Summer 2009

E f316K • Masterworks of Literature: American

Course Description

Please refer to the course schedule for course days, time, room location, prerequisites and possible cross-listings: http://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules/

Literature, Culture, and Identity-- The goal of this course is to study American literature in the fullest sense of the phrase; that is, literature produced by Americans of African, Asian, European, Latina/o, and Native descent. Using the theme of immigration as its focal point, our survey opens with the 17th-century Puritan community depicted in Arthur Miller's play and closes with a return to a very different Massachusetts, that of the 20th-century Bengali immigrants featured in Jhumpa Lahiri's short story collection. The primary texts will be supplemented with historical and cultural materials to help place readings in context.

Grading Policy

Grades will be based on four exams (25% each) and attendance. More than three absences will adversely affect your final average.

Texts

The Crucible, Arthur Miller; Middle Passage, Charles Johnson; Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina García; Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri

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