HILL COLLEGE
112 Lamar Drive
Hillsboro, TX 76645
Course Syllabus
Course Prefix and Number
English 2328
Section:
Course Title
Semester:
American Literature II
Instructor:
Contact:
Phone:
E-mail:
ACGM Description:
ENGL 2328
A survey of American literature from the Civil War to the present. Students will study works of
prose, poetry, drama, and fiction in relation to their historical and cultural contexts. Texts will be
selected from among a diverse group of authors for what they reflect and reveal about the
evolving American experience and character.
Catalog Description:
Lecture Hours
3
Lab Hours 0
Semester Credit Hours 3
Pre-Requisite: ENGL 1301 (Composition I)
Textbook: Baym, Nina. Norton Anthology of American Literature: Volumes C, D and E. Eighth
Edition. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2012.
Supplies: Paper, pen, pencils, Scantron answer sheets as required, examination blue books,
collegiate dictionary, thesaurus
Purpose of the course:
From 1860 to the present. The course treats briefly of the emergence of modern American
literature in order to center attention on major literary figures of the latter half of the nineteenth
century and the twentieth century. Both narrative and expository prose are studied along with
poetry and drama. This course is intended to acquaint students with the major American writers
and writings of the late nineteenth century and twentieth century. American Literature II will
satisfy degree requirements for Hill College and for transfer credit to senior institutions.
Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
1. Identify key ideas, representative authors and works, significant historical or cultural events,
and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in the literature of different periods or
regions.
2. Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the social,
political, cultural, or religious contexts of different literary periods.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the development of characteristic forms or styles of expression
during different historical periods or in different regions.
4. Articulate the aesthetic principles that guide the scope and variety of works in the arts and
humanities.
5. Write research-based critical papers about the assigned readings in clear and grammatically
correct prose, using various critical approaches to literature.
Description of Institutional Core Objectives (ICO’s)
Given the rapid evolution of necessary knowledge and skills and the need to take into account
global, national, state, and local cultures, the core curriculum must ensure that students will
develop the essential knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college, in a career, in
their communities, and in life. Therefore, with the assistance of the Undergraduate Education
Advisory Committee, the Coordinating Board approved a 42 semester credit hour core curriculum
for all undergraduate students in Texas, including a statement of purpose, six core objectives,
and common component areas.
Statement of Purpose
Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human
cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social
responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are
essential for all learning. Hill College faculty periodically evaluate the objectives included in the
Foundational Component Area of Language, Philosophy, and Culture.
Core Objective
College SLO
Course
SLO
1-4, 8-9
Critical
Thinking Skills
CT1: Generate and
communicate ideas by
combining, changing or
reapplying existing information
Communication
Skills
Use Any
CS1: Develop, interpret, and
express ideas through written
communication
1-4, 8-9
Communication
Skills
Use Any
CS2: Develop, interpret, and
express ideas through oral
communication
1-3, 7-8
Communication
Skills
Use Any
CS3: Develop, interpret, and
express ideas through visual
communication
3, 7-9
General Learning
Activities
Pre-writing,
brainstorming, outlining,
class and group
discussion
Assessment
Embedded
assessment
analysis, written
essays and
research papers
Pre-writing,
Embedded
brainstorming, outlining, assessment
writing multiple drafts to analysis, written
conclude with a final draft essays and
research papers
Pre-writing,
Embedded
brainstorming, outlining
assessment
to conclude with an oral
analysis, student
and visual presentation
presentations
Pre-writing,
Embedded
brainstorming, outlining
assessment
to conclude with a visual analysis, power
presentation
point presentation
Social
Responsibility
Use Any
SR1: Demonstrate intercultural
competence
4, 5, 6
Social
Responsibility
Use Any
Social
Responsibility
Use Any
SR2: Identify civic responsibility 1-2, 7, 8
Personal
Responsibility
PR1: Evaluate choices and
actions and relate consequences
to decision-making
SR3: Engage in regional, national 3, 7
and global communities
1-9
Class discussion, student
presentations
Class discussion, student
presentations, community
volunteer hours
Use research and blog
with students from
various countries with
varying cultural belief
systems
Class discussion, writing
from a different point of
view, creating a
cause/effect analysis
Students'
contribution to
discussion and
listening to other
students
Class discussion of
importance of
volunteering
Embedded
assessment
analysis and
research paper
Embedded
assessment
analysis, cause and
effect essay
The students’ success in completing these objectives will be measured using a set of
examinations and assignments described, in detail under the section of this syllabus headed
“Method of Evaluation.”
