UNIVERSIDAD DISTRITAL FRANCISCO JOS DE CALDAS FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS Y EDUCACIN PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE LA LICENCIATURA EN EDUCACIN BSICA CON NFASIS

EN INGLS SYLLABUS AMERICAN LITERATURE

CDIGO: 16509004 (Gr. 1) PERODO ACADMICO: 2014:1 NMERO DE CRDITOS: N.A. INTRODUCTION

TIPO DE ESPACIO ACADMICO: OBLIGATORIO BSICO INTENSIDAD HORARIA SEMANAL: 4 (CUATRO)

The overall purpose of this course is to introduce the students enrolled in it to the critical study of the lives and works of some of the most representative American authors. In order to carry out this study, the students will necessarily have to rely on literary theory, which will enable them to substantiate their insights in a more academic way. Teacher-trainees are expected to go through a process of deep reflection on the implications that the works under study have in their lives, and to evaluate or value their aesthetic merits in order to perceive and understand their impact in a global perspective. The course seeks to provide the teacher-trainees with sufficient reflective skills in order to enable them to become aware of the various ways in which reading triggers emotional and intellectual responses. Teacher-trainees are to account for the social, political, moral, and cultural values endorsed by the works under study, and to confront these values with theirs. In being student-centered, teacher-trainees are expected to become active participants of their learning processes. They are the ones who actually seek for the many internally rewarding experiences and bring about issues that are to be discusses in class. This makes the sessions both significant and enjoyable. The course also includes several tasks which are to be done on the WWW. A forum on Critical Reading is available, and teacher-trainees are expected to make reflections about the processes they are engaged in. A reflective attitude is very helpful for teachers. Eventually, one or more discussions may take place using a forum. You are to organize your time to keep up with the sessions assigned in the forum, that is, make sure you will have time to read, prepare, and discuss the topics listed whenever required.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES By the end of the course on American Literature, the participants must be able to: Develop hypotheses based on critical examination of literary texts. Validate hypotheses based on sound theoretical support. Substantiate claims and elaborate on them consistently. Uncover overlapping layers of meaning in literary texts. Develop brief literary texts of acceptable quality.

PROCESS-ORIENTED OBJECTIVES By the end of the course on American Literature, the participants must be able to: Increase and demonstrate understanding of the principles that underlie the analysis, evaluation, and interpretation of literary texts. Improve writing skills. Sharpen interpretation skills.

PRODUCT-ORIENTED OBJECTIVES By the end of the course on American Literature, the participants must be able to: Determine the strengths and weaknesses of literary texts under study. Account for the various principles of literary interpretation. Demonstrate various ways to approach a literary text critically. Propose pedagogically sophisticated materials for the teaching of literature.

COURSE CONTENTS Week_1 Introduction to the course: Course syllabus. Critical Theory: Approaches to the Analysis and Interpretation of Literary Texts Approaches to Literary Criticism_List of Typical Questions

Week_2 American Naturalism / Romanticism William Cullen Bryant_Biography Thanatopsis_William Cullen Bryant_TXT

Week_3 American Romanticism Washington Irving_Biography Rip Van Winkle_Washington Irving_TXT.doc

Week_4 Romanticism Puritanism Nathaniel Hawthorne_Biography The Birthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne_TXT

Week_5 Evaluation 1

Week_6 American Romanticism Edgar Allan Poe_Biography 1 Ligeia, by Edgar Allan Poe_TXT

Week_7 American Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson Student-led discussion board (On-line) Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Week_8 American Transcendentalism Henry David Thoreau_Biography 1 Where I Lived and What I Lived for_Henry David Thoreau_TXT

Week_9 Pre-Modernism Emily Elizabeth Dickinson I Died for Beauty Because I Could not Stop for Death I felt a Funeral in my Brain

Week_10 Evaluation 2

Week_11 Modernism / Formalism Robert Lee Frost_Biography Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening The Road Not Taken Fire and Ice

Week_12 Modernism Mississippi Writers William Cuthbert Faulkner A Rose for Emily_William Faulkner_TXT

Week_13 Imagism / Modernism / Dadaism / Surrealism /Unitarianism / Formalism Edward Estlin Cummings (18941962) i like my body when it is with your body 1a me up at does

Week_14 Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) Modernism / American Naturalism Hills Like White Elephants

Week_15 New Deal Arts Project Eudora Alice Welty (1909-2001) A Worn Path

COURSE METHODOLOGY Most of the class sessions will be led by the participants. The instructor will prepare application workshops and make presentations of important aspects for the course, but these workshops and presentations will always be followed or preceded by student-led activities. The participants are strongly encouraged to be well prepared for each class session, this is the main reason why the reading materials has been organized and provided beforehand. Unprepared participants may be requested to develop and present additional materials.

The participants are expected to do many knowledge representation exercises using the reading materials for this course. These representations will be kept in a portfolio, which will also contain reflective notes and feedback notes from the instructor and the other participants. The portfolio must also contain a timetable in which you list the activities you do throughout the development process, a reflective teacher log (your own reflections, reflecting hypotheses, inferences you make, etc.), and a statement of the principles you hold in the analysis and interpretation of literary texts. At the end of the semester, the participant must hand in the portfolio, together with the essays written and a digital copy of such essays. Participants are also expected to hand in a learning module, with additional support materials (video-tapes, audio-tapes, workbooks, teachers guides, flashcards, etc. Problem-based discussion questions Which criteria underlie the evaluation of literary texts? How can the principles of literature didactics be applied to the development of learning modules for literature? What makes a critical reader? Which elements are required for critical analyses? What characterizes the literature of the United States? How are literary interpretations validated? Which recurrent themes are / have been addressed by American writers?

