Readings/Films:

Colette, The Ripening Seed (1923)

Violette Leduc, Thérèse and Isabelle (1966)

Simone de Beauvoir, “Sexual Initiation”, The Second Sex (1949)

Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970)

Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse, (1954)

Mary Gaitskill, “Secretary”, Bad Behavior (1988)

Calvert Casey, “The Walk”, The Collected Stories (1998)

David Sedaris, “I Like Guys”, Naked (1997)

Marielle Heller, Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)

Marjane Satrapi, “The Pill” Persepolis 2 (2005)

Course Description:

In this course we will study textual representations of sexual awakenings and investigate intersections of the coming-of-age story with the formation of sexual identity. We will examine this topic through novels, short stories, essays, and films from across the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, in both the American and French contexts. How do authors tell stories of sexual exploration, discovery, rejection, desire and shame? How can writing help us to interpret and analyze these texts? Questions of sexual orientation and sexual violence will also be discussed.

Additional Information:

French R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition Requirement. Classes are conducted in ENGLISH

Section times and locations in the Schedule of Classes