Despite many utopian efforts to the contrary, including the ideals created by the signatories of The Declaration of Independence--the founding document of the American political tradition that articulates fundamental ideas that form the American nation, namely that All men are created free and equal and possess the same inherent, natural rights--social stratification exists in nearly all human societies. It is a basic organizing principle of culture and functions most overtly in its smallest unit, the family. Why? would be a suitable question for a sociology course; as artists, we will ask How? are social class and class issues portrayed in literature and film. How are the rich and the poor perceived by themselves and one another? How has narrative art dealt with the relationship between class, race, and gender? Is class the great equalizer? In what ways has literature depicted success and failure at upward mobility? What is the role of the “middle” class in narrative art? Texts may include works by Kathryn Boo, Anton Chekhov, Evan Connell, Theodore Dreiser, E.M. Forster, Tupelo Hassman, Jamaica Kinkaid, George Orwell, Dorothy West, Edith Wharton, and various films such as Sullivan’s Travels, Frozen River, Metropolitan, Welcome to the Doll House.

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