Course Description
The development of the American novel from Naturalism through Modernism and Post-Modernism. Writers may include Cather, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Wright, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Porter, O'Connor, Ellison, Heller, Morrison, and Percy.
Athena Title
Twentieth-Century Amer Novel
Non-Traditional Format
Writing assignments will normally consist of two essay examinations and a research paper exploring criticism of one of the major novels.
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 3000-level ENGL course) or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students, having read a substantial body of literature, will be able to discuss the assigned works (orally and in writing) with a considerable degree of critical sophistication, to read them with pleasure, to read and enjoy other works from the period, and to converse with fellow students about texts and issues related to the subject matter of the course.
Topical Outline
The choice and sequence of topics will vary from instructor to instructor and semester to semester. The topics will consist of selected works by various authors to be read outside of class and discussed in class and to be examined individually and comparatively in the context of the times and the circumstances of their composition. Periodically during the semester, students will perform a number of graded tasks, including some combination of tests and out-of-class papers. A possible series of topics and assignments might resemble this: Cather, My Antonia! Toomer, Cane Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Porter, Pale Horse, Pale Rider Erdrich, Love Medicine Morrison, The Bluest Eye Cisneros, The House on Mango Street O'Brien, Going After Cacciato