English 200: Reading Literature
English 200 is intended to encourage and develop practices of critical interpretation in the reading of literature. Our focus in this course will be on U.S. literature from the mid-19th century to the early 20th C. We will read non-fiction essays, short stories and novels from key authors of each period in order to track the literary and cultural changes occurring during this period of increased immigration, intense industrialization and urbanization of the American landscape.
Some key questions we will consider are as follows: How do we understand the tradition of literature as readers and university students? What is the relationship between literature as a cultural product and the culture in which it is produced? Or, in other words, what is American literature’s relation to the nation-form itself? Finally, we will ask, what is the most effective critical framework for understanding literature’s place in the institution of the university? Through these particular focus-points, as well as selected readings in literary and cultural theory, we will attempt to formulate a critical approach to reading literature that emphasizes analytic reading and writing skills.
Note: This course fulfills a ‘W’ credit. Students will write one 3 page and two 5-7 page papers over the course of the quarter, and will required to revise their writing based on instructor and peer feedback. This class is primarily discussion based and daily participation will constitute a significant amount of the total grade.
Authors and texts include:
Emerson: “Nature”
Melville: “Benito Cerino”
Rebecca Harding-Davis: “Life in the Iron Mils”
Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton: The Squatter and the Don
Charles W. Chesnutt: The Marrow of Tradition
John Dos Passos: The 42nd Parallel