This course will provide students with a sense of how
literature written in English after 1900 shows a distinctive diversity compared
with earlier eras, when such works usually originated in Britain and America. This diversity, stemming from the increasing
number of works authored by those for whom English may not have been their
first language, but became so due to circumstances of emigration to—or
colonization by—English-speaking nations will inform our consideration of the
assigned works. The selection of these texts, illustrating the different trends
in the choice of English as a language of authorship during the early- to
mid-20th C., will be analyzed in terms of the historical and cultural
situations influencing the production of such works. Literary issues, genre, and aesthetics will
also inform how we read these works that, though they share a language, “speak”
their different stories in ways that sometimes must be read between the lines
of the language they share.
Texts (Available from
Revolution Books)
- Norton Anthology of World Literature (3rd Ed.),Vol. F
- Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
- Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
- Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
Evaluation (With assignment
percentages toward Semester Grade)
- Two 4-page essays, one of
which may be rewritten for a higher grade (30% avg.) - Midterm and Final Exam,
each with an in-class and two-page take-home essay component (20% per
exam) - Miscellaneous brief
writing assignments and/or quizzes (15%) - Participation (10%)
- Consistent attendance will
influence semester grade only if students exceed indicated limited
absences (included on syllabus)