ENG 210-01 - Studies in Genre

4 credits (Spring)

“Diaries and Journals.” Kept by a wide variety of people through the ages, this resilient form of writing occupies an ambiguous realm between literary text and historical source, between unspoken thought and public record, and in an elastic “now” between past and future. Is the diarist a disembodied self, or does the experience lived out in one’s body matter on the page? Has a conventional style of diary-writing developed, and if so, what are its features? Do people keep diaries now for the same reasons as other diarists did in the past? We will read influential theories of the genre, examine stylistic and narrative conventions in published and unpublished samples, and conduct a few experiments with diaries of our own.

Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors, for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or third-year standing.
Instructor: Smith