Town and Country–Literature About Urban and Rural Life In the United States
ENGL 109
Spring 2018
CRN # (24546 / 22523)
MWF 2:00-2:50 pm
Photo by John Casey (2018)
From the urban campus of UIC, it is hard to miss the reality of Chicago, the nation’s third largest city. It is easy to forget, however, that Illinois and most of the midwest are the agricultural heart of the nation. In this class, we will read novels, short stories, and poems written by authors examining urban and rural life. Some of these works will include Sister Carrie, Maud Martha, The Spoon River Anthology, O Pioneers, Winesburg, Ohio, Electric Arches, and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. We will consider in this class how metaphors used for the country differ from those used to describe the city in US fiction as well as examining ways in which these different types of narratives overlap.
John A Casey Jr 