engl 10133: introduction to literature
“literature as equipment for living”: contemporary american lit
ENGL 10133.005
TR 8:00-9:20
Rhetorical theorist Kenneth Burke often argued that the fictional creations of novelists, poets, and playwrights suggest “strategies for dealing with situations” that occur in the real world. Literature is, in his famous phrasing, “equipment for living”—and if we carefully examine how this equipment works, it becomes possible for us to learn something important about one another in the process. The goal of this introductory course, then, is to examine the “equipment for living” produced by writers in contemporary times to see what this work can tell us about the world in which we live. Course readings will be current (i.e., published after 2010) and will represent multiple literary genres: novels, short stories, poetry, and the graphic novel. Course assignments will include regular quizzes and journal responses, one multimedia presentation, one extended critical analysis, and both a midterm and final exam.
TCU Core Requirements: LT, HUM
course booklist
novels
Heidi Durrow, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (2010)
David Foster Wallace, The Pale King (2011)
John Green, The Fault in Our Stars (2012)
short fiction
Robin Black, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This (2010)
Junot Diaz, This Is How You Lose Her (2012)
poetry
Natasha Tretheway, Thrall (2012)
graphic novels
Kevin Huizenga, Gloriana (2012)
LInks to Image Sources
- The Girl Who Fell from the Sky: http://heidiwdurrow.com/
- The Pale King: http://www.litkicks.com/ThePaleKing#.UWQgMo4Qg20
- The Fault in Our Stars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars
- If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This: http://thiszine.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/book-review-if-i-loved-you-i-would-tell-you-this-by-robin-black/
- This is How You Lose Her: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13503109-this-is-how-you-lose-her
- Thrall: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-09-13/entertainment/35494523_1_natasha-trethewey-poet-laureate-thrall
- Gloriana: http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/shopCatalogLong.php?st=art&art=a412a2f9ef2545
tom jesse 