Training in writing expository prose. Instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.

What are we talking about when we call a piece of literature “realistic”? What does our sense of the “realistic” say about us, our identity, our politics, our worldview? This Rhetoric and Composition course will sample literary realism and its theorizations from the early nineteenth century to the present. We will explore how, far from straightforwardly or directly representing things “as they are,” the category of literary realism can be taken to designate a variety of strategies for registering and responding to the unevenness of capitalist development in different geographical and politico-economic contexts: 1830s France, 1890s Russia, 1920s Japan, 1930s Martinique, and more. Because this is a Rhetoric and Composition course, one central priority of ours will be to develop effective reading, note-taking, and writing strategies for college writing. Half of our time will be spent examining and practicing the basic skills involved in the writing of thesis-driven essays, including summary, analysis, thesis construction, and text citation.

Requisites

• Satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing Requirement

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills