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.

How does a body relate to an inner self, a mind, or a person? How does a body relate to an outer world? This course will consider the particular ways in which fiction can explore these questions. We will focus on three novels by speculative fiction writer Octavia Butler: Dawn, Wild Seed, and Kindred. With the help of a selection of critical and historical essays, we will consider Butler’s novels through the lenses of disability, race, and gender—and develop students’ research skills by using novels and essays to illuminate each other. Practicing critical reading skills, we will consider the arguments Butler’s stories make about human identity, and the role of literary and rhetorical techniques in making them. We will consider the ways critical arguments in turn make use of stories. We will be guided, finally, by the goal of developing your writing skills. We will talk not only about how course readings make arguments but also about how to identify compelling research questions, engage in critical conversations, and make persuasive arguments of your own. Student writing will constitute an important third category of course material: in addition to regular reading responses, you will develop, draft, peer-edit, and revise two essays including a final research essay.

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