This class is about writing and academic inquiry, with a special emphasis on literature. Good arguments stem from good questions, and academic essays allow writers to write their way toward answers, toward figuring out what they think. In this course, students focus on the creation of complex, analytic, well-supported arguments addressing questions that matter in academic contexts. The course also hones students' critical thinking and reading skills. Working closely with their peers and the instructor, students develop their essays through workshops and extensive revision and editing. Readings cover a variety of genres and often serve as models or prompts for assigned essays. The specific questions that students pursue in essays are guided by their own interests.

This particular section of ENGLISH 124 will develop students' ability to read and write by investigating the nature of written discourse itself, through a sustained examination of the relationship between written and spoken language. We will investigate the way this relationship informs some of humanity's oldest written texts, as well as its impact on contemporary literary work, including new media. We will examine works from various genres, time periods, countries, and media, including (but hardly limited to) pieces by Homer, Walter Ong, Neil Postman, Zora Neale Hurston, Bernadette Mayer, and Jay-Z.

Course Requirements:

Students can expect to read 20-30 pages per week, to draft and revise four essays, and to confer regularly on each others' writing (which will further develop your ability as readers and self-revisers).

Intended Audience:

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Class Format:

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