We will read and discuss novels and short stories written by American authors in the period just following the Civil War. Students will be expected to do the assigned readings and attend class regularLY. Written work will consist entirely of a series of in-class essays writen in response to study questions handed out in advance.

The texts: Judith Fetterly, ed. AMERICAN WOMEN REGIONALISTS 1850-1910; William Dean Howells, THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM; Kate Chopin, THE AWAKENING AND SELECTED SHORT STORIES; Frank Norris, McTEAGUE; Stephen Crane, THE GREAT SHORT WORKS OF STEPHEN CRANE; Henry James, THE AMERICAN; Charles Chesnutt. THE CONJURE WOMAN; Mark Twain, THE GREAT SHORT WORKS OF MARK TWAIN