A note on tutorial sessions Tutorial sessions are optional, but the instructor strongly suggests that you take advantage of them as frequently as possible. Tutorial sessions are intended to: Provide opportunities to discuss concepts and ideas introduced during regular class sessions. Provide opportunities to help teacher-trainees to articulate what they have learned / are learning with the academia work they are developing, in other words, to articulate theory with practice. Provide opportunities to revise the results of the activities the teacher-trainees are engaged in. Provide opportunities to discuss the assignments the teacher-trainees are expected to hand in before the submission deadlines. Allow the teacher-trainees to have access to resources that are not normally used in regular class sessions. Provide opportunities to discuss problems teacher-trainees may be facing in the development of their materials or in their academic work overall.

Make sure you book for a tutorial session at least two days in advance indicating the specific aspect(s) you would like to discuss. In this way, I will have enough time to prepare accordingly. Remember that tutorial sessions are to be taken individually, except for cases in which you are working in groups and have, therefore, the same interests.

EVALUATION Evaluation and achievement indicators Evaluation will be based on: Overall academic performance (in-class work, tutorial sessions, etc.). End-products (study guides, pieces of creative writing, etc.) with sound theoretical support (if required), pedagogically sophisticated application options (if required). Process (overall commitment, progress checks, quality of modifications and adjustments made to required products, etc.)

Indicators: The participant demonstrates critical comprehension of the texts read for the class. The participant is able to provide a theoretical support for the analyses he / she makes when reading a literary text. The participant fosters and strengthens bonds of affection and networks of support among class members. The participant reflects critical respect for other participants opinions. The participant demonstrates commitment and interest for the academic work he / she engages in both inside the classroom and elsewhere (e.g. online). The participant demonstrates responsibility and autonomy in his / her learning process. The participant is able to acknowledge weaknesses and works enthusiastically to overcome such weaknesses. Structured self-evaluation and peer evaluation workshops.

The instructor will provide various evaluation formats for the academic performance, but the participants are expected to examine these formats and to propose alternative ones, depending on the focus of the materials they are studying. General course policies Cellular phones must be either off or in silent mode during class sessions. If you have to answer or make a phone call, please leave the room. Visitors at the door are very unpleasant, please leave the room. You are strongly expected to be punctual for class sessions. Repeated tardiness will affect your grade negatively. You are also expected to stay in class until it is over. Leaving the classroom before the end of class is not a good idea, considering the fact that pop quizzes can come even in the last ten minutes. You must check your email account at least twice a week for notices, materials, instructions, and assignments. You are expected to use high-quality support materials for your presentations. Make sure you book yourself in advance at the multimedia lab (or anywhere you expect to make your presentations) in time. It is strongly advisable to make summaries or copies of your presentations for your colleagues.

You must keep a digital copy of everything you submit. It is important to remember that you also have to hand in a digital copy (online submission of papers and other materials) of the materials you develop or write during the semester. Make an appointment with the instructor for tutorial sessions at least a week in advance. You are to arrive on time for tutorial sessions. The instructor will not wait for more than five minutes, after which your session will be canceled. Plagiarism is a serious crime. Whoever plagiarizes ideas or materials at any given time during the semester will be given a failing grade. This person will also be notified to his / her mentor and to the head of the Department.

_________________________________ Bibliography _________________________________

Abrams et Al; The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York, W. W. Norton, 1993 Abrams et Al; The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 2. New York, W. W. Norton, 1993 Baym et Al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature (5th. edition) New York. W. W. Norton and Company, 1998 DiYanni, Robert; Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. (4th. ed.) The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 1998 Muller, G. H. and Williams, J. A. Ways In: Approaches to Reading and Writing about Literature. New York, McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1994 Perkins, G and Perkins, B. The American Tradition in Literature (8th edition) McGraw Hill, 1994 Sanders, Andrew; The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996 Sarup, M; An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism (2nd. ed.) The University of Georgia Press, 1988 Thornley, G. C. and Roberts, G; An Outline of English Literature. Addison-Wesley Longman Limited, 1996

Digital Resources __________________________________________________ http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/home.htm

Videos __________________________________________________ William Cullen Bryant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWYXvSXaU8

Washington Irving http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_GPDVa5yR0 Nathaniel Hawthorne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLtotbVIXuU Edgar Allan Poe: Love, Death and Women http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azfZvSV06Co Henry David Thoreau - Iconoclastic Individualism - (part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGdreCP6shU Henry David Thoreau - Iconoclastic Individualism - (part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=HV4YHOjJLDk&NR=1 William Faulkners A Rose for Emily (Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp7p0exVnqo William Faulkners A Rose for Emily (Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRMHXwdxsiQ&feature=endscreen&NR=1

_____________ ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AVAILABLE AT STUDENT REQUEST _____________

Prof. Alejandro McNeil __________________________ Email: amcneilf@udistrital.edu.co Twitter: profmcneil@twitter.com Skype: profmcneil