What all humans have in common is actually what distinguishes them. How we define ourselves is ultimately not up to us because the thing we use for our self-definition – “identity” – is beyond our control. Exploring a variety of literary genres and forms, we will use the conception of identity as the tool to frame our comprehension and interpretation of the selected readings. We can see the concept of identity and identification change over the course of English and American literary history. What does identity/identification mean in literature that reflects the pre-capitalist era, imperial period, or late-capitalist times? Beginning with this fundamental question of identity, we are going to explore the multiplicity of identities of social subjects or objectified subjects which are socially, nationally, racially, and sexually constructed.

Novels include A Passage to India by E. M. Forster, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Fixer Chao by Han Ong, and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. We will also read a novella by Milton Murayama and see one film. Additional readings consist of articles by Stuart Hall, Lionel Trilling, Edward Said, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Stanley and Derald W. Sue, Toni Morrison, and Susan Najita.

In this course, two learning outcomes have been set up for students: first, the ability to develop a reasonable interpretation of a literary text and to support that interpretation with evidence; second, the ability to develop more sophisticated discussion and composition skills in the interest of being better able to construct and defend their own arguments or interpretations.

As a “W” or writing class, this course will devote effort to writing about literature. The writing assignments will be partly formed by GoPosts. Moreover, you will be required to accomplish two 1~2-page singled-spaced proposals and two 5~7-page major papers. Only the major papers will be graded; but the proposals will be taken into consideration for your final grades.

REQUIRED READINGS___________________________________________________________

A Passage to India (1924) by E. M. Forster
Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison
Fixer Chao (2001) by Han Ong
The Namesake (2003) by Jhumpa Lahiri
Course packet available at the Ave Copy Center (4141 University Way)