The latter half of the 20th century was an incredibly rich time for American literature—it saw the emergence of new voices and the representation of previously invisible subjectivities in literature. Literature in these decades also represented the political concerns and cultural shifts of its times, from Beat poetry to postmodernism.
In this class, in addition to reading a wide selection of representative works fromThe Heath Anthology of American Literature; Volume E, 7th Edition, we will also delve deeper into works that both represent the concerns of their milieus and illustrate the best of their genre: James Baldwin’s novel Another Country (1962), Joan Didion’s essay collection The White Album (1979), Anna Deavere Smith’s play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (1994), and Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese (2006).
Assignments
Informal writing assignments
6 Reading Responses
2 essays
Final Exam
Attendance and participation are required.