Module description
This module will introduce you to the study of American literature at university level. You will gain a knowledge of some of the most emblematic texts and movements in American literary culture as well as some of the historical contexts that have framed them. Through studying a diverse and varied array of works, you will also gain an insight into the most productive approaches, concepts, and methods for reading US culture. These will include thinking about settler colonialism, indigeneity, questions of race, the tension between popular and canonical forms of writing, the effects of literary nationalism, capitalism and its effects, and the problems of narrative representation when faced with the troubling history of America. Central concepts will include slavery, democracy, freedom, individualism, personal identity and geography. In addition the assessment methods of this module--which involve formative and summative exercises--will allow you plenty of space to experiment with and develop your own distinctive critical idiom. Overall the module will offer you a road-map for your study of American literature at King's. Many of the issues explored will form the basis of entire modules in your second and third years.
Assessment details
85% 2000 word essay
15% reader response forum (5 entries of 200-400 words)