Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences
English (BA)
Program Purpose
Students majoring in English at East Carolina University develop writing, critical thinking, and reading skills for career success and global citizenship. English majors take classes from the range of fields that make up English studies today: creative writing, film studies, folklore, linguistics, literature, multicultural and transnational literature, rhetoric and composition, teaching English to speakers of other languages, and technical and professional communication.
Learning Outcomes
Audience Awareness
Students will compose writing that meets the needs and expectations of its intended audience and demonstrates knowledge of other rhetorical conventions of language (e.g. purpose and context).
Critical Thinking and Argument
Students will demonstrate critical thinking in effectively developing and supporting an argument.
Diversity, Culture, and Language
Students will compose writing that demonstrates knowledge of how writer and readers are influenced by differences in factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and sexuality; and of the roles of language in their own lives, society, and culture
History
Students will evaluate the influence of history, culture, and technology on the production, reception, and analysis of language and texts.
Interpretation of Texts
Students will compose writing that interprets texts (such as poems, short stories, or scholarly articles), recognizing their generic conventions and accurately using appropriate theories and/or terms and concepts (e.g. literary, linguistic, and rhetorical).
Research
Students will use and accurately cite library resources, including databases, dictionaries, and print and online collections.
Rhetorical Devices and Form
Students will recognize, apply, and explain the use and effects of form, style, structure, themes, and other rhetorical devices in a wide range of texts.
Writing Skills
Students will demonstrate essential skills in written composition, exposition and argument, including drafting, revising, and editing for standard American English usage, punctuation, and spelling.