WRITING COURSES:
After taking or placing out of Introductory Composition, students may elect either English 224 or 225 for further practice in the fundamentals of expository and argumentative prose. English 325 offers the opportunity for work in argumentative and expository prose at a more advanced level.
Several sections of English 223, the beginning course in creative writing, are available each term. The work is multi-generic, and two of the following will be covered in each section: fiction, poetry, and drama. A more advanced course for creative writers is English 323 (Fiction or Poetry), which is available by permission of instructor and completion of the prerequisite, English 223. More experienced writers may apply for admission to specialized sections of English 227 (Playwriting), English 423 (Fiction), English 427 (Playwriting), and English 429 (Poetry). Admission to these advanced courses is by permission of the instructor, who will require writing samples.
124. College Writing: Writing and Literature.
ECB writing assessment. (4). (Introductory Composition).
By connecting the two terms of its title, Writing and Literature aims
to help prepare the student to produce the range and quality of expository
prose expected in college courses. Works of literature will be considered
for their effective use of language and argument. They will serve as reference
points for thinking and writing strategies. Characteristically, sections
of English 124 will involve the writing of a minimum of five essays, with
considerable attention given to the preparation of drafts and to revision.
The literary works which will serve as points of reference will vary from
section to section and from term to term. Some section descriptions follow.
Descriptions for individual sections not listed below are available in the First- and Second-Year Studies Office, 5207 Angell Hall.
Section 010 - Living with Nature. Readings and discussion will focus on different ways of imagining the natural world and defining our relationship to it. We will ask such questions as: What is wild nature? How wild are we? How do we learn to know and live in a place? What responsibility do we have for our environment? How can we manage the tensions between nature and culture? Readings will include essays, some poetry and short fiction, and several longer works of fiction (possibly Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It and Margaret Atwood's Surfacing). Some class time will be devoted to discussion of student writing. You will be asked to turn in drafts and revisions of four or five short papers and to do other writing exercises. (Knott)
Section 028 - The Nature of Spaced Pages' Time. We will focus on the way that twentieth-century authors have wrestled with that time-honored matter, time. The page is a spatial arrangement, the act of reading temporal, and there's a difference not merely of quantity but quality in, say, a very short story and a very long novel. We will examine each. The time it takes to read this sentence is not the time it takes to write it (as opposed, say, to the act of speaking and hearing) and we will consider that aspect of the issue - vision and revision, revision, vision - too. The short and intermediate and extended forms of telling all have their special problems as well as possibilities, and we will look at texts as disparate as the very short stories in Sudden Fiction, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Gardner's The Art of Fiction will serve as a companion text to the works of Beckett, Hemingway, Kincaid, Lowry, and Welty. Each in their own way have been obsessed with time as topic; each have proffered a solution to the problem posed. (Delbanco)
Section 029 - Re-seeing American Literature. Revision, a central part of effective writing, means re-seeing. This course will consider ways of re-seeing both our own writing and the term "American literature." As we read texts such as Russell Banks' Rule of The Bone, Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John, Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street, Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior, and Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, we will rethink the term "American." We will also ask ourselves about "literature" - what kinds of writing it includes as well as how we read it. Mostly, of course, we will focus on revising our own writing through individual conferences, in-class workshops, and peer responses. Course requirements will include 4-6 polished essays, short reactions to class readings, responses to classmates' essays, active participation in class discussions, and regular attendance. Cost:2 (Gere)
Section 030 - Literary Responses to Bigotry. The subject of this course is the relationship between bigotry and the art of literature. Its material is imaginative literature written by and about bigotry's victims, divided into the following four groups: (1) Native Americans: The Education of Little Tree (Carter), Love Medicine (Erdrich); (2) Japanese North Americans: Nisei Daughter (Sone), Obasan (Kogawa); (3) Gay Americans: The Zoo Story (Albee), Giovanni's Room (Baldwin); and (4) African Americans: The Color Purple (Walker), Beloved (Morrison). Each work will be the subject of a two-page individual paper, and each cultural era that produced the four pairs of texts will be the subject of three-page research papers and presentations by groups of three members of the class. One of the two weekly class meetings will be devoted to discussion of texts; the other will concentrate on the technology of writing. No midterm and no final. Cost:3 (Fader)
125. College Writing. ECB writing assessment.
(4). (Introductory Composition).
