In the “American Scholar” address, Emerson follows his discussion of creative reading and the best use of books with a discussion of “action” and its importance for the scholar. Scholars, readers and writers, must engage theory (what Emerson calls “speculation”) and thinking, but thinking is not isolated; it lives in the world. He sums it up with a metaphorical maxim: “Life is our dictionary.”
As you know, we have a dictionary’s worth of events that take place every month on campus, experiences where you can engage with writers, scholars, thinkers, artists. This semester, as part of this course, we invite you to engage them as a creative reader.
Literary Action assignment:
- Attend and report back on at least one literary event this semester. Your report will include: a 5 minute discussion with the class (schedule with me in advance to let me know that you have an event to report on); a 1-2 page summary of your discussion, posted to the “Creative Reading” blog (due by Friday 5 pm of the week you report to class).
- Guidelines for the report. Some would argue that critical theory is irrelevant to what writers and non-academic readers do with literature in the world. Test that out. Is there a critical theory you have studied that seems particularly relevant and/or irrelevant to this writer’s work. Briefly, why?
See the campus events noted on the Weekly Schedule. You can also visit the schedule for Sophie Kerr and the Literary House. The event could be one hosted by another department: Art, Environmental Studies, etc. In that case, you might observe how the speaker/scholar can be understood in terms of critical theory and literature–even if they don’t typically think of their work in those terms.
This will be part of your participation grade.
Evaluation Scale (10 points):
10: Completed thoroughly, on time, including effective and thoughtful presentation in class
8: Completed on time, with room to enhance quality of response or presentation
5: Limited response and/or presentation or late submission
0: Did not complete
Creative Reading 