Welcome to the English Department at Emmanuel College, a family of people passionate about the written word.
     The English department is dedicated to engaging students in dynamic conversations—on-going conversations initiated and contested by the great authors; probing conversations deliberated among the faculty, students, bloggers, reporters, and essayists; and new conversations explored through varied perspectives and approaches.
     The English degrees, designed to initiate you in the discussion and to provide the tools to succeed in the conversations, prepare you to pursue your goals, whether those goals include graduate school, teaching in the publish school system, or a career in writing or communication. To this end, we offer two minors (English and Writing) and three major degrees—B.A. in English, B.A. in English Education, and B.S. in English Education. All of these degrees provide a solid foundation in literary criticism, creative writing, and rhetoric that will equip you not only for a career in writing but in any vocation that requires critical thinking and effective communication skills.
     The community focus of the English department extends beyond the classroom, as we sponsor social and educational opportunities throughout the year. In addition to regular social events for English majors, English minors, and faculty, the faculty and students also plan and engage in roundtable discussions of literature or film. Also, the Emmanuel College chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, often sponsors trips to plays in the area, such as to The Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta. Finally the English department produces Montage, Emmanuel College’s literary magazine, which publishes student and faculty poetry, prose, and art, and unveils the magazine at one of the most popular on-campus events each year, Montage by Moonlight.
     “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), and in addition to revealing Himself incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, God chose to reveal Himself through words: the prose, poetry, parables, and narratives of Scripture. God’s truth has been communicated, demonstrated, and debated through the written word though the ages, and we in the English department invite you into a community learning to appreciate and experience the power of words.

Chris Hair
Chair of the English Department

Goals and Objectives
The English program is designed to prepare well-rounded students who are familiar with all areas of literature and writing. As a result, all students take courses in British, American, and Western and non-Western world literature as well as various writing courses including expository, creative, and technical writing. 

Goals
The specific course requirements in sophomore, junior and senior level English courses are designed to accomplish three goals:

1. Provide a solid base of understanding of major literary works written in English and the complexity of ideas expressed in them.

2. Provide a basic understanding of the history of the English language and the grammatical structure of English.

3. Provide the skills needed to use written English effectively.   

Objectives
Graduates of the English programs offered by the School of Arts and Sciences should possess the following knowledge and skills:

English graduates should know the following at a minimum of a 70 percent competency level:

1. Major periods, movements, authors and works in British, American, and world literature.

2. Fundamental literary devices, themes, forms, genres and theories.

3. Influences, changes, and forms that make up the history of the English language.

4. The basic grammatical structures of Standard English.

5. The terminology of grammar, literature, linguistics, and literary criticism.

English graduates should be able to do the following:

1. Employ research methods appropriate to academic studies and incorporate research into writing.

2. Analyze literature by forming a thesis about a literary text and arguing persuasively for that thesis in a well-supported essay.

3. Write clearly and fluently, organize coherently and logically, and edit writing to conform to standard usage.