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Mission Statement & Learning Outcomes

The English program includes three emphases: literature, writing, and preparation for secondary teaching. All majors in English complete a core of courses to establish a strong foundation in literature and literary concepts, terms, and critical theories. Careful reading, judicious research, and clear and imaginative writing comprise the program's goals for a Whitworth English major. Additionally, the English program seeks to instill in our graduates a love of reading and writing. Through our courses, research, and shared community events, we hope to encourage our students in lives of spiritual commitment and resolution to act as stewards of God's creation while promoting civil and personal justice at home and in the community.

The learning outcomes of this major prepare the student to:

1. At the completion of their lower-division coursework, all English majors (Tracks I, II, and III) should acquire a command of foundational literary terminology; a basis for understanding the themes and histories of British, American and world literatures; the ability to craft critical readings of several genres of literary texts; experiences in writing in different genres.
2. By graduation, students completing Tracks I & II (Literature & Writing) will also exhibit more advanced literary skills, including improved aesthetic discernment; oral interpretation and presentation skills; enlarged literary and personal vocabulary; critical reading, thinking, and writing skills; facility with several critical approaches to literary analysis; and a command of research methods, bibliographic resources and documentation.
3. At the completion of their upper-division work for Tracks I & II, students should demonstrate in-depth knowledge of several literary eras as well as the major writers and works of those eras; an ability to write a variety of literary analyses and genres; and competence in working with other students' editing and revising their own writing.
4. At the completion of their upper-division work, Track III (Teaching) student should also establish a broad knowledge of subjects expected of the secondary teacher of English and Language Arts, and fulfill the state-mandated requirements for endorsement in language arts or another related field, as set out in the current catalogue.