UPDATED Syllabus ENGL 111 S20 - Adapted for online.pdf
This is a writing course with a focus on literature. Its goal is to prepare you to write effectively in “real life” and in university classes so that you can successfully create and communicate ideas. Be prepared to do a lot of reading and writing.
This entire quarter, we’ll be focusing on one novel, Howards End by E.M. Forster. Published in 1910, Howards End examines British life at a time when everywhere you looked, the ancien régime (that is, the old way of life) was giving way to modernity. Women were entering the public sphere, demanding a voice in politics. Skyscrapers were rising up everywhere, a sign of urbanization and gentrification. New technology increased the speed of daily life. Economic disparities prompted conversations about socialism. Traditional sexual mores gave way to increasing acceptance of diverse sexualities. In many ways, life in 1910 was a lot like life in 2020.
Studying Howards End will open doors for discussions about relationships, love, sex, gender, class, economics, colonialism, technology, politics, ethics, home, and nation. In-class discussions about these themes in the novel will form the basis for writing assignments that ask you to engage with complex ideas and texts.