Reading & Composition

To say that ‘to love is to live’ is nothing less than to affirm the proximity between these two actions, where, if nothing else, only a meager vowel separates the two. Love attests to a paradoxical type of freedom: we must be free to love; yet, when we are in love, we are unable to freely choose who or what it is that we love. Once ensnared in its warm embrace, love encircles us like a python, squeezing gently (sometimes not) until it completely surrounds us. But love can swallow and transform our world as quickly as it departs from it, leaving us only with malady. For love is also the warm soup on a cold afternoon.

During the semester we will be examining a number of texts concerning the idea of love, assessing how certain authors across history have expressed this emotion. This course satisfies half of the University’s Reading & Composition sequence and is recommended for students who completed R1A or placed out of the R1A requirement. This course is designed to help students improve their skills in critical thinking, reading, and analytical writing. Students will learn how to write with clarity, precision, and nuance through reflective engagement at all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming to proofreading. In addition to regular attendance, reading, and participation, assignments include an introductory paper and a series of essays—drafts and revisions—as well as bCourses posts. Students will also develop skills for incorporating secondary sources into analytical writing, the course will culminate in a research paper of 9-10 pages. This is a reading- and writing-intensive course.