American Classics

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

What causes some literary works to be consistently read by large numbers of people? In this subject, students study a selection of works commonly regarded as classics of 19th century American literature, looking at how the works have challenged or contributed, as the case may be, to some of the prevailing myths of American society. The aesthetic and historical contexts in which the texts were written will be a major focus, as will themes such as Puritan culture, the Gothic undercurrents in American writing, slavery, the American frontier and westward expansion, the American South, the concept of individualism, the retreating wilderness, the growth of American cites and mercantilism, the new woman and male and female sexuality. We will also study the texts' relation to romanticism, realism and naturalism. Students who complete the subject will have a better appreciation of why these and other so-called "classic" texts consistently attract readers and why they continue to form the substance of teaching programs and literary criticism.

Students who complete this subject will:

• be able to demonstrate a familiarity with some of the classic texts of 19th century American literature;
• have a broad understanding of the concepts of the American wilderness and the American frontier and how these have been portrayed in 19th century American literature;
• have some knowledge of Puritan culture and how this has been portrayed in 19th century American literature;
• have a knowledge of the literary conventions used in captivity narratives and slave writings and the impact these had on contemporary readers;
• have an understanding of the different ways in which 19th century American writers’ have treated the themes of slavery and racism;
• have an understanding of what 19th century American writers had to say about Southern Culture, male and female sexuality, female emancipation, and the institution of marriage;
• have developed their capacity for carrying out independent research;
• have developed their capacity for applying critical thinking and analysis to the texts they read;
• have developed their ability to communicate in writing using the essay form.

Written work of 4000 words, comprising two essays of 2000 words 50% each, and one 10 minute class presentation as a hurdle requirement. The first essay will be due mid semester, the second essay will be a take-home examination and will be due in the examination period.

A subject reader will be available

• The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne)
• Benito Cereno and Billy Budd (Melville)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (Beecher Stowe)
• Pudd'nhead Wilson (Twain)
• Collected Poems (Dickinson)
• Daisy Miller (James)
• The Awakening and other Stories (Chopin)
• The Complete Poems (Whitman)

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

• have the ability to critically analyse and discuss a wide range of reading materials through participation in class discussions, the reading of critical essays and the writing of scholarly essays;

• have the capacity for independent and targeted research as a result of preparing for class discussions and writing scholarly essays;

• have the capacity for creative thinking through participation in discussions and the writing of essays that apply critical and theoretical ideas to the reading and interpretation of texts;

• have the capacity for critical self-awareness through participation in discussions and the reading of critical texts;

• have the capacity for lucid and logical argument as a result of careful essay planning and writing;

• be competent in the use of library and other information sources such as on line websites and search engines through the researching and writing of essays that require the use of these resources.