American Literature (1865-present) Survey Course Syllabus

It has been a few years since I have taught an American literature survey course, either from the colonial period to 1865 or from 1865 to the present. When I teach survey courses likes this, ones that span multiple decades and cneturies, I usually use an anthology. This semester, though, I wanted to try something different. Instead of using an anthology, which would limit my choices of texts to teach, I decided to construct my own readings.

With only 28 classes in the semester, I did not want to choose novels or longer texts such as plays by Arthur Miller of August Wilson. I didn’t want to do this because I know that students would read the assignments because they would be overwhelmed. So, I decided to focus solely on short stories. For me, short stories encapsulate the literary movements and periods that we need to cover, but even with short stories, I can’t cover everything. Anyone who has taught a survey course knows this. We choose what to teach in hopes that students will respond.

Below, you will find an overview of the course as well as a working reading list. This list will probably change some, but it provides an overview of the way I will structure the course. It is, I realize looking back at it, heavily influenced by Southern writers, which is not a problem, neccessarily, since I teach mostly Southern…