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In This Issue
Why Every English Major has NO Excuse Not to Study
Abroad...Anywhere
by Sarah Zaubi
 I basically came to college to
study abroad (that’s only a slight exaggeration).
I remember actually refusing schools solely
because they didn’t offer tuition exchange, and by
the time I was done with my school search, I had
probably opened no less than 20 interviews with the
line, “so tell me about your study abroad program.”
Despite this level of almost
obsessive commitment, I realize that coming in as a
freshmen, I actually had very little understanding
of where exactly I
could go.
I could list at least four separate programs
that offered tuition exchange and college credit,
yet if you had asked me exactly where I wanted to
go, I probably would have just said, “Um…anywhere?”
Of course, in my mind as an English major, I
suddenly had this idea that the
only
place I could study abroad was England. Because
that’s what English majors do, right? They go to the
tipping point of the English language and just bathe
in all that English. Shakespeare? Check. Really old
books? Check check check. Add to this the assumption
of many of my peers and family that as an English
major I had no choice but to go to a “first world”
English speaking country, and it seemed that I had
little choice in the matter.
But here’s the thing (and I am
in no way trying to diminish the value of a U.K.
program), I think that as English majors it’s easy
to forget that other cultures have literature, which
seems rather silly.
You don’t need to go to Britain, or even an
English-speaking country, to be blown away by the
written word.
Or, like me, you may go to a country like
India that, with years of colonial rule in its past
and a political system written in English, actually
contains a wealth of Diaspora and native English
texts. You don’t have to have English in your
English major; you can deviate.
Many of the works I read in India in addition
to the native English works were translations from
one of the many languages that make up Indian
literature, and guess what, that’s still literature!
Unfortunately, as English majors, we often
spend the majority of our education pursuing the
works of the classic “dead white guys,” as they are
often fondly referred to.
While that
is slowly changing with the occasional addition of
women and so called “minority” writers to the canon,
we still spend very little time looking at
translated works from African, Asian, South American
and other non-English speaking countries. It as if
the very effort of translating them diminishes their
value, and they don’t gain any value at all until
they are translated into English. Because of this, I
think, it’s easy to be dismissive of the literature
of other countries, which is why I cannot encourage
students enough,
especially
English majors, to experience the wealth of stories
and biographies being generated by those outside of
our English speaking bubble.
As the world becomes more and more
globalized, we are finding ourselves woefully unable
to identify with other cultures, which is a shame
since as students we are given the opportunity to
peer almost directly into the inner workings of
another culture through their literature.
There is so much to gain from the information
and philosophies presented in the works of
non-English texts that it seems unreasonable to
privilege one over the other.
Once again, I’m not saying that
programs in English speaking countries are bad or
non-valuable.
I am merely trying to reiterate the value of
sending those who study literature to non-English
speaking countries in the wake of globalization and
the growing influence of countries like India and
China. As English majors we are in a unique
position.
We are trained over the course of four years
to read deeply into a text beyond the words
themselves and think critically of what we are
consuming.
If a culture or country expresses itself most
deeply and most honestly through its art, and I’m
arguing that it does, than we as students who study
literature critically are arguably in the best
position to connect with and understand cultures on
a different level. What better way to do that then
to not just read the works, but actually live and
study in the country that produces the works, and
fully immerse yourself in the host country? For
example, Not only was I reading Khushwant Singh’s
Train to
Pakistan in India, I was listening to my elderly
neighbor in Pune recall the trauma of his Hindu
family’s flight from Pakistan to India in the wake
of the partition, and maybe in some way beginning to
understand how those wounds can still be festering.
Oh, and that other book written by a “dead
white guy”
Passage to India? I can tell you it makes a
whole lot more sense when you yourself are Adela
Quested futilely and comically searching for the
“real India.”
