English R1B

Other Readings and Media

"Cather, W.: My Antonia

Marquez, G.: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Burroughs, W. S.: Cities of the Red Night



Films:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The House of Flying Daggers "

Description

"In this course, we will examine the works of a handful of authors and filmmakers who utilize myth in the 20th century. ?Myth? is difficult to define convincingly, but the assumption for this course will be that myths tell us how to think about ourselves historically?that is, how we understand ourselves in relation to the past, present, and future. Often, it is the history of something we define as a ?nation,? a ?culture,? a ?people,? etc. This course will look closely at a few examples of this process at work. As an alternative to or extension of this concept of myth, we will also look at 20th century examples of fable writing. Because these two narrative types transcend literature, we will expand our material to include film and other visual media.



The primary focus of this course is a rigorous development of your writing and research skills. Expect highly focused written assignments, research projects, extensive revision, and informed engagement with the course texts. In addition to the novels and films listed below, I will also make available a course reader including short selections from Franz Kafka, W.B. Yeats, Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, and William Carlos Williams. "