ENG2100 Modern American Literature
In this course, students will initially discuss the movement away from literary romanticism in American literature in the mid-1800s, and the mood for change in literary style. In this half of the course such works as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will be studied in detail. Students will then also explore the regional realists as a transition between the old romanticism and the new realism. Time will be spent on a discussion of the social and philosophical influences upon the American literary scene, especially through the rise of realism and naturalism in the late 1800s. Authors of note in this segment include Jack London, Stephen Crane, and Kate Chopin. Students will also explore the revaluation of American values and the rise of social criticism through the extension of naturalism and the development of expressionistic and stream of consciousness techniques. Authors in this group include Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. An extended study of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby will be included. Sometime will be spent on considering the alienation and dissatisfaction expressed during the 1920s and 1930s and the works that demonstrate that trend. Finally there will be a brief survey of recent trends in contemporary 20th and 21st century American fiction and poetry. 3 Cr Hr. Course Requirement(s): None.
Prerequisite
None