Course Syllabus

ENGL 2520 American Literature II

Course Description

This course focuses on the development of ideas, movements, and genres in American literature from Realism to the present as illustrated through representative texts. The course will focus on close reading, literary conventions, historical influences, contextual and textual analysis, interpretation, synthesis, critical thinking, and writing.

Justification

A lower division survey of American literature is standard at most colleges and universities. This course will transfer as general education, elective, or major credit. It fulfills general education credit within the Humanities category (HU) and a major requirement for English majors.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Students will be able to understand the value of literature in making meaning within evolving cultural contexts. Students will be able to read and discuss a selection of significant and representative American literary texts from Realism to the present in order to understand its development and effect across peoples and times.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students will be able to read a variety of primary texts and research surrounding historical context through secondary source material.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Students will be able to draw from a variety of disciplines (history, sociology, philosophy, etc.) in order to situate and understand literary texts within broader disciplinary contexts.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Students will be able to critically evaluate rhetorical choices authors make in order to understand and interpret the literature. Students will be able to understand the development of ideas, movements, and genres in American literature as reflected through representative texts. Students will demonstrate their ability to read and think critically about literature, understand its context, and interpret meaning.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Students will be able to examine various genres such as poetry, drama, short stories, novels, oral narratives, and more. Students will be able to identify philosophical questions about human thought and experience in American literary texts from 1865-present, and from their own related experiences. Students will be able to articulate the ways in which these American authors have asked and answered these questions and join their voices to the larger academic conversation. Students will be able to examine various genres such as poetry, drama, short stories, novels, oral narratives, and more. Students will be able to identify philosophical questions about human thought and experience in American literary texts from 1865-present, and from their own related experiences. Students will be able to articulate the ways in which these American authors have asked and answered these questions and join their voices to the larger academic conversation.
2. EXPLAIN: Explain how humanities artifacts take on meaning within networks or systems (such as languages, cultures, values, and worldviews) that account for the complexities and uncertainties of the human condition. Students will be able to understand how knowledge is created, shaped, shared, experienced, etc. within the field of literature and beyond, and how history, audience, literary strategies, and personal biases impact the reading and understanding of a text.
3. ANALYZE: Analyze humanities artifacts according to humanities methodologies, such as a close analysis, questioning, reasoning, interpretation, and critical thinking. Students will be able to engage in close-text reading of American literature such as oral narratives, personal memoirs, primary historical documents, fiction and more, using critical thinking to question, reason, and interpret the text and its larger interdisciplinary connections.
4. COMPARE AND CONTRAST: Compare and contrast diverse humanistic perspectives across cultures, communities, and/or time periods to explain how people make meaning of their lives. Students will be able to recognize interdisciplinary connections between literature, history, and culture in the United States from 1865 to the present. Students will be able to connect texts and their meanings across time, geography, and community, recognizing shared human experiences and differing forces. They will be able to examine and discuss representative works of American literature within an interdisciplinary, informed context, recognizing connections with contemporary culture.
5. APPLY: Using humanities perspectives, reflect on big questions related to aesthetics, values, meaning, and ethics and how those apply to their own lives.  Students will be able to reflect on, and apply, literary texts and associated ideas and questions within the contexts of their individual experiences and larger community. They will be able to examine relevant ethical complexities and values in representative texts and explore how they connect with their contemporary experiences.

Student Learning Outcomes

Course Content

English 2520 covers a wide selection of major literary works of American literature that represents the movements of Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Postmodernism, and more contemporary works. Texts may span different genres and mediums.