English R1A

Reading and Composition: Nineteenth-Century American Consolation Novels

Other Readings and Media

A course reader of public domain consolation novels (from Google books), Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers; Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’ The Gates Ajar

Description

In this class, we will study the nineteenth-century American consolation novel.  Reading consolation novels in conjunction with essays in literary criticism and cultural history, we will ask the following question:  How did these texts both reflect and create the conceptual meaning and psychological experience of death and grief in America?

Students will pursue this line of inquiry while learning how to write clearly, read critically, and argue persuasively. Emphasizing the development of these skills, this course will teach students how to evaluate authors’ theses, formulate their own positions, and express them in clear sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Over the course of the semester, students will produce approximately 32 pages of writing which will be broken down into 4 essays of equal length.