English 159-2 - Fall, 2014

Topics in the Novel

Topic: Rewriting the Nation: Melville, Ellison and McCarthy

Class Information

Instructor: Vernon, Matthew
CRN: 64384
Time: MWF 12:10-1:00
Location: 90 SS/Hum.

Description

Melville, Ellison and McCarthy wrote three long, experimental novels about the nation and about each other's work. We will be reading these novels together (along with accompanying short fiction by each author) as adaptations, conversations and developing visions of the nation. Along the way we will be discussing critiques of the expansion of American power, racial politics, the development of the city, migration and canon formation.

Grading

Midterm Paper
Final Paper
Final Exam

Texts

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Bartleby the Scrivener, Herman Melville
Benito Cerno , Herman Melville
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy