Writing About Literature: Origin Stories

How does your past create your present identity? In this class, we will explore the concept of the “origin story.” The term is often applied to superheroes or supervillains to explain the emergence of their extraordinary identities and powers, but really, the idea of origins, of being made or re-made, born or re-born, is central to literary works in many genres and periods, as well as being relevant to ourselves. Origins may include families, countries, cultures, or, in at least one case, handbags. Thus, we’ll read a variety of works that either search for or return to points they identify as origins. In doing so, they explore how literature and history both create and erase the identity and reality of characters, authors, nations, individuals, families, and social groups.

Another important part of this class is for you to become familiar with a range of critical and theoretical approaches scholars might use to analyze a text. A “theoretical approach” refers to the critical “lens” or set of questions a scholar employs to examine a text and generate arguments or observations about it. By comparing several theoretical approaches (such as Feminism, Postcolonial criticism, Ecocriticism, African American criticism and LGBTQ criticism), you will be able to see how the way you see a text depends on the questions you ask of it.

Texts for the course are likely to include Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, Natasha Trethewey’s Native Guard, and Oscar Wilde’s The Important of Being Earnest, along with readings from Lois Tyson’s Critical Theory Today. Assignments will include quizzes, short papers, a presentation and a final project or paper that synthesizes the skills developed in the course.