Information Package
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Program of American Culture and Literature (English)

ACL341

BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN FICTION

Course Code
ACL341
Semester
Fifth Term (Fall)
Theory+Practice
3 + 0
ECTS
5
Course TypeCompulsory Course
Course LevelBachelor's Degree
Year of Study3
SemesterFifth Term (Fall)
ECTS5
Name of Lecturer(s)
Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

  1. Acquire theoretical and critical knowledge on the rise and early development of American fiction.
  2. Analyze and discusses the contribution that each novelist of the period made to American fiction.
  3. Become fully familiar with the social, cultural, political, intellectual, historical, and literary context of the beginnings of American fiction.
  4. Are able to conduct further research on the rise and developement of American fiction.
  5. Have historical and literary knowledge on movements of romanticism, realism, and naturalism in American literature.
Mode of DeliveryFace to face
PrerequisitesNo
Recommended Optional Programme Components
Course DescriptionThis course focuses on the works by major American novelists, beginning with the early nineteenth century and concluding with the early twentieth century. The selected novels are studied within their historical, cultural, social, political and intellectual contexts, with specific emphasis on literary movements such as romanticism, realism and naturalism.
Course Contents
WEEK TOPICS
1st Week General Introduction and Overview: Who We Are and Who and What US Literature Was at the Beginning of the 19th Century - Historical Context and American Identities in Literature: Colonies to Early Republic, Westward Expansion, Division, Reconstruction, Gilded Age
2nd Week Introduction and Overview (continued) - Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism - Literary "Bestsellers" and the Creation of an American Literary Canon
3rd Week Historical Romance: Lydia Maria Child, Hobomok
4th Week Historical Romance and the Gothic: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
5th Week Nathaniel Hawthorne (continued)
6th Week Sentimentalism: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (selections)
7th Week Midterm
8th Week Herman Melville, "Paradise of Bachelors, Tartarus of Maids"
9th Week "Local Color" and Social Realism: Rebecca Harding Davis, Life in the Iron Mills - Sarah Orne Jewett, "A White Heron"
10th Week Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn
11th Week Social and Psychological Realism: Henry James, Daisy Miller
12th Week Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie
13th Week Edith Wharton, Summer
14th Week Edith Wharton (continued) - Conclusions
Recommended or Required ReadingGilmore, Michael T. American Romanticism and the Marketplace. University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Cranston, Maurice. The Romantic Movement. Blackwell, 1994.
Gura, Philip F. The Crossroads of American History and Literature. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996.
DeMott, Robert J. The Artful Thunder: Versions of the Romantic Tradition in American Literature, in Honor of Howard P. Vincent. Kent: Kent State University Press, 1975.
Lee, Brian. American Fiction, 1865-1940. Longman, 1984.
Reynolds, Larry J. A Historical Guide to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Long, Robert Emmet. James Fenimore Cooper. Continuum, 1990.
Verhoeven, W. M. James Fenimore Cooper: New Historical and Literary Contexts. Rodopi, 1993.
Walker, Warren S. James Fenimore Cooper: An Introduction and Interpretation. Barnes and Noble, 1962.
Turner, Arlin. Nathaniel Hawthorne: An Introduction and Interpretation. Barnes and Noble, 1961.
Levin, Harry. The Power of Blackness: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville. Ohio University Press, 1958.
Dunne, Michael. Hawthorne's Narrative Strategies. University of Mississipi, 1995.
Bewley, Marius. Masks and Mirrors: Essays in Criticism. Atheneum, 1970.
Parker, Hershel. Herman Melville: A Biography. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
Jehlen, Myra. Herman Melville: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, 1994.
Bloom, Harold. Mark Twain. Chelsea House, 1986.
Beaver, Harold Lowther. Huckleberry Finn. Allen & Unwin, 1987.
Tambling, Jeremy. Henry James. St. Martin's Press, 2000.
Gogol, Miriam. Theodore Dreiser: Beyond Naturalism. New York University Press, 1995.
Coolidge, Olivia E. Edith Wharton, 1862-1937. Scribner, [1964].
Bauer, Dale M. Edith Wharton's Brave New Politics. The University of Wisconsin Press, 1995.
Singley, Carol J. Edith Wharton: Matters of Mind and Spirit. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
  • Lecture
  • Discussion
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Quantity Percentage (%)
Mid-term 1 20
Assignment 1 30
Presentation of Article 1 10
Total(%) 60
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%) 60
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%) 40
Total(%) 100
ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload
Activities Quantity Duration (Hour) Total Workload (Hour)
Midterm exam 1 2 2
Preparation for Quiz
Individual or group work 14 4 56
Preparation for Final exam 1 12 12
Course hours 14 3 42
Preparation for Midterm exam 1 12 12
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam 1 2 2
Homework 1 12 12
Article Presentation 1 12 12
Total Work Load150
Total Work Load / 30 (h)5
ECTS Credit of the Course5
Language of InstructionEnglish
Work Placement(s)No

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