Fall 2007

T C E603A • Composition and Reading in World Literature

Course Description

FALL: VOYAGES

We will read a selection of voyages to imagined and real places, exploring the relationship between such literature and the history that provides its materials.

About the Professor

Professor Lance Bertelsen specializes in eighteenth-century British literature and is the author of The Nonsense Club: Literature and Popular Culture 1749-1764 and Henry Fielding at Work. He has served several times as director of the Oxford English Summer Program and on the faculty of the Normandy Scholar Program. He likes to surf (longboards only).

Grading Policy

I will lecture occasionally, but usually the class will be taken up with group discussions based on topics I will ask you to consider as you read. In both semesters, you will write five 2 page essays ("memos") and two 5 page essays. These will be subject to peer editing. In the Fall you will also participate in a three to four member group that will be assigned to lead class discussion on a segment of The Odyssey.

Texts

Homer, The Odyssey Shakespeare, The Tempest Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (selections) Voltaire, Candide James Cook, Journals (selections) John O'Keefe, Omai or a Trip Around the World Patrick O'Brian, H.M.S. Surprise Films: The Bounty, Master and Commander

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