I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Survey of American Literature

2. Course Prefix & Number:
ENGL 2460

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

Internship Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This survey course dives into the historical and literary movements that shaped North American literature. From the early writings to contemporary, diverse voices that ask us “What does it mean to be an American?”, the experience transforms the reader into a literary historian. Genres include (but are not limited to) short story, poetry, non-fiction (oral narratives, historical writing, essays, letters, autobiographies). The course explores the following literary movements: Native American oral and written traditions, Puritan literature, American Romantic movement, Realism, Naturalism, Regionalism, Modernism, and Post-Modernism.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

Reading College Level CLC or Reading College Level

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Riverland Community College, ENGL 2243 Survey of American Literature, 3 credits

III. Course Purpose

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 6 – Humanities and Fine Arts
• Goal 7 – Human Diversity

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Compose written responses that analyze and interpret literary texts, using quotes from the texts to support interpretation and show knowledge of literary genres.
Demonstrate reading and listening skills	Read critically, identify themes, and listen and engage in discussion with classmates about literary works.
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills	Engage in discussions that demonstrate comprehension of the texts and discussions that examine attitudes about unequal power, racism, and sociopolitical factors that have influenced American literature.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities (MnTC Goal 6);
• Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within a historical and social context (MnTC Goal 6);
• Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities (MnTC Goal 6);
• Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities (MnTC Goal 6);
• Understand the development of and the changing meanings of group identities in the United States' history and culture (MnTC Goal 7);
• Demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society (MnTC Goal 7);
• Analyze their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry (MnTC Goal 7);
• Describe and discuss the experience and contributions (political, social, economic, etc.) of the many groups that shape American society and culture, in particular those groups that have suffered discrimination and exclusion (MnTC Goal 7); and
• Demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity (MnTC Goal 7).

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Introduction
• What is “American Literature?”
• Reading like a literary historian
• Critical reading strategies
• Key terms and concepts
2. Colonial Period to 1700 (Enlightenment)
• Native American oral tradition (narrative and poetry)
• Imperialism
• Challenging imperialism
• Voices from the “New World”
• The Great Awakening
• Resistance, rebellion, and revolution   
• Boundaries of race, identity, and nation
3. Early Nineteenth Century: 1800-1865 (Romanticism)
• Myths, tales, and legends
• Origins of the “American Self”
• Transcendentalism
• Gothic literature  
• Pre-Civil War tensions
• Slavery and captivity narratives
• Abolition and social protest
• Women’s rights, voices, and literatures
• American poetic voices
4. Mid-Late 19^th Century—Realism
• Post-Civil War America and the reevaluation of “self”
• Reconstruction
• Rise of realism
• Regionalism
• Social Realism
5. The Modern Age: 1910-1945 (Modernism)
• Alienation and Experimentation (expatriates)
• Political Poetry
• The Harlem Renaissance
• Great Depression and protest literature
• Migrant struggles
• Literature of World War II
6. Postmodernism (1945-present)
• Postwar Literature
• Existential literature
• Metafiction
• Magical Realism
• Southern renaissance
• The “Beat Generation” & Other Counterculture Literature
• Native American Renaissance
• Feminism
• LGBT literature
• Post-Modernist Poetry