Module Code - Title:
EH4023
-
THE NEW WORLD: AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1890
Year Last Offered:
2023/4
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
This module offers students a survey of some of the primary literary themes and cultural concerns that have contributed to the formulation of a distinct tradition of American literature from the initial colonisation of the continent to 1890.
Syllabus:
American literature pre-1620 (for examples, Columbus, de Vaca, Harriot, Smith): American literature from 1620 to the early 18th century (for example, Bradford, Bradstreet, Rowlandson, Byrd); the Puritan influence (for example, Williams, Taylor, Mather, Edwards); the Age of Enlightenment and Revolution 1750-1820 (for example, Paine, Jefferson, The Federalist, Murray); 19th century American literature (for example, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Whitman, Melville, Dickinson); incipient American modernism.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
Display knowledge of a range of key American authors and poets of the period.
Interpret and analyse texts in a socio-historical context.
Recognise the key generic features of texts and how they differ.
Relate texts to others in the American tradition and contrast with European literary heritage.
Identify and define major cultural and literary movements relating to the core texts; demonstrate an ability to recognise and critically analyse ideological positions in literature.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate an appreciation of American literature to 1890s complex dialogue with issues of religion, politics and personal and national identity.
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
N/A
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
The module will be taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials that engage with selected primary texts and that are supplemented by secondary literary and critical material (assigned, recommended and/or sourced by students). Lectures will combine contextualisation with close reading, illustrated, where necessary, by visual and audio material. Tutorials will have an emphasis on participative group-work, and, through a focus on critical discussion, will develop skills in reading, listening and communicating.
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Baym N (ed) (2007)
The Norton Anthology of American Literature: v. A, B (7e)
, New York: W. W. Norton
Other Relevant Texts:
Bercovitch S (ed) (1986)
Reconstructing American Literary History
, Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP
Bercovitch S (1993)
The Rites of Assent: Transformations in the Symbolic Construction of America
, London: Routledge
Bercovitch S (ed) (2006)
The Cambridge History of American Literature: v 1-2
, Cambridge: Cambridge UP
Carr H (1996)
Inventing the American Primitive: Politics, Gender and the Representation.
, Cork: Cork UP
Davies, P.J (ed) (1996)
Representing and Imagining America
, Staffordshire:Keele UP
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
Semester - Year to be First Offered:
Module Leader:
Generic PRS