Composition I

Home and Away: Writing and the Performance of Self

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of writing at the university level. Students will be introduced to various modes of writing,
including narrative, argumentative, descriptive, expository, and others. There will be an emphasis on writing as a collaborative social act of constructing and performing the self for particular public audiences, both at and away from one’s “home”—broadly conceived.  Students will also develop critical reading skills in analyzing literary texts Fun Home—a graphic novel by Allison Bechdel—and Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town—a comic novel by Canadian author Stephen Leacock. Reading and critically engaging with these texts, we will consider concepts around the nature of home, writing, reading and performance of self.

Texts:

(Available from Revolution Books)

  • Stephen Leacock Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town Norton Critical Editions 978-0-393-92634-7
  • Allison Bechdel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Mariner Books 978-0618871711