|
Lecturer(s)
|
-
Peprník Michal, prof. PhDr. Dr.
-
Woock Elizabeth Allyn, Mgr. PhD.
|
|
Course content
|
American Literature of the 19th century - Syllabus 2026 1. Literature of the Colonial Period Puritan literature: William Bradford, John Winthrop, John Smith, Anne Bradstreet 18th century writers: Hector St. John de Crévecoeur: "What is an American?" Benjamin Franklin: "Information to Those Who Would Remove to America," "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America" CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: Autobiography, allegory. Neoclassicism. Primitivism. Cultural relativism. Noble Savage. 2. Beginnings of American National Literature and American Romanticism James Fenimore Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans; Preface to The Leather-Stocking Tales CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: Epic, heroic/chivalric romance, Indian Captivity narrative. The picturesque and the sublime, romantic concepts of Nature. Vanishing Indian. The frontier and its significance. Noble Savage. 3. Dark Romanticism E.A. Poe: "The Philosophy of Composition", "The Raven", "Annabel Lee", "The Fall of the House of Usher" CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: Short story, sketch. Organic theory of art. Symbol. Horror vs Terror. Gothic novel tradition. The grotesque. The romantic self. 4. American Transcendentalism (Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller) R.W. Emerson: Nature (The Introduction, Part I), "The American Scholar" H. D. Thoreau: excerpts from Walden CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: The sublime, the American Sublime. Romantic conceptions of nature. 5. Romance and Romantic Revolt 1 Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter; Preface to The House of Seven Gables. CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: Romance vs novel. Puritanism. Symbolism and allegory. 6. From Romanticism to Symbolic Realism Herman Melville: Bartleby the Scrivener CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: American individualism. Realism and romanticism. (Un)reliable narrator. Limited point of view. 7. Poetic experiments 1 Walt Whitman: "Song of Myself" (focus on parts 1, 2, 6, 11, 21, 24, 51, 52; "There Was a Child Went Forth" CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: Open poetics/free verse, poetic sequence, metaphor, symbol, rhythm, parallelism 8. From Romance to Novel: The Rise of Realism Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: Tall-Tale, Hoax, American folklore, Realism, Regionalism, Local Color - see J. D. Hart 9. African American Literature and Abolition Movement (Douglass, H. Beecher Stowe) Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave 10. Poetic Experiments 2 Emily Dickinson: poems no. 254, 258, 341, 441, 465, 712, 1732,1755, special focus on no. 328 - "A Bird" CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS: metaphors, symbol, meter, rhythm, slant rhymes 11. Local Color Realism and Psychological Realism (Harte, James, Chopin) Excerpts from Daisy Miller by Henry James and from "Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte
|
|
Learning activities and teaching methods
|
Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Methods of Written Work
- Homework for Teaching
- 26 hours per semester
- Preparation for the Course Credit
- 14 hours per semester
- Attendace
- 26 hours per semester
- Semestral Work
- 34 hours per semester
|
|
Learning outcomes
|
The course is focused on major trends and on an analysis of classic literary works of 19th-century American literature. The course provides a better understanding of the structure of literary works and the relationship between the text and context (literary trends such as neo-classicism, romanticism, realism, genres such as autobiography, narrative, essay, romance, historical romance, novel, short story, sketch, modern epic, poetry), aesthetic and literary theory categories (the sublime, horror vs terror, picturesque, grotesque, fantastic, comic, satire). Students signing up for the course are warned that if there is insufficient room in the course, preference is given to those students for whom the course is obligatory.
- An understanding of the development of 19th-century American literature and of the main genres in relation to the social and cultural changes - A general knowledge of the main American authors,the development of their writing - An understanding of the specific character of literary representation - An understanding of the connections between the past and the present, mediated by literature - A knowledge of basic literary terminology - Greater competence in interpreting literary texts - Ability to hold a scholarly discussion
|
|
Prerequisites
|
A knowledge of basic literary theory from the course Introduction to Literature UL00.
|
|
Assessment methods and criteria
|
Mark, Written exam
Credit requirements: - 5 short in-class assignments testing the knowledge and understanding of the texts (setting, story and plot, characters). It is neccessary to pass four tests out of five. - attendance and participation in the class work (maximum two absences) - good knowledge of the texts - tested in class, a lack of reading knowledge counts as an absence
|
|
Recommended literature
|
-
Abrams, M.H. (2009). A Glossary of Literary Terms. Boston.
-
Gray, Richard. (2011). A History of American Literature. Malden.
-
Hart, James D. (1995). The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature. New York.
-
Lauter, Paul, ed. (2008). The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th. ed.. Boston.
-
Peprník, Michal. Topos lesa v americké literatuře.
-
Russ, Castronovo, ed. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century American Literature. New York.
|