Module Information

Module Identifier
EN11120
Module Title
AMERICAN LIT II: NEW IMMIGRATION TO MULTICULTURAL NATION
Academic Year
2008/2009
Co-ordinator
Dr Helena Grice
Semester
Semester 2
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Lecture 5 fortnightly one hour lectures
Seminars / Tutorials Weekly 1.5 hour seminars/workshops
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
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%
Semester Exam 2 Hours   Two essays on two seminar topics NOT already examined in the essays  40%
Supplementary Assessment Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements  60%
Supplementary Exam 2 Hours   Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements  40%

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 (Tim Woods)
  • Related seminars: 1. Immigrant Voices; 2. The Jazz Age
_Lecture 2: The Impact and Aftermath of the Great Depression (Helena Grice)
  • Related seminars: 3. The New Negro Renaissance; 4. The Great Depression
_Lecture 3: Suppression and Subversion
  • Related seminars: 5. Cold War Culture and Its Discontents; 6. Emergent Feminist Voices
_Lecture 4: Postmodernity in America
  • Related seminars: 7. Civil Rights in the 1960s; 8. Postmodern Fictions
_Lecture 5: American Multiculturalism (Helena Grice)
  • Related seminars: 9. New Communities, New Identities; 10. Multicultural Voices

_SEMINAR CONTENTS AND SET TEXTS

  • EACH DISCUSSION WILL ASSUME THAT STUDENTS HAVE COMPLETED THE REQUIRED READING BEFORE COMING TO THE SEMINAR.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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 List

Should Be Purchased
Baym, Nina et al (eds) (2003) The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volumes C, D and E Sixth Norton Primo search F. Scott Fitzgerald (1994) The Great Gatsby Penguin Popular Classics Primo search Gish Jen (1998) Typical American Granta Primo search Nathanael West (2000) Miss Lonelyhearts Penguin Primo search Willa Cather (1999) O Pioneers! Virago Primo search

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4