History of American Literature II.

American Literature in the 20th Century

Course description 2021

Teacher: PaedDr. Puskás Andrea, PhD. e-mail: [email protected] Office: 208 Form: 1 lecture + 1 seminar

Tentative Syllabus:

Week 1 Seminar: Introduction to the course, discussion of course syllabus. Lecture: General introduction to Modernism. American Modernism. Modernist Poetry. Traditionalism, Imagism, Objectivism. A selection of modernist poetry Week 2 Seminar: Henry James. The Beast in the Jungle. Lecture: ‘Making it new’ in Prose. Gertrude Stein. The Lost Generation. Ernest Hemingway. Week 3 Seminar: The short stories of Ernest Hemingway: Cat in the Rain. The End of Something. The Undefeated. Lecture: American drama in the 20th century. Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller. Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire. Week 4 Seminar: William Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury. Lecture: American drama in the 20th century part II. Edward Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Week 5 Seminar: The Jazz Age. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby Lecture: The Beat Generation. Allen Ginsberg. Jack Kerouac: On the Road. Charles Bukowski. Ken Kesey Week 6 Seminar: J. D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye. The short stories of J. D. Salinger: For Esmé with Love and Squalor Lecture: Half-term test. Week 7 Lecture: The emergence of Postmodernism in American literature. Brian McHale, Susan Sontag, John Barth Constructing the Self. Postmodern Consciousness and Identity. Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49. Seminar: The neo-pastoral and the hippie movement in American literature. Week 8 Seminar: Richard Brautigan: In Watermelon Sugar. The poetry of R. Brautigan. Lecture: Woody Allen: The Kugelmass Episode. The Lunatic’s Tale Week 9 Seminar: The employment of black humour in fiction. Kurt Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle Lecture: Community and Identity – Immigrant Writing. Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita. Week 10 Seminar: The short stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Spring in Fialta Lecture: Defining new black identity: African American fiction and feminist fiction. Toni Morrison: Beloved. Week 11 Seminar: Alice Walker: Everyday Use Lecture: American Jewish fiction. Saul Bellow. Bernard Malamud. Bernard Malamud: The Prison Week 12 Seminar: Feminist fiction in American Literature Amy Tan: Two Kinds Lecture: Paula Vogel: Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief Week 13 Seminar: End-of-term test Lecture: Concluding thoughts

Assessment based on:

 oral exam – it will be based on the information given at the lectures on 20th century American literature and your reading assignments; you will receive the text version of the lectures, though it is highly recommended to take notes during lectures and seminars. The syllabus of the course (the order of lectures) might change due to holidays or other circumstances; it will be indicated by sending you an e- mail).  regular class attendance – no more than 2 absences; attendance of lectures is obligatory, too, similarly to the seminars, you can miss no more than 2 lectures.  a Portfolio – you have to prepare a file with all the materials you are given in class + you have to write an analysis of each literary work that you are obliged to read, namely:

1. Henry James. The Beast in the Jungle, 2. Ernest Hemingway: The End of Something 3. Ernest Hemingway: The Undefeated 4. Ernest Hemingway: Cat in the Rain 5. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby 6. William Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury 7. Vladimir Nabokov. Spring in Fialta 8. J. D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye 9. Alice Walker: Everyday Use 10. Richard Brautigan: In Watermelon Sugar 11. Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49 12. Kurt Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle 13. Woody Allen: The Kugelmass Episode 14. Woody Allen: The Lunatic’s Tale 15. Bernard Malamud: The Prison 16. Paula Vogel: Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief 17. Amy Tan: Two Kinds

Optimally, each author + literary work will go into a different file, so finally your portfolio will have 17 files. Basic criteria: please do read the text, not just the plot summary! In your written comment on the given work you are supposed to give a textual analysis, not the description of the plot. Prepare quotes from the text (at least 5) to support your ideas and interpret them. Make sure that you write down your own opinion and responses to the text and not just copy someone else’s from the Internet. I can only accept hand-written texts (quotes from the texts can be typed). You have to hand in your Portfolio before the oral exam, without that I cannot give you a mark. This means that starting to work on your portfolio 1 week before the oral exam will not do you any good, since it is impossible to read so many books + write an analysis/commentary for each within a week. You have to work throughout the whole course. Deadline for handing in portfolios: at least 3 days before the oral exam.  2 tests on theory – a half-term and an end-of-term test, including theory (lectures); your result must be at least 50% on average (from the two), otherwise you get an Fx in AIS; after this you have 2 exam dates for retaking the test + if succeeded, take the oral exam; if you have 50% or more, you can go for the oral exam automatically In case of online semester: there are no tests, you will be examined during an online meeting in an oral form.  a presentation – each student has to give a presentation on a selected topic; if you fail to turn up on the day of the presentation without any prior notice, you will be given 2 absences. If you cannot present your topic due to some reason, you are asked to hand it in in a written form. The presentation has to be prepared in Power Point/prezi as well. The minimum number of slides: 12. You mustn’t read your presentation, please talk to the audience.  active participation in class discussions during the lessons  You have to watch the following films during the course: Midnight in Paris (2011) directed by Woody Allen Hemingway and Gellhorn (2012) directed by Philip Kaufman

Due to the pandemic and the general lockdown in Slovakia, the course is going to start online on Zoom. Students registered for the course will get access details through e-mail. Students are required to use a camera (switched on) during classes.

Recommended literature:  GRAY, Richard. 2004. A History of American Literature. Blackwell Publishing.  BEACH, Christopher. 2003. The Cambridge Introduction to Twentieth-Century American Poetry. CUP.  LEWIS, Pericles. 2007. The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism. CUP.  NICOL, Bran. 2009. The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction. CUP.  KALAIDJIAN, Walter, ed. 2005. The Cambridge Companion to American Modernism. CUP.  BRADBURY, Malcolm. 1992. The Modern American Novel. OUP.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Enjoy the course and most of all enjoy reading!