LARTS H320 — The Self in the World: Reading and Writing the Literary Essay

3 credits
Fall
Anthony Lioi

Prerequisite: LARTS 112 . The literary essay, which arose multiple times in classical world cultures, begins with a description of the writer’s experience—often in sensuous bodily detail—and goes on to connect that small self to the larger “selves” of society, nature, and the world. In this class, students will study the classical and modern traditions of the essay in order to enter those traditions as writers. Considering the essay as a form emerging from the texts of other essays, students will first learn the rules of each kind of essay—confessional, ruminative, philosophical, political, and environmental, among others—by reading and analyzing canonical examples. They will then be challenged to enact and eventually depart from those rules, thus beginning with, incorporating, and defying the past. After a rigorous process of drafting and redrafting, including in-class performances, students will assemble a portfolio of work and choose one essay to present at a symposium at the end of the semester. This is a Liberal Arts Honors course and may be taken to fulfill academic honors requirements.