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Spring 2008
English 98/198
2 Unit(s)

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About the Course:

We still have 15 spaces open in the class.  Come this Thursday.  Now that the first day has passed, you can email me for entrance. 

    The chronicler of what is often considered the nation’s first highly visible counter-culture, Jack Kerouac is an author who receives little critical attention in the academic sphere, despite his influence on much of the literature that succeeded him.  Kerouac is often shrugged off as a mere pop icon, and his works are dismissed as merely fashionable.  Yet Kerouac’s work has been a fashion that endures, and therefore may be considered, in some sense, canonical.
   
    This course will engage several of the works of Jack Kerouac closely in an attempt to consider critically works that are often neglected by academia, even as they become more and more widely read.  We will adopt a critical approach towards Kerouac’s work in an attempt to understand both Kerouac’s popular and academic reception.  In this spirit, we will begin by addressing several tensions and possible complications with Kerouac’s work, such as the idea of “autobiographical fiction” and the merits and shortcomings that accompany Kerouac’s “First thought, best thought” method of automatic writing. 
   
    While these subjects (amongst others) will be major points of interest, they will not drive the course.  Rather, we will use them as springboards, while any and all other topics introduced by seminar members will be pursued with equal interest and enthusiasm.  Our goal is to instigate and facilitate critical thinking about Kerouac’s works, not to prescribe the nature of such thought.  By the end of the semester seminar members will have gained a richer understanding and appreciation of one of the most controversial and influential writers of the 20th century.

    Texts will include the three novels On The Road, The Subterraneans, Desolation Angels and a few other short works to be provided to the class by the facilitator.  If you know for sure that you want to take the course, please try and find copies of these books as quickly as you can (we will begin with On The Road).  Amazon.com has tons for cheap.

    Weekly attendance and participation is most important in this class.  In addition, the only other requirement is five pages of open-ended response on anything relevant to the class.  You may do original creative writings, close readings, research, etc etc; anything as long as it's good!   

How to Enroll:

There are currently 22 spots open for the Decal (hopefully enough), but we can accomodate up to 25.  Just in case we have a big turnout, please show up to the first meeting with a paper with your name, email and short description of why you are interested in this course.  I will then either give you the CCN or else email it to the people who are excepted. We will begin class Tuesday February 5th.