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CS92PROD
Reading Melville: Melville's Theory of Reading
ENGL 300
Spring 2009 not offered
Crosslisting: AMST 300

From his first book, TYPEE, based on his captivity by Polynesian cannibals, to his major work, MOBY-DICK, Herman Melville drew on both his own experiences and his extensive reading of previous texts from which he borrowed at will. This course explores the proposition that for Melville, writing is reading, a process of interpretation, translation, and revision that becomes an explicit subject of his work. In addition to Melville's major works, we will examine source materials, letters, and contemporary responses to derive a collective sense of Melville's "theory of reading" and of how it informs his critique of 19th-century culture. Students who choose the research option will pursue topics of related interest--reading race, gender, class, or nature, for example--in contemporary Melville criticism.

Essential Capabilities: Interpretation, Writing
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Student Option
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: [ENGL203 or AMST155] OR ENGL201 OR [HIST237 or AMST151] OR [HIST239 or AMST152]
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None

Last Updated on MAR-29-2024
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