The American Literature Course 4101-5SHLAO
The course is a chronological overview of the most significant literary epochs and trends, starting in the fifth semester with Colonial literature, through Romanticism and Transcendentalism, to Realism and Naturalism, while the second semester is devoted to the latest trends and issues such as Modernism, Postmodernism, current developments in American Literature, ethnic and regional literature and a brief overview of American drama.
In an effort to raise the students' cultural and literary awareness, the course explores major American themes and myths, guides the participants through a survey of genres and techniques, and offers a perspective on such key issues as gender, ethnicity, multiculturalism and regionalism. The students are also presented with selected critical commentaries and samples of literary theory. It also aims at acquainting the participants with various ways of using American literature for ELT purposes.
List of discussed authors:
Course offer:
1. Introduction to colonial literature
Literary culture in the colonies, Puritan literature in New England, 17th century American poetry - William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor.
2. Colonial literature in the 18th century
The Great Awakening and the American Enlightenment - Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, St. John de Crevecoeur
3. Romanticism in America
Early American novel, American Renaissance, New England transcendentalism, Romantic fiction and poetry, The avant-garde of modern poetry - Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman
4. Development of fiction
Realism and Naturalism,
Women's voices (Henry James, Stephen Crane)
Thematic and formal aspects of experimental prose, the Lost Generation, Literature of the Jazz Age and the Great Depression - Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway.
6. Modernism in poetry.
Experimental trends in poetry, Imagism and vorticism, modernist theory of poetry - Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams; Wallace Stevens
7. American Drama in the 20th century
Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams
8. Post-war developments in poetry.
Confessional poetry, the Beat Generation, New York school of poetry. Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg, Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery
9. Traditional perspectives.
Realistic fiction in the twentieth century, Regional and ethnic traditions - John Updike, John Cheever, James Thurber, Philip Roth, Woody Allen, James Baldwin, Flannery O'Connor, Alice Walker, Leslie Marmon Silko, Amy Tan
10. Postmodernist fiction.
Postmodernist theory of writing, Innovatory techniques and new aesthetics - John Barth, John Gardner, Vladimir Nabokov.
Winter semester:
1. Native American myths.
2. Introduction to colonial literature.
Literary culture in the colonies, Puritan literature in New England, 17th century American poetry - William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor.
3. Colonial literature in the 18th century
The Great Awakening and the American Enlightenment - Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, St. John de Crevecoeur
4. Romanticism in America
Early American novel, American Renaissance, New England transcendentalism, Romantic fiction and poetry, The avant-garde of modern poetry - Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE: THE GRADUATE KNOWS AND UNDERSTANDS
K_W01 the basic facts, theories, processes and phenomena relating to history of American literature, which have practical application in English language teaching at pre-school and the first and second stages of education P6S_WG Scope and depth
K_W02 selected study areas relevant to American literature, which have practical application in English language teaching P6S_WG Scope and depth
K_W03 the basic terminology covering literary studies and American literature relevant to English language teaching P6S_WG Scope and depth
SKILLS: THE GRADUATE IS ABLE TO
K_U01 search, analyze, evaluate, select and use information using a variety of sources and methods P6S_UW The application of knowledge/problems solved and activities performed
K_U16 conduct an argument using the views of other authors and formulate conclusions P6S_UK Communication/ constructing and receiving messages, propagation of knowledge in the academic environment, foreign language use
K_U19 prepare oral presentations, in Polish and English for specific purposes, using basic theoretical approaches, as well as a variety of sources P6S_UK Communication/ constructing and receiving messages, propagation of knowledge in the academic environment, foreign language use
SOCIAL COMPETENCES: THE GRADUATE IS PREPARED TO
K_K02 reflect on the level of their skills and knowledge, constantly develop professionally and personally, self-assess their competences, improve their skills, plan their development and training P6S_KK Assessment/critical approach
K_K04 take responsibility for the promotion and preservation of the cultural heritage of the region, country, Europe and plurilingualism and multiculturalism related to various ethnic groups living in the US P6S_KO Responsibility/fulfilling social obligations and acting for the public good
K_K06 interact and work in a group, performing various roles P6S_KR Professional role/ autonomy/development of the ethos
Assessment criteria
Reading the assigned texts is obligatory. At the end of each semester, students sit a test which is a combination of open and multiple choice questions (60% of the final grade) verifying K_W01, K_W02 i K_W03, K_U01, K_U19, K_K04. Active participation in class, based on attentive reading, discussion (40% of the grade) verifies K_U01, K_U16, K_U19, K_K02, K_K06 ;
Attendance is obligatory, allowed are two absences.
Test grading scheme:
100%- 93% - 5,0
92% - 84% - 4,5
83% - 75% - 4,0
74% - 66% - 3,5
65% - 60% - 3,0
<60% - 2
Bibliography
Baym, N., et al. (eds.), The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vols. I and II. Norton, New York, 1994.
Beaty, J. & Hunter, J.P., New Worlds of Literature, Norton & Company, W. W., New York, 1994.
Bradbury, M. & Ruland, R., From Puritanism to Postmodernism: A History of American Literature, Viking, New York, 1991.
Elliott, E., American Colonial Writers 1606-1734, Gale Research Co., Detroit, Mich., 1984.
Elliott, E., American Colonial Writers 1735-1781, Gale Research Co., Detroit, Mich., 1984.
Greenberg, M.H. (ed.), Great Stories of the American West II, Berkeley Books, New York, 1997.
Hart, J.D. (ed.), The Oxford Companion to American Literature, OUP, Oxford, 1995.
High, P.B., An Outline of American Literature, Longman, London, 1989.
Jones, S.W. (ed.), Growing up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature, Mentor, New York, 1991.
Kenner, H., The Pound Era, University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1974.
Kostalanetz, R. (ed.), American Writing Today, 2 vols., Forum Series, United States International Communication Agency, Washington DC, 1982.
Lauter, P. (ed.), The Heath Anthology of American Literature, 2 vols., 3rd ed., Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York, 1998.
Lewicki, Z. (ed), A Handbook of American Literature for Students of English, US Embassy Cultural Section, Warsaw, 1990.
Litz, A. W. (ed.), Major American Short Stories, OUP, New York & Oxford, 1994.
Marlow Elizabeth McCallum, How to Teach Literature: A Practical Teaching Guide, WestBow Press, a Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan, 2017.
Mazur, Z. (ed.), The College Anthology of American Literature, Universitas, Kraków, 1998.
McQuade, D. (ed.), The Harper Single Volume of American Literature, 3rd ed., Longman, New York, 1999.
Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. 1995 ed.
Perkins, D., A History of Modern Poetry, 2 vols., the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., & London, 1976.
Rubin, L.D., The Faraway Country: Writers of the Modern South, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1963.
Richler M, (ed.), The Best of Modern Humor, Knopf, A.A., New York, 1983.
Salska, A. (ed.), Historia literatury amerykańskiej XX wieku. Vols. 1 and 2. Universitas, Kraków, 2003.
Stobaugh James, American Literature: Cultural Influences of Early to Contemporary Voices: High School Level Student, 2nd print., Master Books, 2013.
VanSpanckeren, K. Outline of American Literature: Revised Edition, US Department of State, 1994.
Velie, A. (ed.), American Indian Literature: An Anthology, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.
Wagner-Martin, L. A History of American Literature: 1950 to the Present, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2013.
Wagner-Martin, L. & Davidson, C.M. (eds.), The Oxford Book of Women's Writing in the United States, OUP, Oxford & New York, 1995.
Wiget, A. (ed.), Critical Essays on Native American Literature, Hall, G.K. Boston, Mass., 1985.
Williford, L. & Martone, M. (eds.), The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American Stories Since 1970, Scribner Paperback Fiction, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1999.
Wilmeth, D.B. (ed.), The Cambridge History of American Theatre, CUP, New York, 1998
Wright Andrew, Storytelling with Children, Oxford University Press, 2009.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: