English R1B

Book List

Golding, William: The Spire; Hardy, Thomas: Jude the Obscure; Ibsen, Henrik: Four Major Plays: A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder; Levi, Primo: The Monkey's Wrench

Description

One of the key questions that critical writers ask about literature is "how"? How does the writer build the first sentence and finally end a scene, chapter, or stanza? How are the material surroundings of the characters rendered? How can we articulate and form arguments about the subtle variations and contradictions that surface from our studies? How can we buld arguments about the text we are taking apart? If we focus on the way tangible structures are envisioned and built (or renovated or destroyed) and how the "architects" in and of the texts relate to the process of construction, we can create a strong foundation to consider form versus content. The course materials will therefore investigate the struggles of architects and builders in order to heighten our awareness of the formal and structural choices made by the author. This will in turn furnish lessons for constructing our own critical arguments in class discussions and on paper.

While these questions and proposed texts will furnish us with material for rich discussions, this class is chiefly geared to improve your writing. We will concentrate on both mechanics and style, learning how to read closely, formulate interesting arguments, gather evidence, and organize claims into persuasive essays. Over the course of the semester, you will produce approximately 32 pages of written work through a gradual process of drafting, editing, reviewing, and revising. The assignments will also include a research paper, satisfying the course requirement.