WRITING WORKSHOP 2

概要

In this class, we will read Sherwood Anderson’s classic novel-in-stories Winesburg, Ohio. This work was published in 1919, and was influential on such contemporaries of Anderson’s as Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. The novel, which some also consider a collection of linked short stories (many of which feature the same protagonist, the newspaper reporter George Willard), has as one of its themes the idea of the “grotesque,” which here refers to those who have created a “truth” for themselves and clung to it so tenaciously (strongly) throughout their lives that it ends up making them “ugly,” and destroys them in the end. The book is full of deep and significant insights into the human condition, and is a masterpiece of psychology. Some have considered it an early example of Modernism, as well. Let us take the time to explore this work together this semester and, by so doing, perhaps learn a bit more about ourselves in the process.

目標

The objectives for this course are as follows: * To read and analyze a highly-praised short novel “in stories” written by Sherwood Anderson, a contemporary of Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner * To improve our interpretative and analytical skills via studying this text * To consider the milieu (time and place) in which this text was written, and to think about what the “message” of this work might be, as well as about why Anderson may have felt so pessimistic about the changes occurring as society shifted from being agrarian to consumeristic, and people became more and more concerned with “upward mobility” * To improve our English reading and comprehension skills, as well as our presentation skills in English * To engage in meaningful and interesting discussions in English * To write essays using citations in the proper fashion

授業外の学習

Students are expected to do all assigned readings before the due date (i.e. the following week’s class) and to be prepared both to listen to mini-lectures from the professor and to pose questions/discuss the readings with fellow students and as a class. Further, essays (papers) will be required, and so students are expected to spend time outside of class both researching and writing such papers for credit.

所要時間: 190 hours