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CS92PROD
American Literature from the Colonial Period to the Civil War
ENGL 203
Fall 2011
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: AMST 155

In this survey of American literature from the first European contact to the U.S. Civil War, we will read celebrated novels, stories, and poems alongside historic letters, speeches, and memoirs that will help us grapple with a question raised in the 18th-century: "what, then, is an American, this new man." We will expand the scope of this question (who gets to be considered an American and by whom?) and consider a range of contradictory representations that depict America and the United States as a land of promise and brutal conflict, as a "contact zone" that inspires collaboration as well as violent contention.

Throughout the course we will pay close attention to conversations between texts, to expressive form, and to the different ways that literary genres and conventions articulate the aspirations, conflicts, and contradictions that each text reveals. Close reading will help us discern the importance of how a text is written in determining what it means.

Essential Capabilities: Interpretation, Writing
Students will sharpen their interpretive abilities through careful reading and directed writing assignments.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL
Course Format: LectureGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(ENGL)(ENGL-Literature)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on NOV-12-2024
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