Literature Emphasis
Minimum GPA for Admission: 2.5 within all English courses (other than ENGL 1010 , ENGL 2010 , CLEP, AP, etc.); 2.5 USU cumulative (including courses taken for another USU major); 2.5 career total (including transfer credits) for new transfer students
Minimum GPA for Graduation: 2.75 within major courses; 2.0 USU cumulative; 2.0 career total
Minimum Grade Accepted: C within major courses (no grades of pass/fail)
Number of required credits:42
The Literature emphasis combines the pleasures of reading fiction, poetry, and drama with the practices of communication, reasoning, and research.
Literature students will learn to be skilled writers, clear speakers, and critical thinkers. They can solve problems both logically and creatively, both independently and in teams. Graduates will thus be well prepared to pursue their individual goals in a wide variety of educational and professional paths. They can also look forward to a lifetime of intellectual curiosity and cultural enrichment.
ENGL 2600 is the introductory course in Literary Analysis, which teaches students to read texts closely, to draw connections between form and content, to make interpretative claims, and to write persuasive arguments.
At the 3000 level, the courses in Literary History teach students to draw connections between literature and its historical context, and to read texts in conversation with one another. Together, these courses give students a broad knowledge of British, American, and World literary history.
At the 4000 level, repeatable courses in Authors and Genres invite students to slice up the field of literature in other ways, by studying the work of particular authors and the evolution of specific genres. The Literature and Culture courses at the 5000 level are repeatable and serve as a capstone to the student’s Literature emphasis.
ENGL 5300 is a Special Topics course, which brings together diverse literary texts in imaginative ways, encouraging students to think across historical, biographical, and generic boundaries. ENGL 5310 is a course on Contemporary Literature, in which students bring literary history up to the present day. ENGL 5320 and 5330 explore literary and cultural representations of, respectively, gender identities and sexual orientations, and racial and ethnic identities. ENGL 5340, a course on Multimedia Literature, gives students a chance to explore new and emerging forms of literary and cultural representaiton.
The emphasis includes 12 elective credits: one additional literature course and three additional English courses in any emphasis. Students may devote three of these credits to an internship that combines their academic skills with their professional interests.
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