This is a two-semester course, graded IP at the end of the first semester. During the second semester, each student will write an honors thesis. Completion of the thesis is required for a passing grade in the course.

English H195A is the first part of a two-semester sequence for those English majors writing honors theses. We will read and discuss a range of texts that will provide grounding in contemporary critical methodologies, as well as various genres of literary and cultural analysis that inform the style(s) of academic prose in the humanities. We will also consider a few shared primary works (including at least one film) to guide our critical discussions.

In addition to critical readings and case studies, the course will offer practical help for students embarking on their thesis projects—long (40-60pp) essays on topics of your own choice that you will be writing in the spring semester. We will talk about how to conceptualize a research topic; how to sustain arguments and analyses that draw on original research and critical debate; and how to structure longer essays that are both ambitious and focused. You do not need to have your thesis topic formed before the course begins, but it will help to at least start thinking over the summer about the kinds of works and critical issues you will want to examine.

Readings will include: Carl Wilson, Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste; essays by Clifford Geertz, Naomi Schor, Laura Mulvey, and Toni Morrison; screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

Students who satisfactorily complete H195A-B (the Honors Course) will satisfy the Research Seminar requirement for the English major. (More details about H195A prerequisites, how and when students will be informed of the results of their applications, etc., may be found here.)



To be considered for admission to this course, you will need to electronically apply by:



• Clicking on the link below and filling out the application you will find there, bearing in mind that you will also need to attach:



• a PDF of your Academic Summary (go into Cal Central, click your "My Academics" tab, then click "View Academic Summary" and "Print as PDF"),



• a PDF of your non-UC Berkeley transcript(s), if any,



• a PDF (or Word document) of a critical paper that you wrote for another class (the length of this paper not being as important as its quality), and



• a PDF (or Word document) of a personal statement, including why you are interested in taking this course and indicating your academic interest and, if possible, the topic or area you are thinking of addressing in your honors thesis.



The deadline for completing this application is 11 PM, FRIDAY, MAY 10.

Click https://english.berkeley.edu/courses/6154 to apply for this class or to edit an existing application.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.