{"id":2294,"date":"2025-10-15T11:51:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T18:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abjohnson.net\/teaching\/?page_id=2294"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:42:59","slug":"eng325","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/abjohnson.net\/teaching\/courses\/eng325\/","title":{"rendered":"ENG 325"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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ENG 325 | Literature and Faith<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Spring 2026 (First Run! Watch for Glitches and Let Me Know.)<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Useful Links<\/strong>: Wiki, Canvas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 1<\/a> – Week 2<\/a> – Week 3<\/a> – Week 4<\/a> – Week 5<\/a> – Week 6<\/a> – Week 7<\/a> – Week 8<\/a> – Week 9<\/a> – Week 10<\/a> – Week 11<\/a> – Week 12<\/a> – Week 13<\/a> – Week 14<\/a> – Week 15<\/a> – Finals<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am Lit eTexts and Helpful Sites<\/strong>: Here<\/a>
Overview of Authors<\/strong>: Here<\/a> (Not Yet, Really…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Literature and Faith<\/strong> is an upper-level literature seminar that takes a close literary, theological and historical look at writers of faith (and on faith). In this variation on the course, we’ll spend the majority of our time with writers whose work has appeared since 1900. We’ll read Marilynne Robinson<\/strong>‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead<\/em>, which is all at once an epic of the Midwest and a very quiet meditation by a small town pastor. We’ll read classic works you might expect by CS Lewis<\/strong>, Madeleine L’Engle<\/strong>, and Corrie ten Boom<\/strong>, and we’ll read works you might not expect, such as a pair of novels by the Nigerian writers Chinua Achebe<\/strong> (Things Fall Apart<\/em>) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong> (Purple Hibiscus<\/em>). Each of those writers has a troubled relationship to Christianity, and each has explored faith and culture in profound and sometimes troubling ways through fiction. We’ll also read works by Flannery O’Connery<\/strong> (Georgia), Carlos Eire<\/strong> (Cuba), and Shusaku Endo<\/strong> (Japan).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Assignments\/Scores to Anticipate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Daily Quizzes (If There’s Reading, There Might Be a Quiz)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Two Short Close Readings<\/span> of Literary Texts (2 pages each)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. An Author Inquiry Project<\/strong><\/span> (6-12 pages) (Research Project)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Seminar Paper\/Long Critical Analysis<\/strong><\/span> (8-12 pages)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. A <\/span>Reflection<\/span><\/strong> on Writing for the Course (2-5 pages)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. That’s between 20 and ~30+ pages of formal writing for the course–a right-sized challenge for an upper division literature seminar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Two Exams<\/strong>: Midterm and Final <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. A Course Participation Score<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    You Should Always Have the Readings in Front of You in Class<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Right in front of you, even if on a (bigger-than-a-phone!) screen. We’re here to read together. Let the text take its right place in the room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Frequent Small Deadlines, Rather Than Sudden Huge Deadlines<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    This course breaks composition projects into small pieces and asks you to hit small, developmental deadlines, rather than just a few big, big, big deadlines. The idea here is to help you think about writing as a process and make small adjustments along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Week 1 (Jan. 7 and 9) <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Note<\/strong>: Notice that “due<\/strong>” items and small notes about any given week are listed right under each week’s heading. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n