Literature of the USA

2020/2021

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

4

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Школа иностранных языков

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

1-й курс, 3, 4 модуль

Преподаватель

Карасик Ольга Борисовна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course surveys selected American authors representing the major periods, schools, and traditions in American literary history. The course covers the pre-colonial eras (before European colonization in the 1600s) to our contemporary era; multiple genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama). Some attention is also paid to the historical/cultural contexts of the literary periods. In particular, the course examines the manner in which writers with diverse backgrounds responded to or appropriated different types of language as part of their efforts to offer alternative expressions of the American experience. Special emphasis will be given to the study of American identity, multiculturalism, race, gender, religious belief, technology, and economic difference. The course traces the formal and thematic developments of literature, focusing on the relationship between writers and readers, the conditions of publishing, innovations in the novel’s form, fiction’s engagement with history, and the changing place of literature in American culture. Given the knowledge that literature is inseparably linked to history and is generated from a specific historical period, the student will be able to discern historical events and influences as depicted, explicitly or implicitly, in literature. Students should be able to show the relationship between an author’s life and the philosophy of the time in which they lived and their literary works. The course offers students a broad introduction to American literature, also serves as preparation for more an advanced course in American studies and American literature in particular. The course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in American literature. Students will learn to assess literary and cultural materials, their relevance to a given interpretive problem, reliability, and importance, and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in literary and scholarship. The American Literature course is aimed to develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. The course combines activities of a traditional (quizzes, essays, discussions etc.) and a nontraditional (presentations, games, creative writing etc.) nature. It also envisages various research projects conducted individually or in small groups on a wide range of topics related to its subject matter. This syllabus sets minimal requirements for the knowledge and skills of students and determines the contents of the course. It targets both lecturers and teaching assistants, and 2nd - year undergraduate students of the Foreign languages and intercultural communication programme, to whose needs it is specifically tailored.

Learning Objectives

• The American Literature course is aimed to develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. The course combines activities of a traditional (quizzes, essays, discussions etc.) and a nontraditional (presentations, games, creative writing etc.) nature. It also envisages various research projects conducted individually or in small groups on a wide range of topics related to its subject matter.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• know major periods in American literature
• know social and cultural development of the USA
• know main political and cultural leaders
• know literary heritage and its meaning to American nation and the whole world
• know significant periods and streams of American literature
• know their representatives and major texts
• be able to outline the literary history of America
• be able to contrast the theoretical aspects of literary genres
• be able to define major literary movements and schools
• be able to compare the characteristics of major literary movements
• be able to identify the connections between contemporary American literature and culture
• be able to apply selected theories of American literature
• be able to summarize an argument, compare/contrast the thematic and structural characteristics of literary texts
• be able to interpret major literary works
• be able to present acceptable critical analysis of a novel from the standpoint of style
• be able to content, and mechanics
• be able to evaluate the quality of literary works by comparing them to the recognized best in that genre
• develop skills of working with primary and secondary sources
• develop skills of presenting one’s own opinion and participating (individually or in small groups) in the debates on a wide range of topics related to the course subject matter
• develop skills of using terminology and methods taught within the course
• develop skills of of thinking, reading, and writing analytically and critically
• develop skills of thinking, reading, and writing analytically and critically

Course Contents

• Topic 1 American literary periods. Colonial period and democratic origin of American literature
  Outline of American literature. Native voices. Literature of exploration.
• Topic 2 Literature of Enlightenment and Establishment of American literary traditions
  The Colonial period in New England. What is the Enlightenment. or the Age of Reason? Benjamin Franklin
• Topic 3 Romantic period in American literature
  Transcendentalism. Romantic period: fiction American literary innovations: Washington Irving, E. A. Poe. Nathaniel Hawthorne as America’s first great classical writer. Herman Melville and his exploration of psychological and metaphysical themes.
• Topic 4 Rise of Realism and the development of regional literature
  Social context of Realism International themes in Realism Local color (regionalism)
• Topic 5 Naturalism and Muckraking in American literature
  Social and economic contexts of Naturalism Naturalism Background Key themes of Naturalism in literature Expanding ideas of naturalism American Naturalist Writers Muckraking
• Topic 6 Post-war literature. Literature of the Lost Generation.
  Between two wars. Literature of the Lost Generation A new form of American literature: William Faulkner Yoknapatawpha County Faulkner’s Narrative Experiments The Sound and the Fury
• Topic 7 Literature of the first quarter of the XXth century. Modernism and Experimentation. Trends of Realism
  Modernism metaphor Logics of science vs logics of culture Style as a formal technique in modernism Rationalism of literature A construction as the basis of modernism The Basis of “Self” Fathers of Modernism James Joyce’s Ulysses as the basis of the World literary modernism T.S. Eliot: American or British modernist writer?
• Topic 8 Second World War and American view. American Identity in literature.
  Post-war literature War and people War novel vs Military novel War vs peace Norman Mailer The Naked and the Dead Joseph Heller Catch 22 Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade Thomas Pynchon Gravity’s Rainbow
• Topic 9 Literature of exhaustion. Change of paradigms: Realism-Modernism-Postmodernism
  Postmodernity and Postmodernism Postmodern version of philosophy Modernism vs Postmodernism according to Ihab HassanPostmodernity and Absurdity in novels by T. Pynchon Clash of modernism and postmodernism in novels by J. Barth
• Topic 10 American literature of the last decades (the turn of the XXst century). Moving to Postmodernism and back. New trends, new tradition. Interaction of different traditions and experiments.
  Fact / fiction / imagination / myth / history in American literature of 1970-s – 2000-s E.L. Doctorow, Norman Mailer: Narrating History Narrative experiments with a protagonist Fact and Fiction Intellectual Crisis vs Crisis of Identity Toni Morrison. The Bluest Eye: Stream of consciousness Beliefs vs Reality Why Morrison chooses fiction to turn her insights to political purpose? Norman Mailer. Tough Guys Don’t Dance: Allusions to early prose Fragmented reality Irony / Self-Irony / Parody

