OBJECTIVES
This course investigates twentieth-century
American literature by exploring
the range of literary experimentation in the context of major
cultural movements of the times. Topics include modernism, expatriate
experience, the Harlem Renaissance, the novel of social protest,
and postmodernism. Ongoing questions for discussion include the
following: What purposes might literature serve at different times,
in different contexts, and for different audiences? What assumptions
underlie our own aesthetic and critical judgements? How do writers
come to be considered "major," and what difference does
it make?
TEXTS
•Katherine Anne Porter,
"Pale Horse, Pale Rider"
•Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
•The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader
•John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
•Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey Into Night
•The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry
•Maxine
Hong Kingston, China Men
•Anna Deveare Smith, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
•Xerox packet of other readings ($7 xeroxing fee)
REQUIREMENTS
- In keeping with College policy, you
are expected to attend all of our
class sessions.
- You are expected to prepare
the readings assigned for each session and to take
an active role in class discussion. You will be graded
on the extent of your preparation as evidenced by the cogency
of your contributions both to in-class and on-line discussions
and the extent to which, by responding to others, introducing
ideas, and raising questions, you help to sustain a useful exploration
of the readings and issues we are addressing.
- You and a partner (or partners) will
be assigned responsibility for leading class
discussion for certain sessions. You should draw our attention
to issues, scenes, and images that you think are especially important
or problematic and use them to raise larger points and questions
about the work and its contexts. Distribute copies of your questions
and comments at the beginning of the session. (This xeroxing may
be charged to the English Department only if it is done
in the Printing Office in Fletcher.)
- Two 5-7 page
papers, regular contributions to the online
forum, and a final examination
are required. Minimum length requirements for the papers must
be respected. In at least one of your papers, you must draw significantly
(and critically!) upon various secondary sources (both on the
Web and in the Library), and document them properly, using
the MLA style of documentation. More details about the papers
will be provided in class.
- During the last week of classes, majors
who are fulfilling their senior exercise
requirement with this course will give a presentation based
on their work. The other students in the class are expected to
read the outlines of the presentations, which will be posted on
the online forum, and to raise questions about them in class to
the presenters. Majors who are fulfilling their senior exercise
requirement with this course may choose to substitute their senior
exercise for either the two required papers or one
of the required papers and the final examination.
GRADING
- Approximate breakdown of final grade:
50% for written work (two papers and online postings); 30% for
in-class participation; 20% final examination.
- Paper deadlines will be extended and
absences will be excused only in the case of an urgent personal
problem, a family emergency, or a serious illness, verifiable
by the Dean. Absences from class will limit what you will gain
from the course and what you can contribute to it. Unexcused absences
also will lower your final grade for the course.
- Late papers for which no extension
has been granted will receive an "F". Exceptions will be made
only when I believe that they are fully warranted. Work that is
not submitted receives a "O". All work must be submitted by the
last day of class. For your own protection, always make a copy
of your work before submitting it. Remember to save your work
every five minutes or so when you are working on a computer.
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