No one ever finishes learning to write, so this course focuses on helping
students further develop their unique potentials as writers, readers, and
thinkers. By analyzing texts from a variety of academic disciplines, students
will come to understand the conventions writers follow to present their
ideas effectively to their chosen audiences. What rhetorical strategies
are common in different disciplines - and why? How and when might we use
those strategies in our own writing? For instance, what writing strategies
would we call upon for a lab report, and would we use any of those strategies
for a philosophical speculation, a history exam, a love letter? Throughout
the term, students will work to identify the writing skills they most need
to develop, and they'll invent and refine a personal style of expression
that can be adapted to different audiences and purposes. Course requirements
include at least 40 pages of writing, including at least 20 pages of revised,
polished prose.
Descriptions for individual sections not listed below are available in the First- and Second-Year Studies Office, 5207 Angell Hall.
Section 026 - Daydreams and Nightmares. In this section we will explore writing as a means of discovering ourselves and others. We will explore our fanciful visions, daydreams, fantasies, aspirations - as well as our nightmares. What hopeful visions guide our decision-making processes? What do we know of our worst fears? A selection of readings will stimulate our thinking about these questions. Students electing this course will be encouraged to write on personal topics as well as to write more analytical papers. They will also be encouraged to reach out and explore how individual dreams relate to social worlds. The course is designed to appeal to those who enjoy creative thinking as much as they enjoy analytical thinking. Together, we will solve problems by addressing fears and by imagining the best of all possible worlds. Required texts include Dreams and Inward Journeys: A Reader for Writers. (Carlton)
Section 027. This is a course in writing, writing, writing! It is also a course with a strong emphasis on reading, thinking and discussing. Be prepared to write five relatively long essays of at least five pages and to hand in rough drafts of them as well. You will also write ten formal critiques and twenty or so less formal ones. You are expected to participate in a class computer conference and to contribute to in-class conversations. A good part of class time will be spent discussing student texts: each student will have one of her or his papers workshopped by the entire class once during the term and all other papers discussed by small peer group members. Readings cover important but wide-ranging topics which should appeal to most students and should enable every student to develop topics for essays. Come ready to work hard but to enjoy yourself, too! (Kowalski)
Section 028. This course has several major purposes: (1) strengthening students' ability to think deeply and perceptively and (2) strengthening their ability to express their ideas confidently, articulately, and appropriately to meet their various writing needs throughout college and beyond. Since we learn best the things we discover for ourselves, much of the theme and method of this course will emphasize discovery. Most often we discover and learn in community with others; therefore, this section will also concentrate on collaborative learning. We will share ideas in discussion groups and critique one another's papers. All students are responsible for writing a great deal, helping to create their own learning, participating in class discussions, and promoting an atmosphere in which everyone can create, share, and argue ideas freely. The emphasis will be on discovering what complex and fascinating questions we can learn to ask, not on resting comfortably with answers we've already found. (Livesay)
Section 030 - A Nation of Immigrants. Central to the myth of the American Dream is the construct of the immigrant, those "tired" and "poor," welcomed to our shores, expecting to find "streets paved with gold," and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," limited only by their own desire, energy, and capacity to dream. Not surprisingly, some of our most compelling writing has been written by new Americans who contemplate both the promise and the disappointment of that dream. This writing will provide a frame for discussion and subject matter for your own writing. We will focus on the way the myths of our culture are reproduced and rebutted in these texts. We will consider conflicts between old world ethics and new, between parents and children, between so-called insiders and outsiders and the ways these conflicts, despite the diversity of ethnic backgrounds, take on a particularly American flavor. We will read texts by Lore Segal, Mario Puzo, Julia Alvarez, Monica Sone, and others. Course requirements include formal essays, short responses to texts, and active participation in discussion. (Wolk)
Section 031 - Daydreams and Nightmares. See English 125.026. (Carlton)
Section 032. This course is designed to help you improve your writing. The basic text of this course is your own writing, specifically the essay you submit for class discussion. We shall read articles from The Michigan Daily, or freewrite in our journals to see if we can generate topics for essays, or discuss interesting issues from our lives. We shall also spend time discussing issues of grammar relevant to our own writing. However, the lion's share of our time will be devoted to class discussions of student essays. Many students enrolling in 125 dread the prospect. Believe it or not, depending on your attitude, you can learn an enormous amount from me and have a good time in the process. (If you don't believe me, ask some of my former students. I always have great fun and so, too, will you.) If you decide to enroll in my section, be prepared to loosen up, have some fun, work hard, and learn some fascinating facts about our language and, hopefully about how you might improve your own writing. (Rubadeau)
Section 033. See English 125.028. (Livesay)
Section 037. See English 125.032. (Rubadeau)
Section 038 - Writing Our Own Lives. Our class will grapple with questions that reveal underlying conflicts and value systems which affect our judgments in the decisions we make. Our work will entail uncovering individual issues of discord and attempting to see how those personal issues might speak to a public forum. In the process of that work, we will examine what is called the five "arenas of the mind" - those basic areas that expose diverse conflicts - using texts of both professional and non-professional writers that illuminate those struggles. We will always be concerned with how we think and how we translate that thinking into writing. The class format will be discussion and more discussion, and we will be working through our own essay writing in class. The conception of the class is one that celebrates the process of challenging and revising former ideas, one that works toward recognizing a synthesis of more complex possibilities. We will most likely analyze works by Isabelle Allende, Margaret Atwood, Maxine Hong Kingston, John Irving, and Toni Morrison. (Back)
Section 054. See English 125.032. (Rubadeau)
