Outcomes for the English Department

Literature Concentration Outcomes

1. Demonstrate understanding of literary history by analyzing literary texts in relation to literary movements, genres, or periods
2. Demonstrate ability to employ concepts and methods from major literary theories and critical approaches in original critical writing. 
3. Demonstrate ability to investigate connections between cultural contexts (domestic or global) and the English language and literature in English. 
4. Demonstrate competence in locating and using library resources, including book collections and scholarly research databases, and in selecting and integrating source materials in critical essays, using MLA documentation style.  
5. Demonstrate understanding the ability to write clearly, engagingly, and persuasively in literary analysis and other genres.
6. Demonstrate ability to apply learning in the major to professional and applied settings, as evidenced in such activities as teaching practica, internships, graduate school and career exploration, and participation in conferences and societies. 
7. Demonstrate effective and informative oral and presentation communication skills.

Outcomes for 200-level Literature Survey Classes

1. Demonstrate close-reading skills that produce layered, rich, cohesive meanings from a text.
2. Through formal writing, demonstrate original and critical thinking by posing and answering interpretive questions clearly and persuasively.
3. Demonstrate the ability to recognize and use reference books, databases, and leading journals in the discipline.
4. Demonstrate breadth of exposure by analyzing literary texts in relation to a variety of literary movements, genres, and periods.
5. Demonstrate awareness of larger debates in American and British literary history.

Writing Concentration Outcomes

1. Demonstrate practical applications of a variety of writing styles; creative and professional genres; and rhetorical strategies and conventions.
2. Demonstrate competency with revision processes and collaborative revision as both critic and author through activities such as workshops, peer reviews, and group projects.
3. Demonstrate competency in editing for grammar, mechanics, and conventions.
4. Demonstrate the ability to present original written materials orally in contexts such as workshops.
5. Demonstrate awareness of opportunities to circulate original writing beyond the classroom in forums such as publications, internships, contests, and poetry slams.
6. Demonstrate the capability for self-assessment, including in relation to portfolios and self-critiques.

Assessment of Writing Concentration Outcomes:

The Writing Committee conducts a regular assessment of student papers and portfolios submitted for specific writing courses.  See 2B for the Writing Committee’s report on this year’s assessment efforts. 

Composition Program Outcomes

Goals for composition I and Composition II

In these courses, students will

Consider: Rhetorical occasion, or the audience, genre and purpose of any writing/reading situation

Reflect: on the relationship between individuals and society; on their development/growth as a writer; on strategies/tools they might import to other rhetorical occasions; on their role as a writer and thinker in out worlds; on the relationship between oral and written texts

Explore: strategies for organizing a text, multiple viewpoints; strategies for reading academic texts; strategies for developing rhetorical flexibility in regard to voice

Engage: with texts; with peer and instructors feedback; with complex ideas and problems; with academic discourse; with sources; in scholarly conversations

Practice: generative work and extensive revision; locating, evaluating, summarizing, and synthesizing sources; thinking on paper; representing complex thinking in formal writing; conventional documentation; inquiry-based writing and reading

Produce: polished prose that claims a position

In achieving these goals for Composition I, students will

• Write and revise at least 16 pages of formal academic prose in varied genres and for varied audiences
• Write at least one issues-based documented text that uses summary, response, and analysis
• Gain exposure to and practice a variety of feedback strategies involving their instructor and peers throughout the drafting process
• Read texts as models for writing
• Develop strategies for comprehension, interpretation, and analysis of texts
• Attend a library session related to a class text/project
• Actively prepare for and participate in the classroom community
• Produce a final portfolio

In achieving these goals for Composition II, students will

• Write and revise at least 20 pages of formal academic prose (including an annotated bibliography and research proposal) that have been through an extensive drafting process
• Write at least one inquiry-driven research text and correctly document source gathered from the library and from other methods of research
• Write a formal annotated bibliography and project proposal to assist in scaffolding researched text
• Build upon and continue to practice feedback strategies
• Read, respond to, and critique a variety of texts
• Attend a library session related to a class text/project
• Actively prepare for and participate in the classroom community

Assessment Plan for Composition Program:

The Composition Committee regularly assesses student learning through an analysis of students’ end-of-the-semester portfolios. Please see the Composition report in section 2B, especially “Promoting Portfolios for Comp II”, for more information about this year’s assessment activities.

