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Academic Year 2005/2006

The Uses of Fantasy: Reading the 20th Century Fiction from a Writer's Perspective
ENGL 218 SP

"Fantasy is scrutiny," says the American poet Molly Peacock, implying that to fantasize is not only to turn away from the world, but also to pay attention to it. In this course we will scrutinize fantasy itself, recognizing it and its counterpart, reality, as mutable categories that shape-shift from author to author, place to place, time to time. We'll investigate the work of a variety of fantasists of the last 100 years.

MAJOR READINGS

Authors will include Virginia Woolfe, William Faulkner, Leonora Carrington, Franz Kafka, Boris Vian, Julio Cortazar, Angela Carter, Amos Tutuola, and Haruki Murakami. There will be a modest amount of supplemental reading, from folk tales to Freud.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Three 5-page papers, an in-class presentation, active participation in class discussions.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: NONE    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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