ENGL 311 - Simply Put: Resisting Ordinary Language in the 20th Century

FC ARHU WADV

4 credits
The clearest sentence doesn’t always capture the nuance of an idea. This course takes a close look at twentieth century texts infamous for obscurity to discover how complex structures can bring us to astonishing ideas. Syntax itself can offer resistance to systemic oppression; visions of the afterlife accommodate the complexity of the nuclear age. A verse drama brings American domesticity into conversation with the violence of Jacobean tragedy. A long, convoluted sentence can describe an impossibly subtle emotion, and an absurd premise can take us past the limits of our imagination. Writers include James, O’Brien, Barnes, and Merrill, among others.