Mark Twain: Honors Seminar
F05
Rebecca Godwin
According to Sam Clemens himself, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” In this course, we’ll read several “good books”—along with stories, essays, and letters—penned by one of the most prolific and complex of American writers. One of the funniest, too, so we can expect to have a good time, in the midst of a rigorous reading and writing load. Among the works we’ll read are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pudd’nhead Wilson, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Innocents Abroad, and Life on the Mississippi, as well as selected shorter works of fiction and nonfiction. Students will keep reading journals, give presentations, and write critically and creatively, including an extended critical paper.