American Literature 1900-1945
Class Information
Instructor: Solomon, Jeff
CRN: 44725
Time: TR 9:00-10:20
Location: 118 Olson
GE Areas: American Cultures, Governance, and History Domestic Diversity Writing Experience
Description
This course will provide an overview of American literature written between 1900 and 1945, with an emphasis upon evolving notions of national community and "American values" through the end of WWII. We will examine a range of artistic responses to the tumultuous social, technological, intellectual, and political conditions of modernity in the U.S. We will closely attend to the content and form of works from established and emerging artistic traditions including social realism, regionalism, modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the rise of visual culture in order to think through the ways texts engage audiences of issues of national identity in the wake of rapid industrialization, immigration, progressive social movements, imperialism, and global warfare.
Grading
Researched Final Essay - 20%
Online Research Presentation & Report - 20%
Brief Weekly Responses to Discussion Questions - 50%
In-Class Activities & Reading Quizzes - 10%
Texts
The Awakening, Kate Chopin
The Big Money, John Dos Passos
Passing, Nella Larsen
Citizen 13660, Mine Okubo
If He Hollers Let Him Go, Chester Himes