American University of Beirut
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Department: English
Course Number and Title:
English 201: Survey of American Literature
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester, students should be able to do the following:
1.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Identify basic literary terms
Outline the literary history of America
Identify elements of literary genres
Contrast the theoretical aspects of literary genres
Define major literary movements and schools
Compare the characteristics of major literary movements
Explain the connections between American literature and culture
Summarize an argument
Compare/Contrast the thematic and structural characteristics of literary texts
Write a literary research paper
Interpret major literary works
Resources Available to Students
Required Texts:
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, volumes A & B, ed. Nina Baym
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Selected short stories, poems and essays (Charlotte Perkins Gilman, William Faulkner,
Bharati Mukherjee, Gloria Anzaldúa and Joseph Geha)
Reserve Material:
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, volumes A, B, C, D & E
The Heath Anthology of American Literature
Sample Tests
Grading Criteria
Attendance and
Class Participation
Reading Quizzes and
10%
In-Class Assignments
Midterm
Research Paper (5-7 pages)
Class Presentation
(5-7 minutes)
Final Exam
15%
15%
20%
10%
30%
Schedule
Week
1
Topic
The Literature of
Discovery
Activities
Assignments
Presentations
Discussing course
goals & syllabus
Lecture & Discussion
29/09 No Assignment
1/10 B. de las Casas, selections from The Very Brief
Relation
3/10 A. N. Cabeza de Vaca, selections from The
Relation
6/10 Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, selections
from Book I
8/10 Review, writing a research paper
10/10 Finding and using critical sources/electronic
databases
13/10 R. W. Emerson, “Nature”
15/10 “Self-Reliance” & “Last of the Anti-Slavery
Lectures”
17/10 H. D. Thoreau, Walden, Chapter I
20/10 F. Douglass, Narrative
22/10 F. Douglass, Narrative
24/10 Marlon Riggs, Ethnic Notions
2
The Pilgrims
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
Lab. Assignment
Library Tour
3
American
Transcendentalism
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
4
Early Slave Narratives
5
Dark Encounters: Old
and New Worlds
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
Documentary Viewing
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
6
Poetry: The Private and
the Public Selves
7
The American
Bildungsroman
8
27/10 H. Melville, Benito Cereno
29/10 H. Melville, Benito Cereno
31/10 H. Melville, Benito Cereno
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
Poetry Reading
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
3/11 E. Dickinson, selected poems
5/11 W. Whitman, selected poems
7/11 M. Twain, The Adventures
American Feminism:
Hysteria, Literary
Production and
Reproduction
African American
Literature and The
Harlem Renaissance
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
17/11 C. P. Gilman, “Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow
Wall-paper’?”
19/11 C. P. Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-paper”
21/11 C. P. Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-paper”
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
10
American Drama
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
24/11 Z.N. Hurston, Their Eyes
PAPER TOPICS DUE
26/11 No Class
28/11 Z.N. Hurston, Their Eyes
1/12 Z.N. Hurston, Their Eyes
3/12 T. Williams, A Streetcar
5/12 T. Williams, A Streetcar
11
Modernism and
Symbolism
Tape Viewing
9
L. Jeffries, “Roots”
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
10/11 MIDTERM
12/11 M. Twain, The Adventures
14/11 M. Twain, The Adventures
8/12 T. Williams, A Streetcar
10/12 W. Faulkner, “Barn Burning”
12/12 W. Faulkner, “Barn Burning”
12
13
14
15
16
Asian American
Literature
Arab American
Literature
Arab American
Literature
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
Poetry Reading
15/12 B. Mukherjee, from The Middleman
Group and Class
Discussions
Group Presentations
22/12 J. Geha, from Through and Through
24/12 & 26/12 No Class
African American
Poetry
Mexican American/
Chicana Literature
J. Coltrane’s jazz
Concluding Notes:
Remapping American
Literature
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
Poetry Reading
Lecture & Discussion
Group Presentations
PAPER DUE
17/12 B. Mukherjee, from The Middleman
19/12 J. Geha, from Through and Through
No Class
5/01 M. S. Harper, selected poems
7/01 M. S. Harper, selected poems
9/01 G. Anzaldúa, from Borderlands
N. Shange, “The
Desert”
12/01 G. Anzaldúa, from Borderlands
14/01 Concluding Notes
16/01 Review Session
Course Policy
Attendance, preparation, and class participation are a primary requirement. You are
expected to attend all classes, be prepared to discuss the required readings and participate
constructively. You are also expected to use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers (by Joseph Gibaldi) for writing and documenting your research papers.
Every three late arrivals will be counted as one absence. Excused absences require
advance notice except in the cases of medical or family emergencies. If you miss more
than one-fifth of the class sessions of the first ten weeks, you will be required to
withdraw from the course.
Cheating and plagiarism are serious academic and ethical offenses that will result in the
failure of this course. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism, please
speak to me or consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.