At the end of the course the students will have acquired a sound knowledge of XIX century American literature. Students will also reach a good of knowledge of the contemporary debates about literary value, canonicity and American identity.
Prerequisites: Students are eligible to take the second-year exam only after successfully completing Anglo-American Literature I and English Language and Translation I.
Lectures (in English). An active participation on the part of students is strongly encouraged.
The final exam will be written and it will last 90 minutes. It will include 2 questions. Students will be asked 1) to contextualize and analyze a passage taken from one of the primary sources, and 2) to write a short essay on one of the topics analyzed during the course. The quality of the language used (grammatical and lexical correctness, fluency, rhetorical effectiveness) will be a significant element of the overall evaluation.
Grading scale: a. Outstanding (30 - 30 e lode ): excellent knowledge of all of the contents of the course. Excellent ability to analyze the texts and to contextualize them in an appropriate way. The student uses the academic writing register/style with appropriate linguistic terminologies. b. Very good (29 to 27): very good knowledge of all of the contents of the course. Very good ability to analyze the texts and to contextualize them in an appropriate way. c. Good (26-24): Good knowledge of the contents of the course. Adequate ability to describe the texts. The language used is simple but correct. d. Fair/sufficient (23-18): The work has sufficient knowledge, coherence, use of appropriate resources and quality of presentation to warrant a basic pass. The ability to analyze the texts is not wholly satisfactory. The work is very descriptive and does not fully address the issues raised by the question. e. Fail (below 18): The student demonstrates only a basic awareness of the contents of the course. The work is frequently confused and incoherent.
This course introduces students to the emergence of the American short story in the nineteenth century, examining the genre through selected works by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Kate Chopin. By reading these authors and studying the history of their critical reception from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, students will develop the ability to analyze literary works in relation to their historical and cultural contexts. The course will strengthen students' interpretive and argumentative skills through the analysis of issues of identity, gender, and social change. It will also introduce students to critical debates about aesthetic value by focusing on the cultural and social forces that shaped the American literary canon in the early twentieth century.
The course will take place in the first Semester (1st and 2nd sub-periods).
Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus students should inform the instructor of their enrollment in the course by sending her an e-mail before the beginning of the course. IMPORTANT: For a complete list of the required readings (primary and secondary sources), students must carefully read the course bibliography in LEGANTO. The same information will also be available on the Moodle pages for this course.
