Sections offered SPRING 2022:
#2153 |
MIRANDA RODAK |
TuTh 1:15 PM–2:30 PM |
BH 245 |
CLASS NOTES: COLL Intensive Writing section; IUB GenEd A&H credit; COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry credit
Class meets In Person. For more information visit https://covid.iu.edu/learning-modes/index.html
How can the fate of the world rest on one kid’s shoulders? From Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen to Charlie Bucket and Alice, this course focuses on kids and teens who undertake epic quests to save their families and their world. We will ask why these stories, classified as Children’s and Young-Adult literature, have lasting and cross-generational appeal. Why do so many different people of all ages read them? What fears and fantasies do they represent about who we are or might become? How do they balance escapist entertainment with poignant meditations on sacrifice, trauma, transition, family, friendship, and hope? As we work to answer these deeply fraught questions, we’ll address the power fiction has in creating both real and imagined landscapes for individual and social introspection. In doing so, we’ll gain an introduction to the formal elements and hallmarks of fiction.