1:00p-2:15p TR (30) 3 cr.
We will read a mix of poetry, fiction and non-fiction by living writers of English. The objectives of the course are to improve reading and critical skills and to increase awareness of the variety and energy of contemporary literature in English. Testing in the course will include weekly response papers, an in-class presentation, and a 10-page final paper. Creative writing students may substitute a 10-page story or a formal poem of 100 lines for the final paper. Texts for the course will be taken from the following list:
Required texts:
The Best American Poetry 2000, ed. Rita Dove, Scribner
The Best American Essays 2000, ed. Alan Lightman, Houghton Mifflin
Billy Collins, Picnic, Lightning, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1999
Mark Halliday, Selfwolf, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1999
Julia Kasdorf, Eve's Striptease, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1999
John Koethe, The Constructor, 2000
Campbell McGrath, Road Atlas
Reginald Shepherd, Wrong, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1999
Quincy Troupe, Choruses, Coffee House Press, 1999
Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain
Andrea Barrett, Journey of the Narwhal
J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace, Penguin, 1999
Charles Johnson, Middle Passage
Ivan Doig, Heart Matters
Susannah Kaysen, Girl Interrupted