Module Information
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Seminars / Tutorials |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | 2 X 3000 WORD ESSAYS | 100% |
Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected. | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. demonstrate a broad knowledge of American literature in the 20th century and an understanding of the social and political contexts in which the set texts were written'
2. descripe issues of gender, class, and/or race in relation to ethnic and regional experiences of America during the period and examine their representation in the set texts;
3. engage in coherent oral discussion of the texts;
4. read literary texts in an informed and critical manner;
5. write about the subject in a well structured and argued manner.
Brief description
The main objective of this module is to provide a general introduction to the wide range and extraordinarily rich diversity of the literatures of the United States of America in the twentieth century. Particular attention will be paid to the way in which literary texts record and respond to the social, political, and economic crises of the two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the Cold War. Emphasis will also be placed on the differing themes and formal strategies which develop from the various ethnic and regional experiences of Americans during the century, and issues of gender and class in relation to theme and form will be systematically examined. Although the novel is given some priority as a genre, an attempt has been made to keep a balance, so that drama and poetry are also represented in the selection of required reading.
Aims
This module is a level 3 option module that, due to programme changes, is offered to both Year Two and Year Three students (Year Two students take the 20-credit form; Year Three take the 30-credit form). The difference between the two is determined by assessment, not by course content or delivery. It remains suitable for both English and American Studies students, but is intended primarily for American Studies students.
Content
- All duplicate course texts (from other Levels and Modules) have been removed.
- The course texts are revised to cover a wider chronological period (a shift from 1915-1977 to 1915-1997), with more breadth within that range (approximately one text for every decade, with the exception of the 1920s).
- The seminar themes have been simplified to allow more straightforward comparisons between texts, although these will be questioned through seminar discussions and other avenues for textual comparison will also be presented.
- As a result of the above changes, the course has been standardised to incorporate only prose fictions. The module will be revised according to the following structure (changes from previous 2005-2006 version are highlighted in bold):
2. American Materialism I: The Great Depression: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Diamond as Big as the Ritz (1920-1928)
3. Hyphenated Identities I: African-American Writing: Nella Larsen, Quicksand (1928)
4. Responses to War I: World War One: Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929)
5. Narration and Experimentation I: ¿The Haunted South¿: William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (1935)
6. Social Visions II: Conformity and Cold War Society: Sloan Wilson, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955)
7. Responses to War II: World War Two: Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse 5 (1969)
8. American Materialism II: ¿Greed is Good¿: Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City (1984)
9. Hyphenated Identities II: Asian-American Writing: Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club (1989)
10. Narration and Experimentation II: Viewing the American Century: Philip Roth, American Pastoral (1997)
Module Skills
Skills Type | Skills details |
---|---|
Application of Number | N/A |
Communication | * Written communication in the form of essays * Oral presentations in small groups * Oral communication in seminars |
Improving own Learning and Performance | * Developing own research skills * Time management |
Information Technology | * Use of electronic resources and e-learning technologies (electronic databases and Blackboard) * PowerPoint for group presentations * Production of written work using word-processing program |
Personal Development and Career planning | * Critical self-reflection * Development of transferable communication and research skills |
Problem solving | * Formulating and developing an argument |
Research skills | * Independent research for presentations * Independent research for assignments |
Subject Specific Skills | Ability to ¿compare and contrast¿ between texts; Ability to comment on relationship between society and literary forms |
Team work | * Group work for oral presentations |
Reading List
Should Be PurchasedFaulkner, William (1996.) As I lay dying Vintage Primo search Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1996, c1963.) The diamond as big as the Ritz and other stories /F. Scott Fitzgerald. Penguin Primo search Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (2001.) Herland /Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Women's Primo search Hemingway, Ernest (2004) A Farewell to Arms Arrow Books Primo search Kingston, Maxine Hong (1981.) The woman warrior :memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts /Maxine Hong Kingston. Pan Primo search McInerney, Jay. (1994.) Bright lights, big city. Penguin Primo search Miller, Arthur (1988, c1958 (va) Plays /Arthur Miller; introduction by Arthur Miller. Methuen Drama Primo search Pynchon, Thomas (1967.) The crying of Lot 49 /by Thomas Pynchon. Cape Primo search Vonnegut, Kurt (1991) Slaughter House-Five Vintage Primo search Wilson, Sloan (2005) The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Penguin Primo search Recommended Background
Donaldson, Scott, ed. (1990.) New Essays on A Farewell to Arms Cambridge University Press Primo search Ludwig, Sami (1996.) Concrete language :Intercultural Communication in Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior and Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo P. Lang Primo search O'Donnell, Patrick, ed. (1991) New Essays on The Crying of Lot 49 Cambridge University Press Primo search Wong, Sau-ling Cynthia, ed. (1999) Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior: A Casebook Oxford University Press Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6