American Literature and Culture (LENG175)

Content

This course, American Literature and Culture, focuses on interpreting literature from and about the United States of America from the early colonial period to the present. By reading and analyzing a diverse range of intellectually serious and formally skillful literary works by acclaimed American authors, students will explore thematic topics such as: American exceptionalism, the American dream, democracy and civil rights, ecology and the environment, immigration and Americanization, modernity and modernization, postmodernity and post-WWII America, and post-9/11 America.

In addition to providing a sampling of the diverse beliefs and perspectives expressed in American literature, this course aims to develop students' critical understanding of American culture and society by situating literary texts, meaningfully, in relevant social, historical, and cultural contexts. In the process, students will develop valuable critical, analytic, and interpretive skills and enhance their ability to communicate effectively in English.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

By the end of the course, students are expected to have a basic understanding of:

• how intellectually serious and formally skillful texts and artifacts have contributed to the USA's diverse literary tradition;
• significant relationships between American literary texts and their particular social, cultural, and historical contexts;
• literary mediations of important historical events and sociocultural debates;
• diverse sociocultural situations, traditions, and philosophies that inform American literature.

Skills

By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:

• analyze and understand American literature from different perspectives and multiple historical periods and literary genres;
• interpret texts by conducting close readings and deploying relevant techniques and terms from literary and cultural studies;
• explain the sociocultural significance of selected texts and authors;
• identify relevant trends and movements that distinguish different literary periods within American literature.

General competence

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• use correct, varied, and precise English in order to participate in intellectual conversations about issues in literary and cultural studies;
• analyze what others have written or said, then summarize their arguments and assumptions;
• demonstrate critical, analytic, and interpretive skills using formal English

Required prerequisite knowledge

Recommended prerequisites

Exam

Coursework requirements

Two obligatory assignments.

Obligatory assignment 1 must be approved to be able to sit the mid-term exam.

Obligatory assignment 2 must be approved to be able to sit the final exam.

If the assignment is assessed as not approved on the first attempt, students are given one opportunity to submit a revised assignment.

Course teacher(s)

Course teacher:

Study Adviser:

Course teacher:

Course coordinator:

Study Adviser:

Method of work

Lectures with discussion and activities, seminars, and two obligatory assignments. Online discussions and resources.

Students are expected to:

1. Attend every class, unless health reasons and/or an emergency make attendance that day impossible. Register each absence in Canvas.
2. Do the required reading and study exercises before each class session.
3. Annotate (take notes in) course texts, primarily books, and have them at hand during class.
4. Spend approximately 19 hours per week studying for this course, including class meetings and out-of-class preparation.
5. Contribute to class discussions, both verbally and in writing; take notes and annotate course books during class; participate in study exercises, both in class and online.
6. Make use of online resources accessed via Canvas.
7. Check Canvas and UiS student email daily for updates and information.

Open for

Course assessment

Literature