Reading & Composition

Some texts rebel against a literary tradition, some against a political regime, and some against society as a whole. In this course we will consider works of fiction, film, music and photography, focusing particularly on their connections to rebellion and revolution. We will explore texts that explicitly deal with revolution and texts which deal with it on a metaphoric level. Together we will witness how literature and art work not only to provide awareness, but also as active agents with the power to incite national and global change.

Students will be expected to contribute weekly blog entries on b-space, participate in class discussion and write and rewrite academic papers. In addition to the reading we will spend time revising, learning how to frame analytical arguments and use research material, peer-editing, and developing critical reading skills.

Texts will include:

William Shakespeare, The Tempest

Ken Kesey, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

There will also be a course reader which will include selected short stories, poems and critical pieces by Julio Cortázar, Jorge Luis Borges, Jose Marti, Pablo Neruda, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Norman Manea, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Allen Ginsberg, and others.