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Course Info for ENGL - 379 - 01, Spring 2023
Class number: 2975 Title: Melville Department: English
Career: Undergraduate Component: Seminar Session: Regular
Instructor's Permission Required: Yes Grading Basis: Regular Units: 1.00
Enrollment limited to 15 Current enrollment: 15 Available seats: 0
Start date: Wednesday, January 25, 2023 End date: Friday, May 12, 2023 Mode of Instruction: In Person
Schedule: TR: 9:25AM-10:40AM, AAC - 231 Instructor(s): Hager, Christopher
Prerequisite(s): None
Distribution Requirement: Meets Humanities Requirement
Note: For English majors, this course satisfies the requirement of a course emphasizing literature written from 1700-1900.
Course Description:
Though a superstar during his early career, Herman Melville watched his reputation decline as his literary ambitions escalated. One review of his seventh novel bore the headline, "Herman Melville Crazy." Not until the 20th century did even his best-known work, Moby Dick, attract considerable attention, but it now stands at the center of the American literary pantheon. Melville's work merits intensive, semester-long study not only because he is a canonical author of diverse narratives—from maritime adventures to tortured romances to philosophical allegories—but also because his career and legacy themselves constitute a narrative of central concern to literary studies and American culture. Through reading and discussion of several of his major works, we will explore Melville's imagination, discover his work's historical context, and think critically about literary form. For English majors, this course satisfies the requirement of a course emphasizing literature written between 1700-1900.