England
- Englit 1135, Early Modern Literatures in English
- Englit 1150, Enlightenment to Revolution
- Englit 1175, Nineteenth-Century British Literature
- Englit 1200, American Literature to 1860
- Englit 1220, Emergence of Modern America
- Englit 1325, Modernist Tradition
- Englit 1380, World Literature in English
- and two electives from 0500, 0600, or 1000-level course offerings in English Literature.
