Admission requirements
Literature 1A and Literature 2, or equivalent.
This is the second of three survey courses in American literature (Literature 3A, 4A, and 5A), which can also be taken individually. This course is an elective course for students taking the minor in American Studies.
Description
The end of the nineteenth century inaugurated a period of vast economic and territorial expansion in the United States. The U.S. became a global industrial superpower fueled by immigration, migration, and invention. Our discussion will focus on three themes: immigration and the rise of the city, regionalization and an American national identity, and the experiences of the emancipation generation. The literature of this period reflects these social movements in what has been called the “Gilded Age.” The emergence of a consumer culture, a national media, and new technologies of transmission had a profound impact on the literary world by 1900, creating a mass market for fiction, a globally recognized canon, and an opportunity for diverse American voices to be heard.
Course objectives
On completing this course, the student will have learned how to:
Evaluate works of U.S. American literature at the turn of the century from the standpoint of genre, historical context, and literary conventions.
Identify and understand persistent American inequalities rooted in this period, and gain insight into the ways that literature critically reflects on these cultural and sociohistorical developments.
Situate these texts within the larger developments in the disciplines of literary studies and American studies.
Analyze a wide-range of challenging historical texts using established critical approaches by style, genre, and rhetorical aim.
Recognize cultural and social differences in the U.S. American context, and to understand historical developments and disadvantages in this community from global and comparative perspectives.
Develop MLA-based and archival research skills in the composition of a term essay, and to improve written communication through in-class writing assignments.
Independently seek knowledge about a text, genre or technology, and take advantage of opportunities to apply creativity and curiosity to expand existing knowledge.
To communicate ideas in discussion, oral and written presentations, and collaborative team-work.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Midterm Exam: Written Examination with both closed and open essay questions
Paper: Essay and analysis of 1500 words
Oral Presentation
Participation
Attendance is compulsory. Missing more than two tutorials means that students will be excluded from the tutorials. Unauthorized absence also applies to being unprepared, not participating and/or not bringing the relevant course materials to class.
Weighing
Midterm Exam: 30 %
Paper: Essay and analysis of 1500 words: 30%
Oral Presentation: 30%
Participation: 10%
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
If the final mark is insufficient, students can resit the part(s) that was (were) insufficient: the essay and/or one combined resit exam covering the entire course. The sufficient parts cannot be retaken.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 9th edition or later (Volume C: 1865-1914)
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Willa Cather, O Pioneers!
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Other texts to be announced.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal
Remarks
Not applicable.