Reading Literature: How to Do Things with Words How does language make and unmake the world around us? Is literature capable of intervening in the social and historical conditions of its own making? How does literary criticism participate in cultural transformation? To get a grasp on these questions, we will read widely in literature that explores the relationships between language, power, and social life, as well as criticism and theory that examines the interactions between aesthetics and politics. Our inquiry will survey the practical and theoretical foundations of literary study, as well as current debates about methodology in the field. Readings might include: Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and poetry by Phillis Wheatley Peters, John Keats, Dionne Brand, Solmaz Sharif, and M. NourbeSe Philip

Literary “Character” In this course we will investigate literary character—what it is; what makes it “round,” “flat,” “deep,” “shallow”; its history.  In seeking to understand “character,” we will create our own stories, using characters from our readings, or introducing characters we create into plots or settings from those readings.  In expository essays and class discussions, we will also consider the following questions: how and why did “fictional person” acquire the name “character” (literally “engraved mark”)?  How does “character” relate to representations of body, property, authorship, gender, race? How does theatrical character relate to novelistic and short-story character? Possible authors: Aristotle, Theophrastus, Terence, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Laurence Sterne, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Richard Wright, Julia Alvarez.

Foundations of English Literature (Pre-1800) Students will study Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Milton's Paradise Lost, as well as other foundational works of English literature that may include Shakespeare, non-Shakespearean Elizabethan drama, the poetry of Donne, and other 16th- and 17th-century poetry.

Adventures in Literary Romance In this course we will explore the literary genre of romance.  Today, “romance” often refers to courtship—only one aspect of this ancient genre.  Other aspects include adventure, magic, wonder, multiple plots, multiple authors, an affinity for sequels.  Romance’s associations with every genre—tragedy, comedy, epic, novel, lyric poetry—and its reputation for escapism have made it an epitome of the very idea of literature, as conceived by attackers and defenders.  Its welcoming of female readers and protagonists and its marketing of the exotic have raised issues of gender and ethnicity.  We will discuss all such aspects and implications of romance, and we may also explore how romance has shaped modern television and film. No papers or exams; there will be quizzes daily on the reading, and students will be expected to participate thoughtfully in class discussions.  Readings from texts such as: Daphnis and Chloe, Ethiopian Romance, The Gospel of Luke, The Golden Ass, Arthurian romances by various authors, Orlando Inamorato, Orlando Furioso, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter’s Tale, Don Quixote,/ Waverly/, Madame Bovary, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Time Quintet.

Adventures in Literary Romance (Pre-1800) In this course we will explore the literary genre of romance.  Today, “romance” often refers to courtship—only one aspect of this ancient genre.  Other aspects include adventure, magic, wonder, multiple plots, multiple authors, an affinity for sequels.  Romance’s associations with every genre—tragedy, comedy, epic, novel, lyric poetry—and its reputation for escapism have made it an epitome of the very idea of literature, as conceived by attackers and defenders.  Its welcoming of female readers and protagonists and its marketing of the exotic have raised issues of gender and ethnicity.  We will discuss all such aspects and implications of romance, and we may also explore how romance has shaped modern television and film. No papers or exams; there will be quizzes daily on the reading, and students will be expected to participate thoughtfully in class discussions.  Readings from texts such as: Daphnis and Chloe, Ethiopian Romance, The Gospel of Luke, The Golden Ass, Arthurian romances by various authors, Orlando Inamorato, Orlando Furioso, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter’s Tale, Don Quixote,/ Waverly/, Madame Bovary, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Time Quintet.

Poetry and Performance Most poems are meant to be performed.  In  this course we will explore many short poems and a few long poems, spanning three-quarters of a millennium, with performance in mind.  We will memorize poems, perform poems out loud for each other, and interpret poems with tone foremost in mind, on the theory that everything about a poem, from its form to its diction to its imagery to its historical or social context, instructs its reader as to its voice.  Texts will include diverse poems in English, from Middle English tales or lyrics to slam poetry, from Renaissance and Romantic lyrics to postcolonial poetry, from modernist experiments to indigenous poetry. Formal assignments will include recitations, presentations, a paper or two, and a poem, to be created, memorized, and performed by the student.

