Course Details

This course examines fiction, poetry, vignettes, essays, and song lyrics that explore the city, its history, its geography, and its diverse population. One of our goals is to ask how literature has shaped, conformed to, diverged from, and/or contested prevailing images of Seattle — as pioneering outpost, as provincial town, as radical hotbed, and as hi-tech hub. Known for its economic cycles of boom and bust, Seattle has often been cast in pop culture and commercial contexts as a hip city; it has been celebrated for its coffee culture, grunge music, and cutting edge arts scene. It has also been hailed as a “livable city,” a city of neighborhoods, and a gateway to the great outdoors. The texts selected for this course illuminate and complicate such commonplaces and stereotypes, and so they may serve to enrich readers’ own experiences of Seattle and guide us to interpret the city with new insight.

In the past two decades, even as literature of Seattle has proliferated, Seattle has emerged as one of America’s most literate locales. Literary festivals, readings, bookstores, and special events abound. Students are encouraged to discover and experience some of that cultural vitality. In addition, for those interested in experiential learning, there will be opportunities to volunteer with community organizations that promote writing in and about Seattle.

Assignments:
Two essays, 1000-1250 words (4-5 pages) each
Midterm exam
Class participation
Portfolio
Service learning , term paper, or project

Learning Goals:
Students will read notable literary depictions of life in Seattle as a means
-to strengthen skills in reading analytically and critically;
-to enhance knowledge of Seattle, its history, and its diverse population; an integral part of the course is attention to sociocultural perspectives of minorities (Native American, Asian American, and African American)
-to practice writing skills by producing portfolio entrees, in-class writing exercises, and essays that require peer review, editing and revision.