ENGL 3060 Modern and Contemporary Literature for Nonmajors

Instructor Contact:

Matt Tettleton

Email: matthew.tettleton@colorado.edu

About the Course:

This section of Modern & Contemporary Literature for Nonmajors examines 20^th and 21^st century literature through the lens of critical sports studies. Please note: prior knowledge of sports is not necessary to succeed in and enjoy the class. We will be reading novels, short stories, poetry, and drama that have some connection with the world of sport in an effort to answer the following questions: in what ways do sports construct, reflect, or subvert the norms, beliefs, practices, and expressions of the cultures in which they arise? In what ways can we use literary expressions of sport, competition, and spectatorship to better understand those cultures? Where do texts about sport fit in with the larger traditions of modern and contemporary literature?

Course Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors).

Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

·       Identify the conventions, themes, tropes, trends, and styles of sport-centric literatures of various nations, communities, cultures, and genres.

·       Describe the ways in which sport and its literatures reflect, affect, and critique the cultures from which they arise.

·       Use close reading and critical thinking skills to produce incisive interpretations of literary texts.

·       Communicate ideas in polished and coherent scholarly prose

·       Analyze relationships between sports, cultures, and literatures.

·       Make critical assessments, through a variety of writing genres, of the relationships between sporting and literary traditions.

·       Synthesize interpretations, analysis, and critical assessments to create new understandings of the place of sports in literary and cultural studies.

Required Texts:

The texts below are available for purchase/rent at the CU Bookstore as well as other popular booksellers. Additional readings may be assigned on Canvas or through the Norlin Library website.

Abdou, Angie. The Bone Cage. NeWest Press, 2007. ISBN 9781897126172

DeLillo, Don. Pafko at the Wall. Penguin, 2001. ISBN 9780743230001

Hornby, Nick. Fever Pitch. Penguin, 1998. ISBN 9781573226882

Howe, LeAnne. Miko Kings: An Indian Baseball Story. Aunt Lute, 2007. ISBN 9781879960787

Wallace, David Foster. String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis. Library of America, 2016. ISBN 9781598534801

Wilson, August. Fences. Plume, 1986. ISBN 978-0452264014

Grading (out of 1000 points):

This course will be graded on a 1000-point scale. The point value of assignments is: