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Academic Year 2004/2005
Literature and the Life Cycle
ENGL 356 FA
Age is almost never considered as a factor in the production or the consumption of literature. We will try to remedy this failure, examining some great works with special attention to the stage of life they portray,
beginning
with a study of theoretical models of the stages of life, including Erik Erikson's. We'll consider artistic careers that have changed in time and focus on writers who have portrayed life at different stages. A hybrid
course,
with lots of reading and discussion. At the same time, much writing and training in non-academic forms: non-fiction or general magazine-audience critical essays, possibly even fiction.
MAJOR READINGS
Erik Erikson, CHILDHOOD AND SOCIETY
Selections from GHANDI'S TRUTH
Margaret Mead, COMING OF AGE IN SAMOA
William Shakespeare, HAMLET, OTHELLO, MACBETH, KING LEAR
John Updike, tHE RABBIT ANGSTROM NOVELS
(RABBIT, RUN; RABBIT REDUX; RABBIT IS
RICH; RABBIT AT REST)
Philip Roth, GOOBYE, COLUMBUS; PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT; THE GHOST WRITER; PATRIMONY; THE HUMAN STAIN or AMERICAN PASTORAL
Jane Austen, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
Floida Scott-Maxwell, THE MEASURE OF
MY DAYS
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
No exams. Writing assignments will not be traditional academic papers. Students will be given the opportunity, for example, to update the plot and themes of Shakespeare's great tragedies in a work of fiction. They will
write a portrait of a member of a
specific age group, based on interviews and reading. And they will write critical essays about the literature they've read, but with a general rather than an academic audience in view. Short weekly assignments for four
weeks, then 8-10 page pieces every
other week.
COURSE FORMAT:
Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level:
UGRD
Credit:
1
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL
Grading Mode:
Graded
Prerequisites:
ENGL201
SECTION 01
- Instructor(s): Rose,Phyllis
- Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM; Location: CRT285;
- Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 12)
- SR. major: 7 Jr. major: 5
- SR. non-major: 0 Jr. non-major: 0 SO: X FR: X
Special Attributes:
- Curricular Renewal: Writing
Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-21-2005
Contact
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459