Selected topics in American literature and culture

 

Introduction to the course

 

1. Colonial period

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

American Literature; Its Position in the Present Time, and Prospects for the Future | transcendentalism.tamu.edu

 

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

 

8. Postmodernism

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.