ENGL 205 Introduction to American Literature

This course introduces students to the study of American literature and culture. What has been the contribution of US writing to the histories of the novel, poetry, theatre, and film, in conversation with a broader range of artforms? How has America's literary imaginary been shaped by its colonial and revolutionary history, slavery and postslavery, Indigenous dispossession, consumerism, industrialization/deindustrialization, and US geopolitical hegemony? Students will explore these and other questions through a sampling of some of the most exciting works in US literary history and criticism.