ASRC 4509 - Toni Morrison’s Novels

(crosslisted) AMST 4519, ENGL 4509, FGSS 4509
(LA-AS, ALC-AS, SCD-AS)

Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with AMST 6513/ ASRC 6513/ENGL 6513/FGSS 6513.

R. Richardson.

In this course, we will engage in close and reflective critical readings of Toni Morrison’s eleven novels. Morrison’s writing style is characterized by highly distinctive strategies in the development of narrative and in the use of language. As we journey across her body of work as readers, we will examine a range of recurring themes, along with the “love trilogy” on which she focused her repertoire for several years. The course, through a comprehensive, chronological and focused look at Morrison’s body of novels, will help students who entirely lack familiarity with it to gain a strong foundation for further research and study. By the end of the course, even students who already know Morrison’s work will walk away with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of it. The course will help students to reinforce their skills in reading fiction, and more astute and exacting readers of the novel as a genre.