Reading & Composition

According to the philosopher Gottfried Liebniz, we live in “the best of all possible worlds.”  Whether or not that’s true, it hasn’t prevented us from ceaselessly imagining – or even creating – alternate realities: shiny fantasy worlds where our most cherished dreams come true or, when we’re feeling less optimistic, nightmarish dystopias where they are mercilessly crushed.  What constitutes a possible world or parallel universe?  How and why is it constructed?  By what rules is it governed?  Who or what inhabits it?  Where is it located in time and space – in our own backyard or in a distant galaxy, amidst our personal memories or a thousand years into the future?  How does it bring the “real world” – whatever that might be – into relief?  These are some of the questions we’ll be asking as we survey the possibilities and parallels presented by poets, philosophers, filmmakers, novelists, and science fiction writers.

As this is a writing intensive course, a significant portion of our time will be dedicated to refining your prose. You will be responsible for writing a total of three papers: a two-page diagnostic essay and two longer essays, both of which require substantial revisions.  The final paper will incorporate independent research.  In addition, there will be a number of shorter assignments designed to hone your skills as critical readers and writers.

Texts may include:

Gottfried Liebniz, selections from Theodicy

William James, selections from A Pluralistic Universe

Voltaire, Candide

Thomas More, Utopia

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels

William Blake, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”

Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust

Franz Kafka, “In the Penal Colony”

Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim

Fyodor Dostoevsky, “White Nights”

Italo Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveler

Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths”

Yurii Olesha, “The Cherry Pit” and “Love”

H. G. Wells, The Time Machine

Ray Bradbury, “The Veldt”

Fritz Lang, Metropolis

Chris Marker, La Jetée

Alain Renais, Smoking/No Smoking

Mike Cahill, Another Earth