American Literature – A Survey Course by Ildikó Limpár
Date
Texts to be read
1
Feb 12
Introduction
Reading 19th century poetry
2
Feb 19
19th c. Poetry: Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman (excerpts from “Song of Myself”;
“To A Locomotive in Winter”);
Whitman as Cultural Heritage in the 20th c.: The Beat Generation (Allen Ginsberg: “A
Supermarket in California”)
3
Feb 26
History and Myth: Washington Irving: “Rip Van Winkle”;
The New World Garden: Nathaniel Hawthorne: “Rappaccini's Daughter”
4
Mar 4
Edgar Allan Poe: “Ligea” (short story);“Annabell Lee” (poem); “The Philosophy of
Composition” (essay)
5
The American Dream: F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
Mar 11
Mar 18
The Roots of Minimalism: Ernest Hemingway: “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” ; samples
from the vignettes in In Our Time
7
Spring Holiday
6
Mar 25
8
Apr 1
Spring Holiday
9
Apr 8
The War Novel and the Postmodern: Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five
10
Apr 15
The Literature of the South: William Faulkner: "A Rose for Emily"; Flannery O'Connor:
“Good Country People”
11
Apr 22
On imagism: Ezra Pound: “A Retrospect” (essay); Ezra Pound: “In a Station of the
Metro”; W.C. Williams’s e.e. cummings’s poetry
12
Apr 29
Minimalism: Raymond Carver: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”;
The American Nightmare: John Cheever: “The Swimmer”
13
May 6
Modern Drama: Edward Albee: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
14
Class not held due to conference participation. Term papers will be given back and
May 13 marks for the courses will be given during the first week of the exam period.
ASSIGNMENTS:
* Active participation in class. No more than three absences are allowed. When you attend the class,
turn up in time. Being late disturbs the participants and negatively affects the evaluation of your
performance.
** Reading the pieces to be discussed thoroughly and bringing a copy of the prepared texts and
your notes to class. Please note that no smart phones are allowed to be used in class for checking
text.
*** Handing in TWO MINI-ESSAYS (1.5-2 pages, double space, 12 pt., Times New Roman,
normal margin) and ONE LONGER ESSAY (4-5 pages, double line space, 12 pt., Times New
Roman, normal margin of 2 cms) during the semester. The mini essays on the various pieces must
be handed in before the discussion of the specific literary works. If you cannot be present in the
class you have written the essay for, you may hand in the essay without negative consequences on
the next occasion you attend the class. Do not aim at a general analysis but choose one or two
smaller aspects to focus on. No use of secondary literature is required for the mini-essays; but if you
do use secondary sources, indicate so, because plagiarism results in failing the course. All essays
need to be handed in as typed and printed documents.
The final deadline for your second mini-essay is May 6.
The longer essay must be on one of the topics given bellow, and you need to use at least THREE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHOLARLY SECONDARY SOURCES, WITH PROPER
SOURCE INDICATION. (Use MLA parenthetical citation.) Make sure you use relevant and
reliable sources that have identifiable authors and high quality.
The deadline for the long essay is April 22 (2:00 p. m.). You may hand in your long essay
with a one-week-delay (by 2:00 p. m., April 29) with the consequence of losing one point from your
essay grade.
Essay topics for the longer essay:
Discuss the theme of art in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Discuss the theme of the American Dream in E. O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night or in
Arthur Miller's The Death of a Salesman.
Discuss the presentation of the American South in Carson McCullers's The Ballad of the Sad Café.
Discuss the theme of innocence and corruption in Henry James's The Turn of the Screw.
THE FINAL MARK DEPENDS ON:
The long essay: 60% ;The mini-essays: 20% ;Active class work: 20%
Nota bene:
If the long essay does not meet the basic requirements either because of language quality or
because of plagiarism, you may not receive a passing mark for the course.