Course Description
The evolution of Herman Melville’s career, from Typee through Billy Budd. Students will read his major works, as well as numerous letters and essays. Possible topics include: the relationship between Melville’s poetry and prose, his scientific and philosophical influences, and the connection between politics and aesthetics.
Athena Title
Herman Melville
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 3000-level ENGL course) or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will have a deeper knowledge of Herman Melville’s writings and their literary and cultural significance. Having read a substantial body of literature, they will be able to discuss and write about Melville—as well as nineteenth-century American literature and culture more broadly—with a considerable degree of critical sophistication. The course will also enhance students’ critical thinking skills by juxtaposing complex writings composed in various genres across Melville’s career. And by teaching students how to navigate Melville’s oeuvre, the course will provide advanced training in humanities-based research skills.
Topical Outline
Although he is most often remembered as the author of Moby-Dick, Herman Melville was a remarkably prolific and wide-ranging writer. Across more than forty years, he produced eleven novels, hundreds of poems, and numerous letters, sketches, and lectures. This class examines the development of Melville’s career, from Typee through Billy Budd. We will focus on his various interests—formal, political, and philosophical—and study how those interests took shape across his life. Possible topics include: Melville’s reflections on religion and theology, Melville and the Civil War, Melville’s treatments of slavery and race, Melville and Romanticism, and Melville’s philosophical insights and influences.