North American Literature II

Code:

MEAAM016

Acronym:

LNA2

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	American Literature

Instance: 2020/2021 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Anglo-American Studies

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MEAA	13	MEAA - Study Plan	1	-	9	80	243

Teaching language

English

Objectives

Taking F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel, The Great Gatsby, as a starting point, the aim of this course is to interrogate the concept of the “American Dream”, by analysing its presence in North-American literature and acknowledging some of the most important American novelists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The study of the books included in the reading list will focus on the many shapes and outcomes of that Dream, revealing its myths and realities, as well as on fiction’s engagement with history, the tension between individual and collective identities, and the importance of space and place in the representations of such conflicts. In addition, there will be an attempt to underline the way in which cinema adapted some of the literary works selected here, thus establishing a dialogue with other arts.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

a) Gain a deep knowledge of the main trends in modern and contemporary American literature;

b) Develop an ability to read some of the contemporary North-American fiction, in relation to its historical and cultural contexts, in order to gain a richer understanding of both text and context;

c) Become aware of thematic developments in the works included in the reading list;

d) Develop the ability to read works of literary and cultural criticism, and deploy ideas and concepts from those texts in their own reading and writing;

e) Deepen the expertise of theorization and conceptualization in order to develop autonomous research and advance critical methodologies.

f) Develop the ability of discussing the relationship between literature and other arts, namely cinema.

Working method

Presencial

Program

The course will center on the study of novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth and Cormac McCarthy (see Main Bibliography). Students will be introduced to some of the great social, aesthetic and cultural movements in America, in a specific period of U.S. literary history marked by its plural and multifaceted character. The analysis of this diversity will be accompanied by the critical study of relevant texts, establishing a conceptual framework and a context for the discussion of the fiction of the above-mentioned authors.

Primary Sources

Fitzgerald, F. Scott; The Great Gatsby, Penguin Classics, 1994. ISBN: 0-14-062018-4

Morrison. Toni; The Bluest Eye, Vintage, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-099-75991-1
Roth, Philip; The Human Stain, Vintage, 2001. ISBN: 9780099282198

McCarthy, Cormac; The Road, Picador, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-330-51300-5-4

Mandatory literature

Francis Scott Fitzgerald; The^great Gatsby. ISBN: 0-14-000746-6
Toni Morrison; The bluest eye. ISBN: 0-671-83488-6
Roth Philip; The Human Stain, 2001. ISBN: 9780099282198
McCarthy, Cormac; The Road, Picador, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-330-46948-7

Complementary Bibliography

Baillie Justine; Toni Morrison and literary tradition. ISBN: 978-1-4742-2291-4
Bloom Harold 1930- 340; John Steinbeck.s The grapes of wrath. ISBN: 0-7910-8239-3
Bloom Harold 1930-; John Steinbeck.s The grapes of wrath. ISBN: 0-7910-9305-0
Cooper Lydia R. 1980-; No more heroes. ISBN: 978-0-8071-3721-5
Furman Jan; Toni Morrison.s fiction. ISBN: 978-1-61117-366-6
Frye Steven 340; The^Cambridge companion to Cormac McCarthy. ISBN: 978-1-107-64480-9
Murphet Julian 340; Styles of extinction. ISBN: 978-1-4411-8505-1
Pozorski Aimee; Roth and trauma. ISBN: 978-1-4411-8511-2
Royal Derek Parker; Philip Roth. ISBN: 978-0-275-98363-5
Shostak Debra 340; Philip Roth. ISBN: 978-0-8264-2227-9
Stave Shirley A. 1952- 340; Toni Morrison.s A mercy. ISBN: 978-1-4438-3300-4

Comments from the literature

Additional references will be provided in the course of the semester.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Fifteen weekly sessions on a seminar basis

keywords

Humanities > Literature > Literary criticism
Humanities > Literature > American literature

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	50,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	35,00
Frequência das aulas	45,00
Trabalho de investigação	163,00
Total:	243,00

Eligibility for exams

a) active participation in seminar sessions;
b) an oral presentation on a specific topic, under the guidance and with the agreement of the course lecturer;
c) a paper to be presented and discussed at the end of the semester.


Students must attend 75% of all seminar sessions

Calculation formula of final grade

Students will obtain a 'pass' or a 'fail' based on the following evaluation components: a) active participation in seminars and oral presentation discussed during the semester -50%; b) written essay to be discussed at the end of the semester - 50%

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Not applicable

Classification improvement

Not applicable

Observations

Due to the current pandemic situation, lessons will take place online, via Zoom, following the link previously sent by the teacher.