Prerequisites: Graduate standing in English or permission.

Recent offerings:

(Fall 2009, Jacobs)

The terms “realism” and “naturalism” have come under considerable critical scrutiny, for the writers formerly grouped into these categories evidence a wide aesthetic range. Twain and James, for instance, could hardly be more different from each other, yet each has been called a realist. Similarly, there is little common ground between the deliberate stylistic crudity of a Frank Norris and the polished irony of a Stephen Crane;  both are often called naturalists, though Crane himself never used the term. Furthermore, these terms have functioned to exclude many writers of the period (roughly 1875-1920), who don’t fit the categories. During this period, the New England middle-class and upper-class dominance of American letters was challenged by the work of writers from many other ethnic and regional backgrounds. Though reading mostly fiction, we’ll also look at nonfiction and poetry as we explore the forging of modern American identities, rural and urban.

Requirements and Evaluation:

• A couple of short  (4-5 page) papers, to be posted on-line before being presented in class.

(Each 15% of semester grade.)

• Class participation, including weekly informal postings on the readings and one-page responses to short papers of two classmates. (20% total)
• Prospectus and bibliography for the term paper (5% )
• 12-15 page term paper (45%  )

Probable Texts:

• Mary Austin, Land of Little Rain
• Willa Cather, The Professor’s House
• Henry James, The Ambassadors
• Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs
• James Weldon Johnson, Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
• Alain Locke, The New Negro
• Frank Norris, McTeague
• Nagel and Quirk, eds. The Portable American Realism Reader
• Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence
• Owen Wister, The Virginian
• Critical readings on reserve and Xerox.

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