SYLLABUS
COURSE TITLE
FACULTY/INSTITUTE
AMERICAN LITERATURE
FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY/INSTITUTE OF ENGLISH
STUDIES
COURSE CODE
DEGREE PROGRAMME
FIELD OF STUDY
DEGREE LEVEL
English Philology
FORMA
MODE
STUDIÓW/STUDY
BA studies
full time studies
BASIC CONTENT
3 year, winter semester
COURSE FORMAT
YEAR AND SEMESTER
NAME OF THE TEACHER
dr Elżbieta Rokosz-Piejko
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course is the second part of the two-semester course. During that part of the course
students will be familiarized with the most important American writers of the 20 th and early
21st c, as well as major trends and literary movements of that period. Social and historical
background will be provided to give the students a wide perspective for understanding the
literary phenomena discussed. The complete course of American literature in this semester
consists of the lecture as well as the classes. The course is aimed at making the students
interested in American literature, as well as stimulating them to independent critical
thinking and expressing their own opinions about the texts read.
PREREQUISITES
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upper-intermediate level of English; acquaintance with the
18th c. and 19th c. American literature preferable.
KNOWLEDGE:
 The student identifies and defines the main trends and
movements in the 20th-century American literature and
identifies their representatives
 The students knows and understands the basic methods of
analysis and interpretation of literary works and their historical
character
 The student shows his or her knowledge of the texts included
in the reading list.
SKILLS:
 The student analyses and critically evaluates the texts selected,
 The student interprets the literary works included in the
reading list in their literary and historical context as well as in
terms of the formal qualities.
FINAL COURSE OUTPUT - SOCIAL COMPETENCES

The student can evaluate his or her own knowledge and
understands the need for further development


The student accepts and respects opinions of other people
The student understands the significance and role of American
literature in the world literature
COURSE ORGANISATION –LEARNING FORMAT AND NUMBER OF HOURS
LECTURE – 15 HOURS
CLASSES – 30 HOURS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Lectures:
1. Modernism
2. The Lost Generation
3. William Faulkner and Southern literature
4. American drama
5. Post-war poetry and prose
6. African American literature
7. Native American literature
Classes
1. Jack London ”To Build a Fire”, “The Law of Life”; Stephen Crane “Open Boat”, “The Bride
Comes to Yellow Sky”
2. E.L. Masters ‘Doc Hill’, ‘Margaret Fuller Slack’, ‘Lucinda Matlock’
Robert Frost ‘Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening’, ‘Spring Pools’, ‘Mending Wall’,
Edwin Arlington Robinson ‘ Richard Cory’
Carl Sandburg ‘Chicago’
3. F.S. Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
4. Ernest Hemingway. The Sun Also Rises
5. Ezra Pound ‘In a Station of the Metro’, Cantos XLV, ‘The River Merchant’s Wife’
William Carlos Williams ‘The Young Housewife’, ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ , ‘This is just to
say’,
e.e.cummings ‘anyone lived in pretty how town’
6. William Faulkner “Barn Burning”, ‘A Rose for Emily’,
7. T. Williams Streetcar Named Desire
8. Alice Walker ‘Everyday Use’, Toni Morrison ‘Recitatif”, Zora Neale Hurston ‘How It Feels
to be a Colored Me’
9. Jerome D. Salinger. Catcher in the Rye
10. Louise Erdrich “Fleur”, Leslie Marmon Silko “The Man to Sand Rain Clouds”
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS
GRADING SYSTEM
lecture/discussion/group work
Lecture: Participation in the lectures and passing the final
test (True/False).
Classes: Participation, taking part in class discussion,
passing two written tests (open questions).
The final grade depends on the result of the final tests and
class participation.
Grading in the written tests:
60% - dst, 70% - +dst, 80% - db, 90% - +db, 95% - bdb
TOTAL STUDENT WORKLOAD
NEEDED TO ACHIEVE EXPECTED
LEARNING OUTCOMES EXPRESSED
IN TIME AND ECTS CREDIT POINTS
Lectures: 15 hours
Classes: 30 hours
Preparation for the classes: 20 hours
Preparation for the tests (classes): 15 hours
Preparation for the final test (lectures): 5 hours
Hours total: 85
ECTS credit points: 3
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION
INTERNSHIP
MATERIALS
ENGLISH
N/A
PRIMARY OR REQUIRED BOOKS/READINGS:
Rokosz-Piejko, E., Niedziela B. The Highlights of American
Literature.
Rzeszów,
Wydawnictwo
Uniwersytetu
Rzeszowskiego, 2012.
VanSpanckeren K. Outline of American literature, U.S.
Information Agency.1994
Ruland, R. and M. Bradbury. From Puritanism to
postmodernism : a history of American literature. New
York: Penguin, 1992
The texts listed in the Course Description. Most can be
found in:
The Norton Anthology of American Literature vol. 2, [ed.]
Nina Baym et al. New York: W.W. Norton and Company
[1979], 1994