ClassInfo

How does personal experience shape the writing - and reading - of literature? How can literature change how we see ourselves, each other, and the world? This summer, CSCL1401 is organized around autobiographical writing across genres (poetry, memoir, fiction, and criticism) with readings by such contemporary writers as John Ashbery, Teju Cole, Maggie Nelson, and Ocean Vuong, as well as selections from Saint Augustine, Frederick Douglass, Marcel Proust, and more. We'll consider the power of autobiographical writing to document experience and challenge oppression. We'll also ask what the evolution of different media has meant for literature: what's the difference between a memoir written on paper and poem that appears on Instagram? What does personal narrative mean in the age of social media? Through close readings and creative approaches to critical writing, we'll answer these questions, ask new ones, and cultivate skills for thinking across a range of disciplines.

This course fulfills LITR WI requirements.