This class seeks to provide students with techniques and practice in reading and critically interpreting fiction. To that end, students will read literary texts with a mind to developing their own close-reading practices. Students will also read works of literary criticism and learn to orient their own critical responses within wider critical conversations. Thematically, we will think about the different ways in which the law regulates relationships between individuals and communities. We will also examine the nature of processes that function within and outside the law, (eg “norms”), to discipline individuals and communities.
Course work will include a demanding reading schedule, participation in class discussion, short writing assignments, a mid-term exam and a final paper.

Texts:

• William Faulkner. Light in August. Modern Library; New edition, April 2, 2002. [067964248X]
• William Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury. Norton, 1993. [0393964817]
• Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper, 2006. [0061120081]
• Toni Morrison. Beloved. Vintage, 2004. [1400033411]