HNR-202 - From Side Streets to Skyscrapers: the Literature of the City

3 credits

From the world of subways and skyscrapers, opportunities and outcasts, bright lights and dark alleys, come the varied voices of city literature. This honors course will examine images of the city in a variety of literary works, including poetry, short fiction, novels, and plays. We will explore concepts including the ways in which the city setting serves as a metaphor for its inhabitants, their struggles, and their successes. We will also explore how literature of the city, both past and present, confronts the unique experiences of, for example, the homeless, the unemployed, women, immigrants, and African-Americans. Students will be encouraged to participate in class discussions and will be required to write a variety of short responses and analytical essays on reading selections. As a final project for the course, students will write and present to the class a personal narrative about some aspect of a city that is significant in their lives, preferably Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, Worcester, Westfield, or some other area city that gives it its unique character and that connects to their own lives.

Prerequisite(s): Acceptance into Honors program, and ENG-101 - English Composition 1

Course previously known as: HONR-507