Theatre Arts Program Outcomes

1. Theatre History

     All students will demonstrate:

1. A foundational knowledge of Western theatre history from its origins through to the present.
2. A foundational knowledge of the stages, stage machinery, and theatrical conventions of the various periods of Western theatre history.
3. A foundational knowledge of the major contributions to and lasting influences upon the present-day theatre from each of the various periods of Western theatre history.
4. A foundational knowledge of the major figures — dramatists, performers, and designers — from the various periods of Western theatre history.
5. A foundational knowledge of non-Western theatre traditions; in particular, Asian and Indian theatre.

2. Dramatic Literature, Theory, and Analysis

     All students will acquire:

1. A foundational knowledge and understanding of the nature and content of the dramatic literature from the various periods of Western theatre history.
2. A foundational knowledge and understanding of the theories & criticism that have shaped the nature and purpose of dramatic writing during the various periods of Western theatre history.
3. A fundamental ability to analyze and interpret a play script for the purpose of determining its themes and overall meaning (or main idea)
4. A fundamental ability to analyze and interpret a play script for the purpose of understanding and creating a character and/or developing a production/directorial or design concept.

3. Performance

     All students will acquire:

1. A foundational understanding of the performer's process and role in theatre.

     Students concentrating in Performance will acquire:

1. A collaborative work ethic, an ensemble sensibility, and a disciplined creative process.
2. A fundamental knowledge of the craft, techniques, and discipline of acting, and of the actor's responsibilities in rehearsals and in performance.
3. The ability to create and to competently perform a character before a live audience.
4. A fundamental knowledge of the craft, techniques, and discipline of play directing, and of director's responsibilities in staging a play, and in working collaboratively with other artists to mount a production.

e. The ability to competently direct actors and to stage a play.

4. Design/Technology

     All students will acquire:

1. A foundational understanding of the designer's process and role in the theatre.

     Students concentrating in Design/Technology will acquire:

1. A collaborative work ethic and a disciplined creative process.
2. A fundamental knowledge of the craft, techniques, and discipline of designing for the stage, and of the designer's responsibilities in supporting and enhancing the theatrical experience.
3. The ability to create and to competently execute a design concept for a production.
4. A fundamental understanding of the craft, techniques, and discipline of all four designs (scenic, costumes, lighting, and sound) and how these designs fundamentally can and must work in harmony to create a unified physical, visual, and aural world for a production.
5. A fundamental knowledge of the tools and technologies available to the designer, and an ability to use and to deploy those tools and technologies to execute a design concept.

Graduate Program Outcomes

1.  Demonstrate advanced understanding of American, British, and diverse literatures.  

2.  Demonstrate mastery of the concepts of literary theory.

3.  Demonstrate the ability to write sophisticated and persuasive literary critical method analysis for capstone.

4.  Demonstrate the ability to carry out independent research and contribute to an ongoing scholarly conversation in a field of English studies.

5.  Demonstrate the ability to present a well-planned, effective, and engaging oral argument.

• English Department
  • Majors & Concentrations
    • English, Literature Concentration, B.A.


    • English, Teacher of English Licensure (5-8, 8-12), B.A.


    • English, Writing Concentration, B.A.


  • Minors
    • English Minor
    • Film Studies Minor


    • Literature Minor


    • Writing Minor


    • Theatre Minor
  • Part-Time Bachelor's
    • English, B.A. (Part-Time)
  • Graduate Degrees
    • English, M.A.
    • English, 5-12, Initial, M.A.
    • English, Professional, M.A.
  • English Faculty & Staff
    • English Faculty & Staff Directory
      • English Department Office Hours
      • Full-Time Faculty
        • Regina Smialek
        • Stephen Adams
        • Carol Bailey
        • Glen Brewster
        • Sean Casey
        • Brian Chen
        • Heather Crocker-Aulenback
        • Jennifer DiGrazia
        • Vanessa Holford Diana
        • Rebecca Hart Olander
        • Paige Hermansen
        • Mary Keator
        • Sabine Macris Klein
        • Gregg Neikirk
        • Leah Nielsen
        • Beth Ann Rothermel
        • Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides
        • Catherine Savini
        • Chalet Seidel
        • Elizabeth Starr
        • Harry Stessel
        • Beverly Army Williams
        • Shirley Wong
        • Michael Filas
      • Visiting Lecturers
        • Lori Desrosiers
        • Christopher Hellwig
        • Ann Higgins
        • Kristina Knotts
        • George Layng
        • Patrick Pritchett
  • Composition Program
  • Outcomes
  • Honors Society for English Majors
  • Internships
  • Clubs and Activities
  • Resources
  • Calendar of Events
  • Newsletters
  • Persona
  • Scholarships and Awards
  • English Alumni
  • Contact Us