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Department
Program
Major
Acceptable
course from other departments
Writing Emphasis
Minor
Advance placement
Writing Requirement
Comprehensive requirement
Honors
PROGRAM
The department’s objective is the
close critical study of literature in English in an
international and interdisciplinary context. Students in
English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) courses read
works from British, American, and world literary traditions,
including those of classical Greece and Rome. We ask our
students to become knowledgeable both about well-known
writers and about voices traditionally excluded from
literary canons. In addition to providing an experience of
intense reading and discussion of individual literary works,
departmental courses strive to present those works in a rich
historical context of human social, political, and
psychological behavior. Students are strongly encouraged to
become familiar with the various theories of literature and
representation that have informed literary analysis since
Aristotle.
All ECLS courses involve extensive
work in close reading, critical thinking, and analytical
writing. Most courses in the department are conducted as
lecture/discussions or as seminars, with a strong emphasis
on interaction and the collaborative construction of
knowledge. In the required survey courses (ECLS 286-289)
students learn the breadth and diversity of literary
history; in required majors’ seminars in the sophomore,
junior, and senior years they develop increasingly
sophisticated skills in literary analysis, discussion,
writing, research, and presentation.
MAJOR
Eleven courses (44 units), to include ECLS
200,
206 or
208,
209, and
210, ECLS
390, and six additional courses, including one from each
group I–IV below. (Group V also lists some courses which are
designated as appropriate to fulfill the Group III and Group
IV requirements.) We encourage prospective majors to have
completed
200,
206 or
208,
209, and
210 by the end of the sophomore year (First-year courses
108,
109, or
110 may substitute for one of the 200 series).
Literature courses offered by foreign language departments
(both in translations and in the original languages) may be
counted toward the ECLS major. See below under Acceptable
Courses from other departments.
Students
considering going on to graduate work in literature are
strongly encouraged to take additional ECLS courses which
will broaden and deepen their knowledge of literary history
and should also take ECLS
370, Literary Criticism. Students intending to pursue
honors must take ECLS
370. Graduate programs also require proficiency in at
least one foreign language.
ACCEPTABLE
COURSES FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS
American Studies
270. Several upper-division language literature courses
in Chinese, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Latin, Russian,
and Spanish may be used to fulfill a group requirement.
Contact the department chair for additional information.
WRITING
EMPHASIS
Students majoring in English and Comparative Literary
Studies may elect to take an additional number of courses in
order to complete a creative writing emphasis. Such an
emphasis is designed to provide a strong background in both
literature and creative writing skills. Students must take
13 courses including the 8 required courses, including one
from each group I-IV. In order to fulfill the writing
emphasis, students will elect 5 additional writing classes
(20 units) from the following: ECLS
380 (may be repeated for credit), ECLS
397 and/or
499; a variety of English Writing classes:
285,
286,
301,
401; Theater
380; French
343. Other opportunities for students interested in
writing are listed in the catalog. Students interested in
pursuing the emphasis in writing should work out a careful
program in consultation with an advisor.
MINOR:
Five courses (20
units), including two courses from
208,
209, and
210 (first-year courses
108,
109, or
110 may substitute for one of these); and three other
courses drawn from at least two different groups.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT POLICY
ECLS majors who
before entering Occidental have completed the AP test in
English with a score of 4 or 5 may, in consultation with the
department chair, take a 300-level course in group III or IV
in place of ECLS
109/209
or
110/210.
Majors choosing this option will still be required to take
one course in each distribution group in addition to the
course substituted for
109/209
or
110/210.
Majors may not substitute 300-level courses for ECLS
208.
WRITING
REQUIREMENT
Students majoring
in English and Comparative Literary Studies will satisfy the
final component of Occidental College’s college-wide writing
requirement by successfully completing ECLS 390 in the
junior year and receiving a notation of “Satisfactory” for
its writing component. Those students who, for legitimate
reasons (study abroad, late entry into the major, etc.),
cannot take ECLS 390 in the junior year will be required to
submit a portfolio of written work to the department chair
for evaluation by a faculty committee, by the end of the
junior year. (Those planning to study off-campus in spring
semester of junior year must submit the portfolio before
departure.) Students not achieving a “satisfactory” notation
by either of these means will be required to undertake
additional coursework in academic writing during the final
two semesters of study. ECLS majors should acquire the full
description of the departmental writing requirement at the
time of declaring the major. See the
Writing Program for additional information.
COMPREHENSIVE REQUIREMENT
Majors will take,
normally at the end of the first week of the spring semester
of the senior year, a comprehensive examination based on a
reading list which is available in the department office.
Seniors may take ECLS
490 as an alternative to the comprehensive examination.
ECLS
490 is offered in the Fall only. It is open only to
seniors.
HONORS
Honors may be
awarded to graduating seniors who demonstrate excellence in
course work and in an honors thesis. To be eligible,
students must have a 3.5 grade point average in courses
taken toward the major and an overall 3.25 grade point
average. Qualified students who want to pursue honors should
consult with the department chair during the spring semester
of the junior year and should submit a proposal for an
honors thesis by the end of the first week of Fall semester.
Students whose proposals are accepted will register for ECLS
499 and write a thesis during the fall semester. Honors
candidates are required to take ECLS
370; if possible they should take it in the junior year.
For further details, see the
Honors Program and pick up a copy of the ECLS honors
regulations in the department office.
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