Reading & Composition
Excavating Babel
The Tower of Babel in Genesis is a brief and dramatic story about how human languages and
habitats become multiple and scattered. The end of the story is one way of conceptualizing the
differences and divisions among peoples in the world. The story is tightly constructed, and its
ambiguity yields profuse interpretations, retellings, allusions, and echoes throughout literature. In
this course, we examine the way literature returns to and rewrites Babel. A post-Babel world of
many languages necessitates translation, so we examine this fact both thematically, and through
works in translation. How does power inform relationships among different languages, particularly
in colonial and minority cultures and in translation? What are the possibilities and limitations of
creativity and experimentation in translation? Looking at poetry, fiction, and literary criticism, we
investigate the ways that the permeable boundaries of language inform identity, politics, and artistic
production.
As part of the University’s R&C sequence, this course is designed, above all, to help students
improve their critical reading and analytical writing skills. Students learn how to write with clarity,
precision, and nuance throughout all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming to
proofreading. We read literary texts closely to develop interpretive arguments and write convincing
and well-constructed essays. In addition to regular attendance, reading, and participation,
assignments include a diagnostic paper and a series of essays—drafts and deep revisions—as well as
bCourses posts, quizzes, and a final project. This is a reading- and writing-intensive course.