The Simple Art of Murder
Fall 2009 ENGL 0450D S01
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Instructor: Drayton Nabers III
Please check the Detailed Class Information for up to date information about this course.
Information on meeting times for this course can be found on Course Schedule at http://selfservice.brown.edu
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Course Description
A survey of the role of criminal enterprise in American literary history. Authors to be considered include Poe, Hawthorne, Harper, Chandler, Alcott, Twain, Hammett, Highsmith, and Wright. Limited to 20 first-year students. FYS
Instructor's Description
This course surveys the history of criminal enterprise in American literature. Two sets of interrelated questions will command our attention and organize our discussions: 1) What exactly is a crime? How does criminal activity differ from other activity with unfortunate consequences? In what ways is the criminal a moral category? In what ways is the criminal distinct from the moral? What conception of personhood or justice organizes the seemingly counterintuitive features of our criminal justice system? 2) How can crime be represented in literature? What is the relationship between narrative form and our ability to conceive of criminal behavior? Why is it that the literature of crime so often takes such a highly stylized form?
In addressing these questions, we will develop a set of interpretive techniques for grasping the aesthetic complexity and intellectual interest of popular art. If all goes well, by the end of the semester you will be able to a) explain why our criminal justice system takes its basic form, b) have more interesting things to say about any movie that you see than the rest of your friends, and c) write the most forceful and insightful essays you have ever written.
Assignments and Grading
The course requirements are simple. You must write four short papers of about four pages each (50% of the final grade) and one longer paper of about ten pages (30% of the final grade). You must also show up at each class session ready to participate in a vigorous discussion of the assigned material (20% of the final grade).