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.

The course will be taught in sections of 15 students.  Preference will be given to first-year students.  Fall semester:  Professor Sofield.  Spring semester:  Professor Emeritus Berek (Mount Holyoke College).