Poetry, argument, dialogue, rhetoric, belief, knowledge, truth . . . . This unit focuses on questions about literature and knowing. Since the time of Plato, students have argued as to whether words (in the form of poetry, literature, or rhetoric) provide access to the truth or a dangerous illusion. Sometimes we envision knowledge as having direct access to facts “out there in the world” but many writers imagine that words themselves can be a pathway to knowing.

One of my favorite philosophical poems asks: “ . . . are we putting / each other to sleep / or waking each other up; / & what do we wake to? / Does our writing stun / or sting? Do we cling to / what we’ve grasped / too well, or find tunes / in each new / departure?”

In this unit, we consider critical thinking, argument, essays, and poetry to explore some of the ways language works in relation to knowledge and belief. We read from a recent book by critic and law professor Stanley Fish. We read selections from Henry Thoreau's 19th-century experiment in deliberate living which, we will discover, was not just about living alone near a pond (or sneaking back into town for dinner and laundry) but an effort to inquire into awakening oneself through direct, individual experience, along with writing and reading. We will immerse ourselves in Claudia Rankine's Citizen which takes us through a series of contemporary encounters with identity, relationships and race in poetic essay form to understand when and how language can be both a bridge and a barrier for understanding ourselves and others. We read some classic poems (including Robert Frost) on knowledge and belief, and we finish with David Antin's improvised, philosophical “talk poems” which model dialogic exchange and story as potential sites of discovery or the making of what might count as postmodern knowledge.

Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: An American Lyric. Graywolf 2014.

• Selections from: Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. 1854.
• Selections from: Fish, Stanley. Winning Arguments: What Works and Doesn't Work in Politics, the Bedroom, the Courtroom, and the Classroom. Harper 2016.
• Selections from: Antin, David. Tuning 1984 and I Never Knew What Time it Was 2005.
• Haskins, George. A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking.
• Frost, Robert. “Mending Wall” and “The Road Not Taken”

Additional Readings will be provided or accessible as PDFs through the wiki.