Vybrané kapitoly z americkej literatúry EXT 21/22
Faculty of Arts Matej Bel University
Department of English and American Studies
Selected topics in American literature and culture
Introduction to the course
Samuel Sewall: The Selling of Joseph
https://www.masshist.org/database/53
2. Revolutionary period: Thomas Paine: Common sense: https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet
3. Transcendentalism - Margaret Fuller: American Literature: Its position in the present time, and prospects for the future
4. Realism
Frederick Douglass: The Hypocrisy of American Slavery
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/douglass.htm
Abraham Lincoln: Last Public Address
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/last.htm
5. Modernism
Ernest Hemingway: In Another Country
6. American drama
Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman (pages 1 - 10)
http://azactorsacademy.com/uploads/plays/death_of_a_salesman.pdf
7. Postwar literature
Jerome David Salinger: A Perfect Day for Bananafish
https://foresthillshs.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2016/9/7/48668131/Salinger%20-%20Bananafish.pdf
Susan Sontag: Against Interpretation
https://shifter-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Sontag-Against-Interpretation.pdf
9. Ethnic literatures 1: African American literature
Tayari Jones: An American Marriage
Excerpt: https://lithub.com/an-american-marriage/
10. Ethnic literatures 2: Jewish American
Philip Roth: The Conversion of the Jews
https://www.theparisreview.org/fiction/4830/the-conversion-of-the-jews-philip-roth
11. Recent trends in development: reflections on American family and society
John Updike: Separating
http://travellerlevin.pixnet.net/blog/post/352924064-separating-by-john-updike
12. Recent trends in development: reflections on American family and society
J. D. Vance: Hillbilly Elegy
https://www.scribd.com/doc/316977006/Excerpt-From-Hillbilly-Elegy-by-J-D-Vance#download
EVALUATION
PRESENTATION (50 POINTS MAXIMUM)
- Social, political background - describe the era, the life of the general public, the socio-cultural situation (10 points)
- Describe the literary movement the author belonged to (e.g. realism, postmodernism...) (10 points)
- The life of the author – childhood, family, literary influences, partaking in social life, politics, major opinions, importance of the author (10 points)
- The short story/novel/essay – why is it important, what is it about (focus on the themes, not the plot), style, language, character development, main ideas (10 points)
- Answering questions from the audience (10 points)
Recommended literature:
American Literature: A History, Bertens and D´haen, Routledge, 2014
Baštín, Š. A Short History of American Literature. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského, 2000. (skriptá)
Guerin, Wilfred L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Hart, James D. The Oxford Companion to American Literature. New York: Oxford University.
Hunter, Gordon. American Literature, American Culture. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
McMichael, G. (ed.). Anthology of American Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Procházka, Martin, a kol. Lectures on American Literature. Praha: Karolinum, 2002.