Do you want to get more out of your reading? This unit is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about narrative events and perspectives, the setting of novels, types of characterisation and genre.

This presentation explores the concept of experience in the works of three contemporary Brazilian authors, namely Milton Hatoum, Bernardo Carvalho and Joa

In this online book from the International Children's Digital Library, a lonely cat meets a new friend in a traffic jam.

In this online book from the International Children's Digital Library, relations between the blonde cats and the black cats, who live on different sides of the river, learn about each other when they exchange ears.

This class is an interdisciplinary survey that explores the experiences of people of African descent through the overlapping approaches of history, literature, anthropology, legal studies, media studies, performance, linguistics, and creative writing. It connects the experiences of African Americans and of other American minorities, focusing on social, political, and cultural histories, and on linguistic patterns. Activities include lectures, discussions, workshops, and required field trips that involve minimal cost to students.

In this online book from the International Children's Digital Library, a sad and lonely little girl dreams of seeing her mother again as she watches the clouds in the sky.

This site presents stories about successful teaching in middle school. Learn how an e-mail list helped students write better historical fiction, or how fifth-grade students planned a virtual vacation using cd-roms, travel books, and the Internet.

'Collisions' was written by Jane Wagner and is an unusual comedy/drama. It stars Lily Tomlin and other well known performers, such as Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. The work attempts to integrate short video works by Stephen Beck, Ed Emshwiller, Louis Falco, Ron Hays, Stan Vanderbeek, and William Wegman. 'Collisions' tells the story of Eartha, a creature from the planet of Zymus, who agrees to take a human form and to observe the planet earth. Eartha inhabits Beth Barber (Lily Tomlin), a news reporter. At one point, Beth visits her family in Kentucky, who are played by Tomlin's actual family. Meanwhile, a panel of experts on a television program on Zymus monitor Eartha's impressions and contemplate whether or not to blow up the earth. Eventually, Eartha, who has come to respect the humans' vulnerability and depth of feeling, has a falling out with the panel. The fate of earth remains uncertain. Produced by Fred Barzyk and David Loxton. A coproduction of the WNET Television Laboratory and the WGBH New Television Workshop. This work was considered a 'failure' by Fred Barzyk and was never broadcast.

Subject focuses on fiction, drama, and poetry and possibly films inspired by these topics mostly of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This semester, Contemporary Literature (21L.488) deals with Irish literature, a subject broad and deep. To achieve a manageable volume of study, the course focuses primarily on poetry and prose, at drama's expense, and on living writers, at the expense of their predecessors. Each class session follows a discussion format, often with students assigned to lead-off or summarize the day's topic.

International Women's Voices has several objectives. It introduces students to a variety of works by contemporary women writers from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and North America. The emphasis is on non-western writers. The readings are chosen to encourage students to think about how each author's work reflects a distinct cultural heritage and to what extent, if any, we can identify a female voice that transcends national cultures. In lectures and readings distributed in class, students learn about the history and culture of each of the countries these authors represent. The way in which colonialism, religion, nation formation and language influence each writer is a major concern of this course. In addition, students examine the patterns of socialization of women in patriarchal cultures, and how, in the imaginary world, authors resolve or understand the relationship of the characters to love, work, identity, sex roles, marriage and politics.This class is a communication intensive course. In addition to becoming more thoughtful readers, students are expected to become a more able and more confident writers. Assignments are designed to allow for revision of each paper. The class will also offer opportunities for speaking and debating so that students can build oral presentation skills that are essential for success once they leave MIT. The class is limited to 25 students and there is substantial classroom discussion.

This course covers the works of the four major writers of cyberpunk: William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson, and Pat Cadigan. Other theoretical and scholarly texts that articulate cyberpunk as a site of intellectual and literary investigation will be read and will inform discussions . Popular films (Blade Runner and The Matrix) which are good examples of cyberpunk films are will also be referred to. The thematic concerns of cyberpunk, that speak directly to contemporary issues like globalisation, corporate ethics, postmodern politics and terrorism will also be discussed.

A study of the history of theater art and practice from its origins to the modern period, including its roles in non-Western cultures. Special attention to the relationship between the literary and performative dimensions of drama, and the relationship between drama and its cultural context. Drama combines the literary arts of storytelling and poetry with the world of live performance. As a form of ritual as well as entertainment, drama has served to unite communities and challenge social norms, to vitalize and disturb its audiences. In order to understand this rich art form more fully, we will study and discuss a sampling of plays that exemplify different kinds of dramatic structure; class members will also participate in, attend, and review dramatic performances.

" Drama might be described as a game played with something sacred. It tells stories that go right to the heart of what people believe about themselves. And it is enacted in the moment, which means it has an added layer of interpretive mystery and playfulness, or "theatricality." This course will explore theater and theatricality across periods and cultures, through intensive engagement with texts and with our own readings."

Introduces prose narrative, both short stories and the novel. Examines the construction of narrative and the analysis of literary response. This course investigates the uses and boundaries of fiction in a range of novels and narrative styles--traditional and innovative, western and nonwestern--and raises questions about the pleasures and meanings of verbal texts in different cultures, times, and forms. Toward the end of the term, we will be particularly concerned with the relationship between art and war in a diverse selection of works.

Introduces prose narrative, both short stories and the novel. Examines the construction of narrative and the analysis of literary response.

Selection of courses to explore Writing and Literature at MIT.

In this course, the student will examine James Joyce's aesthetic and artistic sensibilities through close readings of his major works, placing special emphasis on Ulysses. First, the student will take a look at the life and times of James Joyce to understand his context. Then, the student will then progress through his works chronologically. By the end of this course, you will not only have read and thought critically about a number of his most celebrated works, but will have evaluated the reasons for Joyce's prestigious position within the English canon. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: place the works of James Joyce in the context of historical events and literary developments (in Ireland as well as the broader literary community) contemporaneous to their creation; discuss the theme of place in Joyce's works, especially in The Dubliners; more specifically, students will be able to describe the notion of place in Joyce's works as it relates to identity; identify the literary strategies and techniques Joyce uses in his works and cite examples of them from the texts read in class; trace the evolution of Joyce's writing style across his different books and compare the development of shared themes in his various novels; identify and discuss the main recurring themes in James's work, including immobility, religion, and maturation, and cite examples of these from his specific texts; summarize the use of language in Joyce's works, specifically Finnegans Wake, and point to this as an example of Joyce's unique aesthetic. (English Literature 406)

Subject studies important examples of the literary form that, between the beginning of the eighteenth century and the end of the nineteenth century, became an indispensable instrument for representing modern life, in the hands of such writers as Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, Burney, Austen, Scott, Dickens, the Bront%s, Eliot, Hardy, and Conrad. The class alternates between eighteenth and nineteenth century topics, and may be repeated for credit with instructor's permission.

This subject traces the history of the European novel by studying texts that have been influential in connection with two interrelated ideas. 1) When serious fiction deals with matters of great consequence, it should not deal with the actions of persons of consequence--kings, princes, high elected officials and the like--but rather with the lives of apparently ordinary people and the everyday details of their social ambitions and desires. To use a phrase of Balzac's, serious fiction deals with "what happens everywhere". 2) This idea sometimes goes with another: that the most significant representations of the human condition are those dealing with persons who try to compel society to accept them as its destined agent, despite their absence of high birth or inheritance.