Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 101796

Coordinator Christopher Peterson Opens in new window

Description This subject focuses on literature from the American Renaissance through to the end of the Civil War. Issues to be examined will include some of the following: the construction of a national literature, the ideology of American Exceptionalism, the tension between the religious and the secular, and the clash between freedom and slavery. Texts may include fiction, poetry and drama.

School Humanities & Comm Arts

Discipline Literature

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

Check your HECS Band contribution amount via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 3 subject

Restrictions

Successful completion of 60 credit points of study in currently enrolled program.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. analyse a broad range of American fiction, poetry, and drama.
2. recognize how the legacy of Puritanism informs 19th century American literature and culture.
3. discuss the conflicting ideologies of freedom and slavery in American literature.
4. identify generic characteristics of American literature, such as the romance, the gothic, the novel, and the short story.
5. gain knowledge of the intersection of the concepts of race, sexuality, gender, and class.
6. develop advanced skills in writing and argument.

Subject Content

- The American Renaissance
- Transcendentalism
- The Legacy of Puritanism
- Romantic Individualism
- The emergence of American fiction
- The rise of The American Gothic
- Cult of Sentiment
- democracy and Slavery