In 1955, Chloe Anthony Wofford (later known as Toni Morrison) wrote part of her MA thesis on “Virginia Woolf’s treatment of the alienated.” What might have drawn Morrison to make a study of some of Woolf’s fiction? Do the novels Morrison went on to write have ideas similar to those in Woolf? Or did she work against Woolf’s fiction in devising her own characters and situations? What, if anything, do these two famous twentieth-century writers, so different in class, nation, and ethnic background share? In this course we will read novels (and some non-fiction) by both writers in order to address these and other questions. Come expecting lively discussion, differences of opinion and a chance to read some wonderful writing.