Module Identifier |
EN11120 |
Module Title |
AMERICAN LIT II: NEW IMMIGRATION TO MULTICULTURAL NATION |
Academic Year |
2006/2007 |
Co-ordinator |
Dr Luke A Thurston |
Semester |
Semester 2 |
Other staff |
Dr William G Slocombe, Dr Helena Grice, Professor Timothy S Woods, Mr John Phiilp Wrighton |
Course delivery |
Lecture | 5 fortnightly one hour lectures |
|
Seminars / Tutorials | Weekly 1.5 hour seminars/workshops |
Assessment |
Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
Semester Exam | 2 Hours Two essays on two seminar topics NOT already examined in the essays | 40% |
Semester Assessment | 2 x 2000 word essays. One essay will ask for literary analysis based on one set of the seminar texts. The other will require students to investigate a particular topic, theme or issue in relation to the literature on the module. | 60% |
Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours resubmit any failed elements and/or make good missing elements | 40% |
Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected. | 60% |
|
Learning outcomes
At the end of the module student should be able to demonstrate:
1. an analytical approach to the literary texts set for study and a critical attitude towards published scholarship on the subject of those texts;
2. an ability to analyse the forces at work in forming a literary canon and in calling it into question;
3. an ability to conduct elementary research and to develop writing skills through conducting different sorts of assignments;
4. an ability to develop small group work within seminars and to make individual and group presentations;
5. an ability to employ rhetorical skills of effective communication in written essays and in oral discussion.
Brief description
This module introduces students to a range of twentieth century American literature, from the writings of late nineteenth-century immigrants to the multicultural voices of the late twentieth century. It focuses on the differences between the myths and realities of American experience and investigates the relationship between literature and society. Attention is paid to both genre and to the issues that have preoccupied many American writers. For students taking American Studies, it will develop the skills and knowledge required for the interdisciplinary study of American culture at Part II.
Content
TIMETABLE OF LECTURES AND SEMINARS
Lecture 1: The New Urban America
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Related seminars: 1. Immigrant Voices; 2. The Jazz Age
Lecture 2: The Impact and Aftermath of the Great Depression
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Related seminars: 3. The New Negro Renaissance; 4. The Great Depression
Lecture 3: Suppression and Subversion
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Related seminars: 5. Cold War Culture and Its Discontents; 6. Emergent Feminist Voices
Lecture 4: Postmodernity in America
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Related seminars: 7. Civil Rights in the 1960s; 8. Postmodern Fictions
Lecture 5: American Multiculturalism
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Related seminars: 9. New Communities, New Identities; 10. Multicultural Voices
SEMINAR CONTENTS AND SET TEXTS
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EACH DISCUSSION WILL ASSUME THAT STUDENTS HAVE COMPLETED THE REQUIRED READING BEFORE COMING TO THE SEMINAR.
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Please note that you MUST have read Willa Cather, O Pioneers! for your first seminar, as there is no introductory seminar meeting in this module. Your tutor may make use of 'The Making of 'Americans'" which will be provided
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It should be emphasised that the framework below will guide the broad directions of study rather than dictating every aspect of it. We hope and expect that students will bring to each seminar their own responses and ideas generated from their own reading of these literary texts.
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ALL PAGE NUMBERS in the list below refer to the SIXTH EDITION of The Norton Anthology of American Literature (five vols), edited by Nina Baum et al.
Seminar 1: Immigrant Voices
Set Text: Willa Cather, O Pioneers!; at the tutor's discretion,"The Making of `Americans'" (provided)
Seminar 2: The Jazz Age
Set Text: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Seminar 3: The New Negro Renaissance
Set Texts: from the Norton Anthology, Vol. D - Jean Toomer (D: 1636-1640); Langston Hughes (D: 1892-1901); Zora Neale Hurston (D: 1507-1527); Claude McKay (D: 1458-1462)
Seminar 4: The Great Depression
Set Text: Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts
Seminar 5: Cold War Culture and its Discontents
Set Texts: from the Norton Anthology, Vol. E - Allen Ginsberg (E: 2865-2877); Robert Creeley (E: 2856-2863), Frank O'Hara (E: 2879-2887), Gary Snyder (E: 2348-2353)
Seminar 6: Emergent Feminist Voices
Set Texts: from the Norton Anthology, Vol. E - Anne Sexton (E: 2934-2941); Adrienne Rich (E: 2943-2956); Sylvia Plath (E: 2968-2979)
Seminar 7: Civil Rights in the 1960s
Set Texts: from the Norton Anthology, Vol. E - James Baldwin (E: 2191-2202); Gwendolyn Brooks (E: 2786); Amiri Baraka (E: 2301-2314); Martin Luther King (provided)
Seminar 8: Postmodern Fictions
Set Texts: from the Norton Anthology, Vol. E - Donald Barthelme (E: 2248-2251); Thomas Pynchon (E: 2357-2367); Kurt Vonnegut (E: 2183-2190); Ishmael Reed (E: 2384-2388); Gerald Vizenor (E: 2332-2337)
Seminar 9: New Communities, New Identities
Set Texts: from the Norton Anthology, Vol. E - Joy Harjo (E: 3054-3059); Leslie Marmon Silko (E: 2543-2550); Sandra Cisneros (E: 2556-2561); Alberto Rios (E: 3073-3078); Lorna Dee Cervantes (E: 3079-3084); Simon Ortiz (E: 3024-3029)
Seminar 10: Multicultural Voices
Set Text: Gish Jen, Typical American
Reading Lists
Books
** Should Be Purchased
Baym, Nina et al (eds) (2003) The Norton Anthology of American Literature
Sixth. Norton 0393977943
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1994) The Great Gatsby
Penguin Popular Classics 0140620184
Gish Jen (1998) Typical American
Granta 186207111X
Nathanael West (2000) Miss Lonelyhearts
Penguin 014118468X
Willa Cather (1999) O Pioneers!
Virago 0860683109
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 4