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The seminar will provide a cursory survey of major American novels and novelists from the Early Republic to the 20^th century with emphasis on concepts of the environment.

The seminar will provide a cursory survey of major American novels and novelists from the Early Republic to the 20^th century with emphasis on concepts of the environment. We will look at typical subgenres of the novel, including sentimental, historical, gothic and epistolary novels, memoirs, the romance, new journalism, and the novel of manners. The following texts form the core of the seminar: William Hill Brown, The Power of Sympathy (1789), Charles Brockden Brown, Edgar Huntly (1799), James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Herman Melville, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846), Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850), Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854), Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (1895); Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth (1905).

Lecture inputs, presentations, group discussions

Active class participation, a presentation with discussion leading, and an 18-22 page research paper.

Students are encouraged to enlist for research topics and topics for discussion leading prior to the seminar.

Prerequisite for Master Program (812): none
Prerequisite for the Diploma Program (Diplomstudium: 343) and the Teacher Training Program (Lehramtsstudium: 344): completed first part of studies

The seminar "SE American Literature and Culture" can be attended as the "SE American Literature and Culture II". If you wish to obtain credits for both seminars, the seminars' contents must differ substantially.

For the Diploma Program (Diplomstudium: 343): SE2: American Literature/Culture, for the Teacher Training Program (Lehramtsstudium: 344): SE2: American Literature and Culture.

Due to substantial differences in the allocation of ECTS-Credits in various curricula (teacher training program - BA/MA English and American Studies), the requirements for this course vary. Information will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the course.