Our language provides us with the means by which we define ourselves, our world and our place in our world. Just as powerfully our language also function to keep us in our place. We will begin our term-long examination of this dilemma with a close study the language we use in our everyday lives, paying close attention to how language functions to enable us to establish and maintain relationships. We will extend our analysis to close readings of three important novels which demonstrate the literary use of language in exploring human identity. Written work will include weekly two-page essays which will become the basis of two longer papers, one of which will be based on a text of your choice. The assigned texts include Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice; Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes were Watching God and E.M. Forster’s Maurice.