ENG 337 (1) AMERICAN LITERATURE MID-19th CENTURY MID-20TH CENTURY
(T, TH 10:30 – 11:45)
Miriam Fuchs
Description, Goals, Objectives This course examines literature written in America, or by Americans, from the mid-19th century through the mid-20th century. The course examines stories, novels, poems, essays, and drama by authors who represent the literary movements known as Realism, Naturalism, and, of course, Modernism. Some names will be familiar: Twain, James, Cather, Frost, Eliot, and Faulkner. Other names, perhaps less familiar, include Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Freeman, Jewett, Zitkala-Sa, Glaspell, Hurston, Toomer, Dos Passos, Hughes, and McKay. Examining historical and social developments, this literature is concerned with immigration, slavery, the growth of urban centers, regionalism, industrialization, the ethnic experience, world war, and Civil Rights activism. Rather than strive for a single definition of “American” literature, you should, by the end of the semester, realize that literary history is created, shaped, and dynamically changing as it reflects the interactions of diverse cultural groups with richly different expectations, values, languages, and histories.
Required Three Texts (available at Revolution Books, 2626 King Street):
1) Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)
2) Two separate volumes of Norton Anthology of American Literature, 8th edition
A. Volume C (1865– 1914)
B. Volume D (1914 – 1945)
Course Requirements
1) Three 4-page essays and examinations (60%)
2) Final essay exam (30%)
3) Class participation, unannounced quizzes, and one oral presentation (10%)