English 115 - Novels, Plays, Poems

A first course in reading fictional, dramatic, and lyric texts: stories, a major novel, one or more plays by Shakespeare, poems by Donne, Dickinson, Frost, and others.

Why does any writer–an Amherst College student, Philip Roth, Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare–say what he or she says one way rather than another?  And what in the expression itself makes a story, a play, a poem effective, something a reader might care about, be moved or delighted by? We will try to answer these questions by reading primary examples of each genre, including much recent work, with close and sustained attention to details of expressive language.  There will be frequent writing exercises.

Each section limited to 15 students.  Fall semester.  Visiting Professor Berek, and Professors Bosman, Christoff, and Cobham-Sander, and Grobe.