ENG.3200 Express Yourself: The Art of Criticism and Writing Criticism
This course builds on the premise that criticism can be just as artful and creatively expressive as any other form of writing or speech. Students will read and view diverse models of contemporary criticism-prose forms such as essays, personal memoirs, and book reviews, as well as acts of criticism appearing in digital spaces such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. We will read a play and some short stories which feature critics but we will also examine critical models as embodied in other spaces of art and culture (film, food, music, sports, consumer recommendations). We will also do criticism by writing reviews, making YouTube explainer videos, and writing a proposal to redesign an academic major. Students will practice reading and writing in different genres of critical prose, such as: the appreciative review (panegyric), attacks on overrated cultural objects (polemic), defenses of favorite films or books (justification), the rise of a new cultural style (trendspotting), the top ten list (evaluation). Along the way, we will explore the various identities and aspirations that inform the idea of "criticism": amateur passion vs. professional expertise, devoted fandom vs. objective scholarship, analytical vs. creative writing, personal expression vs. cultural description, activism vs. intellectual detachment. Students will leave this course with an enhanced appreciation for the power of critical argument to change minds and a portfolio of writing samples that will be handy for future editorial or internship opportunities.
LA