Description
This course surveys the development of the major themes and genres of American literature from the end of the Civil War to the present, with attention to the rise of realism, naturalism, modernism, and postmodernism in literature. Students will develop skills in analyzing literary texts composed in a variety of literary genres, consider cultural forces shaping the development of American literature, and literature’s role in constructing American identity. By the end of the semester, students will be able to describe and analyze key literary and cultural features of texts from a variety of historical periods.