Introduction to Fiction (213-0-01)

Instructors

Jules Law

Meeting Info

Annenberg Hall G15: Mon, Wed 1:00PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

A monster, a basement, a storm, a prayer—what images shape a child's inner world? Coming-of-age novels return us to these charged moments, showing how identity is formed through memory, language, and the body. In this course, we'll read four powerful novels that portray growing up not as a straight line, but as a series of looping encounters with the past. These works explore the physical and emotional experience of embodiment: what it means to live in a body that can feel monstrous or comforting, alien or intimate. At the same time, they ask what it might mean to transcend the body.

But this course is also about how we read. We'll ask how literary language works—how it differs from everyday speech, how structure shapes meaning, and how novels speak through what they leave unsaid. We'll develop our own interpretations, learning how to read closely, write persuasively, and argue with precision and care.

Note: Representations and opinions of gender and race in Frankenstein will not align fully with our own notions, and the casual and unreflective nature of its prejudices may be dismaying. We will certainly discuss these issues. Two of the contemporary texts on our course contain frank depictions of juvenile sexuality.

Teaching Method

2 lectures, 1 required discussion-section per week.

Evaluation Method

Midterm paper (25%); final paper (35%); final exam (20%); quizzes and class participation (20%).

Class Materials (Required)

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Penguin Classics), ISBN 9780141439471.
Justin Torres, We the Animals (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), ISBN 9780547844190.
Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones (Bloomsbury), ISBN 978-1-60819-626-5.
Yaa Gyasi, Transcendent Kingdom (Vintage), ISBN 978-1-9848-9976-7.

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-registration -- Reserved for English students.

Associated Classes

DIS - University Hall 018 English: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - University Library 4670: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - University Library 4722: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - University Hall 018 English: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Library 4722: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Library 4670: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Hall 318: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM