The Snark, The Gossip, The Liar

I once taught a course, “Tell Me You Didn’t Just Say That! The Snark, The Gossip, The Liar,” and the discussions and essays considered the rights and responsibilities of upholding free speech. This theme based comp class generated meaty conversations. I asked big questions: When we say that something is in bad taste, what exactly do we mean? Is all gossip bad? What is truthiness? Does it matter when an advertisement bends the truth? What about literature? The final essays told me from the student’s perspective in argumentative prose when and where being snarky should be permitted. Considering the current political landscape, I would love to teach this course again just to see if things have changed. I doubt it. The far-right thinks they can manipulate all young people, but they can’t. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through.

Here is the booklist for this course: 

Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation by David Denby

The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet by Daniel J. Solove

All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin

Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos and Ernst Downson

Persuasion by Jane Austen