English 125D

Book List

Barnes, Djuna: Nightwood; Burroughs, Wm. S.: Junky; Burroughs, Wm. S.: Naked Lunch; Ellison, Ralph: Invisible Man; Faulkner, William: Light in August; Hemingway, Ernest: The Sun Also Rises; Hong Kingston, Maxine: The Woman Warrior; Hurston, Zora Neale: Their Eyes Were Watching God; Pynchon, Thomas: The Crying of Lot 49

Description

In this course we will analyze nine 20th-century American novels, taking note of how their formal organization participates in their thematic concerns.  We'll spend the first few class meetings reviewing the history of the novel as a form, and then segue into an examination of the individual novels.  Required writing: two short papers (8-10 pp) and a final exam.  Suggested term paper topics and instructions will be distributed in week two of the course.

Note:  The instructor (and book list and course description) of this course changed in June.  There has been no change in the meeting time or location, however.