American Literature,
2nd Semester
Unit 1, Transcendentalism, Anti-Transcendentalism, and Naturalism
What is Transcendentalism? Who were the leaders of it? What inspired it? What influences of it can we see today in American society? What is Anti-Transcendentalism? Who led it? What is Naturalism, who led it, and what does it have to do with Led Zeppelin?
Unit 3, The New England Poets
Who were the prominent poets after the war? What is a Fireside Poet? What's agoraphobia?
Unit 2, The Civil War
What was written during the war? What is a Negro Spiritual? What was the underground railroad?
Unit 4, Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism (again)
What are Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism? Who was Mark Twain? Who was Zora Neale Hurston? What's the best way to read a novel? What was a juke joint, and what are the Delta blues? What is a true friend, and what's the best way to fall in love? When should one use the N-word? What should be censored?
Unit 5, Modernism and Imagism
What is modernism? How can two lines equal the greatest poem of the year? What depends on a red wheel barrow glazed with rain beside the white chickens?
The American Lit Film Project
Work by yourself or form a group to create your masterpiece and possibly see it on the big screen at the Wildey!