Literary "Character"
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.
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, …Read more
There is so many and very fast-paced readings. I find this class taking most of my time because of how much reading I'm doing. The books aren't bad, a lot of classics. The assignments weren't difficult at all, mostly writing. Discussions are fun and engaging, but be prepared to use text evidence for your points.
There is so much reading. Discussions are interesting and pretty relaxed. We come back to the same exact points of character depth literally every day though. The hour and fifteen minute classes feel pretty long, but overall I look forward to this class.
Professor Berg is very passionate about his teaching, but sometimes it is a bit confusing. He is very nice and helpful. The course has very heavy reading and is mainly discussion based. Overall it is a nice class for people who are interested in literature.
I took this class solely for the distribution requirement, and I feel that it was very average in terms of quality and difficulty. It definitely is reading-heavy, but that is to be expected in a class like this. Overall, I feel very neutral about my experience in the class.