EG 72                                American Literature                           Dr. Lewis

Center Cottage
851-6723; 6257
lewiss@sunysuffolk.edu

Course Outline
I. Text:
McMichael, ed. Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 2. 6th ed. Prentice Hall.

II. Objectives:
1. To study major American writers of the post Civil War period.
2. To place these writers in an historical context.
3. To understand the contributions of these writers to American Literature.
4. To trace changing forms in fiction and poetry.
5. To continue the development of writing skills.

III. Student Requirements:
1. Reading of assigned work.
2. Regular attendance.
3. Three writing assignments of about 750-1000 words each (due dates to follow), in which you demonstrate what you understand about a work on the reading list. You can approach the work primarily from either an aesthetic or historical perspective. These are intended to be primary source papers, although you can consult secondary sources if you like. Any use of secondary sources, however, must be fully and properly documented. In this regard, note that plagiarized papers will receive a failing grade. You will be graded on both what you say, and how well you say it.

IV. Grading Policy:
     Each assignment contributes 1/3 of your grade. Assignments can be rewritten to improve the grade. Attendance and class participation will influence your grade.

V. Absence Policy:
     I expect regular attendance. If you have to miss more than three classes, (two for evening courses), please talk with me so that you can maintain your standing in the course.

VI. Schedule
Week                                   Assignment

1                                           Introduction


2                                           Dickinson "There's a certain Slant of light"
                                                             "The Soul selects her own Society"
                                                             "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church"
                                                              "Much Madness is divinest Sense"
                                                              "I heard a Fly buzz--when I died"
                                                              "Publication--is the Auction"


3                                          Twain, "The War Prayer"
                                                        The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn


4                                          Frost, "Home Burial"
                                                      "The Road Not Taken"
                                                       "After Apple-Picking"
                                                       "Birches"
                                                       "Desert Places"
                                                       "Design"
                                                       "Acquainted with the Night"

5                                         James, "The Beast in the Jungle"


6                                        Chopin The Awakening


7                                        Crane "A man said to the universe"
                                                     "The Open Boat"

8                                        Bierce, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
                                          Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

9                                          Stevens, "Peter Quince at the Clavier"
                                                          "Anecdote of a Jar"
                                            Moore, "Poetry"
                                            cummings, "[pity this busy monster, manunkind,]"


10                                        Fitzgerald, "The Rich Boy"
                                                             "Babylon Revisited"


11                                       Hemingway, "The Killers"
                                                               "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"


12                                       Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily"
                                                           "That Evening Sun"


13                                       Roethke,  "My Papa's Waltz"
                                                           "Dolor"
                                           Brooks, "The Mother"
                                                         "The Lovers of the Poor"
                                           Jarrell, "A Camp in the Prussian Forest"


14                                       Lowell, "Memories of West Street and Lepke"
                                           Ginsberg, "Howl"
                                           Rich, "Living in Sin"


15                                      O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
                                          Malamud, "The Magic Barrel"
                                          Walker, "Everyday Use"