Assessment Elements

• Participation in discussions and home assignments
  The average is calculated at the end of the course, and the mark is transferred to the decimal system: 3 - 10 2,7 - 9 2,4 - 8 2,1 - 7 1,8 - 6 1,5 - 5 1,2 - 4 0,9 - 3 0,6 - 2 0,3 - 1 0 - 0
• Presentation
• Participation in discussions and home assignments
  Active participation in group discussions and in-class assignments is required at every seminar and will be evaluated according to a 3-points scale. Please be in class on time – this will give us all an opportunity to finish on time as well. If a 5-minute quiz or a written paper (a short essay) may be used as a written form of checking home assignment a student who is late is not permitted to write the quiz (paper). A student who is absent is not permitted to do it either. You are not permitted about a written quiz in advance, as it is up to your teacher to decide on a way of checking home assignment – oral / written. Therefore results for written quizzes are summed to all points you get during the course. If your quizzes results are equal to 0, but you get points by participating in the whole process you still have a chance to get a high cumulative grade. Written quizzes are compulsory for everyone who is in class at that moment. Total amount of quizzes can be 1-5 in two modules.
• Presentations and quizzes
  If a 5-minute quiz or a written paper (a short essay) is used as a written form of checking home assignment a student who is late is not permitted to write the quiz (paper). A student who is absent is not permitted to do it either. You are not permitted about a written quiz in advance, as it is up to your teacher to decide on a way of checking home assignment – oral / written. Therefore results for written quizzes are summed to all points you get during the course. If your quizzes results are equal to 0, but you get points by participating in the whole process you still have a chance to get a high cumulative grade. Written quizzes are compulsory for everyone who is in class at that moment. Total amount of quizzes can be 1-5 in two modules.
• Final test
  The test features a number of questions on te course topics.
• Exam
  The list below should be read during the semester: E.A. Poe The Murders in the Rue Morgue: the features of the detective story as a genre; the image of the detective as a Romantic hero. The Fall of the House of Usher: the genre of the horror story; the image of Roderick Usher: the role of the narrator; the image of the house; message Reading: E.A. Poe The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Fall of the House of Usher Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Plot structure and peculiarities; the image of Huck and the evolution of his character; the image of Tom Sawyer, the theme of slavery; racial problem Reading: Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Additional reading: Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer _______________________ O.Henry Biography and Creative Work of the author The Romance of Busy Broker: the theme of love; the image of a broker; the image of New York.; women images. O.Henry The Roads We Take; the peculiarities of plot; the image of Shark Dodson; the problem of choice; message. Reading: O.Henry The Romance of Busy Broker, The Roads We Take E. Hemingway Killers: The image of the main character; theme, problems, message; the theme of courage and masculinity. F. S. Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby: The images of the narrator, Gatsby, Daisy; American Dream; the meaning of the title Novel and movie Reading: E. Hemingway. The Killers. F. S. Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby W. Faulkner A Rose for Emily Peculiarities of plot, the theme of South, the theme of death, the image of Emily Reading: W. Faulkner A Rose for Emily Additional Reading: E. Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea Sh. Jackson Biography and Creative Work of the author The Lottery Plot structure The image of Lottery and its meaning Speaking names Message Reading: Sh. Jackson The Lottery _________________ J. D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye Plot structure The image of Holden The world of adults and the world of teen-agers in the novel The meaning of the title Reading: J. D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye J. Updike The Orphaned Swimming Pool The plot Characters Pool as a Symbol The theme of family The meaning of the title Reading: J. Updike The Orphaned Swimming Pool Ch. Palaniuk Biography and Creative Work of the author The Fight Club Plot structure The image of the protagonist The image of Tyler Split Personality The theme of consumers society Novel and movie Reading: Ch. Palaniuk The Fight Club J.S. Foer Biography and Creative Work of the author Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Plot structure Postmodernism The image of the boy The image of New York The theme of 9/11 Message Reading: J.S. Foer Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Test on the books for additional reading Additional reading: Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer E. Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea Toni Morrison. The Bluest Eye

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.25 * Exam + 0.25 * Final test + 0.25 * Participation in discussions and home assignments + 0.25 * Presentation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Massa, A., & Goldman, A. (2016). American Literature in Context : 1900-1930. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1240144
• Pavese, C., & Fussell, E. S. (2017). American Literature : Essays and Opinions. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1564310

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Albin Beqiri. (2019). American Literature throughout Its History. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2550204
• Balkun, M. M. (2006). The American Counterfeit : Authenticity and Identity in American Literature and Culture. Tuscaloosa: University Alabama Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=279718
• Wagner-Martin, L. (2013). A History of American Literature : 1950 to the Present. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=531595