Merchants of Venice In this class we will read Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice from different perspectives, including those of race, religion, gender, staging, and form, engaging the play at the level of rhetorical analysis, textual history, character analysis, source analysis, stage and film history, and current performance.  We will study contemporaneous dramas resembling The Merchant of Venice (e.g., Three Ladies of London, Jew of Malta, Othello). Throughout, we will consider the multiple attitudes towards Jewishness and Judaism implicit in the play, its performance history and its literary and cultural influence. Finally, we will study the literary legacy of The Merchant of Venice, from the early modern period up to our own times. The class should also give us an opportunity to enhance our skills in rhetorical analysis, writing, speaking, and research.

Merchants of Venice In this class we will read Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice from different perspectives, including those of race, religion, gender, staging, and form, engaging the play at the level of rhetorical analysis, textual history, character analysis, source analysis, stage and film history, and current performance. We will study contemporaneous dramas resembling The Merchant of Venice (e.g., Three Ladies of London, Jew of Malta, Othello). Throughout, we will consider the multiple attitudes towards Jewishness and Judaism implicit in the play, its performance history and its literary and cultural influence. Finally, we will study the literary legacy of The Merchant of Venice, from the early modern period up to our own times. The class should also give us an opportunity to enhance our skills in rhetorical analysis, writing, speaking, and research.

Shakespeare's Characters Shakespeare’s reputation owes much to his characters; yet well-known as they are, they remain mysterious. What did they mean in Shakespeare’s time? How do they still succeed as characters?  What explains idiotic Bottom’s charisma?  What does Henry V’s flirtation with Princess Katherine or Othello’s jealousy about Desdemona reveal about Elizabethan—and our own—understandings of gender and race?  Such questions will help us develop skills in speaking, writing, and critical inquiry.  Texts will include at most three plays from among the following: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant of Venice, Henry V, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, Othello, Lear, as well as contextual readings. We will also study a film of one of the plays.

Towards a Poetics of Community Why read literature? One answer: such reading is not individual but communal. It links readers to each other in aesthetic experience, in ethical and hermeneutic debate, and in appreciation for writers and fellow readers. As we read literary texts from different times, cultures, and genres, we will examine how they anticipate, create, or recreate readerly communities, and how these communities in turn help shape the texts as they are experienced. We will also strive to form our own readerly community—one that is as inclusive and as intellectually generous as possible. We will begin with close analysis of poetry in various forms from various historical periods. We will then read dramas by such playwrights as William Shakespeare, Margaret Edson, and/or Lolita Chakrabarti, as well as two works from among such prose writers as Charles Dickens, Emily Brontë, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Marilynne Robinson, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, Ian McEwan, Walter Moseley, and Jean Rhys.

The Experience of Tragedy For over two millennia tragedy has raised ethical questions and represented conflicts between the divine and the mortal, nature and culture, household and polity, individual and society.  What is tragedy?  What led to its production and what impact did it have, in ancient times? Why was it reborn in Shakespeare's time?  How has tragedy shaped, and been shaped by, gender, class, religion, and nationality?  We will address these questions and explore how tragedy continues to influence our literary expectations and experience. Authors may include Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Aristotle, Seneca, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Goethe, Nietzsche, O'Neill, Beckett, Kennedy, and Kushner.

The Experience of Tragedy For over two millennia tragedy has raised ethical questions and represented conflicts between the divine and the mortal, nature and culture, household and polity, individual and society. What is tragedy? What led to its production and what impact did it have, in ancient times? Why was it reborn in Shakespeare's time? How has tragedy shaped, and been shaped by, gender, class, religion, and nationality? We will address these questions and explore how tragedy continues to influence our literary expectations and experience, as well as our political, social, and familial environment. We will study texts by such authors as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Aristotle, Seneca, Shakespeare, Webster, Chikamatsu, Goethe, Nietzsche, O'Neill, Beckett, and Soyinka.

James Berg

Reviews and ratings for James Berg at Middlebury College.James Berg teaches Reading Literature, Literary "Character", Foundations of English Lit. and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is James Berg good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

I, personally, did not enjoy this course. Professor Berg is enthusiastic about his teachings. However, it felt like he thought of his students as simple. He encouraged us to talk and continued to belittle our opinions. If you are looking for surprising discussions then you might like this course, but he has some outdated opinions. The semester is separated into three sections of poetry, plays, and novels. Heavy reading.

Great course, great instructor - Professor Berg is passionate and clear with a great classroom presence. 3 presentations involving memorizing and analyzing poems were the only grades, and were very helpful in engaging with poetry and growing comfortable in discussions and analysis. 

Professor Berg is very enthusiastic with English literature and he shows that in his teaching. He is accomodating to students and very helpful during office hours. Absolutely enjoyed the class. But I wished there were more materials on poets from more diverse backgrounds. 