Course descriptions for my summer & fall classes

Potential students at ISU for this summer's ENG 375: Young Adult Literature and next fall's ENG 272: Literature for Middle Grades can now read course descriptions and book lists for the sections that I will be teaching.

Course description for ENG 375: Young Adult Literature (in .pdf format). This is a four-week, intensive summer-session class that will meet Monday-Thursday 1--3:50 p.m from May 26 to June 9. Be prepared for a considerable amount of reading and writing during an interesting and challenging four-week course.  Attendance is crucial. Since you'll have the book lists, you might want to get a head start on reading now, if you're enrolled in this course.

Course description for ENG 272: Literature for Middle Grades (in .pdf format).  This course will be taught during the Fall 2011 semester and focuses on texts for children 9 - 13.  We will read fiction, including multicultural novels, non-fiction, including information books, and examine children's media and culture.  Be prepared for writing a research paper, a short paper, and several short writing assignments as well as pop quizzes and two exams.

As usual, I expect students to attend class regularly and to actively participate in class discussions. These courses have exams that you will be required to take.

For those of you interested in ENG 470: Topics in Children's Literature, the topic is going to be Tween Literature and Culture.  I am working on that course description.  Any graduate student who's interested might look at ENG 272 for some of the primary texts.  However, it will be different in scope and will have assignments and discussions geared toward the graduate-student level.  I think that there is a need to critically examine this popular and fast-growing segment of children's literature and culture, particularly for graduate students in children's literature.