ENGL 201 - American Thought and Literature: 1865 - Present

3 Credit: (3 lecture, 0 lab, 0 clinical) 3 Contact Hours: [ENGL 100 or ENGL 101 ]

A survey of American literature from the Civil War to the present, with attention to representative cultural perspectives and intellectual movements.
OFFERED: spring semesters

Course Goals/ Objectives/ Competencies:
Goal 1: Students will interpret literature on the basis of textual evidence.

Goal 2: Students will analyze primary literary texts (American fiction, essays, poetry, and drama from the immediate post-Civil-War era to present) through discussion and writing.

Demonstrate awareness of the major recurrent patterns, themes, and concerns within and across literary works.
Describe the function and value of standard literary elements and devices within literary works.
Identify relationships between the literature studied and the lives of the writers.

Goal 3: Students will connect literary texts to the historical/cultural trends and values of their eras.

Define and describe the distinguishing characteristics of significant literary periods and movements of American literature from the immediate post-Civil War era to the present.
Examine the historical, social, cultural, and creative contexts that influence the writing of literature from period to period, viewing literature as one aspect of a total pattern rather than an isolated discipline.

Goal 4: Students will synthesize their understanding of primary texts and secondary texts by literary and social critics.