Courses:

Course Info

• Course Number / Code:
• 21L.012 (Fall 2007) 
• Course Title:
• Forms of Western Narrative 
• Course Level:
• Undergraduate 
• Offered by :
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  Massachusetts, United States  
• Department:
• Literature 
• Course Instructor(s):
• Prof. James Buzard 
• Course Introduction:
•  
• 
  
  21L.012 Forms of Western Narrative
  
  
  
  

  Fall 2007

  
  
  

  
  
  

  Course Highlights

  
  
  

  
  
  21L.012 Forms of Western Narrative
  
  
  
  

  Fall 2007

  
  
  

  

  A statue of the character Don Quixote. (Image courtesy of florriebassingbourn on Flickr.)

  
  
  

  Course Description

  
  
  

  This course examines some leading examples of major genres of storytelling in the Western tradition, among them epic (Homer's Odyssey), romance (from the Arthurian tradition), and novel (Cervantes's Don Quixote). We will be asking why people tell (and have always told) stories, how they tell them, why they might tell them the way they do, and what difference it makes how they tell them. We'll combine an investigation of the changing formal properties of narratives with consideration of the historical, cultural, and technological factors that have influenced how tales got told. In keeping with its CI-H and HASS-D label, this course will involve substantial attention to students' writing and speaking abilities.
  
  

  Recommended Citation

  
  
  

  For any use or distribution of these materials, please cite as follows:

  James Buzard, course materials for 21L.012 Forms of Western Narrative, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].