ABC Download our Alphabet BookThere’s nothing in the ABC Book that’s not on this website.
Rumors & Questions
Why don't professors in the English department put grades on papers?
This long-standing practice in the English department is based on our belief that an English course is a conversation. The conversation takes place in class among students and teachers; it takes place in conferences and e-mail; and it takes place in the dialogue between a student's paper and a teacher's response. The placement of a grade on the paper puts an end to this part of the conversation. A student paper is not an exam; it is an invitation (even though it's compulsory) to speak on a particular subject. A teacher's response is not a grade; it is an informed response to what the student has said and so we take great care to offer written comments in return.
Research in rhetoric and composition studies suggests that our ideas about grading student are well founded, and that writing more often improves as a result of a few carefully chosen and engaged comments than the traditional English-teacher "marking."
Do professors in the department keep secret grade books?
Some do and some don't. But even if a professor keeps a private entry of grades for papers, exams, oral reports, participation, and so forth, it functions more like a memory aid than an official record. Since your final grade will be determined by your performance over the course of the semester – taking into account factors like effort and improvement – the professor's written comments on papers probably provide a more accurate index of how you are doing. Also you can always schedule an appointment with your professors to discuss your progress in a course.
Why doesn't the department offer courses on literature in translation?
Since we are an English department, not a comparative literature department, foreign literatures in translation fall outside of our field. Contrary to rumors, however, we do not prohibit translations from being taught in our regular course offerings. On the contrary, several of us use translations in our classes in order to ramify historical and cultural understandings of the literature in question. We know that literature in languages other than English has had a profound effect upon the development of literature and culture in primarily English-speaking countries and we are attuned to the effects of networking and globalization upon all languages.
For these reasons the department lets majors count one literature course from foreign language and other departments or programs toward the major. A preliminary list of courses available for such credit are listed on the Approved Courses page. While most such courses are likely to be in translation, some literature courses in the original language will also be accepted for credit. These courses will not count toward any of the English department's distribution requirements.
Whom should one ask about graduate study in English?
The chair of the department is available by appointment to discuss graduate school plans and applications for post-graduate grants. Also many major advisors have a good sense of graduate programs in their field.