76-821 Why Stories Matter

12 units, Carnegie Mellon University

Storytelling is a key aspect of our experience as human beings without it we are reduced to, as one scholar put it, the most primitive mode of existence a life without imaginary alternatives. In this course we will study some key fictions that have provided such imaginary alternatives, alongside various theories for interpreting them. These narratives deal with some of the most important aspects of the human condition time, justice, empathy, point of view, and reality. The authors we will cover are among the most enduring in the Western tradition, from Sophocles and Chaucer to Melville, Proust, Virginia Woolf, and Ian McEwan. Students will be required to contribute to all class meetings, write brief responses on Blackboard, and produce two substantial essays longer for grads than undergrads.

Prerequisites: none listed

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