Ateneo - UPO

The aim of the course is to introduce students to themes and issues in the history of American Literature by focusing on a wide formal and thematic spectrum of American short stories. Each class will be partly a lecture introducing a given writer in the context of his/her social and historical background, and partly a close reading and discussion of the texts assigned for each class. Students will also be introduced to terms and concepts for literary analysis, paying special attention to the formal elements of a given short story: structure, narration, characterization, point of view, voice.

MANDATORY:
Cristina Iuli, Paola Loreto, La letteratura degli Stati Uniti dal Rinascimento Americano ai nostri giorni, Roma, Carocci 2017.

Qualsiasi edizione in inglese o con testo a fronte dei seguenti racconti (molti disponibili online e sulla pagina DIR dal 1 ottobre)
Nathanael Hawthorne, “The Minister’s Black Veil” (1836);
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Black Cat" (1848)
Herman Melville, Benito Cereno (1855);
Mark Twain, “A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It” (1874);
Kate Chopin, “Desirée’s Baby” (1894);
Stephen Crane, "The Monster" (1898);
Ernest Hemingway, "The Killers" (1927);
William Faulkner “Dry September” (1931);
Zora Neale Hurston, “The Gilded Six Bits” (1933);
Flannery O’ Connor “The Artificial Nigger” (1955);
John Cheever, “The Swimmer” (1964);
James Baldwin, “Going to Meet the Man” (1965);
June Jordan, "Dry Victories" (1972);
Percival Everett, "The Appropriation of Culture" (2004)

FURTHER READINGS:
Shelly Eversley, Ed. African American Literature in Transition, 1960-1970,
Oxford UP

4. Bontemps, Arna, ed. American Negro Poetry: An Anthology (American Century) Paperback – December 31, 1995, Hill and Wang; Reissue edition (December 31, 1995)

Thurman, Wallace. The Blacker the Berry Read & Co. Classics, 2022

D. Quentin Miller; Rich Blint, eds. African American Literature in Transition, 1980-1990, Oxford UP, 2023.

To provide an introductory overview of the themes and languages in the history of American literature through the reading and analysis of a selection of short stories from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries literary canon, paying specific attention to the evolution of the morphological, ideological and cultural process of Nation formation; To provide an overview of the history of the short story as an original product of American Literary History; To provide appropriate basic tools of literary analysis. To acquire a basic knowledge of the evolution of the literary culture of the United States of America.

No specific requirement. Cultural and linguistic competence in L1 as certified by high school diploma. English level A1-A2

Lectures, class discussion and analysis of assigned readings.

Program for non attending students does not vary.
PRE-FIT CLASS
Area D.
This class has been conceived to meet goals 4,5, 16 of the Unesco 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda: Quality Education; Gender Equality; Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

To pass the test students must

To pass this exams students must take:
1) a midterm written test on the history of the literature and culture of the United States. Students must study autonomously the assigned manual (Iuli Loreto, a c. di, La letteratura degli Stati Uniti dal Rinascimento Americano ai nostri giorni, Roma, Carocci 2017), or any other comprehensive history of American literature from the American Renaissance, following the professors’ instruction. This part of the exam will be taken online. It consists of 20 questions (multiple choices, close, long or short answers), and contributes 30% of final grade. Students who do not pass the midterm test will have to take it again on the next exam session.
2) a final, written test on the assigned readings. The exam will consist in 5 long questions (10-15 lines) based on close readings, text analysis and assessment of student’s knowledge of assigned readings. Each answer is evaluated a maximum of 6 points and students must answer at least 5 out of 6 questions. This exams contributes 70% toward final grade.
Some of the assigned readings will not be analyzed in class, and will have to be studied and prepared autonomously by students.
In order to pass the exam, students must pass BOTH the online test and the written test (18/30).
Final grade will be assessed on the following:
HP (High Pass): accurate, convincing, exhaustive, precise and well articulated answer, demonstrating knowledge of assigned material, close reading skills, originality and critical thinking skills – as well as clear and accurate prose. (28-30)
MP (Medium Pass): the answer demonstrates solid knowledge of assigned readings, good reading and analytical skills, accurate close reading, clear prose without syntax and grammar mistakes, and sufficient originality. (24-27)
P (Pass): sufficient, fairly precise and detailed, well expressed answer; answer demonstrates sufficient knowledge of assigned material (18-23)
F (Fail): Insufficient answer. it does not meet any of the following criteria: accuracy, precision, reading comprehension, written expression.

Introduction; The Geopolitical History of the United States; Critical Terms for Reading Short Stories;
"The 1619 Project" – The New York Times (2019)
Short Stories:
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Black Cat " (1845)
Week Two: Nathanael Hawthorne, “The Minister’s Black Veil” (1836)
Week Three: Benito Cereno (1855)
Week Four: Mark Twain, “A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It” (1874); Kate Chopin, “Desirée’s Baby” (1894);
Week Five: William Faulkner “Dry September” (1931)
Week Seven: Zora Neale Hurston, “The Gilded Six Bits” (1933);
Week Eight: Flannery O’ Connor “The Artificial Nigger” (1955)
Week Nine: James Baldwin, “Going to Meet the Man” (1965)

In order to pass this exam students will demonstrate:
(KNOWLEDGE) – Knowledge of the themes and issues in the history of American Literature based on the class surveys of short stories in the XIX and XX century; Knowledge of basic, yet appropriate concepts and language for the literary analysis of the short story as a literary genre; Knowledge of the main narrative forms, tropes, metaphors, commonsense expressions, of XIX and XX century American short stories
(SKILLS) ability to analyze and synthetize assigned readings, paying particular attention to their linguistic structure and to the text/context relation; learning how to analyze and write about short narrative using the appropriate rhetorical and linguistic register and the adequate layout; learning to recognize some of the main authors, styles, languages, perspectives, and social issues in American Literature;
(CROSS-SKILLS) learning how to present information, knowledge, opinions and points of view in a clear, functional and effective way; learning how to organize and write a short text in English that develops out of topics discussed in class; understand the rhetorical, cultural and linguistic structures of the short story as a literary genre; introducing a pedagogy of Anglo-American literature starting from the short story as a point of convergence of issues relating to the wider social, cultural and historical landscape. The short story is here identified as an ideal literary genre to develop teaching/learning strategies and educational projects in high schools.

As a result of this class, students will
• acquire basic knowledge of the foundational themes and issues of American literature
• acquire introductory knowledge the evolution of the morphological, ideological and cultural process of Nation formation in their relation to literature;
• acquire appropriate basic tools for literary analysis.
• Learn the foundational elements of the evolution of the literary culture of the United States of America