So go, just for goodness sakes
GO. Go to India, go to Tanzania, go to China or
Norway or Greece or Brazil. Heck, if you can swing
it, go to the Middle East. I can guarantee we will
all benefit from more students in our generation
trying to understand Middle Eastern culture. Or, if
England or Scotland is more your thing, then
go. Go
bathe in all that English, and be a better person
because of it.
The United States isn’t getting any bigger,
and pretty soon we’ll have fewer and fewer excuses
to privilege our literature over others.
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A Book-to-Film Review: The Hunger Games
SPOILER ALERT
by Stevie Croisant and Katie Struck
 
You might have noticed that the campus has
been buzzing about the release of yet
another young adult book-to-film adaptation
with Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.
And while it is no doubt that the film was
successful in the box office (grossing
$152.2 million on its opening weekend and
celebrating the third best opening weekend
of all time behind only Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
and The Dark Knight, according to
CNN.com) as English majors, we often have
very different criteria for the level of
success of a film adaptation of a beloved
book. Stevie Croisant and Katie Struck are
going to share their thoughts on the changes
made to the story and how they feel about
the film as a whole.
Be warned, there
are spoilers for the book and the film.
What did you think of the casting of
the film? Do you feel the actors accurately
portrayed the characters?
Stevie:
When watching previews for
The Hunger Games,
I was worried that Jennifer Lawrence who
played the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen,
wouldn’t be a good fit. I had always
pictured Katniss as a thinner character
since she lived in such a lower class of
Panem. I assumed she would look more
malnourished than she did in the movie.
However, Lawrence did a fantastic job as
Katniss and was able to act out Katniss’s
rough exterior while also cluing the
audience into her wounded interior. You can
see the conflicts Katniss has with
Haymitch’s plan to make Katniss fall in love
with Peeta.
Josh Hutcherson who played Peeta also did a
fantastic job, and he also looked just as I
pictured him when reading the books. He was
perfect at looking timid and lost in the
woods. His dependence on Katniss is
perfected through his portrayal of Peeta.
Effie, played by Elizabeth Banks, was
another great casting choice. She not only played
up Effie’s snobbiness but had the right look
when put into her district’s bright purple
clothes, gleaming eye makeup and obnoxious
fashion accessories.
Katie:
The casting of the movie was really
well done. Jennifer Lawrence, who played
Mystique in the newest X Men movie, played
Katniss Everdeen. Lawrence’s portrayal made
me care about Katniss and admire her just as
I did in the book. I cried when she
volunteered for Prim. I cheered when she
shot the arrow at the apple in the pig’s
mouth and scared the crap out of the game
masters. I bawled when Katniss sang to Rue.
Lawrence had me rooting for her 100% of the
time.
Other than Katniss, Peeta was the most
important character to me since he is one of
those characters that I would date if it was
at all possible. Josh Hutcherson played
Peeta. I’d never seen him in any movie, but
I was really impressed by how well he played
the sweet, artistic, baker boy that stole my
heart. He was very convincing as being
hopelessly devoted to Katniss, and he was as
charismatic and likable in the movie as he
was in the book.
One character that I really enjoyed from the
movie but did not really shine for me in the
books was Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane.
First, I thought it was just his
artistically angular beard, but then, he
also seemed like a sympathetic, corrupted,
and ambitious character. Instead of seeming
like a one dimensional blip of a character
as he seemed in the book, he was fleshed out
through scenes with him being interviewed by
Caesar Flickerman, talking to President Snow,
and controlling the games. This made me feel
frustrated when Crane did not understand how
much he underestimated both Katniss’s
rebellion and President’s Snow’s rage, and
it made the final choice of Seneca Crane
between poisonous berries and starvation all
the more jarring.
The only character that I was not impressed
with was Donald Sutherland as President
Snow. In the book, President Snow strikes
fear into my heart and fills my nostrils
with blood and roses. He still has the
association of roses in the movie, but the
grandfatherly appearance of Sutherland seems
to take away from the intimidation factor
with Snow. Also, he seems more quiet and
subtle in his power where he seemed more
blatant in his power and corruption in the
book.
