Course Objectives: |
This advanced course explores American literature during the first half of the twentieth century.With the two world wars serving as bookends for our selections, we will discuss poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction prose from this robust period of literary production |
Course Content: |
This course explores American literature during the first half of the twentieth century. We will discuss poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction prose from this period of literary production. While in some ways indebted to the traditions of romantic, realist, naturalist, and regionalist writing that preceded it, in other aspects American modernism broke radically from earlier eras to reflect the turbulence of cultural, economic, and political activities during these decades. Both expanding the content and experimenting with the forms of previously accepted literature, many modernists concerned themselves with expressing what seemed irrevocably lost as well as extremely new about the United States in the interwar years. From the Great Migration to the Great Depression, from jazz to blues to cubism to surrealism to feminism to photojournalism, from the Harlem to the Chicago to the Southern Renaissances, we will sample the diverse strands and strains of American literature in the modern age. |
Week |
Subject |
Related Preparation |
1) |
Introduction to the Course, course description, course objectives, course materials |
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2) |
Robert Frost, selected poems
Introduction to American Literature, 1914-1945 (3-22); Robert Frost, bio plus all selections (230-252) |
Robert Frost, selected poems |
3) |
World War I and Its Aftermath (214-229); Modernist Manifestos (335-350); additional anti-modern manifestos (handout); Gertrude Stein, bio plus excerpt from The Making of Americans (197-203); Amy Lowell, bio (191-192) plus “September, 1918” (195) |
Gertrude Stein, bio plus excerpt from "The Making of
Americans" (197-203); Amy Lowell, bio (191-192) plus “September, 1918” (195) |
4) |
T. S. Eliot, bio plus “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
and excerpt from “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (365-375) |
T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” |
5) |
Wallace Stevens, bio plus all selections (281-295); Mina Loy, bio plus all selections (295-301); Marianne Moore, bio plus all selections (357-365) |
Wallace Stevens, bio plus all selections (281-295); Mina Loy, bio plus all selections (295-301); Marianne Moore, bio plus all selections (357-365) |
6) |
William Carlos Williams, bio plus all selections (302-313); E. E. Cummings, bio plus all selections (636-646); Claude McKay, bio plus all selections (480-484) |
William Carlos Williams, all selections (302-313);
E. E. Cummings, all selections (636-646); |
7) |
Eudora Welty, bio plus “Petrified Man” |
Eudora Welty, bio plus “Petrified Man” |
8) |
MIDTERM |
All the sources done in class have to be read and studied. |
9) |
Katherine Anne Porter, bio plus “Flowering Judas” and “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” |
Katherine Anne Porter, bio plus “Flowering Judas” and “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” |
10) |
F. Scott Fitzgerald, bio (658-59) plus “Babylon Revisited” (675-689);
Ernest Hemingway, bio plus “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (824-842)
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F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Babylon Revisited” (675-689);
Ernest Hemingway,“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (824-842)
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11) |
John Steinbeck, bio plus “The Leader of the People” (881-892);
Richard Wright, bio plus “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” (898-907); |
John Steinbeck, “The Leader of the People” (881-892);
Richard Wright, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” (898-907); |
12) |
Tennessee Williams, "The Glass Menagerie" |
Tennessee Williams, "The Glass Menagerie" |
13) |
Sam Shepard, bio plus "The Buried Child" |
Sam Shepard, "The Buried Child" |
14) |
Sam Shepard, "The Buried Child" |
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15) |
FINAL EXAMINATION |
All materials done in class have to be studied. |
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Program Outcomes |
Level of Contribution |
1) |
Have basic up-to-date theoretical and applied knowledge in English language, literature and culture. |
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2) |
Have basic up-to-date theoretical and applied knowledge in literary genres, aesthetic movements, literary terminology, and concepts in English literature. |
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3) |
Have a thorough understanding and capability of analizing historical, social, cultural, economic and political backgrounds of different genres of English literature. |
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4) |
Have advanced knowledge of English language, its morphology and function in written and spoken forms, and capability of using it effectively in academic and professional environments. |
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5) |
Have theoretical and practical knowledge and ability required for the translation of various texts from English to Turkish and vice versa. |
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6) |
Have critical, creative and analytical thinking skills. |
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7) |
Develop a broad historical and cross-cultural perspective, and an unbiased and respectful attitude to both his/her own society, literature and culture and literatures of different cultures by studying English literature and culture. |
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8) |
Have upper-intermediate (B2) knowledge of another foreign language (Spanish), and be able to use it confidently in everyday life |
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9) |
Have a high ethical awareness and responsibility in personal, professional, and social life. |
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10) |
Be able to collect and interpret data to do research independently or in groups, define/solve problems in the process, and express the outcomes effectively in national, international academic, social and professional environments by using critical, creative, and analytical skills. |
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11) |
Have knowledge of using up-to-date information technologies and research methods in the field of literature, and humanities in general. |
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12) |
Be able to undertake responsibility in team work as a leader or a member. |
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13) |
Develop an appreciation and a positive attitude toward life-long learning. |
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14) |
Develop a higher awareness about universal values, such as democracy, human rights, social justice, cultural heritages, and environmental issues. |
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