English H195A

Book List

Eagleton, Terry: How to Read a Poem; Joyce, James: The Dead; Wood, James: How Fiction Works; Woolf, Virginia: Mrs. Dalloway

Other Readings and Media

There will be at least one packet of short stories and critical readings, to be picked up at the beginning of the term.

Description

English H195A is the first part of a two-semester sequence for those English majors writing honors theses. It is designed to give students the critical tools and practical skills to write a strong essay, in the spring semester, that will have a greater scope than any essay they've written before.

The course will begin with some ground-clearing critical works by James Wood (How Fiction Works) and Terry Eagleton (How to Read a Poem), then will move into case studies of central literary and artistic figures, such as Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Francis Ford Coppola, and others. 

Throughout, we'll be thinking practically about how to write scintillating, cogent essays: how to open up one's research and then settle in on a topic; how to find and use primary archives; how to machete through the thickets of secondary criticism and find one's voice as a critic; how to compose critical prose that is lively, cogent, and seductive to the reader. 

Students who satisfactorily complete H195A-B (the Honors Course) may choose to waive the seminar requirement.

Enrollment is limited and a written application, a copy of your college transcript(s), a list of your current courses, and a photocopy of a critical paper that you wrote for another class are due BY 4:00 P.M., TUESDAY, APRIL 17; be sure to read the paragraph on page 2 of this Announcement of Classes regarding enrollment in the Honors Course!