SEMINARS SPRING 2009
HONR 209Y Novels! Modern Fictions
Tuesday/Thursday, 12:30-1:45 p.m.
Dr. Sibbie O'Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in University Honors
Fiction, the lie that tells the truth, can accommodate any subject or problem in a variety of styles and forms. In this course we will read six novels that represent six different "fictions" pertaining to our modern world and in the process learn how the novel engages important questions of the last century as well as those that confront us in the twenty-first.
The "fictions" we’ll consider are: 1) The FICTION OF LOVE AND MARRIAGE: can love survive in the modern world? Is love possible? Is marriage an institution based on love? How does the realistic novel portray love and marriage? 2) The FICTION OF THE AMERICAN SELF: is a legitimate, autonomous self possible in modern America? What impedes the development of the self? Is the first-person point of view the best way a novel can convey the self? 3) The FICTION OF FICTION: how does a novel's style help us learn about living in the modern world? What is the relation between style and substance and art and truth? Can novels help us be moral? 4) The FICTION OF MOTHERHOOD: what makes a good mother? Who decides who is a good mother? Does our therapeutic culture help or impede a woman's sense of self if she is a mother? Can the social issue novel change society's views? 5) The FICTION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: is belief in the American Dream a useful in our postmodern world? How does consumer culture further the fiction of the American Dream? What has caused the decline of the American Dream since l945? Is satire the best mode in which to address an issue such as the loss of ideals? 6) Finally, what are the FICTIONS OF OUR REVOLUTIONARY PAST AND THE COMING FUTURE? Will the individual self survive the future? What role should science play in determining how we live and who we are? How can a novel that takes place in the future help us live our lives today?
We will also read selected essays that relate to each of our "fictions." Essays include works by Vivian Gornick; James Baldwin; Joyce Carol Oates; Meredith Hall; Marshall Blonsky; Umberto Eco, and the Unabomber.
This class is discussion driven, so attendance and participation are crucial and will be factored into your final grade. Written assignments are as follows: written questions for each novel unit, two short, formal essays, and a final exam. There might be short in-class writing as well.
The six novels are: J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye; Sue Miller's The Good Mother; Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth; Ian McEwan's Atonement; Don DeLillo's White Noise; and Michel Houellebecq's The Elementary Particles.
CORE: Literature [HL]
