Survey of American Literature 1865-Present

This course offers a broad survey of US literature from 1865 (the year the Civil War ended) to the present. We'll discuss how literature participated in broad attempts to reimagine the nation following the disaster of the war; how it reacted to an increasingly modernizing world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; how following World War II it both celebrated and critiqued the United States' new status as a major world power; and how in the 21st century it has responded to changes in publishing and readership (for instance by raising popular genres to new prominence). We'll focus on literary history, while also discussing how to read works of literature in general, and how research can enhance your appreciation of what you read. Grades will be based on reading quizzes, in-class writing, and individual research projects.