Instructor: Ruth Y. Hsu (rhsu@hawaii.edu)
Required Texts:
The Concise Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume 2, 1865 to the Present. 2nd Edition. (May 10, 2013) (UHM Bookstore);
Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy, 2007. (UHM Bookstore)
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Vintage, 2004. (UHM Bookstore)
Goals, Organization, Procedures:
Literatures of the United States from the mid-20th century to the present include world-renown and internationally influential writers that reflect the dynamic and exciting multi-cultural aspect of US arts and letters. This period has been an adventurous time in terms of ideas about identity, aesthetics, and cultural, political, and social life. The main text in this class—The Heath Anthology–contains a wide range of fiction writers, poets, and essayists: Lyrical, sometimes polemical, and always compelling, these writers engage readers emotionally and intellectually with some of the profound changes in the U. S. of the past 60 years. Bechdel’s graphic narrative, Fun Home, is poignant and funny; it has received notable critical acclaim. Morrison’s Pulitzer-winning novel, Beloved, is a must-read if we’re even to begin to understand some of the most urgent issues of US society today.
The (W) Writing Intensive and (O) Oral Communication focus designations of this class mean that your grade consists of formal writing assignments and class presentations. You’ll receive substantive written feedback from me appropriate to the assignment; be prepared to revise and resubmit your papers. Among your goals in this class should be the development of independent, analytical, interpretative and research skills.
Student Learning Outcomes include:
• The ability to identify the major literary themes, authors and texts of the period;
• To be able to analyze via literary terms the ways that writers ‘put together’ a story, a poem, and so on.
• The ability to use in class presentations, discussions and writing assignments literary terms and concepts appropriate to a 300-level course;
• To begin to acquire strategies for connecting texts to a broader cultural and historical context.
Requirements include:
• Two individual presentations (5 to 10 minutes each) drawn from the reading list;
• One small group (no more than two persons) presentation (10 to 20 minutes) on an original piece of writing based on The Heath Anthology;
• One piece of original writing (a play, short story, etc.) (minimum of 8 pages, double-spaced) based on The Heath Anthology;
• One argumentative essay (minimum 6 pages, double-spaced);
• Final Exam is cumulative, multiple choice.