Fall 2007 Courses

English 130-01: American Voices (Cohen)

M/W/F 1:10-2:10pm THEATR 205

What makes a voice "American"? What are the relationships between different kinds of writing and different "American voices"? How do different literary forms enable writers to find their "voice," to tell stories about themselves and the "America" in which they live? In this introductory English course we will seek answers to these and other questions by reading a range of poems, novels, short stories, and plays that tell varying — and often contradictory — stories about the lives and experiences of people in the United States. Our readings may include works by Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Walt Whitman, Jose Martí, W.E.B. Du Bois, Israel Zangwill, James Baldwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Maxine Hong Kingston, Leslie Marmon Silko, Richard Rodriguez, and Dorothy Allison. Assignments will include weekly reading responses, oral presentations, and formal essays.

Fall 2007 Course Listings