Critical reading, writing, and speaking skills are vital to professional achievement in any field. A minor in English will increase students' expertise and credentials as critical readers, effective writers and skillful analysts of written and oral texts. Whereas the English Major prepares students well for a variety of fields, the English Minor sharpens students' language skills for virtually any field.

The learning outcomes for the minor are as follows:
Students will be able to

• analyze a wide variety of literary and rhetorical texts, identifying aesthetic and persuasive strategies used by authors;
• identify and define the characteristics of literary genres (fiction, poetry and drama) and rhetorical genres (forensic, deliberative and epideictic);
• demonstrate competence in close-reading and interpretation of texts;
• demonstrate competence in the process of textual and archival research, including the ability to locate, identify, and utilize scholarly resources for textual analysis;
• identify, discuss, and write about the ways in which authors, texts, and prospective audiences are influenced by cultural and historical context;
• and understand and apply major theories of literary and rhetorical criticism.