How did you feel about the sets
that the filmmakers created, particularly
District 12, the Capitol and the Arena?
Stevie:
The set for District 12 could not have been
any better. It brings every aspect from the
books alive as each person and house is the
epitome of poverty. Even the nice dress
Katniss wears to the reaping is something
seen in old black and white photos of people
living during the depression. The set comes
even more to life when giant aircraft from
the Hunger Games directors enter the
district. The fancy, technological machines
are so contrasting to the setting around
them.
Another well done set was the arena. While
watching the movie, I recognized the
landscape as that from the southern
Appalachian region of the Unites States,
which is a genius place to have such an
arena due to the rugged and rocky landscape
and vibrant green foliage.
Katie:
I felt like the sets that the filmmakers
created stayed true to the book. The shacks
and the images of starvation and poverty in
the district were very affecting. I didn’t
picture the Hub as grisly and decrepit as it
is in the movie. It seemed like a gray and
dismal outdoor market where the old woman
gives Katniss the Mockingjay pin in the
movie. It made me sad that people would live
there and made me believe that without Gale
and Katniss hunting then everyone may
starve.
In
contrast, the Capitol is bright and rich and
shining. There were gadgets everywhere and
the walls shine with frequent polishing.
It’s the picture of over indulgence, and it
fits with the images of the capitol from the
book. The costumes and make up in the
capitol made it really memorable. Everyone
seemed pinched and painted and bright and
colorful, which made the first trip into the
capitol for District twelve’s tributes and
me more fantastic.
Finally, the arena was great but the
cornucopia did not look at all like I
pictured it. The arena was filled with trees
and had a pond and sets of caves just like I
thought it would. It reminded me of Katniss’s
forest. The one disappointing part of the
arena set was the cornucopia. When I read
the book, I pictured a huge, golden version
of the Thanksgiving centerpiece. However,
the movie cornucopia looked like a modern
metal house of mirrors.
Was there anything that was
changed or left out that really bothered you
or you felt diminished your experience with
the movie?
Stevie:
I
saw this movie with my boyfriend who decided
not to read the books before watching the
film. He did not quite understand why I had
been talking about Gale so much when,
according to him, Gale wasn’t even an
important character. I think the
relationship between Katniss and Gale could
have been built up better. Granted, the
movie is already two and half hours long,
but the scene they share together does not
quite portray how important Gale is to
Katniss. Hopefully in the next movie, the
directors will build that relationship
better since for one, Gale will have a
bigger role in the next movie, and Gale is
also much more important to Katniss and her
family than the first film depicted.
Katie:
The two changes made in the movie
that bothered me were where the pin came
from and how the mutts looked. In the book,
Katniss’ pin is from her friend Madge, the
mayor’s daughter. In the movie, Madge never
appears and the pin comes from a woman at
the Hub in town. I liked how the friendship
between Katniss and Madge developed in the
book because it showed that Katinss was more
human and caring and normal by having a few
best friends that she could rely on, so
without Madge in the movie, it took away a
part of Katniss. Also, the mutts in the book
had the eyes of the dead tributes and were
used to freak out the tributes that still
lived. Picturing this while reading the book
made this scene not only creepy but also
depressing. In the movie, the mutts were
powerful and intimidating; they made me jump
out of my seat from fear when they first ran
after Peeta and Katniss, but without the
eyes of the former tributes, it was not as
affecting of a scene because the power of
the capitol to use dead tributes to their
advantage was missing.
Were there any changes that
were made that you felt helped or enhanced
the film?
Stevie:
To
be completely honest, I read the
Hunger Games
trilogy when I was still in high school and
haven’t had the time to pick them back up
again. My memory of the exact details of the
books has faded, so when watching the movie,
I really did not notice any major switches
from the book to the film version. Before
watching the movie, I did look up several
reviews, and one site in particular, said
that in the film, Katniss’s dress would not
be the firey dress that was loved in the
book. I was so worried the film would not
have that dress, but was relieved to see it
in the movie. It was much different than I
had pictured it in my head while reading,
but I’m glad the review I read was
completely false.
