ENGL 295 - Spring-Term Seminar in Literary Studies

FDR: HL
Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring

Prerequisite: Completion of FW requirement. Students in this course study a group of works related by theme, by culture, by topic, by genre, or by the critical approach taken to the texts. Involves field trips, film screenings, service learning, and/or other special projects, as appropriate, in addition to 8-10 hours per week of class meetings. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Topics in Spring 2012:

ENGL 295-01: Spring Term Seminar in Literary Studies: Faulkner and Hemingway (4). A study of the two most influential styles of 20th-century American prose: Faulkner’s maximalist approach, which tries “to crowd and cram everything, all experience, into each paragraph,” and Hemingway’s minimalism, which seeks to eliminate as much as possible. Readings likely include major short stories by both writers as well as a variety of short novels (As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary, The Reivers; The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea). Students contribute to a reading blog, lead informal discussions in class, compose close readings of each writer individually and produce a longer paper that addresses both writers. (HL) Crowley.

ENGL 295-02: Spring Term Seminar in Literary Studies: American Short Story (4). We explore the roots of this distinctly modern genre through the work of American, French, and Russian masters while also sampling a wide range of contemporary writers, from minimalists to magical realists. Among the authors included: Poe, Hawthorne, Chekhov, Hemingway, Lawrence, Mansfield, Cheever, O’Connor, Carver, Oates, and Boyle. (HL) Oliver