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UQU Programs

American Literature After 1865

ENG6307
3 hours English

American Literature After 1865

American Literature After
ENG3301 Foundations of Literary Studies
3 hours One requisite
1 Introduction: The Road leading to Civil War and Civil War (1861-1865) / Disunion; Confederacy; Emancipation Proclamation; industrialization; railroad system / Suggested authors: / Abraham Lincoln -Louisa May Alcott
2 The Rise of Realism (1860 – 1914) / Local color movement or Regionalism; frontier humor; Reconstruction and Gilded Age; Realism; Urbanization; industrialization; slave wages; immigration; alienation; pragmatism (1870), American imperialism / Suggested authors: / Walt Whitman – Emily Dickinson - Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) - Kate Chopin - Stephen Crane - Theodore Dreiser
3 The Naturalist Period (1900-1914) / Characteristics of naturalism / Suggested authors: Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, and Jack London. / Quiz 1
4 The Modern Period (1914–1945) / Ezra Pound’s maxim to “Make it New!” encapsulates the spirit of change from traditionalism towards modernism in American literature. Along with T.S. Eliot’s highly introspective poem about the cultural deterioration in The Wasteland, authors experimented with new forms to address the changing ideas about the reality of life post WWI. / Suggested authors: Robert Frost, E.E. Cummings, Marianne Moore, , Carl Sandburg, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Willa Cather, John Dos Passos, Edith Wharton, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway Gertrude Stein, Sinclair Lewis, and Sherwood Anderson, Earnest Hemingway
6 New criticism: T. S. Eliot and Robert Penn Warren
7 Midterm / Discussion of research papers
8 Modernist sub-movements (1914–1945) / Works are chosen to represent the American culture of the period: / Imagism (1912 -27) Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell, William Carlos Williams
9 Little Theatre 1920s Eugene O’Neill, Thornton Wilder
10 The Lost Generation (1918-29) F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein / Paper due (week 9)
11 The Harlem Renaissance (1919-37) Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, and Arna Bontemps
12 Southern Literary Renaissance (1920-1940) William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Caroline Gordon, Margaret Mitchell, Katherine Anne Porter, Erskine Caldwell, Allen Tate, Tennessee Williams
13 Beat Generation 1950s Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg / Confessional Poetry (1950s and 1960s) Robert Lowell Sylvia Plath
14 The Contemporary Period (1945 to present) / Chosen works are characterized by the postmodern themes and style of self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and metafiction of American literature since 1945. Suggested works by: Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Tan, John Updike, Eudora Welty, James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Arthur Miller, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, Joan Didion, Thomas Pynchon, Elizabeth Bishop, Tennessee Williams, Philip Roth, Sandra Cisneros, Richard Wright, Tony Kushner, Adrienne Rich, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, Thornton Wilder, Alice Walker, Edward Albee, Norman Mailer, John Barth, Maya Angelou, and Robert Penn Warren. / Quiz 2
15 Representative works: (poetry and fiction)
16 Exams of General Courses / Representative works: (drama and criticism)
1.1 Mapped to: K2

Identify and describe the formal and stylistic characteristics of American literary genres after 1865, tracing their evolution across historical periods and cultural movements.

Teaching Strategy Traditional lecturing.
Assessment Methods Quizzes and exams.
1.2 Mapped to: K3

Recognize and compare the major texts, authors, and traditions of American literature after 1865 within their historical and cultural contexts, including the significant contributions of marginal or countercultural voices.

Teaching Strategy Traditional lecturing. Reading critical articles.
Assessment Methods - Quizzes and exams. -Class discussion.
1.3 Mapped to: K4

Identify and explain key texts related to the development of literary critical theory in American literature after 1865.

Teaching Strategy Traditional lecturing. Reading critical articles.
Assessment Methods - Quizzes and exams. -Class discussion. -Online discussion.
2.1 Mapped to: S2 & S3

Interpret texts in light of their historical and cultural contexts, applying critical perspectives and paying attention to the use of form and language.

Teaching Strategy - Traditional lecturing. - Class discussion. - Online discussion. - Reading analytical essays.
Assessment Methods Open-book quizzes. Analytical exam questions. Translation assignment. Class discussion.
2.2 Mapped to: S2 & S3

Build well-structured academic or creative responses that reflect independent and thoughtful engagement with American literature, including its representation of marginalized voices and its intersections with other cultural forms such as film, art, and media.

Teaching Strategy - Class discussion. - Exposure to creative content online or in class. - Reading analytical essays. - Reading creative content. - Interactive workshops.
Assessment Methods Analytical essay assignment. Analytical exam questions. Creative assignment.
3.1 Mapped to: V1

Demonstrate integrity, ethical behavior, and intellectual honesty in all academic, professional, and creative pursuits.

Teaching Strategy Traditional lecturing Reading scholarly articles.
Assessment Methods Class discussion. Projects Assignments
3.2 Mapped to: V2

Work autonomously and collaboratively with empathy, respect, and inclusivity to achieve shared goals.

Teaching Strategy Traditional lecturing Class discussion.
Assessment Methods Class discussion. Projects Assignments
Assessment
Weight
Midterm Exam or Quizzes: The exam should contain at least 10% subjective questions dedicated to measuring the students’ ability to analyze and think critically. Students should be held responsible for language mistakes. A “reasonable” percentage of the grade should be allocated to language and punctuation problems.
30%
Assignment: “Annotations and Reading Notes” Writing “Personal Annotations and Reflections” and expanding them into “Reading Notes”. Note: In Foundations of Literary Studies (ENG 2301) and Literary Criticism in Practice (ENG 2302), students practiced the “Five Common Writing Tasks in Literature Courses” that are defined by the Norton series. In this course (and the rest of the survey courses), students should continue to practice writing critical “Annotations” and developing them into “Reading Notes”. The instructor can obtain a copy of the PowerPoint slides defining the “Five Common Writing Tasks in Literature Courses” from the department’s curricula committee. For the Workshop to be effective, it is preferable that the assigned text be short and one that has not been previously read by the students so that they can read it and spontaneously respond to it in class. The text can be chosen from the wide selection of canonical works in the assigned textbook. Students would be expected to write marginal notes on the text and then expand them into “Reading Notes”. The “Reading Notes” can be as short as one paragraph and as long as one page and they should critically respond to the following questions: 1. How do the formal and textual elements of the work contribute to its meaning? (close reading) 2. How does the text represent or reflect aspects of the literary period in which it was written? (contextual reading) Both the marginal annotations and the expanded notes should be submitted in class. The goal of this activity is to assign a writing task that is less demanding than an essay but one that will, nonetheless, allow students to further practice critical analysis in a spontaneous setting. Topics, guidelines and deadlines should be specified at the beginning of the course. Assignments should be marked for structure, punctuation, content and proper citation of sources. A clear rubric should be followed.
10%
InQuisitive (The electronic Norton Platform) The instructor should at least assign 4 assignments using this e-learning tool. If InQuisitive is discontinued in any future updated edition, this can be replaced with a creative or academic response to selected multimedia content from the online textbook.
10%
Pop Quiz(zes) or an alternative in-class activity: This is to ensure that students are reading the assigned material and preparing for class discussion.
5%
Discussion in class and online: Students should be encouraged to speak up and express their opinion on a variety of topics and issues related to the course.
5%
Final: The exam should contain at least 20% subjective questions dedicated to measuring the students’ ability to analyze and think critically. Students should be held responsible for language mistakes. A “reasonable” percentage of the grade should be allocated to language and punctuation problems. A clear rubric should be followed. .
40%
Total
100%