The Satirical Imagination
COL 117
Spring 2007
| Section:
01
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This course will explore the long tradition of satire: literature dedicated to exposing folly, hypocrisy, and human error, and to holding them up for ridicule. We will focus on the history of satire (its evolution from ancient ritual curses to The Onion); its rhetoric and grammar (irony, invective, humor); and its moral and political uses and implications. We will consider satire in relation to comedy and tragedy, to obscenity and censorship, and to caricature and parody. Throughout the course we will return to the central question that satire asks: is there hope for improvement, or is the human condition beyond remedy? |
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Essential Capabilities:
Speaking, Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA COL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Readings will be chosen from among the following:
Aristophanes, LYSISTRATA and THE FROGS
Horace, selected satires
Juvenal, selected satires
Molière, TARTUFFE
Voltaire, CANDIDE
Swift, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS and "A Modest Proposal"
Pope, selected poems
Flaubert, BOUVARD AND PÉCUCHET
Waugh, DECLINE AND FALL
West, THE DAY OF THE LOCUST
Orwell, NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
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Examinations and Assignments:
Students will be asked to write three short papers, spaced out evenly through the term. Each student will also give a brief in-class presentation, based on a particular week's reading. Participation in discussion is a major part of the course. There are no exams in this seminar. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Since this is a First Year Initiative seminar devoted to literary expression, there will be many opportunities for students to develop their own writing--both in conversation with the instructor and through exchanges with other students in the course. |
| Instructor(s): Matz,Aaron Times: ..T.R.. 09:00AM-10:20AM; Location: BTFDC314; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 2 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 19 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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