Who & What is an American?

Course Catalog: Who and what is an American? These questions, still unresolved, have driven both creativity and conflict in the United States from the Civil War era to the present. Beginning with Abraham Lincoln’s call in the Gettysburg Address for Americans to complete the “unfinished work” of testing these definitions, then moving forward to the present, this course considers the vibrant and diverse body of texts that constitute literatures of the United States. We will read work that breaks rules and innovates new forms, exploring issues such as race, gender, and class relations; sexuality; immigration; Native survivance; war; and citizenship. Featured authors will include Edward Albee, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Stephen Crane, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Maxine Hong Kingston, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Luis Valdez, and Zitkala-Sa, among others. This course satisfies the US Literature II requirement for the English major, concentration, and minor; an elective for the Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities major; and an Exploration requirement for the Core Curriculum.

Final-Essay-ENG-201Download

The best way to explain what I learned from this course is through my final essay. This is by far one of the best courses I have taken at UNE so far and I fell it love with not only the course, but the professor’s teaching style as well. I learned that America was founded on racism and these tendencies still exist today. This course opened my eyes to what American was, is, and can be. Through focusing on different perspectives of culture in the US, we learned just how enthralled we are with white European culture, thinking it is the superior of all. My final grade was my best grade in the class and it allowed me to show my teacher that I understand the message of this course.