Limiting selections to those we can read in one semester is always frustrating, and my work on the 392 syllabus was no exception. Nonetheless, I believe you have a first-class representation here of the work being done today in the U.S. and you will find every one of our selections challenging, entertaining, moving, and thought provoking. Because 392 is an upper-division course, I will expect you to read critical articles outside of class, particularly on the works on which you write your analytical essays. The SMC library has excellent facilities for finding articles. I am asking you to write your essays on the specific works we are studying together so that you can take class discussion into account when you write.
Literary criticism is a social endeavor.
The center of your work should be your own reactions to careful reading of our texts, but you will find it extremely useful as a reader, critic and writer to engage yourself in the conversations that literary critics have had in print about our texts. We all learn how to be better readers by discovering which questions others ask what interpretations they develop. Contemporary authors respond not only to their inner drives and visions, but also to the world around them and the books they themselves have read. Writers do not write in isolated spaces, and you cannot read well basing your interpretations on a belief that they do. The more you read and talk about books, the richer your reading experience will be.