The principal focus will be the examination of longer fictional works are a primary mode of thinking and reasoning, following how imaginative engagement with recurrent and practical questions leads us to increasingly sophisticated and insightful revelations about experience. The novels selected all address, in very different ways, how our lives may be shaped by what, and how, we imagine—particularly when we may not recognize initially the extent to which what we imagine and what we become are connected.

Over the course of the quarter, there will be three writing assignments, each precisely focused on issue of reading. The discussion sections will provide an opportunity to work through issues in reading, and to work in a focused way on writing. There will also be a weekly quiz (brief) on assigned readings for each week.

Texts: All in the UW Bookstore

NOTE: THESE EDITIONS ARE REQUIRED. DO NOT USE BOOKS YOU ALREADY HAVE. ALL ARE READILY AVAILABLE ON THE USED BOOK MARKET.

Henry James: The Portrait of a Lady . Norton Critical Edition ISBN-10: 0393966461
Witold Gombrowicz: Ferdedurke. Yale University Press, ISBN-10: 0300082401
Milan Kundera: The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Harper Perennial ISBN-10: 0061148520
J. M. Coetzee: Foe. Penguin Edition. ISBN-10: 842042496X