[Englmajors] Spots now open in two evening ENGL classes

[Kimberly Swayze]

There are some spots now open for daytime students in two evening 
English classes, ENGL 302 (Critical Practice) and ENGL 342 (Contemporary 
Novel).  Descriptions are below.  The sections have just been set up, so 
you will not see them in the Time Schedule for a day or two, but you can 
sign up now using the SLNs below.


*CRITICAL PRACTICE ("Ecocritical Practice: Reading Environments") * 
Meyer <mailto:meyera at u.washington.edu> 	*MW 7:00-8:50 PM*

*SLN 20180*

This course will introduce you to the "critical practice" of the study 
of literature. One of the ironies of the course's catalog title is that 
the term "practice" implies at least two kinds of behavior: on the one 
hand, to "practice" is to prepare for some kind of "official" 
performance (e.g., basketball practice comes before the game---but what 
is the "game" in English?); but on the other, "practice" indicates 
something more fundamental: the way you do something and why, the 
particular actions and activities that occur within specific cultural 
contexts in the hopes of specific results. In the study of literature, 
"critical practice" is the activity of finding out how different kinds 
of texts arise, how they function in, circulate in, represent, and/or 
"shape" culture (and so the world), and how they generate, challenge, or 
reinforce human values. By closely attending to both poetic and 
narrative texts, we will "practice" the "practice" of literary 
criticism. There are numerous ways to perform this practice---and many 
debates among professionals about which are the "best" practices. In 
this course we will work our way toward a relatively new critical 
practice: ecocriticism. Ecocriticism is the critical study and analysis 
of literary and cultural texts in order to examine how they imagine, 
construct, and represent environments, and thereby imagine, re-shape, 
and "mobilize" environmental values.

In order to get there, however, we'll need to spend some time 
familiarizing ourselves with some of the theories and critical thinking 
that preceded ecocriticism (from Plato to post-colonialism) before we 
get into some of the primary ecocritical theories.

Our literary texts will include British and American poems and 
narratives from nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Student work will 
include extensive reading and prepared class discussion, several short 
critical responses/discussions on a class blog, a presentation, and a 
7-9 page critical essay.


*CONTEMPORARY NOVEL* 	Patel <mailto:tanvi at u.washington.edu> 	*T Th 
7:00-8:50 PM*

*SLN 20181*/
/


This courses focuses on contemporary Indian fiction and its various 
thematic trajectories as a postcolonial nation. In what ways do modern 
writers detail with the socio-political intricacies of the increasingly 
globalizing nation of India? How might do authors, through narrative and 
contextual variations, display the realities of Indian families, 
societies and ideologies? Students will consider modern developments in 
politics, religion, crime, society and culture through a pantheon of 
literature and cinema. Attending to the country's landscapes and 
peoples, the course will examine transitions between public and private 
spaces, the increasing burden of globalization and modernity, expanding 
class and caste gaps and differences between third world realities and 
first world mentalities.


Central readings will include: Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger (2008), 
Vikas Swarup's The Six Suspects (2008), A Fine Balance by Rohinton 
Mistry (1995), Love and Longing in Bombay (1998), among others.

General Method of Instruction: Discussion.

Student Responsibilities and Evaluation: Course work includes a 
willingness to challenge one's current aesthetic values about film and 
literature and keep an open mind; weekly engaged, in-person critical 
discussion; online research of literary and film terms via UW databases; 
critical written analysis of stories, films and their relevant critical 
work. Evaluation will include oral presentations, essays, quizzes and exams.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/pipermail/englmajors/attachments/20120322/15d58058/attachment.htm