American Literature

American Literature is a survey of American literature from colonial times to the late twentieth century. Once again, we take a generally historical approach to the material, tracing the development of particular themes, ideas, and techniques of writing, and examining the kaleidoscopic interactions of the many strands of the American population and culture. We especially try to dig into issues of theme and symbolic language in the works of the great nineteenth-century masters Melville and Hawthorne.

The course is built around a basic textbook, The United States in Literature, part of the "America Reads" series from Scott, Foresman. It is slightly less thorough than its companion volume England in Literature, which serves as the backbone for English Literature, but I have supplemented its readings quite extensively with outside readings. Please see the required texts and readings pages for particulars. Contact me about this if you are interested.

Course Website: American Literature

Sections and Teachers

Section 1:

Instructor: Bruce McMenomy

Starts: September 6, 2016
Ends: June 2, 2017

Wednesday 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET

Tuition: $500.00

Prerequisites

The course has no absolute prerequisites, but English Literature or its equivalent is virtually required to assure success. If you have not taken my English Literature course, please contact me before enrolling in this one. We try to build on the cumulative skills of the previous years' work. World Literature introduces basic concepts of literary reading; Western Literature to Dante encourages extensive reading, while English Literature deals more with close reading. Here we attempt to combine techniques, looking minutely at some works while also reading an assortment of others in a way that will require a mixture of methods and techniques. For exceptions you must confer with the instructor to verify preparation.

Recommended background

This course expects a fair degree of preparation in literary discourse. I expect not only familiarity with the literary contents of English Literature but also the critical concepts we have developed: narrative voice and persona, negative capability, and something of the variety of symbolic language, as well as many of the techniques of close reading.

Textbooks and Materials

This item is required:

A Man for All Seasons (Vintage International) , Authors: Robert Bolt

ISBN: 0679728228