General course information

Required Texts

• Akhtar, Ayad. Disgraced. Back Bay Books (Little, Brown & Company): ISBN 9780316324465.
• DeLillo, Don. White Noise. Penguin Books: ISBN 9780140077025.
• Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Penguin Books: ISBN 9780241965672.
• Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Penguin Random House: ISBN 9780679755333.
• Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Penguin Books (Classics): ISBN 9780141180977.
• Morrison, Toni. Home. Vintage Canada (Random House): ISBN 9780307399731.
• Course reader available from Print Plus.

Course Expectations or Outputs

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. identify major literary periods and authors from the twentieth to the twenty-first century.
2. apply critical and theoretical methodologies to close, critical readings of a wide variety of texts.
3. take initiative in contributing regularly to class discussion.
4. construct research-based essays, integrating secondary sources in proper essay format.
5. deploy individual assignments as essential tools of critical analysis and knowledge-making.

Course Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this course will demonstrate:

1. a broad understanding of the historical development of early twentieth- and twenty-first century American literature.
2. an ability to formulate analytical questions about primary texts.
3. an ability to analyze texts and develop lines of argument using appropriate literary and critical terminology.
4. an ability to gather, comprehend, and evaluate secondary sources.
5. an ability to communicate in reliably clear, coherent, and correct prose.

Lectures, attendance, and preparation

You are expected to attend all lectures and discussions. It is understood that occasionally you might have to miss a class. Note that the content of the lectures is meant to stimulate your own thinking: the lecturer’s thoughts about a text do not represent the only way to think about that text. You should develop your own opinions and theories and learn how to express and defend them. You should prepare for class by reading the assigned material (before the class) and by spending some time thinking about the material.

Participation

You are expected to participate in class in an informed manner. At the very least, you are expected to come to class regularly, having read all assigned reading. You are expected to participate in class discussions. Keep in mind that participating in class is usually a highly rewarding experience, greatly enhancing your ability to understand the course material and helping ensure your success in the course. Everyone is expected to be courteous and professional at all times in class.

Essay submission and lateness

Essays must be submitted in paper. They must also be submitted on Blackboard, through SafeAssign. Essays must meet the minimal length requirements, explicitly stated for each assignment. If an essay does not meet the minimal length requirement, including after the essay’s margins, fonts, spacing, etc. have been standardized, the essay will be returned ungraded or with a failing grade. Essays will not be graded until they have been submitted through SafeAssign. Note: essays usually take two to three weeks to grade.

Assignments are due in class, on the date indicated by the assignment. A 2% penalty will be applied to the graded assignment for every day the assignment is late. This will include weekend days and public holidays. Extensions may be granted for exceptional circumstances, especially for serious medical reasons: in such cases, you should talk to the instructor as soon as possible and be prepared to submit medical documentation about the problem (that should include a statement about the beginning and duration of the issue). No assignment will be accepted after the start of the final exam.

Intellectual Property Statement

All materials developed for this course, including, but not limited to, lectures, lecture notes and slides, assignments, examinations, and syllabi, that are provided in class or online, are the intellectual property of the course instructor. Posting, providing, sharing or selling any audio, video, or textual materials from the course is prohibited. Participation in this course constitutes an agreement by all parties to respect the intellectual property rights as well as the privacy of others during and after their association with Nipissing University. The only exception to the above is formally authorized accommodation arrangements made through Student Development Services.