Ateneo - UPO

American Literature: Introduction.
This course offers an introductory survey of United States literary and cultural history, from its colonial origins to the twentieth century. It features an introduction to North American literature from the mid-nineteenth century to the Civil Rights era. Rather than presenting a comprehensive chronological survey of authors and movements, it examines a selection of literary texts that illuminate pivotal moments in the cultural construction and reinterpretation of the United States.
Organized around key historical and intellectual questions—nationhood, democracy, slavery, race, memory, modernity, and social justice—the course explores how literary texts both reflect and challenge dominant narratives of American identity. Students will encounter a range of genres, including poetry, autobiography, short fiction, drama, and political writing, while developing the analytical tools necessary for close reading and historical interpretation.
Special attention will be given to the relationship between literary form and historical change, highlighting the emergence of distinct American voices and the central contributions of Black writers to the literary and cultural history of the United State

This is a tentative programme: the final list of readings will be published on the DIR platform by the first week of classes. The primary texts listed in the Extended programme are a compulsory part of the examination syllabus and must be read in the original language. As a general reference tool, students are advised to consult a standard anthology of American literature (e.g. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, latest available edition), from which most of the assigned excerpts are drawn. Supplementary critical materials (essays, introductory handouts) will be made available on DIR on a weekly basis. The course syllabus is the same for both attending and non-attending students. Non-attending students who wish to deepen their knowledge of U.S. history and literature covered in class may refer to the following two volumes: D. Izzo, Letteratura degli Stati Uniti d’America, vols. 1 and 2, Milan, Le Monnier, 2026; Oliviero Bergamini, Storia degli Stati Uniti, Bari, Laterza, 2002.

The course is consistent with the specific learning objectives of the Degree Programme in Modern Foreign Languages (SUA-CdS, point 2.1), which requires students to acquire advanced linguistic and literary competence in their languages of study and the ability to critically read and interpret literary texts within their historical and cultural context.
Of the 6 ECTS credits assigned to the course, 30 hours are devoted to face-to-face instructor-led teaching (DE), delivered as frontal lectures organised into weekly thematic units; these hours include interactive teaching activities (DI), such as guided seminar discussions and a guest lecture on modernist poetry (Week 7). The remaining workload is devoted to guided independent study, through the individual reading and analysis of the assigned texts.
In particular, the course aims to enable students to:
A) outline the main lines of development of United States literature from the colonial period to the twentieth century, relating them to their historical, social and political context;
B) recognise the formal, thematic and stylistic features of the main genres, authors and literary movements covered in the course;
C) carry out an independent textual analysis of narrative, poetic and dramatic excerpts in English, identifying their themes, rhetorical strategies and significance within the American literary tradition.

None

Interactive lectures introducing historical and cultural contexts. Close reading, analysis and group discussion of literary texts. Written reading responses and brief in-class writing exercises. Creative assignments inspired by course texts. Use of multimedia resources (video clips of plays, audio recordings of poems). Collaborative debates and presentations.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or Special Educational Needs (SEN) may request dedicated services and tools by contacting the University's Career Development and Student Services Staff and consulting the relevant page of the University website. After contacting the University Staff, students may contact the lecturer responsible for the course regarding the adaptation of examination arrangements and teaching-related aspects.

Assessment consists of three progressive and mutually consistent components, designed to verify the achievement of the learning outcomes described above:
1) Online mid-term test (around Week 6, on the DIR platform): closed-answer and short open-answer questions on the content of Weeks 1-4. It mainly assesses knowledge and understanding of the material covered in the first part of the course. Duration: 30 minutes. It accounts for 20% of the final grade. It is considered passed with a mark of no less than 18/30. The online test assesses knowledge of the manual, (Iuli and Loreto, eds) "La letteratura degli Stati Uniti, dal Rinascimento Americano ai nostri giorni", Roma, Carocci, 2024.

2) Written examination with open-ended questions (at the end of the course, in-person), covering the whole syllabus: 3 questions, each requiring the critical analysis of one or more assigned texts, their historical-cultural contextualisation, and the construction of an independent argument in English. Duration: 2 hours. It specifically assesses the ability to apply knowledge and understanding and written communication skills. It accounts for 70% of the final grade; it is considered passed with a mark of no less than 18/30.

3) Oral interview, held after and conditional on passing the written examination: a critical discussion of the written answers and further questions on additional texts and themes from the syllabus not covered in the written exam. It verifies the consistency between the knowledge expressed by the students in their written test and the knowledge demonstrated during the interview. It assesses making judgements, the ability to draw connections across different authors and periods, and oral communication skills in English. It accounts for 10% of the final grade.

The final grade, out of thirty, is calculated as a weighted combination of the three components (20% online test, 70% written exam, 10% oral interview), provided that the written examination has been passed; otherwise, the examination is not passed and must be repeated in full in a subsequent session.
To achieve a passing grade (18-19/30), students must demonstrate knowledge of the main authors and texts on the syllabus, be able to place them correctly within their historical and cultural context, and carry out a basic, if not fully independent, textual analysis based on textual evidence.
A grade between 20 and 23/30 requires broader and deeper knowledge of the content, together with the ability to draw connections across different texts, authors and periods, and greater critical independence.
A grade between 24 and 27/30 requires students to demonstrate solid command of the content across the whole syllabus, the ability to carry out an independent and well-argued textual analysis, to critically situate texts within a coherent historical-literary framework, and to express themselves with command of language, both in writing and orally, in English.
To achieve the highest distinction (28-30 e lode), students must demonstrate full command of the content, independent critical judgement, original argumentative skills and command of language, in both the written and oral components, in English.
The weekly materials distributed on DIR are the basis for preparing the online test; the primary texts on the syllabus (Extended programme) are the basis for preparing the written examination and the oral interview.

Week 1 — Geo-History of the United States and Foundations of Political Thought. Readings: the American Declaration of Independence; Walt Whitman, “I Hear America Singing”; Phyllis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America.”
Week 2 — Moral Myth and Madness. Readings: the Salem Witch Trials; Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, “Learning to Read,” “The Slave Mother”; Frederick Douglass, The Life of Frederick Douglass (excerpts); Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (excerpts).
Week 3 — Herman Melville, Benito Cereno.
Week 4 — Emily Dickinson, “Color – Class – Denomination” and other poems. “Mark Twain, “A True Story, Word for Word as I Heard It”; Kate Chopin, “Désirée's Baby”.
Week 5 —Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Introduction to modernism: William Faulkner, “Dry September”.
Week 6 —Ernest Hemingway, “The Killers.”; Modernist Poetry: William Carlos Williams (Guest Lecture)
Week 7 —Arthur Miller, The Crucible.
Week 8 — Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun; James Baldwin, “Sonny's Blues.”
The final list of readings will be published on DIR at the latest by the second week of classes.

Knowledge and understanding: by the end of the course, students will know the main periods, authors and movements of United States literature from the colonial period to the twentieth century, and will understand their relationship with the relevant historical, social and political context.
Applying knowledge and understanding: students will be able to independently analyse a narrative, poetic or dramatic text on the syllabus, identifying its themes, rhetorical strategies and historical-literary position.
Making judgements: students will be able to critically compare different authors, texts and periods, formulating well-reasoned rather than purely mnemonic interpretations.
Communication skills: students will be able to present, both in writing and orally and in English, a clear, well-structured and well-argued literary analysis.
Learning skills: students will acquire the basic methodological tools needed to independently continue the study of other American authors and texts not directly covered in the course.