Course Description

This course aims at deepening students’ experience of American literature and expand their knowledge of the social, cultural, and historical contexts of American literature as well as various literary and artistic features of American studies. The course presumes that students have already taken a reading course on American literature and have some exposure to the literary works of various historical periods.

Through assigned readings, in-class discussions, various individual-based writing tasks and group activities, we hope that students will be able to

◦    demonstrate broad and deep thinking about literature(s) in America

◦    raise questions about the definition and nature of American literature(s)

◦    research auxiliary areas of interest in American Studies    

◦    make connections between works and between texts and political and social reality.

No textbook covers exactly what we want, so we will add several textbooks and other materials for class discussions and self-learning after class. These materials will provide guidelines for academic reading, and techniques of summary and review writing. I will refer to them constantly in class, and you should use them as handbooks in the process to complete the designated tasks.

《美国文学史》课程是《英国文学史》课程的延续，要求学生在熟悉美国文学的基础上对美国各个时期文学的发展、美国文学史上重要作家及其作品、重要的文学流派和文艺思潮都有较为深刻而全面的了解。要求学生结合美国各个时期的社会文化特征对美国文学进行深入探索。

This course is the continuation of History of British Literature. It requires students to understand the major authors and their masterworks and of the major literary trends and currents of thought. It also requires students to have further investigation on the features of American culture in different period. 

Assignments and Evaluation

Grading Scheme: 

1. 《综合英语》

2. 《英文文学史》

3. 《英国文学选读》
   

1. Gray, Richard. Ed. A Brief History of American Literature. 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. 

2.  Li, Zhengshuan. A Short History of American Literature and Selected Readings. Beijing: Tsinghua Univ. Press, 2015. 

3. Tao, Jie. Selected Readings in American Literature. 3rd. Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2019.

4. Supplementary readings