140. First-Year Literary Seminar. (3). (HU).
Section 002 - Literature in America; Literature in Africa. We will look
at six texts, three from each of two geographical areas, and try to answer
some of the following questions in comparative ways: What is the function
of literature? How does it relate to social conditions? What value derives
from the way in which the writer or artist conceives of her art? What connections,
if any, exist between, say, an Arthur Miller and a Wole Soyinka (of Nigeria)
- both of them modern playwrights? Between an American poet, say, Walt Whitman,
and one from Kenya or Egypt? In what kinds of traditions do these cultures
find their inspiration and confirm their various identities? Here, the examples
may involve the influence of, say, Christian and Islamic histories; Native
American or Yoruba imagery. We'll try to see if anything at all provides
bridges between the two regions that we'll cover during the term. (Johnson)
Section 003 - High Culture/Low Culture. In this first-year seminar, we will explore how and why we make distinctions between high (or "serious") culture and low (or "popular") culture; and where and why those distinctions might break down. We will explore how economic and social forces within American consumer culture influence the divisions between high and low, art and entertainment, what sells and what's "good." Who has the power to decide these questions? Are there hidden agendas in definitions of what constitutes "real" as opposed to "trashy" cultural forms? Course texts will include novels from both sides of the high/low divide and in-between (possibly Nabokov's Lolita, King's Misery, Hagedorn's Dogeaters; DeLillo's White Noise); essays by both journalists and academics interested in defining and/or questioning the high/low culture divide; a couple of films; some television. Requirements: Attendance and vigorous class participation; one group presentation; frequent short writing assignments; three or four papers. (S. Robinson)
Section 004 - Poetry and Emotion. We will move from nineteenth-century bestsellers, long narrative poems of exile or quest, to gothic poems of horror and haunting; from love poems to the in-your-face style of the Nuyorican Cafe; from novels with poetry at the core, like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, to essays by anthropologists; and from films like The Dead Poets' Society and Janet Jackson's Poetic Justice to emotion-evading verse that wants to be tough or cool. Required texts will include a poetry anthology, paperbacks of the novels, a handbook of literary terms, and a course pack. Requirements: careful close reading in preparation, including reading poetry aloud; showing up for several poetry readings and one or two film showings outside of class. Discussion format with frequent brief lectures. Prior experience of poetry welcome but not necessary. Cost:2 (Ellison)
Section 005 - Women and Gender: Victorian Women. For Fall Term, 1996, this section is offered jointly with History 197.002. (Israel)
217. Literature Seminar. Completion of the Introductory Composition
requirement. (3). (HU).
Section 001 - Finding One's Own English. If no one actually speaks "Standard
English," what does it mean to write in it? What does it mean not to?
Where do dialects and other non-standard varieties of English fit into "English
literature"? In this course, we will explore such questions by examining
how authors manipulate the power and limits of English to find voices for
their characters and themselves, and how they thereby test the flexibility
of our attitudes about English. Required reading may include authors such
as Twain, Shaw, Wright, Morrison, Elgin, Joyce, Molloy, Bashevis Singer,
Lum, Yamanaka, as well as secondary material on Standard English, language
variety, and language discrimination. In keeping with its focus on language
and voice, this course will put significant emphasis (including some class
time) on your writing. You will write two shorter essays (5-7 pages) and
one longer essay (8-10 pages), along with regular short reading responses
and one in-class presentation. (Curzan)
230. Introduction to Short Story and Novel. (3). (HU).
Section 002 - Detective Fiction. From roots in Victorian British fiction
to an incarnation as film noir in 1940s Hollywood, detective fiction
has consistently laid claim to the imagination of a variety of reading publics.