Katie:
Although I really missed Madge’s presence in
the movie and the fact that Madge gave
Katniss the mockingjay pin, I did like how
the mockingjay became a gift between
sisters. When Katniss gave Prim the pin to
keep her safe and Prim’s name was pulled
anyway, I saw how shocked Katniss and Prim
looked. Then, when Katniss volunteered as
tribute in Prim’s place, I teared up as Prim
gave Katniss the pin to keep her safe in the
games. It made me wonder as I never had
whether the pin as a symbol of rebellion
kept Katniss safe and whether it would have
kept Prim safe if Prim had kept it. Adding
this level of connection between the sisters
worked well.
What was your favorite part of
the film?
Stevie:
My
favorite part from the film was the reaping.
I feel embarrassed admitting this, but I
felt like crying when Prim was called up.
There was so much energy in that scene, and
even though the idea behind a hunger game is
sick and demented, it wasn’t until that
moment, when a young girl was called up the
stage to fight in a game she would most
likely die in, did the sickness behind the
games really sink in. When Katniss
volunteered as tribute, of course it was one
of the most courageous things someone could
do, but that moment felt real. That scene
was most definitely my favorite.
Katie:
My favorite scenes are the most touching
scenes of the movie, the cave scenes and
Rue’s death. I liked seeing how Peeta and
Katniss took care of each other and how
Katniss fell in love with Peeta. The other
scene that really affected my emotions was
Rue’s death. As Rue and Katniss bonded in
the arena starting with Rue pointing out the
tracker jacker nest to Katniss, I grew to
care about Rue more and more and saw how
Katniss took care of her like she took care
of Prim. This is why when Rue dies from a
stab wound, I really liked seeing the scene
that really made emotional in reading the
book as Katniss sang to Rue, surrounded her
with flowers, and saluted district 11. I was
a little worried that the actress might not
be able to sing the lullaby to Rue so that
even birds fell silent, but her singing was
soft and emotionally rich. It was an
appropriate send off to a great character.
What was your least
favorite part of the film?
Stevie:
My
least favorite part of the film was the
ending of the game. I know in the book, the
ending did not seem as awkward. In the
movie, when the characters are stopped from
committing their Romeo and Juliet-like
demise, the games just suddenly end. There
was an awkward pause to the movie where
Peeta and Katniss just looked up at the sky
confused, void of any other emotions. There
wasn’t any instant joy or sorrow, just a
blank expression from both of them.
Katie:
As a member of Team Peeta, I should say any
part where Gale showed up was my least
favorite part, but my least favorite scenes
were the train scenes. They felt awkward
with how little Katniss said and how
desperately Peeta tried to get her to talk
to him. Haymitch did save those scenes
somewhat with his sarcasm and harshness.
Plus, I cracked up when Haymitch stopped
Peeta with his feet.
How many stars
out of five would you give The Hunger
Games?
Stevie:
Despite the few errors in the film,
The Hunger Games
is one of the best book to movie adaptations
I have seen in a while. The casting was
brilliant and the scenes were very well
done. I’m already anxious to see the second
film and I’m angry I lent out my
Hunger Games
books, because I won’t get to reread them in
a while. The Hunger Games
deserves 4.5 stars. I hope the second one is
just as good.
Katie:
I would give it a well deserved five out of
five stars for sticking to the original
story and bringing it to life.
