Fall 2008 Courses

English 130-01: American Voices: Multi-ethnic Literature and American History (Cohen)

M/W/F 12:00-1:00pm MAIN 010

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 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.

Readings may include work by Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Américo Paredes, Maxine Hong Kingston, Leslie Marmon Silko, Edward P. Jones, Philip Roth, Piri Thomas, Suzan Lori-Parks, Chang-Rae Lee, among others.

Assignments will include two short papers (2-3 pp.) and two longer papers (5 pp.) on topics to be distributed.

*First day attendance required.* Satisfies the U.S. Multiculturalism requirement; serves as a gateway course to the English major.

Fall 2008 Course Listings