printer friendly pageENGLISH 10AX: Fiction Writing
"Of the many definitions of a story, the simplest may be this: it is a piece of writing that makes the reader want to find out what happens next. Good writers, it is often said, have the ability to make you keep on reading them whether you want to or not-the milk boils over, the subway stop is missed."nn -Bill Buford, former fiction editor of The New YorkernnnThis course will introduce students to an assortment of short stories by past and contemporary masters, from Ernest Hemingway to ZZ Packer. We will explore the basic elements of fiction writing, including story structure, point of view, dialogue, and exposition, always keeping in mind the overarching goal of trying to get the reader to turn the page in anticipation. Some summer reading and participation in an online blog will prepare us for discussions we'll have together when the class begins. The course will indeed be "intensive," as we will write a complete draft of a short story in the first week and then distribute these stories for feedback sessions in the second week. Along the way, we¿ll write additional short exercises to stimulate our imaginations and to practice elements of craft. Field trips will include visits to some of the vibrant literary hotspots in San Francisco as well as a conversation with Stephen Elliott, editor of The Rumpus and a writer and member of the Writer's Grotto collective.
Terms: Aut, Sum
| Units: 2
| UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors:
Tanaka, S. (PI)
ENGLISH 11SI: Neil Gaiman: International Man of Mystery
Neil Gaiman is an author that transcends the boundaries of form, genre, and age. Add to that the fact he grew up in England and lives in America, and it becomes almost impossible to pin him down on any front. By examining his graphic novels, short stories, novels, children's literature, and film, we will try our best to approach this living author from different angles and make sense of how he breaks down traditional barriers of classification. Along the way, we will examine the themes and style of a literary author that has managed to remain relevant in the modern, digital age.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Lunsford, A. (PI)
ENGLISH 15A: IDA Integrative Seminar: Occupy Art - Immigration, Nation, and the Art of Occupation (AFRICAAM 15A, AMSTUD 15A, COMPLIT 36, CSRE 15A)
This course consists of film screenings, dialogues, and performances that engage critically with the theme of Occupation across contexts, exploring both the potential and limitations of the art of Occupation. Students will engage some of the most provocative artists, writers, and thinkers of our times to consider the purpose of the arts across diverse communities that engage Occupation in local, transnational and global perspective.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-4
Instructors:
Alim, H. (PI)
;
Charles, A. (PI)
;
Eichenlaub, J. (PI)
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Instructors:
Alim, H. (PI)
;
Charles, A. (PI)
;
Eichenlaub, J. (PI)
;
Jones, W. (PI)
;
Poza, L. (PI)
;
Saldivar, J. (PI)
;
Saldivar, R. (PI)
ENGLISH 15SC: Mixed Race in the New Millennium: Crossings of Kin, Culture, & Faith in the 21st Century
Recently, a New York Times article identified the vanguard of the future as young, global, and hybrid. The article gave this demographic a name: Generation E.A. (Ethnically Ambiguous). Our course examines the political and aesthetic implications of Generation E.A. We will look at the hot new vogue for "mixed race," examining contemporary images of mixed race as represented in literature, art, performance, film, Internet, and popular culture. Galvanized by the 2000 census with its offer of a "mark one or more" (MOOM) racial option to check, mixed race advocates have acquired legal leverage and national recognition in the last decade. Dozens of organizations, websites, affinity and advocacy groups, modeling and casting agencies, television pilots, magazines, and journals--all focused on the mixed race and cross-cultural experience--have emerged in the last few years. Clearly all these cultural and legal events are changing the way we talk and think not only about race but also crossings and mixings across gender, nation, religion, and socioeconomic experience. Assignments explore the current controversies over mixed race identification and also the expressive and political possibilities for representing complex identities: requirements include three two to three-page analytical writing assignments and an individualized project. (Students can choose two options for this project: artistic project or written narrative.)
Terms: Aut, Sum
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Elam, M. (PI)
ENGLISH 25SI: ASB: La Lucha Continua - Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Latina/o Social Movements
In preparation for an ASB trip to Los Angeles and sites in the Bay Area, this class will explore past social movements within the Latina/o community in order to examine their strategies of mass mobilization in order to compare then to contemporary efforts across the country. We will discuss how the methods available to activists have changed since the days of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta and focus on how the issues at the forefront of the diverse Latino community have changed and shifted the movement¿s focus and long-term goals. At stake is the effort to understand how collective action can help alleviate the tremendous inequalities still afflicting Latina/o communities.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Moya, P. (PI)
ENGLISH 36N: Lord Byron: Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know
The poetry, literary legacy, and significance of Lord Byron, a towering figure of European Romanticism. Emphasis on formal, aesthetic, and stylistic elements of the poetry, with additional topics to include modern celebrity, literary marketplace, scandal, and romantic heroism.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
Rovee, C. (PI)
ENGLISH 43: Introduction to African American Literature (AFRICAAM 43, AMSTUD 143, ENGLISH 143)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143.) African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals, trickster tales, and slave narratives to recent developments such as black feminist theory, postmodern fiction, and hip hop lyricism. We will engage some of the defining debates and phenomena within African American cultural history, including the status of realist aesthetics in black writing; the contested role of literature in black political struggle; the question of diaspora; the problem of intra-racial racism; and the emergence of black internationalism. Attuned to the invariably hybrid nature of this tradition, we will also devote attention to the discourse of the Enlightenment, modernist aesthetics, and the role of Marxism in black political and literary history.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Felt, L. (PI)
;
Rasberry, V. (PI)
ENGLISH 43A: American Indian Mythology, Legend, and Lore (ENGLISH 143A, NATIVEAM 143A)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143A.)Readings from American Indian literatures, old and new. Stories, songs, and rituals from the 19th century, including the Navajo Night Chant. Tricksters and trickster stories; war, healing, and hunting songs; Aztec songs from the 16th century. Readings from modern poets and novelists including N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, and Leslie Marmon Silko, and the classic autobiography,
Black Elk Speaks.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Fields, K. (PI)
;
Jimenez, C. (PI)
ENGLISH 56N: Mixed Race in the New Millennium: Crossings of Kin, Faith & Culture (AFRICAAM 56N, CSRE 56N)
Preference to freshmen. How literature, theater, graphic art and popular culture shape understandings of contemporary "mixed race" identity and other complex experiences of cultural hybridity. Course explores implications for racial identity, art, and politics for the new millennium.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
Elam, M. (PI)
ENGLISH 62N: Eros in Modern American Poetry
Preference to freshmen. Anne Carson, treating love from Sappho to Socrates, shows how the Greeks derived their philosophy from the erotic poetic tradition. Readings include: Carson's poetry which locates erotic desire in the larger context of the desire for knowledge; classic Japanese haiku masters such as Basho; and William Carlos Williams, Louise Bogan, and C.K. Williams.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
Fields, K. (PI)
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