[Before 1800] The sonnet is one of the most enduring poetic forms in English Literature. Broadly defined, it is a poem with fourteen lines, a strict rhyme scheme, and the expectation that there will be a volta, or a turn in the argument or logic of the poem at some point. Yet despite these strict constraints, it is a space that poets have willingly entered into for centuries. In this course, we attempt to understand the appeal of the sonnet form, from the 14th century to the present.
Home is where we live in every sense, but "home" is more than the physical structure we reside in: it is also the psychological, societal, emotional, and even the mythical. In this course, we will read a variety of fiction and non-fiction and explore the importance of space, be it physical or metaphysical, as well as the construction of home. We will consider how these terms (whether we accept them, shun them, or experience them via travel and immigration), dictate to us and others a sense of self and identity via our own writing.
With a focus on the skills of close reading and analytical writing, we will look at the ways in which writers imagine illness, how they try to make meaning out of illness, and how they use illness to explore other aspects of experience. This is not a course on the history of illness or the social construction of disease. We will discuss not only what writers say about illness but also how they say it: with what language and in what form they speak the experience of bodily and mental suffering.
(Offered as ENGL 120 and EDST 120) This Intensive Writing course functions primarily as an introduction to academic writing. It also considers from many perspectives what it means to read and write and learn and teach both for ourselves and for others. As part of the work of this course, in addition to the usual class hours, students will serve as weekly tutors and classroom assistants in adult basic education centers in nearby towns.
In this course, we will explore the human practice of writing as a technology. This course functions as an introduction to academic writing at Amherst College, and as an Intensive Writing course, the main topic of the course is writing itself. “Writing as a Human” asks students to think about what the act of writing means today—and what we, as readers and writers, want writing to do in a rapidly changing digital landscape.
Reading across genres of poetry, fiction and memoir, this class explores how writers have described the experience of locating themselves while departing, arriving or living in between. We’ll consider how migration transforms identity and which techniques writers use to express and recreate this complex experience on the page. We’ll ask what role language and narrative technique plays in forging a sense of self and how writing might be related to refuge. The course will cover topics such as alienation, assimilation, generational memory, survival, nostalgia, hybridity, and transformation.
A double course, to be taken with permission of thesis advisor.
How to handle overenrollment: null
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Independent scholarly work; assessment based on completion of substantial thesis project.
Independent work on an extended academic, creative, or pedagogical project on a topic relevant to the field. Thesis progress will be assessed by the department at the end of the first semester as a precondition for entrance to the next semester of thesis work.
How to handle overenrollment: null
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Independent scholarly work; assessment based on completion of substantial thesis project.
Offered as EDST 213/AMST 213
