COL115 - Literature of Protest and Complaint

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Academic Year 2005/2006

Literature of Protest and Complaint
COL 115 FA

This seminar will explore literary expressions of resistance, revulsion, and protest - not only in a political sense (though that too will be considered), but especially in the ways that literature can turn private or local grievance into a much larger opposition to cosmic injustice. Our approach will be both historical and rhetorical. We will trace, first of all, how such writing has developed from the Bible to the twentieth century. But we will also ask broader questions about how literature seeks to persuade us in its objections, in its refusal to accept the world as it stands.

MAJOR READINGS

Readings will be chosen from among the following: the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, Sophocles's Antigone, King Lear, Swift (Gulliver's Travels), Melville (Bartleby the Scrivener), Ibsen (A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People), Hardy (Jude the Obscure), Kafka (The Trial), short stories by Beckett, and recent fiction by J.M. Coetzee.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Students will be asked to write three short papers, spaced out evenly through the term. Each student will also give a brief in-class presentation, based on a particular week's reading. Participation in discussion is a major part of the course. There are no exams in this seminar.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Since this is a First Year Initiative seminar devoted to literary expression, there will be many opportunities for students to develop their own writing - both in conversation with the instructor and through exchanges with other students in the course.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA COL Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Matz,Aaron J.

Times: .....F. 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: BTFDC210;

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 19)

SR. major: X Jr. major: X

SR. non-major: X Jr. non-major: X SO: X FR: 19

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal: Speaking, Writing

FYI: FYI Seminar

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006