Eng 242: Survey of American Literature II

Text:  The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vols. C, D, and E, 7th ed.

T/Tr:  9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Room 385 and RC
 

Week 15

Notes and Readings:
 

Final week!  We're rolling to the end and it seems we've barely scratched the surface!  Across America's landscape the voices are not just speaking but questioning.....and oftentimes there are no answers.  The 1960s give us "The Beats" and a generation reeling with those questions. 

The couple of new readings for this week give you a quick taste of the works coming out of this time--their names may or may not be familiar, but read their words....and read more if they catch you.

Review:

Zora Neale Hurston bio and "How It Feels to Be Colored Me"

Langston Hughes bio and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"; "Mother to Son"; "Harlem Sweeties" (linked here)

In Vol. E: 

Kurt Vonnegut bio and "Top 10 Kurt Vonnegut Quotes" (linked here)

W. S. Merwin bio and "For the Anniversary of My Death"; "Losing a Language"

Annie Dillard bio and "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:  Seeing"

Read:

Jack Kerouac bio and "Big Sur: Chpt. 8"

Robert Creely bio and "The Messengers"

Allen Ginsberg bio and "A Supermarket in California"

Li-Young Lee bio and "The Gift"

Journal:

All done here.......I know......yahoo!

Other Assignments:

Essay #2:  Those moderns (writers traditionally spanning from 1920 to 1945) could be said to do a "face off" with change--they see it, confront it, and then put down the images they see of a world changing in all concepts, be that family, government, or society.  Their results often challenge our understanding of both language and literature.  As you examine the writers that fit the marker of "modern," discuss  specifically how they redefine this changing world of their era.  You need to use as support no less than 3 of the writers and no more than 5.

Min. pgs.: 5  Standard MLA format

This essay is due during exam week, on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 in Bb in Assignments Links.

Due Dates:

4/28/11:  Final Exam in class

5/4/11:  Essay #2 due in Assignments Links in Bb