ENGH 202: Texts and Contexts

ENGH 202-004: Deathbed Narratives
(Fall 2026)

01:30 PM to 04:10 PM R

Thompson Hall L004

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Section Information for Fall 2026

ENGH 202 - 004: Deathbed Narratives

What happens when a narrator has nothing left to lose – or gain – from telling the truth?  

This course will see us reading both short and long fiction told from deathbeds, afterlives, and the final flickers of consciousness.  Though their stories come to us from a range of centuries and continents, the narrators we’ll hear from are all literally dying to tell us something––sometimes unburdening themselves in cathartic confession, sometimes settling scores and rewriting legacy, and sometimes soberly and mournfully surveying what mattered the most.  From the vantage point of death, these narrators wrestle with history, nationhood, memory, guilt, and love, and show us how a voice liberated from the future can help us bear better witness to our present.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Studies literary texts within the framework of culture. Examines texts within such categories as history, gender, sexuality, religion, race, class, and nation. Notes: Builds on reading and writing skills taught in ENGH 101. Offered by English. May be repeated within the degree.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Literature
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: 3 credits of 100-level English.
Schedule Type: Lecture, Recitation
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

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