Topics in Combined Studies (385-DL-20)
Topic
Anti-Hero in Literature and Contemporary Culture
Instructors
Peter Paul Kaye
Peter Kaye has been teaching literature and humanities courses at Northwestern since 1988. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in English Literature and Humanities in 1989. His dissertation, which he completed while working full time in educational publishing, was eventually turned into a book, Dostoevsky and English Modernism, published by Cambridge University Press and translated into Chinese. Like many SPS students, he changed careers, becoming a full–time administrator at SPS in 2003, serving as Assistant Dean of Undergraduate and Post-baccalaureate Programs at SPS for 17 years.
Meeting Info
Online: TBA
Overview of class
In traditional literature, narratives often centered on the exploits of the hero, from Odysseus to Beowulf to King Arthur. But in contemporary culture the protagonists that draw our attention fall often fall far short of usual definitions of heroism, from Walter White in Breaking Bad, to Claire Underwood in House of Cards, to Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. We will read four short novels--Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground; Camus's The Stranger; Hammett's The Maltese Falcon (turned into a classic film, perhaps the first major example of film noir); and Baldwin's Giovanni's Room--and one long novel, Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride, as well as two short plays, Sartre's No Exit and Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Assignments will include literary analysis papers, with options for the second topic that involve film comparisons. For the major assignment, students will work as individuals or in groups to analyze a television or movie character as an anti-hero, with an oral presentation and video clips; then each student will write their own analysis of that character.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.
Note: This course is limited to School of Professional Studies students only. Undergraduate students in other schools at Northwestern are not permitted to enroll in this course
Registration Requirements
Students should have fulfilled the SPS writing requirement or completed equivalent writing courses prior to enrolling. Meets the post-1830 literature requirement for English Writing majors.
Class Attributes
Asynchronous:Remote class-no scheduled mtg time