Course Description
Summary
Reading itself is a mystery -- that these small black and white symbols on a page or screen should be able to pass along information, much less evoke specific emotions in a reader is ludicrous and makes no reasonable sense (not to me, anyway) -- and this class hopes to explore and pull at the loose threads of this mystery with a focus on writing that has the potential to break a reader's heart. What does break a reader's heart? And why? And how? We will also look at our own various points of view, and then look at this same work through other theoretical lenses in order to see how our own perspectives or the perspectives of others might influence whether our hearts are broken, or if we're left cold and unfeeling. This class hopes to make you all cry a little bit at least once because of reading, but barring that, it hopes to begin a compelling discussion on how writing can (and often does) manipulate our emotional systems, and what it means that this is something writers aim for and readers seek out. Potential texts include Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell, Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, Writers Lovers by Lily King, Shards by Ismet Prcic, and Self Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon, as well as stories by Amy Hempel, Claire Vaye Watkins, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ramona Ausubel, Deborah Eisenberg, Helen Viramontes, as well as poetry from writers such as Ada Limon, Ross Gay, and Camille Dungy, and more, so much more!
