Reading & Composition

Death, by murder, illness or suicide is the end result in many of literature’s most compelling stories of romantic love. From the topos of the fallen woman that permeates the 19th century novel, to the performances of awesome vengeance in Hedda Gabler and Medea, women heroines often take the brunt of society’s censure of “inappropriate” passion. The protagonists (both male and female) are always marked by their difference, which is often based on their willingness to confront society. They are somehow smarter, more interesting, more confused, and more demanding than everyone else. These tales inspire agile reading practices that incorporate an understanding of authorial, cultural and historical pressures at work in the formation of the text.

In this course, you will be expected to write in a number of ways: 1) a 5-6 page paper and a 7-8 page research paper, both of which will be extensively edited and re-written, 2) one-page response papers, and 3) in-class freewriting. In addition, you will be responsible for group presentations on literary and historical issues that will be assigned in the beginning of the semester.

Heinrich von Kleist, The Marquise von O-(reader)

Theodore Fontane, Effie Briest ISBN-13: 978-0140447668

Thomas Mann, Death in Venice (reader)

Kate Chopin, The Awakening (reader)

Hinrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler ISBN-13: 978-0486264691

Euripedes, Medea ISBN-13: 978-0872209237

Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road ISBN-13: 978-0375708442

Selected Poetry (reader)

Lunsford/Connors, The Everyday Writer ISBN-13: 978-0312413231

Gardner, Writing About Literature: A Portable Guide, ISBN-13 978-0312607579