About the Department

Mission

The Department of English introduces students to significant works of the literary imagination, guides their development in language and composition, and encourages them to read attentively, reflect deeply, write cogently, and express themselves creatively, all to glorify God and serve others.

Goals

1. Introduce students to significant works of the literary imagination.
2. Guide student development in language and composition.
3. Encourage attentive reading, deep reflection, cogent writing, and creative expression of all students.

English is a fundamental liberal art at a university such as Azusa Pacific. The following four objectives demonstrate the centrality of English to the curriculum: the program certifies the writing skills of all students to be collegiate level and enhances those skills involving research, personal and creative expression, and expository and argumentative modes. It provides literature and film courses that contribute to the cultural experience of students and enriches their enjoyment of literature as an avenue to truth and social comment as well as self-expression. The program offers a balanced selection of courses in writing, film, and literature for students majoring in English, so that their breadth of reading and literary analysis includes the best world literature and the development of critical skills currently practiced by the finest literary critics. The program satisfies professional needs, especially of prospective teachers.

Beyond the above three general goals of APU's English curriculum, the following specific outcomes present the department's intention for the course offerings and requirements in general studies and the major:

• Assist students in achieving familiarity with a wide range of texts from varying traditions, cultures, and eras.
• Equip students with the critical vocabulary, background, and analytical tools necessary to both appreciate and evaluate literary texts, including film.
• Encourage students to understand and apply the heritage of literary criticism and theory.
• Help students relate the lessons and values found in literature, film, and literary criticism to contemporary life.
• Assist students in acquiring a working familiarity with the history of rhetoric and composition theory, along with linguistic theory and practice.
• Ensure that students develop clear, concise, and effective prose styles reflecting the differing purposes for writing both in academia and in society.
• Afford students experience with in-class presentations and teaching practices that demonstrate the techniques, methods, and resources required to teach language arts and literature.
• Enable students to experience and understand the process of achieving successful writing by providing constructive feedback from diagnosis of initial stages to evaluation of final products.

The English major allows students to choose among three concentrations: Literature, Teaching, and Writing. The lower-division requirements and the upper-division core requirements are the same for all concentrations, providing a common foundation in literature, writing, and language for all English majors. The selection of a concentration, and specific courses within that concentration, should be made only upon consultation with an English faculty advisor.