English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature

We often think of non-fiction as cut-and-dried: there’s the real stuff (that’s non-fiction) and then there’s the made-up stuff (that’s fiction). Non-fiction, to quote the dictionary definition is real; it’s “based on facts, real events, and real people.” Simple as this may seem, this definition actually complicates non-fiction. Non-fiction, according to the dictionary, is not real events or real people but only “based on” them; it is a representation of those events and people documented in prose, comics, or film. A central idea of this course is that crafting a piece of non-fiction—documenting reality—is hard work and involves a lot of choices. What choices do people make when documenting real events and people? And why? To throw in one more twist: What’s real in the first place? In this course, all works of non-fiction we’ll study center queer and trans people. This last question—“What’s real?”—is key for these gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, trans people who find themselves constantly asserting the varied reality of their everyday life, a reality that many people don’t want to acknowledge exists.

As part of the University’s R&C requirement, this course aims to give you conceptual tools to refine your critical reading and writing skills. Together, we will work to understand how arguments are made and how we can insert ourselves into the conversation: how to ask questions about the texts we read and the things we do; how to think about meaningful details; how to craft an arguable thesis; and how to support those claims through close reading, research, and revision. Most importantly, you will learn to actively engage primary and secondary sources and organize your thoughts into structured, persuasive, and elegantly composed texts. By the semester’s end, these skills will provide a foundation for your continued growth as critical writers, readers, and thinkers.