Courses:

Course Info

• Course Number / Code:
• 21L.705 (Fall 2003) 
• Course Title:
• Major Authors: Melville and Morrison 
• Course Level:
• Undergraduate 
• Offered by :
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  Massachusetts, United States  
• Department:
• Literature 
• Course Instructor(s):
• Prof. Wyn Kelley 
• Course Introduction:
•  
• 
  
  21L.705 / SP.512 / WGS.512 Major Authors: Melville and Morrison
  
  
  
  

  Fall 2003

  
  
  

  
  
  

  Course Highlights

  
  
  

  This course features a gallery of images used by students as part of their daily readings and discussions.

  
  
  

  Course Description

  
  
  

  This seminar provides intensive study of texts by two American authors (Herman Melville, 1819-1891, and Toni Morrison, 1931-) who, using lyrical, radically innovative prose, explore in different ways epic notions of American identity. Focusing on Melville's Typee (1846), Moby-Dick (1851), and The Confidence-Man (1857) and Morrison's Sula (1973), Beloved (1987), Jazz (1992), and Paradise (1998), the class will address their common concerns with issues of gender, race, language, and nationhood. Be prepared to read deeply (i.e. a small number of texts with considerable care), to draw on a variety of sources in different media, and to employ them in creative research, writing, and multimedia projects.

  
  
  

  Special Features

  
  
  

  • Image gallery