Ellis University Home | About Ellis | Request Information

Bachelor Degree Online: Bachelor of Arts - English

Ellis University is not currently accepting applications for this program.

(please click to jump to your concentration)

Concentration in Literature and Culture
Concentration in Professional Writing

Required Courses in the online English Degree program

LIT 420 Literature Survey
In this advanced course, students will survey British or American literature of a specific period. The period covered will vary from semester to semester. Students in the online English degree program may repeat the course to cover additional time periods (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 430 Major Author
In this advanced course, students will study a single major author. The course will provide intensive study of selected texts, an examination of the milieu in which the author wrote, and will include study of other texts that were influential upon or influenced by the major author. The author studies will vary from semester to semester; the choices will include those authors who are generally considered part of the canon as well as third world and minority authors. Students pursuing an online English degree may repeat the course to study a different major author (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 440 Multicultural Literature
In this advanced course, the focus will be on the literature of another culture, subculture, or combination of cultures. The approach and subject matter will vary from offering to offering. Students in the online English degree program may repeat the course to take advantage of the different offerings. Satisfies Group A. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 450 Special Topics in Literature
In this advanced course, students will examine literature from a particular perspective. The course will focus on a specific theme, genre or approach, may focus on literature in relation to another discipline, or may look at literature in any other way that does not fall within the Survey, Major Author, or Multicultural categories. The content of the course will vary from semester to semester. Many of the offerings will focus on non-Western literature. Online English Degree students may repeat the course to take advantage of the varying offerings (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 460 Capstone Seminar
This senior seminar in the online English Degree program provides special studies in the students' area of specialization: Literature and Culture or Professional Writing. Individual, supervised research is a major component of the course (3 credits).
Prerequisite: Senior standing.

Literature and Culture

Select five of the following:

LIT 310 Modern Poetry
This course is more a study in depth than an introduction to representative British and American poets of the twentieth century. Emphasis is placed on the manner in which modern poetry derives from traditional patterns yet manages to create new forms and messages for our time (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 320 Shakespeare
An advanced course in which selected texts and critiques from Shakespearean literature are examined intensively. Satisfies Group A. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 330 Survey of World Literature
Study of outstanding writers from all over the world (save for England and America) from ancient times to the twentieth century (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 331 Art of the Novel
An advanced study of selected masterpieces in the novel form (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 340 The African-American Writer in American Literature
Reading and discussion of representative works of African-American writers. Historical and social backgrounds are explored to interpret African-American literature as meaningful as part of the American literary tradition. Satisfies Group A. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
LIT 341 Twentieth-Century American Literature
An advanced study of major American literature of this century (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.

Professional Writing

Five of the following courses:

WRT 335 Writing for Publication
An advanced written English course, with special emphasis on published work. Students interested in writing and those seriously committed to their own writing improvement and to the writing of prose articles, fiction or poetry are especially encouraged to take this course (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 151.
WRT 351 Advanced Technical Writing
Advanced training and practice in the techniques and forms of technical writing. Focused around planning and producing electronic and print-based manuals. Topics will include: information gathering, usability testing, group collaboration, project management, using text and graphics, relevant technologies, and writing techniques (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 310, WRT 316, WRT 320 OR WRT 330.
WRT 355 Advanced Writing and Editing
An advanced workshop in business and technical writing techniques including technical aspects of editing and interpersonal skills employed by successful editors. Participants practice revising writing for specific audiences; strengthen their techniques in revising for style, clarity, and conciseness; increase their command of grammar and mechanics; practice production editing and using style manuals; utilize word processors and computerized text editors; and develop important interpersonal editing skills through the use of role playing and peer evaluation. Participants also continue to be exposed to a variety of common forms of career-oriented business and technical writing (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 310, WRT 316, WRT 320 OR WRT 330.
WRT 360 Seminar in Professional Writing
An advanced seminar in a specialized topic, utilizing the expertise of an instructor from the profession at large. This written english topic will vary from offering to offering (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 310, WRT 316, WRT 320 OR WRT 330.
WRT 363 Writing for the Web
Focus is on learning and practicing advanced aspects of creating multimedia, hypertext, and online help documents. Topics: linear and nonlinear planning structures ("information architecture"), writing stylistics, the rhetoric and use of graphics, linking, reading and editing online, project management (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 310, WRT 316, WRT 320 OR WRT 330.
WRT 366 Survey of Technical and Professional Document Production
A survey of principles, techniques, and procedures of electronic and print-based document production. Topics: the relationship between written and visual material, traditional copy preparation and design, desktop publishing, traditional printing techniques for books, brochures, pamphlets, and newsletters. Students will produce their own brochures, pamphlets, and newsletters (3 credits).
Prerequisite: WRT 310, WRT 316, WRT 320 OR WRT 330.