Advanced study of specific periods, authors, and/or topics of prose writing, involving extensive reading and discussion of primary and secondary materials.  Prereq: Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs.

Sample Topic (1): The Narrative Art of S.Y. Agnon Nobel Laureate S.Y. Agnon occupies a unique position in modern Hebrew literature. His artistic style, thematic concerns, and ideological attitudes reflect the crucial transition in Jewish history from tradition to modernism and the movement from the flourishment of shtetl culture to the secular achievements of the State of Israel. A critical study and discussion of Agnon's works will provide the student with an insight into the diversity of his art, his mastery of different genres, and the complexity of his world view. Reading secondary sources will highlight different interpretations of some of Agnon's enigmatic stories and the alternative approaches to his entire work.

Sample Topic (2): Studies in Biblical Prose Texts. The aim of this course is twofold: a) to increase the student's linguistic competence in dealing with Biblical Hebrew prose texts, and b) to introduce him/her to the major prose genres in the Tanakh (narratives, legal corpora) and their various sub-types. Particular attention will be paid to characteristic literary structures and linguistic patterns in the texts studied. Through the reading of some of the modern commentary and secondary literature, the student will also become familiar with the dominant traditions of modern biblical scholarship, particularly literary criticism and form criticism.