American Literature Since 1865
University of Central Oklahoma
Department of English
Fall 2014
ENG 2883
Dr. John Springer
CRN: 16317 M/W: 5:45-7:00, LA 133
Office: LA 105I/ Phone: 974-5515
Office hours: W 3:30-4:30; T/Th 3:30-5:30, and by appointment
Email: jpspringer@ucok.edu
Course Overview: The aim of this course is to provide students with a survey of American
literature from Walt Whitman’s 1881 version of “Song of Myself” to Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,”
published in 1956. Looking at novels, short stories, poetry and drama, we will study American
literature within the context of the historical changes which were redefining American life in this
period. This was an era which witnessed the end of an expansive optimism about the country
following the Civil War and the closing of the western frontier, as well as the emergence of
sweeping technological and socio-economic changes within industrial capitalism as the United
States entered the twentieth century. At the same time new social and ethnic groups began to
leave their mark upon the American cultural landscape, as European immigrants, newly freed
African-Americans, organized labor, and women began to challenge social and economic
inequalities and make their own place within our national literature. We will consider the
literary history of this period as shaped by a succession of movements (realism, naturalism,
modernism) all of which can be seen as responses to the increasingly secular and urban nature of
American culture, and reflect, in various ways, a pervasive sense of crisis and contradiction in
late-19th/early-20th century American life.
Catalogue Description: This course is a continuation of ENG 2773 from Walt Whitman to the
present.
Course objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of:
 the social and historical contexts for American literature in the period
1865-1950
 the chief literary forms of the novel, the short story, and verse as they developed within
American literary culture
 the principal literary movements of the period including Realism, Naturalism, and
Modernism
 basic biographical facts pertaining to the major figures studied in the course
 an introductory critical analysis of their primary works
Transformative Learning Objectives: This course addresses 2 of the university’s
transformative learning goals: Discipline knowledge through an analysis of major American
literary figures and works; Research and creative activity by requiring students to produce a
research paper over course material.
Course prerequisites: ENG 1113 and ENG 1213
Required Text: The Norton Anthology of American Literature, seventh edition (Volumes C, D,
E)
Evaluation: The course will be based on lectures, assigned readings, and class discussions.
Evaluation will be based on the following:
% of grade
Quizzes
25%
Midterm Exam
25%
Final Exam
25%
Analytical Paper
25%
Requirements:
1. Participation. Participation includes class attendance and class discussion. A student’s
final grade will be lowered one grade at the fourth unexcused absence; two grades at the sixth
unexcused absence; three grades at the eighth unexcused absence. If a student misses 30%
of a class (9 classes), the student will automatically fail the course. Excused absences must
be accompanied by written documentation that should be turned in on the day the student
returns to class following the absence. I will not accept documentation for absences after
course work has ended. All students are encouraged to participate in class by asking
questions, responding to discussion prompts, and raising their own discussion topics.
2. Examinations. The mid-term and final will be essay examinations. The exams will consist
of one short answer (approx. 150 words) and one long answer (350-500 words). There will
be a choice of essay questions to write on.
3. Quizzes. There will be quizzes given throughout the semester. These will each consist of
10 multiple choice questions covering the lectures and reading assignments. You will need
short green Scantron sheets for each quiz (available in the bookstore).
4. Analytic Paper. The paper will be 5-7 pages in length, typed, 12 point font, 1” margins,
double-spaced. Follow MLA guidelines. This is not a research paper. You are to
choose some aspect of a work that you are interested in and then analyze the text. Make an
assertion and then support that assertion with textual evidence. Be sure to document
historical evidence and arguments/ideas from other critics. Do not write a plot summary.
Do not write a biography. Plagiarism will result in an automatic failure on the
assignment.
5. Make-up Policy. The Mid-term may be made up by making arrangements with me.
However, it must be made up within one week of the exam date. The Final exam
may not be made up. On Quiz days, the first 10 minutes of class will be devoted to
taking the quiz. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late to class, you may not make
up the quiz.
Syllabus
August
18: Course Introduction
Read: Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” (1881): stanzas 1-30
20: Read “Song of Myself” stanzas 31-52
25: Read: Emily Dickinson, 49, 67, 185, 199, 241, 249, 258, 280, 341, 435, 441, 449, 465, 632,
712, 986, 1129, 1624, 1732
27: Read: Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn: chapters 1-11
September:
1: Labor Day/ No class
Read: Huckleberry Finn chapters 12-23
3:
8: Huckleberry Finn
Read: chapters 24-31
10: Read: 32-“Chapter the Last”
15: Read: Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” pp. 360-366
17: Read: Ambrose Bierce: “Chickamauga,” pp. 366-370
Read: Kate Chopin, The Awakening: chapters 1-16
22: Read: The Awakening: chapters 17-39
24: Realism and Local Color
Read: Hamlin Garland, “Under the Lion’s Paw,” pp. 753-762
29: Read: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-paper” and “Why I Wrote “The
Yellow Wall-paper” pp. 808-820
October
1: Naturalism
Read: Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat,” pp. 1000-1016
6: Read: Theodore Dreiser, “True Art Speaks Plainly,” pp. 926
8: Read: Jack London, “To Build a Fire,” pp. 1057-1067
13: Mid-term exam
Read: Robert Frost, “Mending Wall,” “The Road Not Taken,” “Stopping by Woods
on a Snowy Evening;”
15:
20:
22: Modernism
27: Read: F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Babylon Revisited,” pp. 1839-1853
29: Read: Ernest Hemingway, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” pp. 1983-1999
November
3:
5: Read: Langston Hughes, “Weary Blues,” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Mother to Son,” “I,
Too,” “Song for a Dark Girl,” “Vagabonds,” “Refugee in America,” “Visitors to the Black
Belt,” “Democracy,” “Words Like Freedom”
10:
12: Read: Richard Wright, “The Man Who was Almost a Man,” pp. 2067-2075
17:
29: Read: Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, pp. 2327-2392
24:
26: Thanksgiving Break—No Class
December
1: Read: Allen Ginsberg, “Howl,” pp. 2576-2583
3: Last Day of Class
10: Final Exam @ 5:30
Regents’ Statement: “It is expected that a full-time college student will spend a minimum
amount of time each week in class attendance and study out of class approaching a 40-hour work
week. A person employed on a full time basis should not simultaneously expect to maintain a
full-time academic schedule. At the undergraduate level, this means that for each hour in class,
a student is expected to spend at least three (3) hours doing homework. For a three credit class,
a student is expected to spend nine (9) hours a week doing homework.
Additional information about University policies may be referenced through the following url:
http://www.uco.edu/academic‐affairs/files/aa‐forms/StudentInfoSheet.pdf