ENG 254 Survey of American Literature: 1865 to Present

1. Read a literary work at a literal level: accurately describe genre, subject, structure, style, theme, character, and setting. 
2. Read a literary work at a figurative level: recognize literary devices and identify their function within a particular text and among different texts. 
3. Read a literary work at a critical level: question, interpret, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate. 
4. Identify the social, political, and cultural contexts that give rise to literary critical lenses and be able to identify how different lenses affect interpretation of texts. 
5. Identify and define literary/rhetorical devices and elements covered in literary representative texts of late nineteenth century through present. 
6. Distinguish literary/rhetorical elements in texts that reflect originating cultural traditions and forms. 
7. Identify and compare literary periods, styles, and themes in course texts. 
8. Describe the varying political, social and cultural perspectives expressed in the literature between 1865-present. 
9. Explain the cultural, social and political functions of American literature between 1865-present. 
10. Identify and define key literary movements of late nineteenth and twentieth century American literature. 
11. Articulate and defend plausible interpretations of reading assignments. 
12. Write critical analyses of literature, including at least one essay in MLA format using MLA documentation and citations. 
13. Use critical thinking skills to interpret the significance of the literature chosen for inclusion, to explore the implications of these choices, and to examine how related agendas play out socially. 
14. Begin to move from analysis and evaluation of literature to possible actions that affect construction of our identities, as well as cultural, political, ideological, and socioeconomic exchanges on both personal and national levels. 

Statewide General Education Outcomes:

1. Interpret and engage in the Arts and Letters, making use of the creative process to enrich the quality of life. 
2. Critically analyze values and ethics within a range of human experience and expression to engage more fully in local and global issues. 

Cultural Literacy (DPR) Outcome:

1. Identify and analyze complex practices, values, and beliefs and the culturally and historically defined meanings of difference. 

• Approaches to the Study of Literature and Reading Strategies 
• Relevance of Studying American Literature/Questions of Its Canon and Competing Voices, Literary and Cultural Traditions 
• Literary Terminology 
• Literary Genres and Elements 
  • Non-fiction genres (such as travel narratives, slave narratives, diaries, autobiographies, histories, letters, sermons, essays, etc.) 
    • Content and themes 
    • Historical and cultural contexts from varied American traditions 
    • Audience 
    • Rhetorical strategies 
    • Literary devices and elements 
  • Fiction genres (short story, satires, novels) 
    • Historical and cultural attitudes toward fiction from varied American traditions 
    • Common themes 
    • Elements of fiction (plot and themes, narrative form, point of view, style, tone, characterization, setting, and figurative language) 
  • Poetry 
    • Historical and cultural attitudes toward poetry 
    • Themes 
    • Forms (ballad, sonnet, etc.) 
    • Elements of poetry (devices of sound, rhythm, diction and syntax, tone, figurative language, imagery, point of view) 
  • Drama 
    • Historical and cultural attitudes toward drama from varied American traditions 
    • Purpose of drama and audience 
    • Forms (satire, allegory, etc.) 
    • Common themes 
    • Elements of drama (plot and theme, characterization, structure, style, setting, figurative language, stage direction) 
• Literary Movements and Periods in Dialogue 1865-Present 
  • Domesticity 
  • Regionalism  
  • Realism  
  • Naturalism 
  • Pre-Modernism 
  • Modernism 
  • Harlem Renaissance 
  • Post World War II perspectives 
  • Beat generation and 1960’s counterculture 
  • Native American renaissance 
  • Civil Rights 
  • Postmodernism 
  • Globalization and multiculturalism 
• Historical/Cultural Contexts (1865-Present) 
  • Diversity of American literary voices 
  • Reform movements (such as suffragist, abolitionists, domestic novelists etc.) 
  • Westward expansion, manifest destiny ideology, exploration, settlement, and “closing” frontier 
  • Impact of westward expansion and Indian policies on indigenous people (wars, disease, relocation, removals, terminations, etc.) 
  • Spanish American war and expansionism, American empire building 
  • Industrialization, urbanization, black diaspora, science 
  • Advances in physics, medicine, and psychology and other sciences 
  • Immigration and security and exclusionary acts, illegal immigration, terrorism 
  • Reconstruction, segregation, and Jim Crow policies 
  • World War I and II, depression, Vietnam, Korea, Cold War, terrorism 
  • Civil Rights (Black Arts, AIM, ERA/Feminist Movement, Stonewall, etc.) 
  • 1960s Counterculture and popular culture 
  • Population shifts, agriculture, and urban growth 
  • Environmental issues, globalization, print, broadcast media and digital revolutions  
• Writing Literary Analysis  
  • Conventions of the Literary Essay 
    • Establishing a thesis 
    • Incorporating details from the text, including quotes 
    • Incorporating and documenting information from other sources 
    • MLA format and style