In this course, we will critically examine—through close reading—three texts that present the fantastic side by side with the real, as if the fantastic were part of everyday reality. One is the epic, Beowulf. The others are Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard, and Ben Okri’s Booker Award-winning novel, The Famished Road. We will discover as we study these texts that they are much more than pretexts that the authors use to indulge in the fantastical. We will, therefore, study them both as autonomous texts that present specific realities, and as representatives of their genres/modes of expression.

Texts

1. Beowulf
2. The Palm-Wine Drinkard
3. The Famished Road

Writing Requirements

1. A two-page summary of Beowulf (10%)
2. A two-page summary of The Palm-Wine Drinkard (10%)
3. A two-page summary of The Famished Road (10%)
4. A ten-page term paper, to be submitted first as a draft, and then as a final paper after revision at the end of the quarter. (50%)
5. Class Participation (20%)