The purpose of this course is to improve your ability to write clearly, effectively, and accurately about literary subjects. The course works under the assumption that critical writing–and the kinds of thinking that lead to such writing–are a necessity for college students. The ability to write critically also represents a very significant step in one’s intellectual development more generally. The focus of this class will be on practicing the fundamental skills of writing and reading, both in class and out of class. Our topic as we do so will be totality.

When is the last time you heard a classmate or reviewer celebrate the “relatability” of a work of literature or film? This term has become so prevalent that New Yorkerwriter Rebecca Mead has recently decried the “scourge of relatability” that has come to afflict contemporary culture. But what does it mean to be “relatable”? Why is this something we look for in a work of art? What, if anything, is wrong with expecting or seeking out “relatability”? Is this a new phenomenon or an age-old one?

In this class we will explore themes of Love and sometimes Love connected with Death; we’ll also try to find “the point” of each text we read.  We begin with a very early love poem by the ancient Greek woman Sappho, move into Plato (Platonic love:  more lusty than people think), through Roman love lyric, into later (19th century) English love poetry until we finally come into the twentieth century and read three short novels.  We’ll make a major stop along the way for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, accompanied by a close look at a cinematic observation of that story, Shakespeare in Love.