Seminar in Reading and Interpretation (300-CN-65)
Topic
Crime and Criminal Narratives
Instructors
William J Savage
847/491-8916
1908 Sheridan Road, OUSA
Office Hours: By appointment
Bill Savage (PhD Northwestern) is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, and has published scholarship on the history and literature of both the Cubs and the White Sox. He wrote about the Cubs 2016 World Series season for ESPN.com, in the column “The View from Section 416.” He has taught various versions of this course at Northwestern and the Newberry Library for over 20 years.
Meeting Info
TBA: Tues 6:15PM - 9:15PM
Overview of class
In this writing-intensive course, we will read canonical and non-canonical American texts (novels, films, graphic novels) in order to develop some theoretical sophistication in reading narrative and crafting literary arguments. We explore different methods of interpreting narrative in terms of genre (What happens to us as readers when we place a text in a specific genre, such as the detective story or Great American Novel? How do generic expectations work on our interpretive experience?); aesthetic form (What do we mean when we call a writer's prose "beautiful" or a plot well-constructed? How do literary standards work to constitute values?); and ideological content (How do we judge a text's position in relation to historical and contemporary political issues, including-but not limited to-matters of gender, race and class?). Our focusing lens is the theme of criminality: What counts as transgression against norms, both within texts (Who are the criminals? Who makes the laws? What are appropriate punishments for crimes?) and in our wider literary culture (What makes a text worthy or not worthy of being considered literature? Who makes these literary "laws"?) As an introductory seminar and requirement for English majors, the course focuses deeply on the composition and revision of effective literary arguments.
This course was formerly ENGLISH 298.
Registration Requirements
Students who enroll should have fulfilled the SPS writing requirement or taken equivalent writing courses.
Class Materials (Required)
Confirm course texts and materials by contacting instructor or viewing course Canvas site or University bookstore website.
Class Attributes
Face to face: In person, in campus space