50:352:231 Seuss and Sendak (3) In this course students will undertake intensive study of the art of two of the most important children's authors of the last century, Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak. We will map the evolution of their art in intersection with American cultural politics and examine the influences on them as well as their own influence on contemporary children's literature.
Prerequisite: 50:989:101.

50:352:250 Early Afro-American Literature I (3) Survey of African-American literary production from its formal beginnings in the 18th century to the American Civil War.

50:352:251 Modern Afro-American Literature II (3) Survey of African-American literary production from the Civil War to the early 21st century.

50:352:252 African-American Poetry (3) This course delves into critical questions generated by African-American poetry. We will examine the finer points of that record, its arguments for a greater liberty in America, its role in cultural and social justice movements, and its ability to represent black inferiority unlike other literary forms. We will consider the ways in which black poets innovate and resist, how they redefine conventions, and broaden traditions.

50:352:253 Literature of a Struggling America (3) Thirty years ago, 90 percent of Americans in their 30s earned more than their parents did at the same age. Now, only about half of us do. What's happened in the past 30 years to our jobs, our educations, and our communities? And what happens now, when so many of us no longer believe in the American dream?

50:352:254 Myths of America (3) We read fiction and nonfiction to explore prevailing mythologies that from the nation's founding to the present time create a sense of American identity or character. We answer the questions What is America? Who are Americans? from the perspective of U.S. writers and writers from the global community. Prerequisite: 50:989:102.

50:352:264 American Short Fiction (3)

Short stories and novellas by diverse writers in selected periods.

50:352:265 Funny Books (3) Funny Books is a survey of American comedic writing, both fiction and nonfiction. Readings will begin with the 18th- and 19th-century essays of Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain and move to more recent work by George Saunders, Tina Fey, David Sedaris, and Larry Wilmore. Through these readings, we'll explore the mechanics of humor, examining issues of pacing, dialogue, tension, and plot.� We'll also look at the way writers use humor to bring light to complex issues, including sexism, poverty, and violence.� We'll also try to understand why it's so much easier to make someone cry than to make someone laugh, and attempt to write funny essays of our own.

50:352:305 Nineteenth-Century American Poetry (3) Selected readings in 19th-century poetry, poetics, and culture. Syllabus may include satirical, romantic, transcendental, abolitionist, Civil War, and regional poetry, as well as folk songs, spirituals, and versions of American Indian poetry.

50:352:306 Early American Women Writers (3) Studies the work of women who wrote in the foundational years between 1660 and 1860, paying particular attention to the ways in which these women imagined their roles as writers, and the cultural work of their texts. Examines the gendered expectations of literacy in early America as it relates to both production and consumption of literary texts, and in particular the connections between literacy and sexuality, reform, domesticity, citizenry, power, inequality, and resistance. The course considers how these writings negotiated a place for their writers (and their readers) in public discussions of moral, social, and political problems facing the American citizen.

50:352:307 American Horror Story (3) Looking at a broad range of American literary and cultural artifacts, from literature to popular film to comic books, this course studies the ways in which horror has framed the American experience, political organization, and national identity.

50:352:308 American Renaissance I (3) Early to mid-19th-century Romantic writers such as Emerson, Fuller, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Poe, Douglass, and Jacobs.

50:352:309 American Renaissance II (3) Mid- to late-19th-century Romantic writers such as Stowe, Melville, Dickinson, Whittier, Harper, and Wilson.

50:352:311 American Realism and Naturalism (3) Readings in post-Civil War writers such as Twain, James, Howells, Crane, Wharton, Dreiser, Chopin, Chesnutt, and Dunbar.

50:352:313 Recent American Writing (3) Readings in American poetry, fiction, and drama since 1950.

50:352:322 Modern American Poetry I (AAI) (3) Selected readings in modernist poetry and poetics, 1900-1950. Such authors as Pound, H.D., Eliot, Frost, Stein, Williams, Stevens, Moore, Rukeyser, and Hughes.

50:352:323 Modern American Poetry II (3) Selected readings in postmodern poetry and poetics from 1950-present. Such authors as Brooks, Ginsberg, Plath, Baraka, O'Hara, Ashbery, Soto, Rich, and Hejinian.

50:352:325 Multicultural American Literature (3) Readings in multicultural literature of the United States--for example, Anglo-European, African-American, Asian-American, Chicano, Jewish-American, and Native American--with emphasis on relationships between culture and literary form, theme, and language.

50:352:329 American Drama (3) The development of drama in the United States, with emphasis on 20th-century themes and forms. Likely playwrights include O'Neill, Stein, Williams, Odets, Hansberry, Miller, Albee, Wilson, Kushner, and Wasserstein.

50:352:337 American Novel to 1900 (3) The development of the novel in America through the 19th century. Works by such authors as Rowson, Brown, Cooper, Hawthorne, Stowe, Melville, Twain, Crane, and James.

50:352:338 Modern American Novel (3) Readings chosen from the works of leading American novelists from 1880 to 1950.

50:352:339 Postmodern American Novel (3) Study of the development of the American novel since 1950. Readings in works by such authors as Pynchon, Coover, Barth, Walker, DeLillo, Reed, Morrison, Kingston, and Cisneros.

50:352:341 Contemporary Jewish-American Fiction (3) This course will examine novels and short stories by 20th- and 21st-century Jewish-American writers, including Bellow, Roth, and Ozick.

50:352:347 The American Child in Literature and Culture (3) Literary views of childhood and youth in the context of American nationhood, with attention to innocence, protection, violence, diversity, and citizenship.

50:352:348 Literature of Adolescence (3) Literary, cultural, and historical constructions of adolescence in a range of literature written for young readers.

50:352:350 Black Writers in Social Context (3) The works of black writers considered in social and historical context.

50:352:351 The Harlem Renaissance (3) An investigation of writing and thought by black writers in America during the 1920s and 1930s, a period known as the Harlem Renaissance.

50:352:352 The Slave Narrative (3) The slave narrative from its beginnings in the 18th century to its more recent enunciations in 21st-century writing.

50:352:370 American Autobiography (3)

Autobiography, memoir, and other life writings, with attention to the act of writing, construction of selfhood, memory, and personal and cultural history.

50:352:391,392 Special Topics in American Literature (3,3) A course in a specially selected topic. Primarily, but not exclusively, for advanced students. Courses with different topics may be repeated for credit.

50:352:393,394 Special Topics in American Literature (1-3,1-3) A course in a specially selected topic. Satisfies the major requirement�(pre-2008) for "cross-cultural perspectives." Primarily, but not exclusively, for advanced students. Courses with different topics may be repeated for credit.

50:352:407,408 Independent Study in American Literature (BA,BA) An opportunity for advanced students to work individually with an instructor on a self-determined course of study. The project culminates in a substantial paper.

50:352:436,437 Major Writers of America (3,3) An intensive study of the works of a single author, or of two or three related authors.

50:352:451 Major African-American Writers (3) An intensive study of the principal works of two or three major African-American writers.

50:352:491,492 Seminar in American Literature (3,3) An opportunity for juniors and seniors to pursue advanced study of literature in a small-group format.

50:352:495,496 Honors Program in American Literature (3,3)