21L.501 The American Novel, Fall 2002
Name
21l-501-fall-2002/contents/index.htm
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Kelley, Wyn
Alternative Title
The American Novel
Date Issued
December 2002
Abstract
The theme for this class is "American Revolution." We will read authors who record, on the one hand, the failures of the American revolution, with its dream of democracy and freedom for all, and on the other hand the potential for narrative to reenact that revolution successfully. In different ways, these authors overturn traditional or unethical authority through their literary innovations. Although certain classic American historical, political, and cultural issues will be at the center of our study--democracy, slavery, gender equity, social reform--we will concern ourselves primarily with literary strategies, with language and its uses. Essays will pursue close readings of the texts and develop students' abilities to think creatively and critically about fictional works.
Subjects
American novel
democracy, slavery
democracy
slavery
gender equity
social reform
literary strategies
William Blake
Herman Melville
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Harriet Beecher Stowe
William Wells Brown
Sarah Orne Jewett
William Faulkner
Toni Morrison
American fiction
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Literature Section
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics
Terms of Use
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