This course will feature short literary texts as approached by writers and scholars from the New School and beyond. Each lecture will offer an engaging critical approach to a great work of literature, and, taken as a whole, the class will offer a survey of different kinds of reading. Lecturers and texts may include: Daniel Mendelsohn on “Oedipus Rex”; Tracyann Williams on Morrison’s “Recitatif”; Albert Mobilio on Carver's "The Beginners”; and Val Vinokur on Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground,” Keene’s “Aeronauts,” Kafka’s "Report to an Academy," and Babel's "Red Cavalry." Students will meet in smaller discussion sections before each lecture as preparation. A short weekly written assignment and its revision will constitute the entire graded work of the course. Prospective students should be aware that, with the exception of excused absences, attendance at every class and timely completion of every assignment will be a prerequisite to succeeding in this class. **Students must register for both the lecture and discussion section of this course.** [This ULEC is in category 3, Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Arts and Humanities.]