20th-Century American Literature: The Political Novel (online) (Capstone eligible) [***]

Contact Mary Moore for consent

In this course we’ll read American novels published since 1900 that are concerned with politics; we’ll examine the stories writers have told about politics and the stories Americans have told themselves about their country. Primary works will include novels such as Charles Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition (1901), Jack Conroy’s The Disinherited (1933), Joan Didion’s Democracy (1984), Paul Beatty’s The Sellout (2015), and Lydia Millet’s Sweet Lamb of Heaven (2016). Assignments will include discussion board posts and comments and a final paper with abstract, annotated bibliography, peer-reviewed rough draft, and final draft.