English 367.02

The American Experience as Reflected in Literature

Dzanko

Credit hours: 5
GEC categories: Second Required Writing Course
Prerequisites: English 110 or equivalent

Text Books:

Example Syllabus:
Website: http://english.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/

Course Objectives: The authors and texts we will discuss in this course are concerned with the same deceptively simple question: What is 'the American experience', and how do our own lives figure in it? As we search for answers, we will come across a great many characters (both real and literary) struggling with that very difficulty. Some will succeed, and some will fall short; however, even the most quixotic search for America will, in the end, be of great consequence to the lives of those involved. It is my hope that the 'brief lives' depicted by these keenly observational (and award-winning) writers will afford you the opportunity to examine your own lives in a distinctly American context.

Course Content: We will study three immensely interesting works by contemporary American writers. Each work offers a different look at 'the American experience', and, by the course's end, will provide you with a far clearer notion of what that experience actually means.

The texts under scrutiny (along with their authors) are: White Noise (Don DeLillo), Wonder Boys (Michael Chabon), and A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson). We will also be using supplementary readings to further enhance the ideas at work in the texts, and will even take in a film and a reading or two as the course progresses.

Method of Presentation: The course will consist of lecture and discussion, with as much of the latter as possible.

Method of Evaluation: You will write (and revise) three papers and give a short presentation on a topic of your choosing. Also, participation will count for a substantial percentage of your grade.

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