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2012-2013
English Courses
Fall 2012
English 180: Introduction to Literature: Young Adult
Literature for the 21st Century
A general literature course for
non-majors that does not count for the English major or minor. It
is, however, cross-listed with the women's studies minor. This course will study contemporary young
adult literature. We’ll talk about the use of literary devices
such as characterization, plot, and figurative language and look
for common strategies as well as differences among texts. We
will also focus on the role of the protagonist as a stand-in for
young adult readers and consider issues of gender, race,
culture, sexual orientation, and class. I’m still working on a
final list of texts (because there are so may I love), but
highly likely candidates include Suzanne Collins’s The
Hunger Games, Malinda Lo’s Huntress, Sherman
Alexie’s, The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Kelly
Link’s Pretty Monsters, Derrick Barnes’s We Could Be
Brothers, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Nnedi
Okorafor’s Akata Witch, John Green’s The Fault in our
Stars, Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Esperañza Rising, and
Sheri Reynold’s The Sweet In-Between. One Credit.
(Solberg)
English 200: Introduction to English Studies
A
gateway to the English major, this course is designed to introduce
majors to the broad range of scholarship and practice within the
discipline of English. Included will be emphasis on close reading
and research skills, as well as overviews of the history of the
discipline, creative writing, literary criticism and theory, and
vocational paths. One Credit. (Hale)
English 210: Creative Writing
Practice in the
writing and critical analysis of imaginative literary forms,
especially poetry and fiction. One Credit. (Bruce)
English 220: British Survey I
A historical survey
emphasizing literary and cultural developments in English literature
from the Medieval through the Neoclassical periods. One Credit.
(Belschner)
English 224: American Survey I
One of two
introductory surveys in American literature emphasizing literary
movements, and cultural and historical developments in the
literature of the United States. Readings will include: native
American creation myths; explorer narratives; poetry, fiction and
non-fiction from such writers as Bradstreet, Cotton Mather, Edwards,
Franklin, Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Poe, Whitman,
Melville and Dickinson. One Credit. (Bruce)
English 339: Chaucer
Why Why study old stuff that sounds funny? In
particular, why study the writings of the son of a vintner, a career
diplomat, who died 612 years ago? Three reasons. First, because
Geoffrey Chaucer is generally acknowledged to be the first real
English literary figure – and acknowledgement which made him read
and beloved of readers and writers since the moment of his
publication (including Dr. Johnson and Dryden, amongst others).
Second, because the effort put into his language will be rewarded
with a greater understanding of the history and linguistics of the
English you speak, read, and write. Third, because Chaucer is
simply one of the funniest writers ever – a comedy deepened, as all
good comedy is, by a serious understanding of the world in which he
lived and the culture which he helped to create. In this course we
will begin with Chaucer’s shorter poems, building up our language
skills, since reading Middle English does take some work. Then we
will move into his masterwork, The Canterbury Tales, spending
the majority of our time focusing on the great cast of characters he
allowed to carry his stories into literary history. One Credit.
(Willhardt)
English
347: Modern American Poetry
"Modern American Poetry”
means 20th
and 21st
century poetry. More Frost, Eliot, Pound; Marianne Moore,
Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, ee cummings, Langston
Hughes, H.D., Elizabeth Bishop, John Berryman, Robert Bly, G.
Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, Randall Jarrell, Maxine
Kumin, Ann Sexton, R. Lowell, , Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich,
Theodore Roethke, Mary Oliver, Gary Snyder, William Stafford,
James Wright, Audre Lorde, Robert Hass, Josephine Miles, Amy
Clampitt, Louise Gluck, Rita Dove, Philip Levine, Anthony Hecht,
Sharon Olds, Alice Fulton, etc. A few poems from many authors
and several poems from a few authors We will talk about
“schools” of poetry, confessional poetry and the politics of
identity, cultural historical and artistic connections; also
about song lyrics, slams, performance art. One Credit. (Watson)
English 350:
Literature and Religion in the 19th Century
(ENGL350/RELG250/PHIL250) will be cross-listed
and team-taught by Rob Hale and Hannah Schell. Students will read
literary, philosophical, and religious texts from the long
nineteenth-century (1789-1914) by authors including William Blake,
George Eliot, Alfred Tennyson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Thomas
Hardy on the literary side and Friedrich Schleiermacher, Soren
Kierkegaard, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Friedrich Nietzsche on the
philosophy/religious studies side – tracing the romantic reaction to
the Enlightenment’s “religion of reason” and the rise of modern
agnosticism and atheism. Students will examine how writers in both
disciplines deal with religious, moral, and ethical issues and
explore how writers in each discipline respond to historical
circumstances in similar and different ways. This course will count
as the capstone for the 19th-century
studies minor. One Credit. (Hale)
Spring 2013
English 200: Introduction to English Studies
A
gateway to the English major, this course is designed to introduce
majors to the broad range of scholarship and practice within the
discipline of English. Included will be emphasis on close reading
and research skills, as well as overviews of the history of the
discipline, creative writing, literary criticism and theory, and
vocational paths. One Credit. (Willhardt)
English 201: Grammar
A course that gives
students practice in fundamental English grammar. Emphasizes basic
skills, not theory. One Credit (Roberts)
English 210: Creative Writing
Practice in the writing and critical analysis of imaginative
literary forms, especially poetry and fiction. One Credit. (Solberg)
English 221: British Survey II
A historical survey emphasizing literary and cultural developments
in English literature from the Romantic through the Modern periods.
One Credit. (Hale)
English 225:
American Survey II
An introductory survey focusing on poetry and fiction
written after the Civil War and before American involvement in the
Second World War. Included are works from such writers as Jewett,
Wharton, Twain, James, Kate Chopin, Crane, Pound, Robinson, Frost,
Anderson, Stevens, Eliot, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner.
Emphasis on literary, cultural, and historical movements. The course
is a continuation of English 224, but may be taken alone and without
regard to sequence. One
Credit. (Watson)
English 299:
Writing Fellows
This course is an
introduction to the tutoring process, as well as basic
pedagogical and developmental strategies for teaching
writing. Course requirements will include readings in
composition/tutoring theory and practice as well as tutoring
in the Mellinger Teaching and Learning Center. Two Credits.
(Draxler)
English 366: 1st 1/2 Semester: Wilde
We
will examine the life and work of Oscar
Wilde. We will read a variety of works including the novel The
Picture of Dorian Gray, the plays Salome and The
Importance of Being Earnest, and selected criticism, poems and short
stories in historical and cultural context. The works’ relationship
to aestheticism, decadence, queer issues, and the fin de siècle will
be of special interest. One Half Credit. (Hale)
English 366: 2nd 1/2 Semester: Becket
and Pinter
We
will examine the plays of Samuel Becket
including Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp’s Last
Tape, and Happy Days and Harold Pinter’s The Birthday
Party, The Dumbwaiter, and The Homecoming. We
will read the works in historical context and watch selected
performances on video, and in the theatre (if plays are produced in
the region). One Half Credit. (Hale)
English 362: Shakespeare II: Tragedies
and Romances
Studies in Shakespeare's tragedies and
romances. One Credit. (Belschner)
English 400: Senior Seminar
An intensive study of key literary periods and subjects. Required of
all senior English majors. One Credit. (Belschner)
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Survey Says:
What are you reading over Spring
Break?
I'm finishing Hilary Mantel's
amazing Wolf Hall, will move on to Agatha Christie's
Sleeping Murder, and then will start Nnedi Okorafor's Who
Fears Death.
- Erika Solberg
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson and A Dirty Job by
Christopher Moore.
- Alex Kane
Franny and Zooey
by J D Salinger !
- Allison Razo
Rereading Oranges Are
Not the Only Fruit for senior sem!
- Ivy Bekker
To the Lighthouse
and a ton of feminist theory- thanks, senior seminar!
- Jackie Deskovich
I will be reading 13
Reasons Why over break for fun. Also, I'm planning
on reading some books on queer theory focusing on
religion and literature. It should be an interesting
break.
- Katie Struck
Announcements!
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