Training in writing expository prose. Further instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.

In this course on “slow reading,” our focus will be on the literature of iteration, revision, and repetitive revisiting, with a lurking fourth term: enigma. What draws us to look at the same text again and again—and must this mystery have a “solution”? Alongside poems, short stories, and novels, we’ll be reading critical texts that also emphasize reading slowly and iteratively—and, in our work together, either theorizing the use of “slow reading” or modeling it in practice. Over the course of the semester, we’ll be thinking about the relationship of iteration to iteration, and of what reveals itself or becomes apparent between revisions. What are the stakes, desires, and hopes attendant to moments of repetition? What might one learn from dwelling on a text—spending extended amounts of time with it, and revising (or re-visioning) your knowledge of it day by day? And what might be the relationship between this repetitive seeing and interpretation? The aim of this course will be to exercise our skills in reading and writing on literary texts, and to think critically about our analytic methods, as well as how, why, and to what end we might believe that they work.

Requisites

• Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature and Composition. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills