Gotteswinter, Lena

The course examines selected examples of American literature from pre-Columbian Native American documents through nineteenth-century literary writing. Taught in seminar format and based on reading, discussion, and active participation, the course places literary texts in their historical and cultural contexts. Readings include early exploration narratives and selected texts from colonial America, samples of nineteenth-century short fiction, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and selected poems by prominent authors, such as Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Students are expected to read and actively prepare the assigned texts.

Course requirement: oral presentation, incl. presentation handout and/or PowerPoint presentation.

Credit requirement: an 8 to 10-page (3,500 to 4,500-word) research paper in English.

Required text: Baym, Nina et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vols. A, B, and C. New York: Norton, 2012. Print. Additional required texts will be announced in the first session.

Discussing exemplary texts, the course reviews American literary and cultural history from colonial times through the immediate present. Participants are expected to have acquired a solid and broad knowledge of American literary and cultural history and theory in the course of their studies by attending both mandatory and additional courses. The review course builds in particular on the two Proseminare in American literature and the lecture course American Literary History.

Course requirement: oral presentation. Credit requirement: presentation handout / ppt. Details will be announced in the first session. Course text: Baym, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. New York: Norton, 2012. Print.

The course examines selected examples of American literature from pre-Columbian Native American documents through nineteenth-century literary writing. Taught in seminar format and based on reading, discussion, and active participation, the course places literary texts in their historical and cultural contexts. Readings include early exploration narratives and selected texts from colonial America, samples of nineteenth-century short fiction, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and selected poems by prominent authors, such as Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Students are expected to read and actively prepare the assigned texts.

Course requirement: oral presentation, incl. presentation handout and/or PowerPoint presentation. Credit requirement: an 8 to 10-page (3,500 to 4,500-word) research paper in English. Required text: Baym, Nina et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vols. A, B, and C. New York: Norton, 2012. Print. Additional required texts will be announced in the first course session.