Faculty Course Description
ENG335WI: Twentieth-Century American Literature
Dr. James Watkins
Associate Professor
Office: Evans 217
Office phone: 233-4072
e-mail: jwatkins@berry.edu
ENG 335 is a writing-intensive course that focuses on readings of representative literary works produced in the 20th-century U.S. In addition to placing the readings in context with the major literary modes of the century (realism/naturalism, modernism, post-modernism), the course will also examine the rise to prominence of voices and perspectives previously marginalized by gender, race, ethnicity, class, religion, and/or region as well as the roles literature has played in promoting and contesting various forms of American national identity. Readings will include novels, short fiction, poetry, and non-fiction prose. Special emphasis will be given to using writing as a means of critical engagement with the assigned readings.
Texts (tentative)
My Antonia, Willa Cather
Cane, Jean Toomer
Light in August, William Faulkner
Henderson the Rain King, Saul Bellow
Way to Rainy Mountain, N. Scott Momaday
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Oxford Book of American Short Stories, ed. Joyce Carol Oates
selected poetry, either in course packet or at reserve desk in Memorial Library
selected essays on American literature and culture
Grade Assessment
Quizzes 10%
Class Participation 10%
Reaction Papers 10%
Essay One 15%
Essay Two 20%
Exam One 15%
Exam Two 20%
100%