AJ2303 American History, Culture and Literature

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
0/3/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Barbora Kašpárková, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ2303/001: Thu 15:00–15:50 učebna 56, except Thu 27. 10., Z. Janík
AJ2303/002: Wed 12:00–12:50 učebna 41, except Wed 26. 10., Z. Janík
AJ2303/003: Wed 8:00–8:50 učebna 58, except Wed 26. 10., Z. Janík
AJ2303/01: Thu 13:00–14:50 učebna 11, except Thu 27. 10., B. Kašpárková
AJ2303/02: Thu 8:00–9:50 učebna 11, except Thu 27. 10., B. Kašpárková
AJ2303/03: Tue 11:00–12:50 učebna 11, except Tue 25. 10., B. Kašpárková
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ2102 Practical Language 1B
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The students are introduced to history, literature, and culture of the United States of America from Pre-Columbian era to the 20th Century. The goal is to introduce important authors, literary movements, historical events and cultural context of the given period and analyze their interrelation. Students will understand how literary texts reflect historical events and cultural myths. They will learn to identify cultural values and interpret them with the purpose to enhance respect to otherness. Students will discuss the role of context, gender, race, and ethnicity in history and in forming of literary genres and topics.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- identify and describe major trends in postwar American literature and understand their relationship to American society and culture
- familiar with major works of fiction, art, and historical events which influenced the social life of the U.S. of America
- develop your skills in analytical reading and proposal writings
- understand and frame literary works as a form of social commentary which responds to specific historical occurrences
Syllabus
  • 1. Pre-Columbian America (Native Americans' myths about the creation of the world) 2. Colonial beginnings: clash of cultures and cultural misunderstandings (William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, Mary Rowlandson) 3. British colonies (John Winthrop, John Smith, Cotton Mather) 4. War of Independence (Benjamin Franklin, Jean de Crevecoeur, The Declaration of Independence) 5. Slavery and the Civil War (slave narratives, Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce) 6. Industrialization and Immigration (Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson) 7. American Imperialism from the Monroe Doctrine to WWI (Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane) 8. Great Depression and New Deal (Willaim Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor) 9. World War II (Hemingway, Gertrude Stein) 10. Afro-American Experience: from segregation to integration (Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansbery) 11. Cold War (Frank O'Hara, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath) 12. Multicultural America (Maxine Hong Kingston, Ishmael Reed)
Literature
    required literature
  • DAVIDSON, James West. Nation of nations : a concise narrative of the American Republic. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996, xxiv, 947. ISBN 0070157383. info
  • Columbia literary history of the United States. Edited by Emory Elliott - Martha Banta - Houston A. Baker. Collector's edition. New York: Columbia University, 1988, xxviii, 12. ISBN 0-231-06780-1. info
    recommended literature
  • Murrin, John M. et al. Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People. 5 th ed. USA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008.
  • Oxford guide to British and American culture : for learners of English. Edited by Jonathan Crowther - Kathryn Kavanagh. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, viii, 599. ISBN 0194313328. info
  • Encyclopedia of southern culture. Edited by Charles Reagan Wilson - William R. Ferris - Ann J. Abadie - Mary L. Ha. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina press, 1989, xxi, 1634. ISBN 0807818232. info
Teaching methods
discussion-based seminars, pair and group work, issue-based learning, project work, presentation
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment: participate in the discussion; complete 6 quizzes with a 70% passmark; read two novels; write one essay on assigned reading and in-class presentation. Formative assessment: test
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2022, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/autumn2022/AJ2303