ENGL 424 - American Fiction Before 1900

Units: 4
Selected novels and short fiction by 19th-century authors.

Equivalent Quarter Course: ENGL 4860.
Possible Instructional Methods: Entirely On-ground.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Discuss, in general terms, how selected short stories and novels exemplify the historical periods and literary traditions from which they derive.
Define the principal themes and problems and discuss–in both oral and written formats–manifestations of those themes and problems within selected works.
Demonstrate (a) an ability to analyze selected passages of fiction and (b) an ability to use such analyses both to illuminate and complicate a reading of the texts in which these passages occur.
Demonstrate an ability to identify, find, and use library resources (books, journals, concordances, lexicons, etc.) that may further the student’s work both in and beyond English 424.
Understand critical theory and its relationship to literary critiques.