Reading Literature: Transforming Identities in Literature

This course is designed to develop techniques for reading and writing about literary works through the lens of our chosen theme: the transformation and exploration of identities (in terms of race, class, gender, etc.) in literature. We will read a range of plays, poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction across temporal and national boundaries, exploring the different critical methods and interpretive tools available to us. Both the thematic and skill-building arcs of the course will culminate in a reading of Toni Morrison’s novel The Song of Solomon in the context of several different--and sometimes contradictory--critical and theoretical approaches. Other readings may include Shakespeare’s Othello, Hwang’s M. Butterfly, essays by Virginia Woolf and Durga Chew Bose among others, and short stories by James Joyce, Margaret Atwood, and Octavia Butler.