An Annual Assessment Plan will be implemented each year to review the course
Methods of Instruction:
This course will be taught face-to-face, on-line and by various distance learning delivery
methods.
Audio-visual materials and computer based technology will be used when appropriate.
Methods of Evaluation:
The students' success in completing the core objectives within the Foundational Component Area
of Language, Philosophy, and Culture will be measured using rubric, exam, or embedded
assessment activity.
Grades in this course will be based on the following evaluative criteria:
Essays/Exams and Writing Assignments will be given during the semester. The average of these
essays/exams will make up 25%, and writing assignments will make up 50% of the students’
grades. The comprehensive final exam will count 25%.
MASTERY REQUIREMENTS
Mastery of material with a 60% accuracy minimum for earned credit
Readings, both required and supplemental, as assigned
Writing assignments completed punctually
Oral assignment, both group and individual, as assigned
Letter grades for the course will be based on the following percentages:
90-100%
80-89%
A
B
70-79%
C
60-69%
D
Below 60% F
Course Outline:
Class Policies:
Regular attendance at all class meetings is expected. Disruptions in class will not be tolerated.
Outline Of Topics:
I. Introduction to Realists and Regionalists (1865-1914)
I. Historical approach
II. Literary contributions (selected from below)
1. Samuel Clemens
2. Bret Harte
3. William D. Howells
4. Ambrose Bierce
5. Henry James
6. Kate Chopin
7. Sarah O. Jewett
8. Joel Chandler Harris
9. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
10. Hamlin Garland
11. Edith Wharten
12. Jack Landon
13. Cochise
14. Henry Adams
15. Stephen Crane
16. Booker T. Washington
17. Theodore Dreiser
18. Native American songs/chants
II American and its literary heritage (1914-1945)
I. Historical background/influences
I. Literary contributions (selected from below)
1. Edgar Lee Masters
2. Edwin A. Robinson
3. Willa Cather
4. Robert Frost
5. Sherwood Anderson
6. Carl Sandburg
7. William Carlos Williams
8. Ezra Pound
9. Robinson Jeffers
10. T. S. Eliot
11. John Crow Ransom
12. Eugene O’Neill
13. Katherine Anne Porter
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
III.
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Dorothy Parker
E. E. Cummings
James Thurber
F. Scott Fitzgerald
William Faulkner
Ernest Hemingway
Thomas Wolfe
John Steinbeck
Langston Hughes
Richard Wright
Literature since 1945
I. Historical background/influences
II Literary contributions (selected from below)
1. Eudora Welty
2. Tennessee Williams
3. Ralph Ellison
4. Flannery O’Connor
5. James Baldwin
6. Saul Bellow
7. Philip Roth
8. Joyce Carol Oates
9. Bobbie Ann Mason
10. John Updike
11. Alice Walker
12. Sandra Cisneros
13. Robert Penn Warren
14. Theodore Roethke
15. Robert Jarrell
16. Gwendolyn Brooks
17. Richard Wilbur
18. James Dickey
19. Denise Levertov
20. Allen Ginsberg
21. Anne Sexton
22. Adrienne Rich
23. Sylvia Plath
Disabilities/ADA
Reports of discrimination based on disability may be directed to the ADA/Section 504
coordinator. The College District designates the following person to coordinate its efforts to
comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, which
incorporates and expands the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended:
Name:
Dr. Heather Kissack
Position:
Executive Director of Human Resources
Address:
112 Lamar Drive, Hillsboro, TX 76645
Telephone: (254) 659-7731
Students with qualified and documented disabilities may request accommodations which will
enable them to participate in and benefit from educational programs and activities. Students
should contact the Academic Advising and Student Success Center for more details at:
254 659 7650 for Hillsboro, 817 760 5650 for Cleburne, or 817 295-7392 for Burleson.
EEO Statement
Hill College is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment.
The college does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of age, race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, disability, or veteran status in the administration of its educational programs,
activities, or employment policies.
Instructor’s Class Content: