Humanizing the American: Management of Difference in American Literature
ENGL 103
Spring 2009
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AMST 114 |
Literature is often described as a source of pleasure and knowledge about "human experience." This description assumes that the category of "human" is natural, eternal, and unchanging, and is simply re-presented in literature. In this course, we will challenge this idea by arguing that certain pleasures, knowledges, and experiences are claimed to be "human" through literature and are therefore used to justify the universality of the category. What we'll be reading for are the ways in which the category of "human" is assumed, created, and naturalized in literature, and how this category functions in literature that has been labeled as uniquely "American." How are differences and particularities imagined and represented in such literature? Keeping in mind that literature is always imbued with as well as shapes the historical, the social, and the cultural, we will read novels, short stories, and literary criticisms in ways that challenge our commonsensical understanding of what it means to be human and what it means to be American. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 | | Special Attributes: FYI |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Twain, Mark. THE TRAGEDY OF PUDD'NHEAD WILSON
Faulkner, William. LIGHT IN AUGUST
Sui Sin Far. MRS. SPRING FRAGRANCE AND OTHER STORIES
Zitkala-Sa. AMERICAN INDIAN STORIES, LEGENDS, AND OTHER WRITINGS
Morrison, Toni. THE BLUEST EYE
Viramontes, Helena Maria. THE MOTHS AND OTHER STORIES
lê thi diem thúy. THE GANGSTER WE ARE ALL LOOKING FOR
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Examinations and Assignments:
Short critical analysis papers, midterm and final paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Active participation in class discussion. |
| Instructor(s): Yang,Caroline H. Times: ..T.R.. 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: BTFDA413; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 2 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 19 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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