ENG 256 : American Literature Post Civil War to Present

This course surveys a variety of authors and genres of writing after the Civil War to the present. Readings are drawn from works some considered to be"classics," by Americans of Western European , African, and Native cultures; writers from increasing numbers of immigrant cultures, including Mexican, Eastern European, Asian, and Caribbean, and works reflective of a postwar culture. Topics for discussion and writing include ways in which both an author's culture as well as social and historical circumstances, inform the author's work, the work of other authors, and our understanding of who we are as increasingly diverse multicultural Americans. Three class hours a week. Competency Met: Humanities (6.0); Multicultural Perspective (5.3) Fall, Spring


ENG 102 or permission of instructor.
  1. Further skills gained in ENG 102, such as critical writing, writing, and research.
  2. Recognize ways in which evolving attitudes about race, gender, religion, ethnicity, social class, disability, sexual orientation, and linguistic background affect both writers and readers.
  3. Challenge their own assumptions or expectations about what characterizes American literature and its body of authors.
  4. Identify various literary styles and genres, some traditional to the dominant culture, some traditional to an indigenous or a minority culture, some a combination or adaptation of those just mentioned.
  5. Articulate values, beliefs, and traditions particular to individual cultures as reflected in literature.
  6. Perceive and explicate how values, beliefs, and traditions of different cultures, as reflected in the literature, are shaped by social and historical circumstances.
  7. Realize that literature is a means of creating identification of self and society and that such identification is dynamic.
  8. Evaluate the extent to which the increasing diversity of American literature influences their own sense of self.





Degrees/Certificates That Require Course