How does our reading of literary texts transform our perception of what we do on a daily basis? How does literature bring into focus elements of our common routine, in order to prompt an inquiry into the relationship between our sense of who we are as human beings and the every-day tasks we are used to performing? What about the ways in which literary works represent things or objects as part of our daily life? How do these representations inform our sense of purpose in life as individuals and members of a particular ethnic, cultural or even national community?

We will work towards answering these questions by reading short-stories and a novel from the last five decades: Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson,” Hari Kunzru’s “Raj, Bohemian,” Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” John Updike’s “A & P,” Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” and John Lanchester’s The Debt to Pleasure. The majority of these texts are first-person narratives, and we will work towards understanding what sets them apart from a story your friend might tell you on the bus on the way to school, or an account of an event you might hear on the news. The assignments in this class are designed to enhance your grasp of the narrative devices employed in literary texts that distinguish them from ordinary stories: use of language, tone, plot, setting, point of view and character development. We will actively practice close reading of fiction. You will be required to write three short papers (3-4 pages) and develop one of them into a longer final paper (6-7 pages). The required books for the class are Lanchester’s The Debt to Pleasure and the 10th edition of Richard Abcarian’s and Marvin Klotz’s Literature The Human Experience. Please do not purchase earlier editions of Abcarian’s book because some of the stories we will discuss are not included in them. Both books are available at the University Bookstore.