Sections offered SPRING 2020:
#9287 |
JOEY MCMULLEN |
TR 1:00pm-2:15pm |
SW 219 |
CLASS NOTES: COLL Intensive Writing section; COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry credit; IUB GenEd A&H credit
“A good story should make you laugh, and a moment later break your heart”—so explains Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club. In this course, we will read good stories, particularly ones that meet at the intersection of minimalism (a genre of writing that uses words with exacting precision) and transgressive fiction. We will question the appeal of these short stories and novels, whose characters break from societal norms in compelling ways. After reading a handful of more contemporary authors (Palahniuk, Amy Hempel, Tom Spanbauer, Gordon Lish), we will look back in time, either to Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho or Ernest Hemingway. Our broader goal will be to think critically about how to respond to fiction effectively, developing analytical skills not only to understand literature deeply, but read the world around us. Assessment for this course will be in the form of essays and informal responses; there will be no exams.