Carolyn M. Spencer

Professional Writing and Editing Graduate Student

ENGL 505 (Computer-Assisted Publication and Design)

 

Other PWE classes
Literature Classes
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Literature Classes

The M.A. in English program requires that students take literature courses. The literature classes I have taken and their description from the course syllabus are listed below:

ENGL 655 - The American Renaissance
A study of 19th-century American literature, encompassing poetry, essays, short stories, and novels.

ENGL 660 - American Postmodernism
Is postmodernism an artistic movement, a social phenomenon, an economic condition, or simply a state of mind? Is it the progeny of modernism or its antithesis? Or is it something else entirely? While we will certainly discuss questions like these in this seminar, our goal is not to provide definitive answers but rather to understand the present historical moment through the texts and objects produced in it. Whether we argue that the postmodern era was ushered in with the assassination of JFK in 1963, the opening of Disney World in 1971, or some other entirely arbitrary event, it is clear that Americans of the last several decades have witnessed a fundamental shift in our relationship to technology, mass media, and consumer culture. In this course we will consider texts, films, artwork, music, and other cultural artifacts that revel in, critique, or even resist these elements of postmodernism.

Writing Sample (pdf):
The Dichotomy Between Mind and Body in The Crying of Lot 49