[kokosas]

This class focuses on American Literature mainly about American slave societies and social changes in America. Authors that you cover range from Mark Twain, to T.S. Eliot to William Faulkner to Ralph Ellison. The novels are well chosen and there was only two that I did not like.

The prof who taught it for me, Dr. S. Schryer, focused on close readings of the text and demanded a very strong thesis. It was hard for me to get an A on my papers in my tutorials, but I felt that I was graded fairly which is why I gave it a 7 in the category of 'easiness'.

Because the syllabus is not available online I will post the important parts of my old one here to give you an idea of the course:



English 2Y06 American Literature: Postbellum, Modern and Contemporary

Fall 2007 and Winter 2008

Course Description:

This course offers a survey of U.S. fiction and poetry from the end of the Civil War to the present. Beginning with fictions in the realist and naturalist tradition that dominated the literary scene in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the course then explores the emergence of American modernism and postmodernism from these roots. Although our primary focus is close textual analysis, we will also trace interconnections between literary texts and broader social currents such as the evolution of Jim Crow racism, the urbanization of America, the emergence of the welfare state and the rise of the new middle class.



Required Texts: (These are available at Titles, the campus bookstore)

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 6th edition, Volume D
Mark Twain – Huckleberry Finn
Stephen Crane – Maggie, a Girl of the Streets
Gertrude Stein – Three Lives
Ernest Hemingway – The Sun Also Rises
Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man
Thomas Pynchon – The Crying of Lot 49
Toni Morrison – Beloved
English 2Y06 custom course pack

Evaluation Scheme:

Tutorial response papers: 15%
First essay (1500 words, due Nov. 8): 15%
Midterm exam: 20%
Second essay (2000 words, due March 20): 30%
Final exam: 20%

Students will be requested to complete a course evaluation at the end of the course.

Tutorial Response Papers:

Each week, I will be posting a reading question on the course website. You will write a brief (one page, double-spaced) response paper for your weekly tutorial session. These papers are designed to generate tutorial discussion. You will hand in these papers to your tutorial leader, who will grade them on a pass / fail basis.

Late Assignment Policy:

All response papers are due at the beginning of your tutorial session; they cannot be turned in late. The two major essays may be turned in late but will be penalized at a rate of part of a letter grade per day (i.e., B to B-). I will not accept any essay turned in later than one week after the deadline. Extensions are granted only in cases of officially documented medical or family emergencies.

I can't take the 6 unit course but I signed up for the 3 unit version of american literature... do you think it will be similar? PS there is no english requirements for the 3 unit version.. does that mean they will go over what is expected for a good essay? Thanks!

can't believe you guys did Crying of Lot 49 in a class, that is so cool