Despite its very distinct rules of form, this genre has also shifted to
reflect the location, time and culture of each writer choosing to work within
its boundaries. While the cast of stock characters featured in the hard-boiled
The Maltese Falcon reliably reappears in The Big Sleep only
shades of them make the scene of Dorothy Sayer's explorations of crime in
modern England. This class will question the conventions of the genre: What
kind of character is the classic detective? the new detective? Does solving
the crime solve some greater moral or social dilemma? What is a femme fatale?
At the same time we will study broader literary devices such as plot, voice,
point of view, setting and characterization and their function within this
specific kind of prose. The reading will include the works of English and
American authors, including Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James Lee
Burke, Michael Innis, Nicholas Black, Edgar Allen Poe, Daphne DuMaurier,
and Sarah Paretsky. Course requirements: active participation in class discussion,
two papers. (Haas)
245/RC Hums. 280/Theatre 211. Introduction to Drama and Theatre. No
credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in RC Hums. 281.
(4). (HU).
See Theatre 211. (Brown)
267. Introduction to Shakespeare. Completion of Introductory Composition.
(4). (HU).
Section 001 - Identity and its Transformation. Shakespearean drama is
concerned - one could say obsessed - with identity and its transformation.
Sometimes the metamorphosis is a happy one, as when female characters cross-dress
as men, escape their harsh fathers, and find lovers of their choice. Sometimes
the change is tragic, as when King Lear self-destructs before our eyes.
Characters constantly ask, "Who am I?" and assert "I am not
what I am." This course will be engaged with exploring the possibilities
of, and limits on, identity, examining in particular how identity is fashioned
and threatened in terms of gender, social status, nationality, and sexuality.
Among the plays we will read are A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night,
Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, King Lear, Othello, Merchant of
Venice, Winter's Tale, Henry the Fourth, part 1. Requirements: a midterm
and a final, short one-page response papers, one 5 page essay. Cost:2 (Traub)
270. Introduction to American Literature. (3). (HU).
Section 001 - Black and White and Read All Over. In this class we will
examine the textual dialogue between writers of European and African descent
(categories that are, of course, not mutually exclusive). In the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries African Americans, though often forced by law or
circumstance to remain illiterate, nevertheless sought ways to tell their
unique stories via literary genres that were European in origin; such works
generally appeared as autobiography, but could take the form of verse or
fiction. Similarly, Americans who were classified as "white" also
drew on the racially ordered nature of life in the ante-bellum United
States, incorporating slave narratives or their personal knowledge of life
in a racially stratified society into their creative works. Probable requirements:
two papers, two exams. (Zafar)
280. Thematic Approaches to Literature. (3). (HU). May be repeated
for credit with department permission.
In this course, part of the Food Theme Semester, we will read a variety
of literary works devoted to eating. We will look at the phenomenon of eating
through a multitude of perspectives, and within a range of cultural situations,
from Plato's Symposium through Babette's Feast. We will be
particularly interested in the gamut of social and religious functions that
an action absolutely necessary to life has been made to fulfill. The occasion
of the primal sin of the Judeo-Christian west - Adam and Eve's consumption
of the forbidden fruit - eating has from Genesis through Miss Manners occasioned
fastidious regulation - regulations which tell us more about the cultures
that produced them than they do about the health they frequently claim to
promote. We will explore how eating demands a daily confrontation between
issues of self and other, since it is literally a moment when something
outside one is imported into one and made part of one's substance. Works
to be studied include Genesis, Plato, Rabelais' Gargantua and
Pantagruel, Milton's Paradise Lost, select Renaissance poems,
and Babette's Feast. Cost:2 (Schoenfeldt)
285. Introduction to Twentieth-Century Literature. (3). (HU).
We will consider how a variety of writers reflect and respond to the
major historical, social, political, philosophical and moral issues and
preoccupations of this century. The works we will study are eclectic and
arbitrarily chosen; there is no attempt to be all-inclusive, nor will we
limit ourselves to English and American authors. Our subject will be to
read some representative works of modern thought and literature, our purpose
to sharpen the insight with which we approach some probing "documents"
of our time. We will emphasize equally what these works say and how they
say it. Reading: some standard works; some idiosyncratic selections. Possible
authors include: Camus, Dürrenmatt, Bellow, Kosinski, D.M. Thomas,
P. Levi, Kafka, Atwood, or several others. Informal lecture and discussion,
the amount of which will be influenced by the size of the class. Thoughtful,
active participation "counts." Two 5-7 pp. papers and a final
exam. (Bauland)