American Literature

The course is a chronological overview of the most significant literary epochs and trends, with Colonial literature, through Romanticism and Transcendentalism, to Realism and Naturalism, Modernism, Postmodernism, current developments in American Literature, children’s literature, and a brief overview of American drama.

In an effort to raise the students' cultural and literary awareness, the course explores major American themes and myths, guides the participants through a survey of genres and techniques, and offers a perspective on such key issues as gender, ethnicity, multiculturalism. The students are also presented with selected critical commentaries and samples of literary theory. It also aims at acquainting the participants with various ways of using American literature for ELT purposes.

I.Colonial and early American literature (1620 - 1783/1800.)

a)Puritan literature (17th and 18th c.)

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, Book II, Chapter XI: The Remainder of Anno 1620 (“The Mayflower Compact”, “The Starving Time”), Book II, Chapter XII: Anno 1621 (“First Thanksgiving”), Book II, Chapter XXXIII: Anno Dom 1643 (“Longevity of the Pilgrim Fathers”

b)The Enlightenment

- Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography Part II (“The Continuation of the Account of My Life, Begun at Passy, 1784”)

II.19th c.

a)Romanticism

- Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

b) Transcendentalism (1840-1860)

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance,” “The Over-Soul”

III. Literature in the 20th c.

a) Modernism (1900s-1946):

- T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” The Waste Land

- Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro,”

b) the Jazz Age:

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

c) Post-war literaturę and American drama:

- Arthur Miller, Death of A Salesman

d) literature for kids:

- Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

- L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz

- Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) – The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham

- Hans Augusto Rey, and Margaret Rey, the Curious George Series

- Ursula Le Guin, The Wizard of Earthsea – selection

The course is a chronological overview of the most significant literary epochs and trends, with Colonial literature, through Romanticism and Transcendentalism, to Realism and Naturalism, Modernism, Postmodernism, current developments in American Literature, children’s literature, and a brief overview of American drama.

In an effort to raise the students' cultural and literary awareness, the course explores major American themes and myths, guides the participants through a survey of genres and techniques, and offers a perspective on such key issues as gender, ethnicity, multiculturalism. The students are also presented with selected critical commentaries and samples of literary theory. It also aims at acquainting the participants with various ways of using American literature for ELT purposes.

Baym, N., et al. (eds.), The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vols. I and II. Norton, New York, 1994.

Beaty, J. & Hunter, J.P., New Worlds of Literature, Norton & Company, W. W., New York, 1994.

Bradbury, M. & Ruland, R., From Puritanism to Postmodernism: A History of American Literature, Viking, New York, 1991.

Elliott, E., American Colonial Writers 1606-1734, Gale Research Co., Detroit, Mich., 1984.

Elliott, E., American Colonial Writers 1735-1781, Gale Research Co., Detroit, Mich., 1984.

Greenberg, M.H. (ed.), Great Stories of the American West II, Berkeley Books, New York, 1997.

Hart, J.D. (ed.), The Oxford Companion to American Literature, OUP, Oxford, 1995.

High, P.B., An Outline of American Literature, Longman, London, 1989.

Jones, S.W. (ed.), Growing up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature, Mentor, New York, 1991.

Kenner, H., The Pound Era, University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1974.

Kostalanetz, R. (ed.), American Writing Today, 2 vols., Forum Series, United States International Communication Agency, Washington DC, 1982.

Lauter, P. (ed.), The Heath Anthology of American Literature, 2 vols., 3rd ed., Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York, 1998.

Lewicki, Z. (ed), A Handbook of American Literature for Students of English, US Embassy Cultural Section, Warsaw, 1990.

Litz, A. W. (ed.), Major American Short Stories, OUP, New York & Oxford, 1994.

Mazur, Z. (ed.), The College Anthology of American Literature. Universitas, Kraków, 1998.

McQuade, D. (ed.), The Harper Single Volume of American Literature, 3rd ed., Longman, New York, 1999.

Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. 1995 ed.

Perkins, D., A History of Modern Poetry, 2 vols., the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., & London, 1976.

Rubin, L.D., The Faraway Country: Writers of the Modern South, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1963.

Richler M, (ed.), The Best of Modern Humor, Knopf, A.A., New York, 1983.

Salska, A. (ed.), Historia literatury amerykańskiej XX wieku. Vols. 1 and 2. Universitas, Kraków, 2003.

Velie, A. (ed.), American Indian Literature: An Anthology, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.

Wagner-Martin, L. & Davidson, C.M. (eds.), The Oxford Book of Women's Writing in the United States, OUP, Oxford & New York, 1995.

Wiget, A. (ed.), Critical Essays on Native American Literature, Hall, G.K. Boston, Mass., 1985.

Williford, L. & Martone, M. (eds.), The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American Stories Since 1970, Scribner Paperback Fiction, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1999.

Wilmeth, D.B. (ed.), The Cambridge History of American Theatre, CUP, New York, 1998.

KNOWLEDGE

K_W01 the student has a basic knowledge of American literature and its application to EL teaching H1P_W01

K_W02 the student has a comprehensive area of knowledge, covering selected areas of American literature, which have practical application in foreign language teaching H1P_W02

K_W03 the student has an understanding of the basic academic literary terms appropriate for teaching foreign languages H1P_W03

SKILLS

K_U02 the student has the necessary level of self-study skills to use a variety of sources (using their first and any other language/ new technologies (ICT) to acquire knowledge and develop their professional competences in teaching foreign languages H1P_U02

K_U09 the student has the ability to argue for the merits of using the views of other authors and draw conclusions from this work H1P_U10

K_U12 the student has the ability to prepare oral presentations, in Polish and another language for specific purposes, using basic theoretical approaches, as well as a variety of sources H1P_U13

SOCIAL COMPETENCES

K_K01 the student understands the importance of lifelong learning H1P_K01

K_K03 the student can correctly identify the priorities for the implementation of specified tasks H1P_K03 H1P_K03

K_K05 the student is aware of their role in the promotion and preservation of the cultural heritage of the region, country and Europe, and the USA H1P_K05

K_K10 the student recognizes the moral and ethical issues related to their own H1A_K04 S1A_K04