Description
This course is a survey of American literature from its beginnings to the present. Students will study the development of a national literature that makes history come alive. We will examine how various texts reflect the social, cultural, and moral development of the United States through historical and literary movements, and will trace the development of the American literary artist and the genres that became the major vehicles of American letters through discussions about character, setting, plot, voice, narrative distance and reliability, point of view, symbol, and theme. Close reading and a variety of writing exercises will provide fodder for lively classroom discussion. Recommended prerequisite: ENG 110.