9:30a-10:45a TR (25) 3 cr.
COAS INTENSIVE WRITING SECTION. OPEN TO HONORS STUDENTS ONLY. OBTAIN
AUTHORIZATION FROM THE HONORS COLLEGE, 324 N. JORDAN AVENUE.
This course aims at establishing, maintaining, and improving students'
competence (and
enjoyment!) in writing interpretations of all types of literary works:
poetry, fiction, or
drama. After completing the course, you should be able to approach
confidently almost any
literary work written in English with a basic set of useful skills and
tools, including
pertinent questions to address to the text, and a variety of forms for
framing your
interpretation: analytical essays, impressionistic appreciations,
contextual studies, and
the like. The appreciation of art (literature, music, films) doesn't
necessarily require
written interpretation; but if you're going to major in English, it
does. The course
teaches you some ways to do it successfully. Since this is an Honors
section, I will assess
students' initial competence and we will start at whatever level of
sophistication seems
appropriate. We'll be using a standard Introduction to Literature,
such as the Norton, plus
a writer's manual of style and usage that you can use throughout your
college career. We'll
be alert to extra-curricular opportunities for interpretive discussion
provided by local and
university film and drama productions, and poetry and fiction
readings. Most assignments
will be short papers, from one-page responses to 3-5 pp. developed
interpretations. A good
deal of our concentration will be on poetry, since attention to its
"language under
pressure" is easily transferrable to longer prose works.