English 309 introduces students to questions of what it means to read. At the root of the course is a series of questions: How do a series of ink marks, arranged on sheets of flattened wood pulp that are glued or sewn together—in other words, writing and books—become the kinds of things that transform individuals and cultures? What do we bring to the act of reading—as cultures and individuals—that transforms what and how we read? And, what does it mean to think critically about the possibilities and limits of reading? With these questions in mind, our class will read a handful of literary texts (Shakespeare’s King Lear, Lawrence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, Thomas De Quincey’s “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts,” and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple) and theoretical texts to investigate issues including the materiality of books; the physical, intellectual, and emotional acts of reading; the relationships between readers and writers; the difference between reading academically and for “pleasure;” and how the development of film and television and the shift to digital formats influences the ways we think about reading. Course work will consist of regular short informal writing assignments, a longer formal essay, exams, and regular course involvement.

Course Texts:
Shakespeare, King Lear (Norton): 978-0393926644.
Sterne, Tristram Shady (Norton): 978-0393950342.
De Quincey, On Murder (Oxford): 978-0199539048.
Walker, The Color Purple (Harcourt): 978-0156028356.